We left Saco this morning and headed to Portland for the start of the ride. We had spent the prior 2.5 days with my nephew Brian and his wife Kate. We spent a day at the beach with them and an evening by a campfire.
After checking in with the tour guides and picking up our rental bikes, we had a short bike ride through Portland to the ferry that we took to Peaks Island. There are only seven riders. Four of the riders are on E-bikes and Alan and I are pedaling. In the Netherlands they would say we are on muscle bikes because we use our muscles to power the bikes. This is Alan‘s first multi-day ride.
The weather was chilly, foggy and windy most of the day. At least for us current Floridians temperatures in the low to mid 60’s is chilly. The winds were out of the East at 10 mph with gusts up to 17mph.
We had an option to visit a maritime museum, but we opted to keep pedaling. We made it around the island pretty quickly (about 5 miles), and headed for a seafood lunch at the Island Lobster Company. I had a lobster roll and Alan had a scallop roll. Both were delicious!
We thought there were three ferry times (as did our guides) so thinking we had time to spare, we started to go around the island a second time. We ran into one of the guides who let us know we had plenty of time. As it turns out, there were only to two ferry times, and now we had 1.5 hours to burn. Thus, we rode around the island two more times (for a total of three) and had a beer to finish the wait.
When we went back to Portland we still had another five mile loop around the bay. We finished with 15 minutes to spare for the shuttle back to the hotel. We rode 25 miles total. This tour is not like others I’ve done in the past. Less miles, more leisurely.
Tonight we had dinner at The Good Table as part of the ride package.
Arriving via ferry to Peaks Island.
The seven cyclists on this ride, (L to R): Janet, Gary, Mary Beth, Phil, Regina, Alan and I.
While waiting for the ferry, we had a cardamom pistachio cookie…yum.
Alan and I at the start of the ride.
Along the Atlantic Coastline.
Enjoying a local brew while waiting for the ferry.
On the ferry ride back from Peaks Island.
Alan riding along the perimeter of the bay on a mostly paved trail. There were sections that were gravel.
Sculpture along the bay.
Higgins Beach Inn where we are staying three nights.
