Summer Tour, 2013: Day 1, 60 miles

Oh brother was it hot. 93˚ by mid afternoon. Here it was snowing two weeks ago, and now it's in the nineties.

From the comfort of my air-conditioned motel room in Conway, NH, I can say that it was awful but I survived. I wasn't sure I would, though.

Because I was leaving from Portland, I had to improvise the route until I rejoined the Northern Tier guide in Freyburg. I picked a reasonably direct route that used a combination of state roads and back roads. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Back roads are quiet and pass by interesting local scenes, but they have the bad habit of going straight over hills. This is true around the country, and I normally don't mind, but IT WAS HOT! I was baking on those slow slogs. And my front granny gear doesn't want to catch. (Actually, there's something going on with the cable; either it's too loose . . . Actually, that's probably it.)

State highways, on the other hand, tend to go around hills, following river valleys when possible. But they are loaded with traffic. Many of them in Maine have wide shoulders, which makes the traffic irrelevant. But many don't. The last half of the day was on those roads.

But the riding would have been totally fine, even the roller coaster hills, if it hadn't been 93˚.That was just too hot. Getting out of Portland was easy (after a tasty breakfast at this bike tourist's favorite restaurant: McDonald's. (Ask me about the $1 soft drinks. No need. I'll tell you when I get to the second HOT day.)

I didn't hardly get lost (thanks to GPS, of course). And, once on the state highway, I slogged along, stopping frequently whenever a small patch of shade appeared.

I do know better, but I just didn't feel like eating, and I didn't have the usual snacks. This part of Maine is not exactly a riot of convenience stores. I bought OJ and caramel corn from a campground store on Lake Sebago. But I didn't even eat the caramel corn. Too hot. And I certainly didn't drink enough. Don't ask about my urine.

As I neared Freyburg, I stumbled on a new rail trial, less than a year old, which took me around, not through, town. It was a risk I was willing to take, because there was a visitor's center at the end of the trail, four miles away. I figured it would be air conditioned, and they'd let me sit. It was, and they did. Nice folks, in a Welcome to Maine (from NH) tourism deal. I drank lots of cold water and cooled off in their air conditioning. My plan still was to go to Conway, get something to eat (or buy groceries, then push on for the first National Forest campground, which was sure to be nice. (They usually are.)

But after seven miles in the still brutal heat, I was ready to vomit when I reached Conway. Riding another seven miles up the Swift River valley seemed impossible. If there had been a McDonald's (or its fast-food equivalent) where I could have vegged out and rehydrated (and had dinner) and cooled off, I could have made it. But there wasn't. There was a Mexican restaurant and an ice cream stand. (Even that didn'ty sound good. That's how far gone I was.) So I stretched out on the grass, in the shade, and considered my options. 

The best one seemed to be to go back to the Scenic View Motel, which I passed on the way into town. So I went back, hoping that it wouldn't be $150. It wasn't: $70. All the air conditioning (courtesy of a wheezy Heier window AC unit) I could want. For dinner? Jonathon's Seafood Restaurant. It looked like fried clams were the specialty. My clam chowder and haddock were fine. I was in and out in about 15 minutes. I should have taken a book. Or a friend.

Blissful sleep in a quite comfortable bed.

What I learned this first day of my solo tour: I hate hot. I wasn't prepared for it, with my ultra light shirts that I soak in water and then wear wet for blissful airconditioning. That would have helped. I still could have done it with the T-shirt I was wearing. Why didn't I? Note to self.

I also learned that motels are quite nice. Although Jon and I don't interact very much in the camp site, his company is nice to have and makes a camp site in a dingy private campground a little less pathetic. When I'm alone, air conditioning, wi-fi, and cable TV look pretty good.

So that was day one. I was not looking forward to another day of heat, particularly going over the passes in the White Mountains of NH.