Blogs are great if you follow along on a regular basis, but if you stumble upon one and want to read all of the entries, it is a bit of a pain. I promised long ago that I would arrange the trip on a page so that it would be easier to follow and finally I have started on that quest.

Simply go to the Trip week by week tab and choose a week.

We headed downhill this morning, which was a nice change to the start of the day, although a short-lived change. We got onto Route 11 with nice wide shoulders hoping that the route would remain like this until Portsmouth. We need to be more realistic. As soon as we turned toward Exeter, the shoulder became nearly non-existent and the road started seriously climbing, which our host had warned us about.

When we reached Exeter, we had to stop to fix Robert’s fourth flat in his front tire. It’s unusual to get flats in a front tire and to get so many is even stranger. We have each had four flats. Mine have all been rear flats.

Exeter is a pleasant town where we found a bike shop to see if we could get a map. Printing out maps doesn’t always work so well as they are often illegible. We asked about some of the roads on our map and they weren’t familiar with them all. The were out of the state bicycling map, which we hoped to find in hard copy. We crossed the street and went to the chamber of commerce where the very helpful people dug a bicycling map out of a special place. This was he highpoint of the day and the exact map that we were looking for. We discussed the different suggested routes and decided on the best one. The ride from Exeter to Portsmouth was pleasant, even along Route 33 due to its wide shoulders. Those shoulders ended for a short stretch near town. We stopped just outside a cemetery to figure out how to get through town and a man appeared out of nowhere to see if he could help us. We reviewed the map once again and headed on our way.

I really thought that I could smell salt air today. It may have been a Pavlovian response from seeing the mileage sign to Hampton Beach or it may have just been the salt that I was excreting
getting blown into my face. (Yep, another head wind today.)

We found a “Mexican” place for lunch, which served burritos and quesadillas and was right before we crossed the bridge into Maine. Once we crossed over, we knew that the traffic and our route would be less than ideal and that was definitely true. Originally, we had planned a different route and had no intention of riding along the coast. We would have approached Portland from the west. That would have eliminated the temptation to dip the wheels in the ocean for the next miles until Portland.

We are staying at the Cliff House in Ogunquit. The balcony overlooks the ocean. I could just toss the bike over the rail for a less-than-traditional dipping. That wouldn’t be so fun.

Tomorrow, we have just a short ride to Portland and the finish. I can’t wait.

We only have one more day to receive some last-minute bike stuff that we ordered. The folding tires are on backorder, but we have only needed a new tire once or twice.

In the past few days, I have downloaded software to the laptop and figured out the helmet cam, new camera and the drawbacks of my digital tape recorder. I put up things on Freecyle and recycled lots of other things.

Tomorrow, our daughter is giving us a going away bbq. We live with her after starting that new trend of moving in with your kids after they finish college instead of the usual situation. Actually, we are helping her remodel the house that she bought, but work has slowed down since we have been renovating another house for the past year.

Podcast produced by Robert and Theresa Russell
Edited by Erik Russell
Intro music Cluck Ole Hen arranged by Bandjoe
Outro Tall Fiddler arranged by Deyo
Logo designed by Laura Ross
Copyright 2007

We often assume so much about our method of travel. Several people have asked how we are going to carry our stuff with us if we don’t have a SAG wagon. Will we wear backpacks?
Personally, I can barely survive wearing a waist pack. It works for short trips, but I don’t like the feeling of something strapped to me. Even though it may not weigh much, packs around my waist make me feel encumbered. I don’t know that I would like wearing a hydration system for the same reason.
Our method of carrying our gear is a fairly standard one, although pulling a trailer has become more popular. We each carry four panniers and pack them so that most of the weight is in the front panniers. I made the mistake once of touring with only rear panniers. My steering was out of control and stopping was especially troublesome as the front wheel always wanted to raise up off the ground. My bicycle was an unruly, bucking bronco. I got more bruises on that trip just trying to control that bike. After that unpleasant experience, if I were only using two panniers, I put them on the front.

Our bombproof panniers are Arkels. Designed by people who understand bicycle touring, they have all sorts of features that make packing and traveling simple. I especially like the dedicated pouch for tent poles. Some tent have poles that are just a tad too long for the rear rack. They can shift around and become thigh pokers. With the Arkels, they store vertically in their pouch. If they are longer than the pouch, the opening can simply be left partially or fully opened. The other panniers that we carry are made by REI.

For this trip we are trying a different sort of packing system. We have two large duffle bags that will hold all by the two large Arkels that we will us are carry-on luggage. Since we don’t need to cycle directly from the airport, we will simply ship the duffle bags home as soon as we empty them later on the first afternoon. Panniers are my least favorite type of luggage to carry. Their shape makes them unwieldly to carry for long distances.

We have most of our camping gear and tools packed. Instead of carrying a sleeping back for each of us, we take one lightweight sleeping bag and open it up on the thermarests if it is warm enough and use a sheet and fleece to cover up with. If it is cold we put the sheet on the sleeping pad and use the sleeping bag or fleece to cover up with. This system works well for us, but there are many other options. One new concept that I have read about, but not tried, is a sleeping hammock. Supposedly, it weighs little and has some versatility, but I think that I will stick to the traditional camping gear.

Although I had tried clipless pedals on the trainer, I had read somewhere that it wasn’t a good way to learn to use them. Skeptic that I am, I don’t believe everything that I read or hear. I thought that I really got the knack of using the clipless on the trainer and am certain that it saved me from any falls.

I really like the clipless system for a few reasons:

I have an advantage climbing hills. Pulling up on the pedals helps me a lot.
It seems that toe clips always hurt my toes and top of my feet. That doesn’t happen with clipless.

Our ride was only 30 miles with 299 feet of climbing. I may see if I can figure out how much climbing there is between Astoria and Westport, just to torture myself.

This was the first outing on my new Trek 520. It is definitely a nicer ride than my Specialized Hybrid.

As soon as we got home, it was time to disassemble the bikes and put them in boxes for FedEx. They say that they will arrive in Astoria in 5 business days. We will arrive in 6 business days.

We took one trip where somebody took a rather large tent. The poles are usually a real problem with larger sized tents, but this person didn’t mind and distributed the different tent components to the others who would share this palatial mansion with room for standing. That’s quite in contrast to the tent that we are taking. We can sit up and crawl out the door. Those are the main features of our tent.

We thought that we had lost our tent, something that might seem difficult to do. Turns out that we had simply lent it to our son. Now, if the weather would warm up we could set it up and make sure that it is functional. That brings up another point about packing. Be sure that all equipment functions properly. That is one good reason to do a shakedown tour. It allows you to make sure that you have packed everything that you need and that everything that you packed works properly. This is also true for your bicycle, rack, and panniers. Get familiar with them before you take off.