58.6 miles, 14.7 mph; Odometer: 3888 – Belfast, ME to Bar Harbor, ME

KEVIN – We knew when we went to bed what we were in for. Maureen drove us to the start about 1 1/2 hours from camp. Andy played rain-themed songs the whole way. We were dressed for the weather. The ride was easier than we expected. We rode parallel to the coast but we only had glimpses of inlets. It was exciting to see Suzi and Maureen on the Atlantic coast.

The entire trip has been great.

Riley, Lauren and Peach helped us get started and learn how to live in a travel trailer. The Cascade elevation profiles looked daunting but Riley rode with me without complaint.

Steve worked hard to join us and then return to his family. Seeing him ride out to us from Bad Medicine Campground gave us energy to finish that day. Then we rode through Glacier National Park together.

Elizabeth was a trooper. She tolerated my teasing and rode every mile that she had an opportunity to ride across Minnesota. I especially missed her super powers after she left. She was able to see the RV camps way out. She also played the valuable role that Sigourney Weaver played in Galaxy Quest. I could not hear my phone but Elizabeth could. She would repeat the instructions. Andy and I could have used her in Rochester where we started following the Genesee River and rode toward downtown. This caused a big back track to the Erie Canal.

Kathey and Hannah provided fresh faces and meals, crab cakes and ranger cookies. They made improvements to the trailer and fed us ice cream.

Madison rides well, especially when you get her talking about something she is passionate about. “Bicycle” became a solid piece of Leslynn’s vocabulary and we played “run away” in the trailer.

Maureen and Andy arrived, providing a tremendous boost. Andy and I daily did our rendition of the tortoise and hare. He burst out pulling me all morning. We traded more in the afternoon, then we kept riding near the end when bodies were ready to stop.

My task was uncomplicated. Ride my bike.

Suzi’s role has been complicated in many ways. She thought through the trip, bought the trailer, outfitted it, then dealt with the daily living – feeding, cleaning, finding campgrounds, connecting with Elizabeth, Kathey & Hannah, Madison & Leslynn, Andy & Maureen. She also kept up with our other life with unwavering help from Ballad.

My job was simple. Suzi made it happen.

It has been a privilege.

Thank you.

P. S. We hiked on day 57 in the rain rather than ride. About 2/3 of the way up, my shoulders started to ache a little. I clasped my hands together and put them on my head. The ache went away. My arms have not been down at my sides for weeks. Shoulder muscles have atrophied.

I have been focused on my singular task without looking beyond. I was surprised when Google Maps told me I was 48 hours drive from home.

SUZI – Funny how this format has given me the last word. I plan to fill in a few gaps so that our blog will be a memory journal for us.

One last bit of luck was to find hot showers for Andy and Kevin near Bar Harbor, so that they could warm up and we could all celebrate over lunch.

When Kevin asked me if Sigourney Weaver was the actress in Galaxy Quest, I asked him who in his blog story played Sigourney Weaver’s part. Galaxy Quest is a very funny movie that we recommend. The character Gwen repeats all of the computer’s instructions to the space ship captain. As she says, “I have one job on this lousy ship. It’s stupid, but I’m going to do it, okay?” I did not know why he was using that character to illustrate something about his bike ride, but I thought that Gwen’s description of her job could apply to any number of us, including Kevin.

I’m so glad we did this stupid, pointless thing. I’m grateful for all the reasons we were able to do it, all the luck we had in being successful, and all the people who helped make it better. Thank you Riley, Lauren, Tom, Judy, Steve, Elizabeth, Kathey, Hannah, Madison, Leslynn, Andy and Maureen for trusting us, making sacrifices to be with us, and improving the whole experience with your presence.

To Kevin – once again, you had an idea and made it happen – Congratulations!

EXTRAS – Here are a few photos from the last days of the trip – sightseeing etc.

The photos above are views from our final campground, Megunticook by the Sea in Rockport, Maine.

Below are glimpses of the Portland Head Light lighthouse with its well-tended buildings, museum and historical notes. We visited on July 6 before starting our drive home the next day.

July 5 was spent hiking and sightseeing near Bar Harbor. We drove through Acadia National Park on Mt Desert Island near Bar Harbor. The holiday crowds kept us from hiking there, so we found a nice hike on the south end of the island. After lunch in town, we toured Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory, the world’s tallest public bridge overlook. Beautiful day.

72.7 miles, 15.6 mph; Odometer: 3829 – Brunswick, ME to Belfast, ME

KEVIN – I did not ride yesterday. It rained hard. We took the cog train to the top of Mount Washington and hiked.

Today the ride was cold with rollers and a headwind but no rain. We ate lunch 18 miles from the end at a shack outside. My teeth were chattering as we pulled out but I warmed up again quickly.

Andy told me of a colleague at Accenture who had been in the military. They were celebrating a milestone achieved on a project. The colleague was concerned that they had allowed their team to “take their packs off” and that it would be hard to get going again on the project. He was referencing military maneuvers where it was hard to get the troops moving after a break. I understand.

