“The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea.” ― Karen Blixen

The wheels on the bike go round and round, round and round, round and round…oh hey, welcome back, glad you could keep up! The weather has been much nicer to me in the second week on the road, as has the beauty of the landscape and the ease for finding campsites.

Shortly into my day out of Nick’s house in Wallingford, CT, I was slowly cycling along a road in front of a firehouse and was looking over at it, checking out the building. Suddenly, an alarm rang out from the building with tremendous force…it was so loud, the vibration of the sound was so terrifying, and I was so caught off guard…my body went into fight or flight mode and my legs sprinted for their lives before I even realized what was happening…I suddenly began to weep crying and laugh hysterically at the same time as my mind was processing the events.

Nick and I

Nick described the North-East corner of Connecticut as the “Quiet-corner” and once I passed through the city of Hartford all my dreams came true…beautiful farm land and rolling hills, the sun came out for the first time in eight days and I could see my shadow for the first time since the start of the trip. A woman at a gas station where I was buying food became the first person to ask me where I was going and where I had come from, I almost gave her a bear-hug. I removed my rain jacket and climbed ridges to view high lakes. I even passed a NASCAR race track in the quaint town of Stafford before finding a camp site on the CT/MA border.

At dusk while , some animal was making loud horn-like calls maybe 100 feet away from my tent. I couldn’t see it, so still have no idea what it was, maybe a deer or a large bird, due to the volume of the call, it had to be a decently sized animal. I slept with one ear open.

As I’ve gotten further North, I’ve noticed that street signs are usually only marked for the cross street, and not for the street you are on. This makes my directions tracking a bit tricky, and sometimes I have to guess and ride for a few miles before I can confirm I’m on the right road, that’s all part of the fun though, and I don’t mind getting lost because I get a little human interaction when asking for directions! One intersection in particular got me good and I had to ask for lots of directions and ride miles out of the way to get back on course. My favorite direction giver was a teenager at a plant nursery who was watering plants, he told me, in a thick Boston accent, to “keep on that road for days and days”.

 

I’ve noticed that I miss having someone to share stories about the same experience with. While hiking the AT, you could talk with any of the other hikers and the would get where you were coming from, while in Peace Corps, the other volunteers were the perfect outlet, but out here on the road, I’m yet to run into another long-distance cyclist.

Had a few cold nights heading to Maine, slept in long john bottom, long johns top, a long sleeve fleece, thick socks, and had my 40 degree sleeping bag fully zipped up and around my head like a mummy with only my nose and mouth exposed. I still slept soundly enough, but that was about the limits of the gear I have packed.

The mapping I am using occasionally puts me on old railroad beds that have been converted to recreational paths, they are a great break from traffic and street signs and I usually adore them. The exception being the Roakingham Recreational Rail Trail…my directions called for 9 miles, and it was sand…loose and thick, like walking on a beach. Riding the bicycle was completly out of the question. I sucked it up and began walking the bike for a few hours into the evening. On the plus side, I was in the forest, there were no cars, and I was thrilled to have my butt off the bike seat! I camped near the rail trail and hung my food for the first time since I started the trip, feeling that I was getting more remote and potentially into bear territory.

I saw a historical sign along the road side for General John Stark…Game of Thrones anyone?!? Further down the road I passed a stone marking his birth place.

A field of rotting butternut squash

Crossing into Maine, my left knee was feeling a bit sore, but I had energy, so I was pushing out fast miles North on highway 4, and arrived at Nate’s house in Sanford, Maine around 3:00pm. I’ve never met Nate in person before, we both play video games with a mutual friend and have spoken with each other on countless occasions, but I had never even so much as seen a picture of him. Nate and his family showed me exceptional hospitality and I immediatly felt like a part of his family. I showered, did laundry, Nate cooked hamburgers and corn on the cob and his girlfriend made potato salad, we even played some video games. My favorite part of the night was when we drove out to his step-daughters school to watch her 6th-grade band recital, where Isabella crushed it on the percussion!

Heading through Portland, the Eastern Trail took me through the massive Scarborough Swamp, really neat area that looked like it had recently been flooded. Coming across the bridge into Portland, Maine, I went from being the only bicycle on the road, to a bicycle explosion, a neat little city with friendly bike paths. A Peace Corps friend, Meghan, took me in for the night, we walked around town for a bit and feasted on rice, beans, chicken and vegetables for dinner. In the morning, Meghan took me down to the waters edge to dip my wheels into the Atlantic Ocean before officially turning West, she even hopped on her bicycle and rode out with me for a few miles!

I pulled off a road near Lake Ossipee and was scouting for a campsite for the night, all alone walking around, when a giant turkey squawked for dear life and flapped it wings loudly to get away! That will get the heart pounding!

 

The bugs have been out in full force already. When I scout for campsites, set up camp, and eat outside of my tent, the gnats, flies, and mosquitoes are relentlessly biting and flying into my eyes. I can’t believe how many ticks I’ve pulled off so far for how early it is into the season. I get into my tent as soon as possible…my sanctuary, my only little bubble to call mine, imperveous to the bigs and rain, where I can snuggle up for bed and read a book in peace at the end of each day!

I crave vanilla soft-serve ice cream at the end of a long day. So far, food and water have been pretty easy to come by, and I haven’t had to carry much food weight, just resupply more often.

I found a great campsite off the side of a road near a river. I love the sound of water while I sleep to drown out the noises of the night. I was on top of a bluff just off the road, but couldn’t be seen from the bottom. At dusk, I heard two cars stop right at the bottom of the hill, I heard car doors close and some talking. What are the chances, there are no shoulders on this long river road, why would they stop right here?!? I just kept quiet and after 30 minutes I could hear them leave. Around 7:30am, as I was waking up and about to break camp, they came back and stopped directly at the bottom of the hill again, what?!? I still have no idea what interest they had in that spot, but my tent site was good, they never saw me, I just had to be very quiet packing everything up, and muffled every zipper and found a round-about path back to the road. They were probably just doing some fishing, just a funny coincidence that we both picked the same spot on this deserted road.

My most recent day on the road was the coldest by far and also very windy. I had some extended climbs over ragged mountain and saw my first sizeable waterfall, although when I hiked down and tried to get a picture, my camera battery died, I later found out that this sometimes happens when they get too cold. As I crested the mountain, I was looking forward to an extended downhill, what goes up must go down! Although, as I went over the mountain, the winds were hitting me square in the face and blowing so hard that I couldn’t drift down the hill, I had to be actively peddaling into the wind to keep moving, not only did I have to pedal, but I was in my very easy gears for climbing, it was such a bizzare experience to be working so hard to move downhill that I kept looking around to make sure that I was indeed in a downward slope!

I was thrilled to finish out that cold and windy day in Claremont, NH at the house of Courtney and Zach, who graced me with a warm shower and some warm snacks! We met Courtney’s sister, Bella, for her birthday celebration at Harpoon Brewery for a sensational meal and even soft-serve ice cream for desert!!! Coutrney and Bella have gone so far above and beyond generosity and are letting me take my first rest day at their house. Zero miles, lots of calories, and a couch…rest day baby! Happy to let me knees and butt take a long overdue break. Plus, I have access to a computer to share this beautiful journey with all of you! Thanks for riding with me!