Round Lake to Portland
The Final Stretch
Round Lake to North Adams – 51 miles
Average Speed – 12.2
Nothing has been harder than leaving home to finish this tour. I reluctantly set out this morning using a route that MapQuest spit out. Surprisingly, the route was very bicycle friendly and took us through nearby roads that we had not previously explored. Being a bicycle-friendly route doesn’t mean that it was easy. We climbed over 2300 feet today, which isn’t bad for the first day back on the bike.
The high point (not in elevation, in fact, just the opposite) was Route 346, which skirts the infamous Petersborough climb up to Williamstown. We climbed quite a bit to reach 346, but it was so pleasant to stay in the valley and then follow the river to Williamstown. From Williamstown, it was a short ride over to North Adams.
The route traversed some fairly desolate areas and it wasn’t until just outside of Williamstown that we spotted the Chef’s Hat for second breakfast. It was already close to 1, but since we would be having dinner later with Nate and Stephanie, breakfast seemed like a good option.
After a leisurely breakfast, we did the remaining five miles to North Adams, where the rain started shortly after our arrival. The temps today where in the high 80’s, so the rain cooled the air a bit.
We hitched a ride up to the Whitcomb Summit where we are staying tonight. No way was I biking up a steep hairpin with a narrow shoulder. Tomorrow, we will have a downhill run, which I hope isn’t too steep. The weekend sightseers should be back to work making the roadway a little more comfortable for cycling. Route 2 probably isn’t the best option for cycling, but it beats the alternatives.
We met a couple at the Chef’s Hat who validated our choice of riding in Massachusetts rather than through Vermont. I am sick of hills. No matter how many I have climbed or how well I have climbed them, I am not at all fond of them and never will be converted to loving hills. I will take the boring flats over an obnoxious hill any time.
The road will be quite hilly tomorrow. I just remembered that I have done some bicycling around Fitchburg and that area. I think that I remember it for its hilly terrain.
At least, I was able to cycle it, but that was several years ago.
The countdown has begun. We only have four more days of cycling until we reach Portland. We will reach the Atlantic before Portland and could head straight to Boston, so maybe that would be adequate. Nah, there is a welcoming committee greeting us in Portland on Thursday at East End Beach.
If you are in the neighborhood, please join us for the festivities. We are anxious to celebrate.
I am happy that today’s ride was a nice ride and got me back into cycling mode.
Summit to Phillipston – 59 miles
Average Speed – 11.6 mph
We woke up to thunder and were shrouded by clouds. We waited the storm out and waited for the visibility to improve. I am sorry that I didn’t take the photo of the view last night, even though it was so hazy last night. This morning, we could barely see beyond the porch of the motel.
Around 11, we ventured down the hill, with our lights on to make ourselves noticeable. I don’t like letting it rip down hills anymore, so keep the brakes on the entire way down, even walking one steep portion of the downhill. When we reached the bottom, we cycled on to Charlemont in search of breakfast. We found a place and stopped, but were rather disappointed with the place. The atmosphere and the attitude of the owner needed some improvement.
We had covered the distance to Charlemont in decent time and although we had hoped that we could continue at such a pace, that wasn’t realistic. Our total climbing today came to nearly 2400 feet. ( Is that the temp of molten glass? I need to check that out.) My biceps ache from pulling the bike up the hills. We knew that our route wasn’t ideal and this was particularly true in one stretch where the very ample shoulder disintegrated into a few millimeters past the white line.
We had a copy of the highly recommended Rubel maps of Western Massachusetts. The Central portion seems to be out of stock, but I am glad that we didn’t buy it. Unless there has been a recent earthquake in Western Mass or some other event that caused upheaval, then I can’t rave about these maps.
In one instance we climbed and climbed and climbed out of Athol. Not one marking on the map to indicate this hellish vertical challenge. Did I mention that I still HATE hills?
My next trip will be one with no hills and with the wind at my back. We are still waiting for that nice tailwind. We only have three days for that to happen. Tomorrow the wind prediction is out of the east. That’s just not right. At least we are heading mostly northeast, so some of the wind torture will be minimized.
We thought that once we left the West that we would find internet at every motel. This is our second night internetless. Guess everybody hasn’t caught up with the times. Originally, we intended to make it to a motel in Gardner, which did offer internet, but due to our late start, approaching rain and general fatigue, we stopped early for the day. That will add eight miles to our total tomorrow. The advantage of stopping here is the obviously popular restaurant in front of the motel.
While checking the weather after dinner, we noticed that the Tour de France is on. Gosh, I almost thought I was watching myself ride. What I did note from the commentary was the word “flat”, used to describe the route through Belgium. Sounds good to me. Now that sounds like my kind of place for touring.
It’s very tempting to make a beeline to Boston, which isn’t all that far away. I think that they have an ocean there that would be perfect for dipping wheels. I always get lost in Boston, so it would probably take longer to find the ocean than it would to pedal to Portland. Besides, I would have to change the name of the blog. If I had been smart, I would have called it Portland to Round Lake.