Tomorrow is 58 miles to the end.

SUZI – The holiday weekend meant more shuttling between campgrounds and the bike route, since many campgrounds had been booked solid long before we could have made our reservations. Nevertheless, we managed to get into reasonable sites. As we started to think about the end of the ride and our drive home, new chores popped up such as obtaining an electronic toll pass for all the toll roads between Maine and Chicago.

We passed this roadside ‘jam’ stand several times and finally stopped to buy some jam. It was drive thru, self serve, honor system shopping.

(131 miles to go); Odometer: 3756

SUZI – On Thursday night, we moved the trailer up to the Mt. Washington Cog Railway to spend the night in the parking lot. This business is a Harvest Host, which allows campers to stay for free on their property in exchange for patronizing their business. It was the coolest night since Andy and Maureen arrived, both in the circumstances of our camp and in the weather. We all enjoyed sleeping without air conditioning.

Friday morning, we caught the 8am cog train to the summit of Mt. Washington. The history and engineering of this railway are fascinating. The brakemen and other employees of the business are friendly and informative. They say that Mt. Washington has the “World’s Worst Weather.” On Thursday, when Maureen and I first visited the mountain, we had lovely weather and great views from the top. On Friday, it was cool with fog and drizzle, no views.

Still, we were all glad to have spent our pleasant night there. After our view-less ride up and down the mountain, we cooked a good breakfast in the trailer, then found a hike in the forest before leaving the White Mountains. The hiking trails on Mt. Washington would be worth a return trip and include part of the Appalachian Trail.

77.4 miles, 16.2 mph, Odometer: 3756 – Conway, NH to Brunswick, Maine

KEVIN – Plans changed. Looking at the weather for tomorrow (head wind and 100% chance of rain for the entire route), we decided to ride today and take tomorrow off. We are staying on the back roads. When Andy and I ride together, we are riding harder than I ride alone.

Brunswick is near the Atlantic ocean. We will ride inland again on Saturday and on the coast on Sunday.

SUZI – This day exemplified the difficulty in planning throughout our adventure. Rather than just pass through the White Mountains as we had passed through so many interesting areas, we had made plans to take a day off from biking for some exploring together. We bought tickets for the cog train and hoped to go for a hike, but Mother Nature intervened. Tomorrow’s weather forecast looked dismal for biking, so the boys decided it was essential to get some biking miles on this good-weather day. We all wanted the boys to be able to reach Bar Harbor on July 4, before real life would force Andy and Maureen to head home. So off the boys rode, leaving Maureen and I with four tickets on the cog train. We made the best of it, enjoyed the activity and the spectacular views from Mt. Washington. All the shifting plans meant extra hours shuttling cyclists and vehicles back and forth. But little frustrations seemed less bothersome as excitement was building for the end of the ride.

74.2 miles, 15.7 mph, Odometer: 3679 – Orford, NH to Conway, NH

KEVIN – Andy and I rode the last big climbs of the trip today. We rode through White Mountain National Forest. It is lush and beautiful. We rode in dense forest and would break out with views of the rolling terrain. We rode along the Saco River. Many small falls of clear water over rocks with pools attract the locals, who were out in droves.

Tomorrow I am taking my second day off from riding since the beginning of the trip. Tonight I planned my last three riding days to Bar Harbor.

SUZI – Last night we stayed at Jacob’s Brook Campground near Orford, New Hampshire. This was one of those campgrounds with a good looking website and disappointing reality. It served our purpose but certainly didn’t live up to its online marketing. The weather didn’t help as we pulled in to light rain and puddles everywhere. The proprietor stated decidedly that it wasn’t rain, “just humidity”, as if we wouldn’t know the difference. Later he collected our cash payment, then failed to communicate with his wife, who charged our credit card. She was happy to refund the error. He was an incompetent jerk.

By this point in the trip, Maureen and I had experienced about enough random campground bathrooms and chose more often to use the trailer shower. It really was quite functional once you learned its tricks.

98.9 miles, 14.2 mph, Odometer: 3605 – Bridport, VT to Orford, NH

KEVIN – Andy shuttled me back to my starting point early, then he had a work day. The two biggest climbs started straight up. I was concerned that it would not flatten out. Both did ease off. They both required my lowest gear and at times I could only manage 5 mph. The second climb was mid-day and hot. Sweat was blinding me so I stopped just short of the top. I spent a few minutes by the side of the road then crested and descended to the next town. As I arrived, a woman came out of the local store straight to me and handed me a bottle of water. She had seen me by the side of the road and was planning to drive back up the hill to give me water. She is a teacher. It was a good day.

SUZI – While Kevin rode and Andy worked from a cafe, Maureen and I prowled around this old New England college town, Middlebury, VT. Through the center of town runs Otter Creek, quite large for a creek. It was another hot day so we slowly walked the hilly streets to see the waterfalls and history markers, then slipped in some cool shops and, finally, headed out to find lunch before our drive to the next camp. Pulling the trailer trough the narrow streets of Middlebury, I had to thread orange cones in a work zone and got thumbs up from some construction workers who were stopped at the end of the zone and, thus, a captive audience to my driving show.

