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| Date | Starting Place | Ending Place | Author | Last Update |
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| 09-15-10 |
Conway, New Hampshire, United States |
Norway, Maine, United States |
ray | 11-10-10 19:13:22 |
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I didn't need to leave early as my goal for the day was the town of Norway, Maine, about 40 miles east of Conway. I was up and out about 9am. I packed a baked tofu sandwich lunch and asked Becky to step outside so I could get a photo. Here she is in front of her garden. It was a cool, sunny day with a breezy tailwind. A great day for biking (as long as you were going in the right direction!). Becky lived next to the Saco River and the first thing I had to do was cross it on my way to the highway out of town.  Here is yet another view of the wooden bridge over the Saco, that I'd both ridden over and photographed in the past two days.  I wanted a bit more food to carry, so I stopped in a cafe full of locals and got a bagel with cream cheese to go. I turned onto SR 113 and rode on the ample shoulder, with a fair amount of traffic, past Conway's older homes. SR 113 paralleled the Saco River. I couldn't see the river but there were colorful wetlands along the road.  Once I was past Conway's outskirts, which went on for a while, the traffic all but went away. In a few miles, I was at the Maine border. This isn't much of a photo, but state border shots are hard to resist.  Just past the border sign was a visitors center. I went in and had a pleasant and informative discussion with the woman behind the counter. She identified a couple publications that might be of value to me: a statewide list of motels and a coupon book. I tore out the relevant pages and, after using the free wifi, rode on. The town of Fryeburg, apparently named after General Joseph Frye,  had a small business center that I rode past. I liked the view back toward the White Mountains from this empty lot between two Fryeburg homes.  While Fryeburg seemed like a sleepy place, they were getting ready for their big yearly fair.  Once I was past Fryeburg, there was no one on the road but me.  To help me pass the time, I listened to a biography of Clint Eastwood. Southwestern Maine has lots of water in the form of rivers and ponds. This stream was one of many I passed and photographed. They were always a welcome diversion from the thick woods that lined the road.  Where the trees had been cleaned, shrubs and flowers filled in.  The reflections in many of the slow moving streams often looked better to the camera than in person. If you look closely, you'll notice that the water is a brown in color. They were pretty, nonetheless.  While there were always trees somewhere in view, the road was often lined with homes, as well.  Yet another river/reflection view.  In a place marked as Lowell on the map, I passed this sign for Main Street. Yet, the only road there was a dirt road that didn't seem to lead anywhere. So much for Main Street.  At Lowell, I turned east onto SR 93 and passed this unnamed pond.  I was now headed out of the flat lands and into rolling hills. The up part of these hills were short but very steep. I often had to stop halfway up to take a breather.  At the top of the inclines, I would occasionally get more of vista. This one is looking north toward the part of White Mountain National Forest that is in Maine.  I rode through an area on the map identified as Sweden, but didn't see anything that looked like a town. Just past there, around noon, I stopped at a bridge over a creek, sat in the sun and ate the tofu sandwich for lunch. Here was the view I had.  The road was now nothing but ups followed by downs. At a hilltop orchard, I got this view through an odd kind of metal fence.  My plan was to follow SRs 35, 37 and 118 to the town of Norway where I had a motel reservation. SRs 35 and 37 go along the north shore of Keoka Lake.  Just past Keoka Lake is the small hamlet of Waterford, some pretty houses built near the lake, really.  Since I ride a Waterford bike, it only seemed right to get a picture of my bike with the town's sign. Just so you know, Waterford bikes are make in Waterford, Wisconsin.  Keoka Lake had lots of small bays making it easy to find a pretty viewpoint.  I turned onto SR 118 and rode along a meandering stream whose name I can't find.  SR 118 went along Little Pennesseewassee Pond, a pretty bit of water surrounded by trees.  I took several photos of this pond. This one with three ducks is my favorite.  A short way past the pond and just before the town of Norway is Pennesseewassee Lake, a large, dog-legged shaped lake. The tourist services on the outskirts of Norway stretched along the road that bordered the southern edge of the lake. This view looks up the long branch of the lake looking north.  Norway is a good sized town that had a commercial section of several blocks. I looked for a restaurant for dinner but discovered that it was too far from my motel to walk. As I rode on, I was shocked to pass the Taste of Eden Vegan Cafe and stopped to check out the menu and their hours. They were open until 7pm and I hoped my motel wasn't beyond walking distance to it. I lucked out as my motel was about a mile down the road. I was tired from all the climbing I'd done today along a route that appears to be flat on a map. I checked in, rested for a while, and, after a long hot bath, walked to the Taste of Eden where I had one entry (vegan lasagna) and then another (vegan meatloaf). The food was very good and I enjoyed talking to the owners as I ate. From what I could gather, it was one of the owner's experience with regaining his health after turning vegan that inspired them to open the restaurant. It was a small, unassuming, no ambiance place with great, healthy food. I walked back to the motel seeing if there was any place nearby to eat breakfast (the Taste of Eden didn't open until 11am). I didn't find any and returned to the motel satisfied both for the great day of riding and the fabulous vegan dinner. After checking email, I discovered that there were no couchsurfing options for tomorrow, gazed at my maps and tourist office brochures for a while, and eventually went to sleep. |
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