Panoramic view from the Walsh cabin. South Bristol, ME
Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29509794
Distance: 109 mi
Elevation Gain: 3,901ft
Start Time: 6:10a
Finish Time: 1:12p
Moving Time: 5h 08m
Pace: 18.7 mph
My apologies for the tardiness of this blog. After focusing intensely for 6 days, the mind needed a break. There is all the pre-riding focus: Did I eat enough for breakfast? Should I wear a base layer? Is my bike functioning properly? Then there is all the on the bike focus. Don't touch wheels. Watching out for cars and potholes. Eating. Monitoring effort. It all adds up.
Expanding on effort, this leads me to one of the beauties of cycling. It's only as hard as you (or those with you) make it. Luckily for the cycling enthusiasts there are gadgets and formulas that measure with great accuracy just how hard you went. So while any single day wasn't as hard as a typical 5 hour ride I did in training for the Lobster Roll, the cumulative affect was uncharted territory. Either way, day 6 lied in front of us. There was nothing that would stop us now.
As we rolled out of Biddeford spirits were high. Nathan was humming Queen of Hearts, the last song that played at the hotel. We almost immediately jumped on the Eastern Trail, which is a part of the greater East Coast Greenway. We soon found ourselves meandering on gravel trails through the bay and marsh of coastal Maine. It was quite the nice chill way to start our final day.
A big component of the day was three very specific mid-ride stops. Scratch Baking Co. in South Portland at mile 22 was the first one. Their name aptly describes what they are all about and they did not disappoint. We crushed our share of cookies, pie and bagels. No complaints here.
Scratch was following quickly by Tandem Coffee Roasters at mile 26. Tandem also marked the point at which Abbey, Mike's wife, found us. She flew up earlier in the day, rented a car and tracked us down. Her warm smile was a shot of adrenaline for the team.
While sipping my cortado it dawn on me that it took us about 560 miles for a proper coffee stop. Truly an amazing feet IMHO, as at home we normally don't go more than 50 miles without such a stop. The temps remained cool yet comfortable (low 60s), and my beverage hit the spot. Throw in some homemade muffins from Brian's mom, as I was ready to go for our longest stretch of the day.
Our next segment was a 48 miles jaunt up to Wiscasset and Red's Eats, the self proclaimed 'World's best lobster shack'. We picked up the pace quite a bit for this segment as we could collectively feel the end was near. Thankfully, Abbey was able to drive ahead, and wait in line for an hour and half and as we rolled into Wiscasset we only had a brief wait before eating a lobster roll for lunch. Minus Mike. He's not a big lobster guy, so he settled in chicken fingers. I can neither confirm nor deny that Brian had a few comments regarding Mike's palette.
The final 24 miles were largely a blur of effort. Seeing some of the guys throw down big efforts wasn't a huge surprise, but the fact that all of still had legs to hang one was amazing. Here we were at the end of a 625 mile, 6 day journey. None of us had ever ridden more than about 325 - 350 in any single week. EVER. Yet, here we were, ripping of miles 600 to 625 through the rolling mid Maine coast at about 24 mph. All of us together. No one cracking. No one shattered. All 5 riders still together. In my mind I was going to roll-up to each, shake hands and congratulate him on a job well done. Given the effort, that had to wait until we rolling into South Bristol and in front of the cabin initially purchased by Mike's great-great-grandmother in the late 1800s.
625 miles ridden. Our cancer story told to dozens of people on the road and 1000's of people across the world. Mission accomplished.
As usual, pictures and commentary below.A big component of the day was three very specific mid-ride stops. Scratch Baking Co. in South Portland at mile 22 was the first one. Their name aptly describes what they are all about and they did not disappoint. We crushed our share of cookies, pie and bagels. No complaints here.
Scratch was following quickly by Tandem Coffee Roasters at mile 26. Tandem also marked the point at which Abbey, Mike's wife, found us. She flew up earlier in the day, rented a car and tracked us down. Her warm smile was a shot of adrenaline for the team.
While sipping my cortado it dawn on me that it took us about 560 miles for a proper coffee stop. Truly an amazing feet IMHO, as at home we normally don't go more than 50 miles without such a stop. The temps remained cool yet comfortable (low 60s), and my beverage hit the spot. Throw in some homemade muffins from Brian's mom, as I was ready to go for our longest stretch of the day.
Our next segment was a 48 miles jaunt up to Wiscasset and Red's Eats, the self proclaimed 'World's best lobster shack'. We picked up the pace quite a bit for this segment as we could collectively feel the end was near. Thankfully, Abbey was able to drive ahead, and wait in line for an hour and half and as we rolled into Wiscasset we only had a brief wait before eating a lobster roll for lunch. Minus Mike. He's not a big lobster guy, so he settled in chicken fingers. I can neither confirm nor deny that Brian had a few comments regarding Mike's palette.
The final 24 miles were largely a blur of effort. Seeing some of the guys throw down big efforts wasn't a huge surprise, but the fact that all of still had legs to hang one was amazing. Here we were at the end of a 625 mile, 6 day journey. None of us had ever ridden more than about 325 - 350 in any single week. EVER. Yet, here we were, ripping of miles 600 to 625 through the rolling mid Maine coast at about 24 mph. All of us together. No one cracking. No one shattered. All 5 riders still together. In my mind I was going to roll-up to each, shake hands and congratulate him on a job well done. Given the effort, that had to wait until we rolling into South Bristol and in front of the cabin initially purchased by Mike's great-great-grandmother in the late 1800s.
625 miles ridden. Our cancer story told to dozens of people on the road and 1000's of people across the world. Mission accomplished.
-Tim
Bike decorations still going strong
Rolling out on the Eastern Trail
Our last section of gravel
Gravel riding through Maine
Among the marsh
My ride
Our first stop
Left turn. Our favorite turn direction.
Outside of Tandem
Outside of tandem
Howles muffins and a cortado
Nathan outside of Red's
Lunch!
Nice job Mike!
Thumbs up from Nathan
Well done Brian!
It was a pleasure JB.
CJ, can't thank you enough.
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