53.7 miles, 16.4 mph, Odometer: 3506 – Newcomb, NY to Bridport, VT

KEVIN – More rollers with steeper hills. Near the end of our ride, we crested a hill to a beautiful view of Lake Champlain. We crossed into Vermont. We are planning a big day tomorrow with both miles and elevation.

SUZI – This beautiful drive took some concentration as the roads were narrow and sometimes steep. It was a day of detours and side trips to find a campsite for the night. We finally landed at the Green Mountain Family Camp, a modest place with helpful hosts. We hooked up to electric and cooled down in A/C on this humid 90 degree day. Meanwhile, it was 111 degrees in Vancouver, WA as a heat dome cooked the Pacific northwest. Dinner in Middlebury was relaxing and delicious!

58.9 miles, 15.4 mph, Odometer: 3452 – Old Forge, NY to Newcomb, NY

KEVIN – More rollers and my first flat (less than a mile from camp.) Helpful wind. Andy, Maureen and Suzi went for a hike. Tomorrow Vermont.

SUZI – The Newcomb Cafe and Campground is under new ownership and management by one extended family. The cafe has a good reputation. We pulled in and immediately walked from camp to the cafe for lunch before Kevin arrived. Our campsite was beside a pond with a center fountain and lily pads. It made for a pleasant dinner and campfire in the evening.

Our 10-mile hike on a gravel road took us through the farm and lodge of Camp Santanoni. This property was developed in the late 19th century by Robert and Anna Pruyn, combining his dream of a gentleman’s estate with her wish for a wilderness retreat. The state of the art farm provided meat, dairy, produce and spring water for the guest lodge. Many buildings and artifacts remain. We walked through the stone Creamery and other buildings. Our hike ended at the lodge and lake.

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52.5 miles, 16.3 mph, Odometer: 3393 – Osceola, NY to Old Forge, NY

KEVIN – Rollers were the theme of the day. We started late and skipped lunch. It is cool here not record-breaking heat like in Wenatchee.

SUZI – We are now in the Adirondack Mountains. Dense vegetation, lakes and rivers everywhere, lots of kayaks on car roofs, humidity! Old Forge is a busy town of shops, ice cream and a water park; it is full of families on this summer Saturday when New York schoolchildren have just begun their summer break. Our huge campground is wooded but not too appealing, so Maureen and I checked out the shops before dinner, then we all trekked back to town for drinks after dinner. Though we had an electric hookup, air conditioners were prohibited to prevent overload at the campground. So the fans we bought awhile back are in the windows for comfortable sleep.

Kevin started his biking adventure with his bike tire in the Pacific Ocean. Maureen and I joined a little east of Buffalo, New York. So we brought some Pacific Ocean water and sprinkled my tire before our first ride.

It is intimidating joining Kevin after he has ridden for over 3000 miles – averaging 60-some miles per day – for 49 consecutive days. We rode the Erie Canal for much of the first day – it is a body of water maybe 100 feet wide in most places, the path is sometimes paved and it goes through many little towns. Then we rode some small county and state roads for a total of 82 miles on my first day. I did get a flat on my first day – and at that point Kevin had not gotten a single flat. Subsequently Kevin did get a flat – a single flat after having crossed 10 northern tier states. We have ridden over 250 miles together in four days. And as Kevin says, “he can see the end!”

Riding in this adventure is different than other riding I have done. Your eyes are constantly on the pavement scanning for things that will puncture your thin, road bike tires. (It was blindly drafting that led to my first-day flat.) We practiced “team-riding” – where one person drafts closely behind the other until the person leading is tired and then you switch. This takes practice and communication to keep it going. We probably rode this way 20% of the time. Sometimes you feel strong and pull, (Andy early in the day when he is fully caffeinated and fresh) and sometimes you are just hoping for Maureen to show up so you hang onto Kevin’s rear wheel (and be amazed at how Kevin never seems to tire out.)

This riding adventure is only part of the story. The everyday support crew (Suzi and Maureen while I am riding with Kevin) make all of the logistics happen that allows the riders to ride. The need to find a site, book it, drive to, pay for, back into, hook-up and then open the trailer takes hours each day, in addition to shopping, fix-it tasks, etc. The support crew is like the logistics side of the military – it is not what people think of when they hear about the adventure, but without it the adventure never happens.

“It’s hard to be here and not also be there.”

Andy to Maureen in the small, shared trailer space.

Traveling the country in a travel trailer and staying in RV parks is a new experience for us. We have often watched the “tiny house” shows and wondered what it would really be like to “live tiny.” I feel like we got a small taste. The space is incredibly well organized and the trailer is well designed. We enjoyed the simple routine of each day and seeing such a variety of campgrounds and RV parks. But at times you still chuckle at the dance that four adults do trying to move around one another in ~70 ft² of open floor space.