Mon., 9 September 2019 -- DAY 1

Calais to Dennysville

  

Starting this ride today was surreal. Well, actually, it was real. But it was hard to believe. Getting set up across from the US / Canada border. No, you cannot take pictures of any of the people or the building structures. The border patrol person did say we could come over and take the picture such that the Calais sign on the older brick building was showing. I decided instead to stay across the street, and have DL take one that didn’t show any other parts of the building (to the greatest extent possible). Then I cropped the photo to aid in thwarting all of the terrorists from getting the scoop on the border. By golly, they’ll have to drive up to Calais to get real specs!

Met a super nice officer in a marked vehicle at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. Interestingly, the Florida native had visited a friend’s place on the Toccoa River in Georgia. He had friends in Acworth and Athens. Gave me a fist bump for my goal to hit Key West. I gave him my blog card. So cool to have that kind of encouragement.

I wanted to hug the coast for a reason—elevation. But I knew from scouting that the roads were anything but flat in this part of Maine. All of my hours sitting on the trainer, focused on cadence, came in handy today. I climbed some hills. On one hill I was doing 2.6 mph. Any of you cyclists know that means you are struggling to stay upright and pedaling. I was grateful for low traffic on the busier roads so that I could criss-cross in the lane to stay upright on such hills. Y’all, I just don’t like hills. Give me a rail-trail grade any day of the week. (More on that, I’m sure.)

My start was odd. It was not perceptibly downhill. But I had to say, almost as an afterthought, good-bye to DL. Gone in a flash. I was impressed with the East Coast Greenway signage along paths with which I am not familiar. They really matched my cue sheets. (Non-riders: Cue sheets, as you might expect, tell me the mileage point of each turn, and how long until the next turn or major intersection.)

However, at the point I was to join the Down East Sunrise Tail, the road signs directed me forward. I took that, and then had to use a combination of Google Maps and the East Coast Greenway alternate Trail maps. I made it, but shaved off 3 miles by having DL pick me up at a place I had not originally planned (not on my cue sheet).

Good day, and I felt strong. Always a plus.

27 miles. (3 miles short of my original plan)