September 24: Brunswick Maine to Belfast Maine (85 miles)

Brunswick Maine to Belfast Maine -- Sept 24, 2009 (85 miles today)

I got up this morning, found a nice little café and had a good breakfast. An man about 60 or so rode his bike to the café and told me the bike route I was going on to the next town was terrible and he recommended that I just take route 1 because even though it has a lot of traffic, it also has big wide shoulder.

So I took route 1 to Bath this morning. When I got there I saw a bike shop and I needed some repairs so I went in and the mechanic looked at me and said: well did you get a ticket? I said no, why? He said every bike rider who takes Highway 1 from Brunswick to Bath usually gets a ticket. He explained that the police department there set speed traps almost every day for speeding cars and apparently bicycles are not allowed on that stretch of highway 1. He saw me riding on Highway 1 when he drove to work. Well I guess I got a little lucky today. I never saw a policeman nor did I see any signs prohibiting bicycles on Highway 1 although the man at the bike shop said there are several. I Got lucky today.

I am very glad I stopped at the bike shop. I put on 4 new brake pads. The old ones were pretty much worn down to nothing. I have logged a little over 3800 miles now on this trip up to Belfast. If you include my extensive training period of 80 miles to prepare for this little bike ride, I got close to 4000 miles on that set of brake pads. The new pads work much better. There is a noticeable difference in my ability to stop my bike now.

I also had the mechanic adjust all my cables and my rear derailer. I have tried to adjust the shifter but it has been slipping and my cable adjuster was nearly at its limit. Anyway the mechanic spent about 30 minutes adjusting everything and put on new brake pads and sold me a new chain in case mine breaks. The chain is getting a little loose now. The whole bill only came to $45. I thought that was very fair. When the mechanic was adjusting my derailer he asked me why I was not using 1st gear. I told him I was not aware that I wasn’t using 1st gear. He said the derailer was out of adjustment enough that it was not shifting into 1 gear. He fixed that. I don’t know how long it has not been shifting into 1st gear but I would guess two or three days. Now I know why I was struggling up the hills so bad for the last few days. Today I was able to ride up all the hills although it was a little tough on some of them. So either the 1st gear makes a pretty big difference, or the hills are not as steep today, or maybe I have just become quite a bit more Studly since yesterday. I am not sure but I think I have become quite a bit more studly since yesterday.

My rear end is getting pretty sore again. I like to ride my bike now, but I wish there was someway to have a seat that was a little easier on the rear end. I guess a lot of miles is just rough on your behind.

Last night about 11:00 pm a man and woman around 30 or so came up to my Gazebo and sat down for a few minutes. The lady mentioned it was her birthday and it wasn’t that great of a day. She said no one even sang her happy birthday. I said we can fix that pretty easy so I told her boyfriend that we were going to sing her Happy Birthday. He said ok so we sang Happy Birthday to her nice and loud on the steps of the Gazebo in the city park at 11:00 pm. She at least smiled and said thanks. First time for me singing Happy Birthday in a Brunswick city park Gazebo.

It was about 1:00 in the afternoon and I came to a small café and went in to eat. I was just a little skeptical of the diner because the sign said: “Best Food in Maine” but the parking lot only had one truck in it and I think it was the owners truck. When I entered the café The owner asked me what I wanted. d I said I was hungry and wanted something to eat. He then told me to move my bike because he didn’t like it leaning against his building. I am not sure why he cared because the building was an old beater. Anyway, no big deal, I went outside to move it. The owner followed me outside and told me to park it in the parking lot by where the cars parked. I told him I did not have a kickstand. Touring and racing bikes never do. He got a little snotty and cussed a little and said to lean it against a pole where the cars pull up to park.. I didn’t want to argue with him and I wasn’t in the mood for his orneriness so I just got on my bike and rode a mile to another café called Deb’s Diner. They were very nice and served great home style food. They were happy to have my bike leaning on their building. While in the café, a customer casually mentioned the ornery man who owned the restaurant on top of the hill I mentioned to him my experience and the café owner said he does that all the time to people and over the years has pushed a lot of customers to Deb’s Diner ad lost most of his customers. He probably doesn’t even know that He is his own worst enemy. Some people never get it. Who wants to be around people that are grumpy all the time? Life is too short to hang around people that are ornery.

I am a little tired today. I am about 65 miles from Bar Harbor, so I should get there by tomorrow. I will try and make it no later than 5:00 so I can pick a package Lori sent to me with some vitamins and my plane ticket.

I am getting closer to my goal little by little every day.

As I approached the coastline of Maine, I noticed an “Ocean” smell. Not a bad smell but clearly the coastal area smell of the ocean. I saw a crab on the highway today. It looks like he got hit by a car trying to cross the highway looking for a girlfriend. Women! Even the crabs take a beating to find a girlfriend. So I guess you have to train crabs around here to stay off the highway.

I’m a little tired tonight. Don’t know why. Must be a little wimpy. I found a half decent place off the side of the road to pitch my tent. I’m going to bed.

Later,
Dan

Moose Brunswick ME Sept 24 to Belfast Me 02