Day 11 - We have entered Maine!
Day 11 - Conway, NH to Augusta, ME - 86 miles - 4,244 ft of elevation gain
We went to bed expecting rain through the night and a 50% chance of rain throughout the day. When I woke up I peeked out of the curtain to see clouds and a glimmer of the sun, while it appeared that it had rained, it was not currently raining. Our hotel was a cute family-owned establishment, but no breakfast though. So we set up a table outside the deck of the first floor rooms. Kevin, our driver, brought a portable stove burner and cooked made-to-order eggs for us, plus we had muffins and fruit. Our departure time was 8am, and we actually pulled out 3 mins early.
The temperature the last few days has been in the 80s with high humidity. We were spoiled in NY with temps in the 70s and lower humidity. So when we left Conway it was partly sunny and humid, but the clouds threatened rain. I opted to risk the potential rain and wore normal socks (living on the edge, I know).
As we looked at our route the night before, we called an audible and decided to do a re-route to shave off some elevation gain, which would add about 3 miles to the route. This new route would take us on more main roads, but avoided some hill climbs. We rode 7 miles and reached the border with Maine, our final state to pedal in for this trip. For the first part of the ride we were on a variety of road types, from back roads to busier state roads. At one point we passed through what seemed to be the lake district, which was really pretty. We stopped at one of the lakes that had a ski resort behind it (a small hill like RoundTop in PA). There was a kid trying to water ski, so we stayed a few minutes longer to see if he would get going, unfortunately the extra eyes on him might have been too much. We continued on before seeing if he finally got to do some water skiing.
We lunched in the parking lot of a library at mile 48, and they graciously allowed us to use the restrooms. There were 11 registered climbs on today’s ride, but they seemed to be scattered throughout, and then there were some nice flat sections. We did have a head wind for 60% of the ride, but it wasn’t too annoying. The most exciting section, and by exciting, I mean keep alert for the navigation changes, was in the town of Lewiston. Otherwise, the route was just a few turns. Our final rest stop was at mile 69 at a Sunco station. When we pulled in a lady started cheering from her car. She saw the van and trailer pull in and asked questions about our trip. She was so impressed she wanted to wait 20 mins for us to roll in so she could cheer and meet the cyclists.
Our final 18 miles was on the same road, which was a busy two lane road. For most of it there was a nice wide shoulder and rather clean from debris. There were some nice rolling climbs in this section. One really got my legs burning, mainly because Aaron (one of the leaders) was behind me yelling at me (not really but he was saying something like “Come on Michelle! Keep it moving! - remember this part Aaron?). Any way the 86 miles was a good workout and we all earned our dinner in downtown Augusta.
After dinner, we took in another capitol building to add to our list. Then we returned to the hotel for devotions in the breakfast room. The guys said they were still hungry for junk food, so they went on a grocery run with Kevin to buy themselves some food with their souvenir dollars. Tomorrow is a shorter day with just 65 miles and we won’t talk about the elevation gain. We are heading to the coast of Maine and will then turn north to make our way to Lubec (just 3 more days of riding). The guys are doing great and keep pushing the pedals to get to the next destination.
