Day 9: Camden

Day 9: Camden, ME

June 21, 2016

Miles: 33

Average Speed 9.4 mph
 
Damariscotta to Camden


Today we had planned to ride 53 miles to Belfast.  We didn't make it.  Instead, we rode 33 miles to Camden.  The hills did us in.

We got up this morning and made it to the dining room by 8am.  Minnie served us fresh fruit, scones, an omelet and sausages.  And coffee, of course.  It was a great breakfast and we were quite full.

Di ready to dig in

We wanted our breakfast to digest a bit before riding, so we went back to our room to relax and read.  Yesterday, I finished the book Marianne gave me when we stayed at her house - The Immobile Man, by Dr. Lud Gutmann.  That book was a fascinating collection of cases Dr. Gutmann, a neurologist, has worked on.  I really enjoyed his problem solving approach - he looks beyond technology (CAT scans, MRI, etc.) and often learns more from observing and talking with his patients.  It was an interesting and informative book.  Now I am reading Anne of Green Gables and it is just a delight.  I wish my imagination was as fertile as Anne's.  Anyway, but the time we finished lounging and reading and then packing our bikes, it was already 10:30.  But, we weren't concerned because we knew we could ride the 53 miles in five hours.  If we add in two hours for breaks and lunch, that means we would arrive in Belfast at 5:30pm.

Leaving the the B&B (at 10:30!)

The B&B is located on High Street.  Yes, another bad name for bicyclists.  I don't know if it is easy to discern the hill from the photo above, but the hill proved to be a bad omen, because all we saw today was hills.  There were no level stretches of road, just rises and drops.  After 2 hours of riding we had gone only 12 miles.  We stopped at Moody's Diner and ate a bunch more food.  Di had a chicken salad platter and I had a second breakfast of blueberry pancakes.  We learned that Moody's Diner is an institution in these parts, having opened its doors in 1927 and remaining in the same family ever since.  My pancakes were awesome!

Di at Moody's Diner

Moody's Diner from the outside

We resumed riding and it was tough going.  Also, we were back on Rt. 1, which isn't that nice of a road.

Sometimes we went up long, gradual hills

Sometimes we went up long, steep hills

Our steepest climbs were of a 16% grade.  That's is distressingly steep on a touring bike with a full load.  At the 28 mile mark we stopped at a market in Rockport  to get some snacks and make an assessment of our situation.  Our situation was that it was 3pm, we had 25 miles to go, our legs felt like jelly and we were quite tired.  We figured if we pushed on and rode steadily, then we could make Belfast sometime between 6:00 and 6:30.  It would be tough and we would be pretty much wiped out by the time the ride was over, but at least we would have made it.  Or, we could ride 4.5 miles to the town of Camden and call it a day.   If we ended our ride in Camden, we would have plenty of time and energy to explore the town, find a nice place to eat, relax, have some laughs, get a good night's rest, and be rejuevenated for the next day's ride.  Our assessment complete, we decided to end our ride in Camden.  We got back on the bikes with big smiles on our faces and truly enjoyed the remaining 4.5 mile ride to Camden.

Resting at the 28 mile mark after too many hills

View of the Rockport harbor

 With two miles remaining to get to Camden, we came across a public beach and took a short rest.  Now that we had plenty of time to get to our destination, we wanted to make sure we enjoyed as much of the day as possible.

View of the beach from a park bench

We arrived at the Hartstone Inn at 4:30.  We were tuckered out and agreed we made the right decision not to go on to Belfast.

Our room has enormous windows

We had dinner at Fresh, which, thankfully, is not pronounced Flesh as I thought Di had.

Seafood stew for Di and haddock for me

We walked around the town after dinner:

Hanging out at the docks

View down Main Street

View down Elm Street

Back at the Hartstone Inn

We had planned to be in Bar Harbor tomorrow, but now we won't be there until Thursday.  Bar Harbor is about 80 miles from where we are now, so we'll split the distance over the next couple of days.  This plan should give our legs a chance to recover (I hope!).