Bar Harbor, Maine - 'Tis done. 5,000 miles, 57 days, two rear wheels, six rear tires, an awful lot of peanut butter and jelly and all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets behind me, I pulled into this little tourist town on Monday at about 3:00. I rode to the end of the town pier, hit the brakes, and it was all over.
To be honest, it was kind of an anticlimax.
First of all, it's not all over. I'm almost certainly going to spend the next 10-12 days touring to the north around Nova Scotia, then will bike for another few days to reach the ancestral Moran residence in Hudson, Mass. When I roll into the driveway at 12 Davis Road, THEN it will be over. Until then there's plenty more biking to do.
Second of all, Maine has been really, really awful. Tourist season is in full swing, and all the major roads I've biked on have been chock-a-block with cars. The minor roads have mostly been in absolutely terrible condition, with shoulders that are either nonexistent or crumbling their way there. There's been little in the way of scenery. The campsites have been exorbitant ($35 for a tent site?!), and Bar Harbor itself is so jammed with tourists it looks like Disney World. After biking for two months, I had to basically walk my bike the last 1/2 mile or so in order to get through the insane traffic. The conditions tended to drown out my moment of catharsis/triumph/whatever it was I was supposed to be feeling.
That being said, I'm in a better mood now. Myself and a guy I've been biking with for a couple of days found beds at the very friendly Bar Harbor hostel, and I spent today biking through the very mobbed but very beautiful environs of Acadia National Park, a wondrous spot filled with rugged ocean cliffs, quiet lakes and imposing granite mountains. It was effectively big enough to absorb the crowds fairly well, and I felt a little better once I had some room to breathe.
From here on out, its off the map. I have a bunch of info on cycling on Nova Scotia and will spend tonight and tomorrow piecing together a route to get up there overland, than catch a ferry back to Maine. I'm very excited about it: first, its apparently a lot less crowded there than here, which is a very, very good thing. Second, now that I've actually crossed the continent, the rest is just gravy. And I do like gravy. So to Canada I go!
After more all-you-can-eat Chinese for dinner tonight, of course.
To be honest, it was kind of an anticlimax.
First of all, it's not all over. I'm almost certainly going to spend the next 10-12 days touring to the north around Nova Scotia, then will bike for another few days to reach the ancestral Moran residence in Hudson, Mass. When I roll into the driveway at 12 Davis Road, THEN it will be over. Until then there's plenty more biking to do.
Second of all, Maine has been really, really awful. Tourist season is in full swing, and all the major roads I've biked on have been chock-a-block with cars. The minor roads have mostly been in absolutely terrible condition, with shoulders that are either nonexistent or crumbling their way there. There's been little in the way of scenery. The campsites have been exorbitant ($35 for a tent site?!), and Bar Harbor itself is so jammed with tourists it looks like Disney World. After biking for two months, I had to basically walk my bike the last 1/2 mile or so in order to get through the insane traffic. The conditions tended to drown out my moment of catharsis/triumph/whatever it was I was supposed to be feeling.
That being said, I'm in a better mood now. Myself and a guy I've been biking with for a couple of days found beds at the very friendly Bar Harbor hostel, and I spent today biking through the very mobbed but very beautiful environs of Acadia National Park, a wondrous spot filled with rugged ocean cliffs, quiet lakes and imposing granite mountains. It was effectively big enough to absorb the crowds fairly well, and I felt a little better once I had some room to breathe.
From here on out, its off the map. I have a bunch of info on cycling on Nova Scotia and will spend tonight and tomorrow piecing together a route to get up there overland, than catch a ferry back to Maine. I'm very excited about it: first, its apparently a lot less crowded there than here, which is a very, very good thing. Second, now that I've actually crossed the continent, the rest is just gravy. And I do like gravy. So to Canada I go!
After more all-you-can-eat Chinese for dinner tonight, of course.
3 Responses to “Sea to Shining Sea”
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About me
I'm Tom Moran, a bicyclist from Fairbanks, Alaska. I'm spending the summer of 2006 riding from Anacortes, Wash., to Bar Harbor, Maine.
Ha! First comment on the wheels-dipping post. (Loser status confirmed.)
Tom, this is such an awesome thing. It's like butta. I'm so proud of you. Book queries startiiiiiing.... now.
Hi Tom -
CONGRATULATIONS from the former QIR's. What a trip!
More later.
SWAK from Gretta and Jacob
Keep up the good work Land and sky waterbeds