Day Ninety - time to celebrate in Bar Harbor, Maine

Thirty three years ago today we were married so we have much to celebrate, our anniversary and completing our journey on the Northern Tier.  Our journey of 89 days consisted of 4,301 miles coast to coast across 11 states in the U.S. and the southern most part of Canada. When starting, we dipped our back wheel in the Pacific Ocean and as we finished we dipped the front wheel in the Atlantic Ocean. Since we are in Maine we decided the best way to celebrate would be a lobster dinner.

Now the time has come to pack up and head home.  We decided rental of a mini van would be the easiest and most economical way home. After folding the seats down, removing the front wheel on the bike and disassembly of the trailer everything including our gear packed nicely in the back.  Another 'road trip', driving home.

Dipping the front wheel in the Atlantic 

Together, we did it!

Mel, this picture is for you! ( Mel, with Tandems East built our wheels.  Before leaving on our trip Ronnie asked Mel for extra spokes in case we broke one. Mel told Ronnie he wanted a picture of him holding up the spare spokes when we finished because the wheels he made for us would hold up and Ronnie would not need the spokes). We should have had him build wheels for our trailer!!

Best wheels ever, they stood up to rough roads and never broke a spoke!

When in Maine, eat lobster!

The sun sets on our journey

This trip was an amazing journey that would not have been possible without the love and support from our family and friends!

Day Eighty Nine - North Conway, New Hampshire to Portland, Maine Our last day on the bike!

Day 89

August 13th

Thursday 

Miles 58

North Conway, New Hampshire to Portland, Maine  

Last night we did not sleep well, possibly in anticipation of this being our last day.

 It was a beautiful day, perfect weather for riding. The temperature was 54 degrees as we left North Conway early hoping to get through the remaining road construction before morning traffic increased. We rode on wet, packed dirt for almost two miles before reaching the Maine state line entering the town of Fryeburg.  After Fryeburg traffic picked up and the road became very rough with no shoulder. When it had a shoulder it was too broken up to ride on so this part of the ride was slow and stressful. We decided to stop in the next town, Bridgeton, to enjoy breakfast on the patio of a local cafe serving fresh baked goods and quiche. After discussing the route, and at the recommendation of locals we decided to take highway 302 to Naples then on to Portland.  We had a lot of hills, traffic was heavy, but on this road we had a good, wide shoulder. Between towns we rode through forested areas and past several lakes.

We knew we were getting close to the coast as we started seeing restaurants serving lobster, even McDonalds had a sign that advertised lobster rolls. We arrived in Portland and enjoyed  having bike lanes as we made our way to a hotel close to the airport. 

Our last day on the bike!  Wow, it is hard to believe what we set out to accomplish has been done and we won't be getting up tomorrow morning to ride to the next destination. It is great to finish riding 4300 miles coast to coast. It feels exciting and sad at the same time.

The road shimmering in the sun, there is a lot mica in the gravel used.

Perfect place to live summer and winter

Beautiful lakes

Yachts being built in Windham, Maine

Day Eighty Eight - Lincoln, New Hampshire to Center Conway, New Hampshire

Day 88

August 12th

Wednesday 

Miles 44

Lincoln, New Hampshire to Center Conway, New Hampshire 

A late start today because of broken axles on 'Tug' our trailer.  The weight and rough roads took their final toll on not one, but both wheels. Thankfully this happened in Lincoln and not out in the middle of nowhere. We waited for Rodgers Ski and Bicycle shop in Lincoln to open at nine hoping they would have two wheels.  They had inexpensive wheels we could purchase along with tires since our tires did not fit these wheels. It was almost noon before we were on our way to climb Kancamagus pass.  The weather was nice, only partly cloudy. The worst part of leaving so late, traffic was fairly heavy. This is a popular ski and summer vacation spot for people from Boston and New York because of easy access on Interstate 93. We can't imagine what weekend traffic would be like.  The ride and views were lovely, thick foliage and trees of the White Mountain Forest with the river flowing alongside much of the route and a few waterfalls.  The climb was not as difficult as we expected or had been told.  It was a pleasant, easy ride on good road with a gradual climb most of the way having a 9% grade the last few miles. The descent was a nice long one, not as steep as many we had in previous days. There were 32 miles between services today and we were not sure where we would stop.  After battling heavy traffic and delays from road construction - two areas with single lane traffic and two areas of dirt, we decided to call it a day in Conway and plan an early start tomorrow.

