Portland ME

Sanford ME to Portland ME

The Final Ride for BBBRAA 

35 Miles

Today started and ended like every other day but the middle was amazing and very emotional. We started with a beautiful suntise and the morning rush to get ready and ended with a little hill to our hotel.

The final cue sheet

But knowing this was our last ride of our cross country adventure made every moment special and I cherished every mile as I rode.

Of course there was the beautiful, tree-lined gravel path for about 14 milesthat slowed me down a bit but our group gathered at designated places so that we could ride to our finish at East End Beach together. The big surprise of the day was seeing Matt and Molly on rented bikes as we rode across the bridge into Portland. They joined us for the last few miles to the beach and then lent their expertise to the photo ops. They even sent the photos to family to let everyone know mission accomplished.

On the bridge into Portland

Celebrating at East End Beach

On Sunday morning we said goodbye to our trusty bikes and packed the van to begin its journey to Milwaukee. The enormity of my accomplishment finally began to register and I could barely think of the trip without crying. 

And as I'm not yet ready to give up biking consuming a large part of my day after lunch with Matt, Molly, and Nancy at a yummy local, organic cafe, I spent time compiling my statistics for the ride:

*11 family members and friends (Ali, Ina, AJ, H, Michelle, Rob, Jon, Rachel, Sandi, Matt, Molly) who joined me for some part of the trip and supported me throughout

Ali and Jon, Ina and AJ and H came to celebrate
the sendoff weekend in Portland

Rob joined me for several days of riding in Wisconsin

Rachel and Sandi joined me for two long days of riding along the Erie Canal in New York

Jon hosted our group at Google for lunch and a tour
and gifted everyone with Google Bike to Work shirts

Matt and Molly surprised me for the final miles to Portland Maine and the Atlantic Ocean

*3000 miles of biking and 82,000 feet of climbing (up mountains)

*Steepest day Tilton, New Hampshire to Sanford, Maine 3665 feet of climbing over 53 miles with an average speed of 10 mph (so also the slowest day)

*Fastest day White Sulphur Springs, MT to Harlowton, MT 58 miles with an average speed of 18 mph and a maximum speed of 38.1 mph

*Flattest day Webster, SD to Ortonville, MN 315 feet of climbing (basically flat as can be) over 34 miles and an average speed of 17.5 mph

*0 colds or medical problems
*15 mins of light rain while riding

*3 flat tires, 2 new tires

*3 pairs of cleats

*4 birthdays celebrated (Rhonda, Larry, Nancy - 60, Pete - 70)

*1 fall while standing (not on my bike) and 1 fall while standing with my bike

*100+ peanut butter and jelly sandwiches eaten

*200+ Vega supplements that kept me healthy throughout the trip

*1 continent, 2 countries, 13 states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and the province of Ontario, Canada)

*2 oceans (Atlantic, Pacific)

*3 great lakes (Michigan, Ontario, Erie)

*1 Erie Canal

And most importantly: 

*12 people I've ridden with from Portland to Portland (Nancy, Chris, Mary, Suzanne, Nevin, Pete, Harold, Pat, Rhonda, Jim, Larry and Roger)

*10 people who've joined us to ride a part of our journey (Rob, Joel, Harold's son, Patrick, Tessa, Jean, Paul, Pete's brother Scott, Rachel, Sandi)

*9 people who've driven our SAG vehicles and supported us at our rest stops and before and after the daily rides (Keith and Martha, Damon and Cindy, Sam, Tessa, Mike, Joy, Sandra)

*2 dogs who lightened up our days

*2 vegan companies that supplied complimentary goodies - Veggie Grill and Vega

*2 friends of friends (Gene, Peggy, Marie) who supplied a bike and a pie party at our finish in Saratoga Springs

*2 co-organizers who made this trip happen - Nancy and Chris.

All loaded up and ready to head home to Milwaukee

The Final State

Tilton NH to Sanford ME

55 Miles

Today we entered Maine on our way to our final destination of Portland Maine. The day started with a lot of difficult climbs of 10-15% with at least 2 miles on sandy, gravelly road making it quite challenging although extremely beautiful. 

Crossing into Maine, the Final State

The Sag van also had a hard day, getting a flat along that same sandy, gravelly road due to a big hole in the tire. With the help of Harold and Chris however the van was back on the road in no time and tonight continued on to its final destination of Portland ME. The van will spend tonight in Portland so our group can all ride to the finish together tomorrow.  

And tomorrow I will see Matt and Molly at East End Beach in Portland ME where we will dip our front wheels into the Atlantic Ocean to commemorate finishing our journey.

Thought it Was All Downhill After Yesterday-Not

Quechee VT to Tiltin NH

58 Miles

On the way to New Hampshire today I was surprised by the amount of climbing as I thought it was downhill after yesterday but it wasn't. However, the climbs were manageable but there was traffic and broken road surfaces for the first half that made the ride more challenging.  To add to the difficulty the skies were dark and ominous and we had our first rain in 58 days of riding. Luckily it was only a fine mist, lasted a short time, and was not accompanied by thunder and lightning. 

The second half of the ride was more downhill on better roads and I could enjoy the beautiful scenery.  Nancy and I rode the last mile to our hotel on a gravel path alongside a babbling brook. 

At night most of us ordered food to the hotel and we talked about plans to celebrate the end of our journey on Saturday. 

Steepest Climb Yet

Rutland VT to Quechee VT

42 Miles

Today's ride very quickly led us to an 8 mile climb up to Killington.  I've skied in the Northeast so I knew what to expect. In actuality Chris planned an exceptional route with most climbs under 9% so not too bad but our total climb for those 8 miles was around 1500 feet.  I rode with Nancy and we took our time, enjoyed the views, and then the descent into the town of Woodstock VT and then Quechee VT and the breathtaking Quechee Gorge.  Hope its all downhill to the Atlantic Ocean from here.

At night we went to Simon Pearce, first enjoying the tranquil mirror-like river setting

then visiting the glass blowing studio and shop

followed by dinner at the farm to table restaurant. 

Not sure if you can tell but there was a major thunderstorm outside hopefully followed by clear skies tomorrow. 

The Final Push Begins

Saratoga Springs NY to Rutland VT

75 Miles

Today began our last week of riding as we head for Portland Maine. We are all thinking of what the trip has meant, staying healthy and safe for the last few hundred miles, and how it will be to return to our everyday lives afterwards. 

Today's ride was mostly on rolling hills with beautiful vistas below.

Nancy coming up the hill

Entering Vermont

View from our hotel (credit to Suzanne for the photo)

At night we went downtown to a wonderful organic, farm to table restaurant, Roots. They were so busy we ordered food to go. I had tofu, bean cakes, and kale salad and then a fantastic green juice and vegan cookies at the Yellow Deli. 

Saratoga Springs

Rest Day before we begin our last of riding as we head for Portland Maine

Saratoga Springs is known for its historic racetracks and restorative spring water. Our hotel was a few miles out of town but had a shuttle to downtown so after our usual chores of cleaning our bikes, doing laundry, updating paperwork and hotel arrangements, etc we headed there. 

Walking around the adjacent neighborhood we saw stately mansions (many are now B&Bs) 

and on the Main Street a lot of street art 

including chalk drawings (Don't give up your daydream)

race horse sculptures 

and ballet shoe sculptures. 

We had lunch at Scallions, which had a vegan menu, a real treat. After our hundreds of miles biking this week I think Suzanne and I ordered every vegan item on the menu. We then had non dairy gelato afterwards.