June 9, 2015
Wiscasset to Belfast
This morning looked as "cold" as yesterday but was actually warmer when I finally stepped out into it at about 8:30 AM. Cold is a relative term, as I'm used to June being reliably warm. Not so in Maine, compounded by the cool spring we're having just about everywhere on the East Coast. Also, rain predictions for today were worse than yesterday, something north of 60% with thunderstorms. They never materialized, but that was the threat as we departed our hotel looking for breakfast.
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Our prospects were not good. No diners and no real breakfast places. A breakfast desert of sorts. In downtown Wiscasset, just before the bridge over the Sheepscot River, we found a bakery/coffee shop of sorts and stopped. I had a croissant that was so-so at best with a large coffee, and Happy had a frittata with coffee as well. We were there till 9:30 and watched life in Wiscasset pass us by.
There was a diner in Waldoboro, 20 miles up US-1, so that was our next target. Crossing the Sheepscot River, I snapped a few pictures of Wiscasset.
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To get anywhere in Maine, you need to spend at least some time on US-1. It's a busy road and not that much fun to cycle, but it will take you places that are. And that was the case today. And most everywhere, it has wide shoulders and relatively decent scenery in some spots. But it is noisy.
Eventually, we arrived in Waldoboro and settled into Deb's Diner, one of two in town. It was good and had friendly service (it's a diner after all), and Happy and I both ordered a crab and Swiss cheese omelet. Very tasty with excellent home fries (the best on the trip so far) and thick rye toast. Lots of carbs. We had already done a number of hills, some long and steep, and we would soon be leaving US-1 for secondary roads where the hills would be less forgiving.
And that turned out to be the best part of the day. Our course to Belfast would cover 53 miles or so, and we had already put 19 to bed. So about 32 to go, and it was only 11:30 when we had finished breakfast. And still no rain.
The remainder of the ride was through the country on what sounds like major highways (ME-225, 131, and 175) but had little or no traffic. Some of the route even covered more minor roads, one of which became a hard-packed dirt road (possibly oiled) that we navigated without fear.
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As you can see in the picture, we did get some sunshine today, but not much. For most of the day it was overcast and foggy. I thought more than once that maybe I should mount my helmet light, but I was wearing my bright yellow rain jacket and felt sufficiently visible. The fog finally turned to a heavy mist that would eventually create, from time to time, a drop of water on my helmet rim, but it wasn't a falling rain. Not till later!
And later came awfully close to the end of the day. About 10 miles out of Belfast, the mist picked up to a light drizzle (which, if you have read my previous posts, can be enjoyable to ride in), but it disappeared shortly after it started. Happy then stopped for Gatorade (which we do on a regular basis). I was thinking, we're awfully close to Belfast and hot chocolate, but he convinced me to linger a bit. After a couple of gulps, it opened up! We had six miles to go, and I booked it hard, getting to Main Street and a decent coffee shop by 3:00 PM.
So we dried off a bit, and I ordered two hot chocolates and a carrot cupcake for myself and a pumpkin whoopee pie for Happy (Happy is a whoopee kind of guy). Over this, we sorted out our hospitality options and settled on Alden House. Good choice and the only one where we got a live answer!
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Today we did the most climbing of any day so far on this trip!
Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 2,547 miles (4,099 km)
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