Freeport to Belfast

When the topic of blueberries and cultivation in Maine came up at dinner the night before, Rachel had mentioned that blueberry pancakes for breakfast might be on the table, so to speak.  When I smelled them in the morning, I could hardly contain my excitement.  They were delicious and, after some last-minute bike geek chat in the garage looking at her various noble steeds, I headed off into the sunshine.  I had a second breakfast in Wiscasset of a peanut butter and honey sandwich Rachel had packed for me and enjoyed the company of several people in the vicinity.  I then managed to prolong this second breakfast by getting a large amount of hot chocolate and deciding that I had to drink it then and there to avoid risk of spillage.  A great morning stop.

Unfortunately they weren't open to go inside, but perhaps the mystery of the Bikeman is best

Morning hot chocolate and sandwich stop

The road was great riding when I finally did continue on my way, with lots of shoulder, not much traffic, and plenty of coastal nooks and inlets.  I did, however, note that my long break in the sunshine meant that even when it started to rain I really did need to keep on riding if I wanted to make it to Belfast in the daylight.  When rain turned to hail, I figured that there was no good place for shelter, so I put on all of the reflective gear I had with me and kept going.  After a good 15-20 minutes of this, I rode a few dozen metres past a dark building that said 'Pub', saw the giant hill looming ahead, and turned back to see if the front door was open.  Indistinguishable from a drowned rat, I asked if they had coffee, gave a big smile to the three people inside, and made sure Nancy had a spot out of the elements before sitting down.  I nursed my cup of sugar-laden coffee for nearly an hour while looking at maps, making a few phone calls, and talking to the folks around.  When the hail turned to raindrops, I figured it was time to be on my way and conquer the hill.  Thanks to the caffeine (a shock to body that is not used to coffee, especially at 3pm), the sugar, the low temperature, and the whole ridiculousness of the situation, the hill was not so big after all and I trudged along contentedly.  At one point, I passed a big outdoor store and went inside to "look around" aka drool over their gear, regain feeling in my soggy toes, and chat about routes with the bicycle folks.  If the retail in the area is any indication, Maine certainly knows how to have good fun recreating in the outdoors!

The last few dozen miles to Spencer's, my Warmshowers host for the evening, turned out to be filled with intermittent hail (thank goodness for reflective vests and solid helmets to deflect falling objects), patches of glorious sunshine, and deafening rain.  It certainly suited my mood for the day as, between bouts of squinting through precipitation to try and stay safe and moving on the road, I was flip-flopping between chomping at the bit to get home by the weekend and wholeheartedly savouring the people and places I came across throughout the day.  How's that for philosophizing?

Check out those blue skies and hail clouds.  Nancy certainly was decked out in raingear for the day.

After some very slow uphills and gleeful downhills between Camden and the green building just shy of Belfast that indicated a turn in Spencer's directions, I was happy to turn off of Route 1 and find the house address.  While I had thought I might wind up arriving in the dark thanks to my mood- and weather-spurred efforts of cycling procrastination, there wound up being daylight to spare.  Nancy was quickly set up for the night in the shed and I was lucky enough to arrive in time to have supper with Spencer and his housemates.  They were all wonderful cooks and, showing up with only a first-hand weather report from the day and an extra set of dishwashing hands, I was immediately made to feel comfortable in their beautiful home.  An evening of conversation about the joys (and challenges) of technology, travel, bicycles, and all sorts of coastal lore ensued, and I went to sleep feeling excited for the days of bicycling to follow as I near the end of this trip.