This was intended to be a less intensive day. 45 miles from Bucksport to Rockport. Instead, it was a grueling day of 8 hours on the bike.
Morning we awoke from a sleep of about 12 hours. Next I fixed the flat rear tire. It had been punctured by a sliver of metal about 1/3″ in length. Put in a new tube rather than risk putting on a faulty patch and doing it all over again on the road. In all I did it in 30 minutes.
We hit the road feeling good and sagged water. The route took us over the Penobscot Narrows bridge and later a footbridge in Belfast. Overall pleasant.
In Belfast we hit road work on route 1 and Chilly (my partner) caught her tire on the curb and crashed hard. She bruised her shoulder and came up with several cuts on her arm and leg. The bike was much worse, with a significantly bent handlebar and seat. Also, the rim was bent. We straightened out the seat and handlebar, but couldn’t do anything with the wheel. Next bike shop was 20+ miles away in Rockport. She could ride as it was.
The next 20 miles was hill upon hill. I blew a chain in Lincolnville and filled up the air in my back tire several times.
Once we hit Camden things improved. Ate lunch at a cafe then took a scenic ride to Rockland. Got Chilly’s rim fixed at the shop then headed to Megunticook campground. Seems to be nice here- well shaded but the sites are close together. Serves as an RV park, but we are somewhat away from those bastards.
My posts may get short due to battery conservation. Tomorrow we shoot for Brunswick.
Ouch. I hope Chilly recovers quickly. Sounds like a brutal day. Keep those cranks turning y’all. Seems that the shake down tour is working a lot of the bugs out, well I hope so anyway. Keep up te good work you guys and safe travels.
Chilly is doing okay, but is tight through the shoulder. She’s quite a tough filly.
My wife and I bike toured the Rockland area, down to port clyde and around the pennisula last fall. Very hilly indeed!!!
Hey, you caught a typo. I just updated the post. We were in Rockport, not Rockland. But Rockland is sweet! Wish we could have biked through there.