Practice Retirement Part 2

June 4, 1989 to August 31, 1989

Seattle, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine

The second segment of the Practice Retirement tour was on the Northern Tier bike route from Seattle to Bar Harbor, Maine.

June 4 thru August 31, 1989. Nearly 5000 miles (8000 km).

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It was a camping group tour organized by BikeCentennial (now Adventure Cycling Association). The group had a leader but we were independent with no support vehicle. The 90 day tour cost $1800. That is $20 per day but the group's budget was $10 per day per person for food and camping. I spent another $5 per day out of pocket for snacks, breakfast #2, and beer.

The group had 12 cyclists. The youngest was a Purdue university student who turned 21 during the tour. I turned 28 on day 3 of the tour. The oldest was a 66 year old retired Lutheran minister. We got along quite well. Nobody dropped out until the last week when two guys needed to go back to college and another guy needed to go home to teach school.

Group at the start in Seattle. Half the group were novice bike tourists. One woman had never camped before.

The weather was warm and sunny for the 5 passes in Washington. But we had cold weather going over the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park in Montana. 40F and breezy at Logan Pass, threatening to snow.

12 veteran bike tourists at the highest point of the Northern Tier bike route.

One of the most memorable rest days was at Waterton Lake National Park in Canada, surrounded by glacier carved peaks. Bighorn sheep roamed the campground.

In Minnesota I pedaled the loop around Lake Itasca, the headwaters of the Mississippi river. The no bikes sign didn't deter me from pedaling down a short trail and across the 6 inch deep Mississippi river. The older me wouldn't do that but it was a photo opportunity I will never forget. A couple days later we paddled canoes on the Mississippi river during a rest day in Winona.

Crossing the Mississippi river where it flows out of Lake Itasca.

The farm towns were sometimes interesting but the scenery was quite boring in Illinois and Indiana. Very flat, with only a view of the road ahead. I couldn't see over the corn stalks to the side. I was happy when the terrain became hilly again in eastern Ohio.

We camped in the back yard in Meadville, Pennsylvania. They served a big barbeque dinner and gave us matching t-shirts.

I vividly remember a day off at Watkins Glen, New York. Hiked the catwalk trails inside the canyon. In the evening I watched a lunar eclipse from my tent.

In New Hampshire I detoured from North Conway into Franconia Notch and took the aerial tramway to the summit of Cannon mountain. The tramway operator said that day had the best visibility of the year.

I saw northern lights for the first time while camping in a back yard in Dresden, Maine. Orange, red, green, yellow swirls across much of the sky for hours. I've seen northern lights twice since then, but only green streaks.

Just outside Bar Harbor, Maine I pedaled to the top of a 1500 foot high mound of pink granite called Cadillac mountain. A very prominent coastal mountain by east coast standards.

At the summit of Cadillac mountain 1500 feet above Bar Harbor, Maine.

In Bar Harbor the group had a celebratory lobster dinner. We stayed at the AYH hostel the last night before it closed permanently.

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