Portsmouth to Portland

June 6, 2015

We started out the day right with a hearty breakfast at The Friendly Toast.

Why doesn't Washington have breakfast places like this?

This place was crazy packed. Yesterday's eatery was packed as well. Seems northerners like breakfast and lunch out (we've seen multiple places that only do the first two meals of the day) and dinner in. Washington is all about lunch and dinner. Who gets breakfast? No time for that! Well, there is when you're touring:

My very hearty huevos rancheros, Friendly Toast style.

After breakfast, we said goodbye to Portsmouth and headed for Maine.

Today's ride to Portsmouth

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Note: Like yesterday, my Garmin was off for part of today's ride, something like 30 miles, so I had to rebuild part of the route. But, like yesterday, the supporting data (speed, etc.) is screwed up.

We didn't have far to go, less than a mile. When we arrived at the border, we were greeted with quite the sight.

A lift span dedicated to the veterans of World War I . . . not II, but I. I'm guessing this bridge dates to the 1930s.

But this bridge, while nice, was not signed with a border demarcation or even a "Welcome to Maine" greeting. So on we toiled, looking for our photo op. We soon came across our friends from WomanTours again at the second crossing with a minor indication we were in Maine, which everyone jumped on for photos, us included.

Our turn at the state line bumping fists (that was my idea).

It was overcast but promised to warm up. And it did. So after a bit of hill climbing up the Piscataqua River Valley, I had generated enough heat to make it very hot to keep my jacket on. We went about nine miles before turning north and enjoying the Maine countryside on mostly quiet roads.

A typical road through the Maine countryside.

We only had one challenge. Again we were directed to an unpaved road. But it didn't appear until we were well down that path! After consulting a map, I realized this "shortcut" only took us off ME-4 and ME-9 for a short distance, but we decided to push on regardless.

The dirt road to Halifax. Not our first!

And briefly it got worse. Then returned to a hard surface after about a mile and a half.

All part of the adventure! Eventually we picked up a rail trail, which, except for a slight diversion in Biddeford and Saco, took us straight into South Portland.

A nice custom-built bridge over the interstate.

The Eastern Trail is only paved at the approaches to road crossings and at bridges.

Two problems I noted: A lot of people do not leash their dogs. Apparently that's OK up here, but it does cause problems when passing pedestrians with their dogs, as you might imagine. Dog owners seem to think they can control their dogs with a verbal command. Most of them are wrong in that assumption!

The second problem was with trail erosion. One particular section had experienced a significant amount, and the maintenance solution was to backfill with . . . sand! Do these people ride bikes? Seriously, at 10-12 mph, you are going to hit a sand trap too fast to react properly. If you are using clip-ins, you either push through or fall over. Some of the sand was pretty deep (several inches), and pushing through with even a lightly loaded bike is not easy.

I don't want to sound too negative, as it's a great trail! And passes through some wonderful terrain:

The Eastern Trail passes through the Nonesuch River estuary.

We arrived in Portland in good order, crossing into the city on the Casco Bay Bridge, which gave us a great view of the port and the historic waterfront!

We did a quick tour of downtown before finding our hotel, which was well located. Tomorrow is a rest day, so we have plenty of time to explore!

Like Portsmouth, Portland, ME reminds me of an east coast Portland, OR! I will come back for a longer visit.

Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 2,447 miles (3,938 km)

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