I was almost hit by a car door today and then almost backed into. Riding through congested areas certainly poses problems that we hadn’t encountered until recently. Cars seem to think that they have the right of way in all conditions. Left turns in front of us are totally acceptable. Fortunately, we ride defensively. Still, things like the person opening the door into the street without looking scare me. After that incident, I looked more carefully to see if anybody is sitting in the cars parked along the street.
High temps are also predicted for tomorrow. It was hot and humid again today. Temps in the 90’s aren’t ideal for cycling. Can’t wait for the sauna again tomorrow. It should help the muscles, but doesn’t seem to. Robert is very sore from gardening when we made our stop at home. He hasn’t recovered yet. I can’t complain about anything because I am not carrying anything other than my rack trunk, which does weigh a lot and my handlebar bag and me, which does weigh a lot.
Speaking of weight, I stepped on the home scale. It’s pretty sad that I have lost a whopping 10 pounds for all my effort. Robert has lost 20. He took the more difficult route. He also had more weight on his bike as well. If I had carried what he did, I probably would have lost 11 pounds. Oh, well. At least I feel good.
Tomorrow, we have a warm showers host, so that is exciting and something to look forward to. She even offers sag support, so when I am whipped tomorrow after cycling 10 miles, I will have to give her a rescue call.
Phillipston MA to Sandown NH – 66 miles
Average Speed – 13 mph
Compared to yesterday, today’s ride was less demanding, but still full of obstacles like inattentive drivers, poor and non-existent shoulders, unmarked roads and intense heat and humidity. Once we passed through Fitchburg, the intensity of the hills decreased until we left Derry in NH.
We made very good time today, even though we still had plenty of hills. If tomorrow can be the same, then reaching Portland seems attainable.
We stayed at a warm showers house who lives on a farm and in an area with several steep hills and roads with poor shoulders. I thought that we had pretty much finished with the big hills for the day although I knew that one of the roads that we were taking was Walnut Hill, which was a big hint that there was more climbing to do.
We climbed over 2000 feet again today. We have been told that it gets flatter near the coast, but flat is relative. I will keep thinking those thoughts of flat Belgium.
Sandown to Neddick – 45 miles
Average Speed – 13.1 mph
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 did it!
From the coast to the end of the trail – endless
Average speed – Not important
That massage yesterday at the Cliff House worked wonders. I figured that I might be just a bit too relaxed to bicycle, but that wasn’t really the case. I will be heading to the massage school in Albany when I get back – not to become a therapist, but to get some of my muscles de-stressed. I can’t say that I am really sore, but that could be just because I have gotten used to it and don’t notice it so much.
We slept with the patio doors open last night so that we could enjoy the waves crashing on the rocks and lulling us to sleep. You might not think that crashing waves are ideal for inducing sleep, but after a stressful day of cycling, just about any repetitive sounds induces sleep.
We found some decent cycling routes today, mostly using the Eastern Trail(ET), which avoids busy roads, but adds lots of mileage as it darts in and out from the coast. It also means that we drop to the ocean and then climb back up into the interior several times. Part of our route took us on a freshly paved road, which was a real treat considering the road conditions of the past few days.
A nice short cut through the marsh near Scarsborough saved us some mileage and took us into a popular area frequented by nature lovers, fishermen, cyclists and herons who took advantage of this special landscape. It was here that I got bitten by a huge black fly. Guess that I can’t be in Maine without escaping the bite of one of these annoying pests.
The shoreline trail in Portland was torn up a bit, but we made our way to the East End Beach where we were greeted by a welcoming committee organized by Hilary.
Elizabeth and her daughter, Harriet were there, as was Erin, who bicycled with us in the Yucatan long ago. Hilary’s friend showed up as well and we discussed our next adventure, which I think might be hiking El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, which she had done parts of. The friendly folks from the Portland CVB also welcomed us, thanking us for choosing Portland as our endpoint. Little did they know that Portsmouth was sounding really good as the spot to dip the wheels.
Wende couldn’t attend, but sent a balloon bouquet. The group supplied champagne, cider and cupcakes. It was really a treat to have these people waiting for us at the end.
We dipped our wheels from the boat ramp, trying hard not to slip on the green slime.
After the group dispersed we had lunch at Gritty McDuff’s and then headed on our way to Bethel to meet Wende. After a too short visit, we continued on to Chatham, NH to meet with our friends, Sue and Tom, whom we hadn’t seen for a long time.
To say the least, our last day was full of excitement, but in some ways the end of the trip was anti-climactic. Maybe it was because the ocean had been right alongside of us for a few days. Or maybe it was because the entire trip seemed a distant(no pun intended) memory. That chilly day dipping the wheels at the state park in Oregon was just a few months ago, but seems either like just yesterday or eons ago.
