Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Augusta to Brunswick ME

June 14, 2005
Distance 37.9 Miles
Climbing Elevation: 1,980 feet

We woke up this morning, ate breakfast and got all ready to ride our bicycles to Freeport. However, it was raining very lightly when we went to breakfast and it was raining very hard when we were finished breakfast. We decided to wait for a while before we began riding. About 9:00 AM the rain finally stopped and at 9:15 AM we were out the door and riding toward Freeport. In the first ½ mile I realized that the front fender was not straight with the front wheel so I had Mary Kay pull over to the side of the road and I straightened out the front fender so I would not get splashed by water off the road by the front tire. However, I was in the wrong gear to get started and in shifting, the chain jumped off between the rear sprockets and the wheel spokes and got stuck. After 15 minutes of work, I finally got the chain freed and we were on our way again.

About 5 miles later Mary Kay and I stopped to wait for George and Jane, at this corner was a bicycle shop and one of the workers in the shop stopped to talk to us while we waited. He told us that ½ mile further on the road was completely torn up for construction and recommended that we make the turn and follow our original route. This caused us to walk up a medium sized hill that was very steep. We then continued to go up and down hills as we continued south. At one point, Mary Kay and I waited for George and Jane to catch up with us and when they did they talked to a local resident who told them that they could go back to the main highway because they were past the section in repair. So we turned back to the main highway, went down some very steep hills and continued on the main highway toward Freeport. In less than a mile we were faced with a hill just as long as the steep hill we had just come down. We had to walk up this hill, it was too steep to ride a bicycle up the hill. After we reached the top of the hill we continued on for another 15 miles and then we stopped for lunch at a gas station/store. They had an interesting restroom. Out back was an old outhouse but when you opened the door it was a modern flush toilet.

After lunch we again headed for Freeport but we had gone less than a mile when it began to sprinkle. Within another 2 miles it was really raining and it continued to rain hard and then sprinkle and then it would rain again. Within a few miles we were both WET. We reached Brunswick and stopped at a gas station/store and again waited for George and Jane to catch up with us. The employees in the gas station felt so sorry for us, that they gave us all free coffee or hot chocolate and gave us directions to the nearest motels. The four of us all agreed not to go on to Freeport but to stop in Brunswick and stay in a motel that had a guest laundry. We definitely needed a place with a dryer. A few phone calls later we headed back into the rain to get to our motel for the night. We were all very wet when we arrived at a nice new motel.

After washing clothes, enjoying the hot tub, we had Chinese food delivered for supper. The delivery man forgot the plates and utensils so we ate most of the food with our fingers, while we waited for him to return. Sure hope it does not rain tomorrow.