Day Eighty Seven - North Haverhill, New Hampshire to Lincoln, New Hampshire

Day 87

August 11th

Tuesday

Miles 25

North Haverhill, New Hampshire to Lincoln, New Hampshire 

Our route today took us into the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Beautiful scenery following a river with a few waterfalls as we climbed to around 1800 ft. past a beautiful lake at the top. Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures with the camera because of the rain, pictures below were taken with the phone as we climbed.

Forecast 100% chance of rain!  The forecast we saw reported a small amount of rain expected so we thought it would be light showers.  We were wrong and the rain got heavier as we approached the top of our climb and included gusty wind. We were soaked by the time we arrived in Lincoln.  The Lodge in Lincoln allowed us to check in for a room at 11 a.m. to get out of our wet clothes and warm up.  We are very thankful we have had nice weather for the majority of our trip and rarely had to ride in rain.

It rained hard all day so Ronnie took advantage of the quiet afternoon indoors to replace brake pads on the tandem and another broken spoke on the trailer. The 12% plus grade descents the last few days took a toll on our brake pads. The rough roads continue to take a toll on the trailer wheels.  The weather across the northern states wreaks havoc on the roads and many of them are not maintained well making them dangerous for bicycles. 

Tomorrow we have a twelve mile climb to Kancamagus pass, the last mountain pass of our journey.

Day Eighty Six - Bethel, Vermont to North Haverhill, New Hampshire

Day 86

August 10th

Monday 

Miles 55

Bethel, Vermont to North Haverhill, New Hampshire 

Today's ride took us through Royalton, and then South Royalton, a charming village that is home to the Vermont School of Law. We stopped at the food coop to buy fruit and snacks for the day's ride. It is nice to find these special grocery stores, the owner said we would see them more often as we traveled east. When leaving South Royalton we passed a large organic farm and two picturesque horse farms among the green hills and tall trees. 

On the descent from Thetford Hill we had a blowout on the rear tandem tire.  Scary, scary moments until Ronnie safely brought it to a stop.  Thankfully it was towards the bottom where the hill was not as steep, we were only going around 20 miles per hour, and the bicycle stayed straight. We had an extra tire and tube so it did not take Ronnie long to get us back on the road.  A local cyclist stopped to be sure we were okay and had everything needed for repairs.

After traveling through Stafford and Thetford we entered state #10 as we rode across the Connecticut River into New Hampshire.  We immediately turned onto River Road lined with a canopy of trees providing shade and a cool breeze. The next town was Orford, there we rode past seven of the original homes built when the village was established. Many of the homes and farms we are seeing in New Hampshire date back to the 1700's. There seem to be more brick and stone homes in New Hampshire and many of the homes are magnificent in size and style. The barns are a little different but just as stunning and one we saw today was round. We saw additional horse farms with wood fences on green rolling hills - most for English jumping. We continue to see the American flag being flown by many homeowners and businesses. 

We followed the Connecticut River most of the afternoon then had the opportunity to camp by it with a splendid view of Vermont mountains on the other side. The camp ground, River Meadows is one of the nicest and cleanest we have camped at.  The camp hosts greeted us and offered to let us set up under the pavilion because there was a slight chance for rain. The pavilion was next to a pond with a water feature that was relaxing to listen to. We had a nice table with comfortable chairs-something we rarely had this trip and, best of all our own washroom. This would be a beautiful place to spend the summer! 

Bridge crossing the White River into Royalton, VT 

Home to the Vermont School of Law

Vermont Horse Farm

One of many one lane bridges

Break time

Looking across the river at Vermont from New Hampshire 

One of the first homes built in Orford

From our campsite in New Hampshire- the Connecticut River separating Vermont and New Hampshire