A bit of background. We are 2 adults travelling with our 12 year old son. My husband and son are on a Bike Friday tandem and I'm on a Bike Friday New World Tourer. We tour once a year but this is my first time posting our journal so my apologies for errors in format etc. I had such a lot of help from fellow cyclists on a bike forum so hopefully this will help someone else planning a trip. We come from Australia so distances are in kms. Our first stop was Washington DC, then onto Portland, Maine where the touring begins.

Washington to Portland 23 September
We had a good flight on US Air, the only hiccup was the extra charge for our bikes cost more than our airfares!

We arrived in Portland and my great idea of taking our bikes and luggage to Port Head light house was thwarted by the taxi driver delivering us at Two Lights lighthouse!! Nice to see but not open to public and further out of town so we didn't have time to visit the other which is open, very disappointed and not a particularly nice ride to our hotel. The upside is we ate at a really lovely restaurant called '555', food was superb. Portland is renown as a foodie place and lived up to it's reputation.

Portland to Brunswick 24 September 57km
Today we rode from Portland to Brunswick, the weather was cool but pleasant and the ride really lovely along forested roads with your typical American houses, some totally shingled, most built of wood with many flying the US flag. Occasional glimpses of the coastline were a treat. The drivers here are very good around bikes and pretty forgiving of our errors. We stopped in Yarmouth where Delorme mapping is and they have the worlds largest globe, 3 floors high and rotating. We got to Brunswick and realised my gear cable was a bit worse for wear so off to the local bike shop (Center Street Cycles), what a great guy he fixed that and straightened out a few other bits and pieces so I am ready for my foray by myself to meet my husband and son in Wiscasset tomorrow. We had a great meal at the local Japanese restaurant 'Little Tokyo'.

Brunswick to Boothbay Harbour 25 September 68km
This morning I set out for Wiscasset by bike whilst the boys caught the train. It was quite a pretty ride, quiet roads almost too quiet lots of forested area, felt a bit creepy at times and lots of up and down but I did enjoy the 40 or so kms. From Wiscasset we all rode the last 26kms to Boothbay Harbor, via their botanical gardens although we were all feeling a bit weary by then, the undulations got bigger on this section. Boothbay is quite a nice town, very touristy as expected but a lovely harbor, our room at Fishermans wharf is over the water with a great outlook. We had the obligatory lobster for dinner.


Boothbay Harbor to Bar Harbor 26 September
We rode out of Boothbay Harbor back to Wiscasset, great coffee shop on main road. We caught the Maine Eastern railroad tourist train from there to Rockland, quite a scenic trip. In Rockland we rode out to Owls Head lighthouse and then onto the airport to pick up our car. I had been warned about taking highway 1 so this was our compromise. Originally we had planned to ride to Bar Harbor but we spent the time there rather than getting there. We stopped at Samoset lighthouse, a 1.3km walk along the stone breakwater, was a bit slippy in bike shoes but worth it because you can only see the actual lighthouse part when you get to the other end. From there we drove to Bar Harbor, would have liked to spend more time in Camden and Belfast, both lovely looking towns but we were running out of time.

Bar Harbor - Acadia National Park 27 September 50kms
Today we rode the carriage roads of Acadia, built by Rockefeller for horse and carriage and closed to car traffic there are over 50 miles of carriage roads and the scenery is just fantastic, lots of water views and forest, stone bridges, lakes etc. The weather has been perfect...looking good for the next few days too.

We drove between Bar Harbor and Burlington, Vermont to start our next tour. We stopped at Smugglers Notch for the night, what a beautiful area.

Burlington to Alburg via Lake Champlain 1 October 76km
We left Burlington on yet another great day for our ride starting along a great cycleway which connected with the causeway across to the Champlain islands. Originally the causeway which was built in 1900 was for carrying freight trains. When this was no longer viable in 1965 they removed the bridge which joined the causeway to allow boats through. A bike ferry now operates on weekends through the summer until the end of October. Of course we weren't cycling on a weekend so for a fee we met up with Captain Ed from local motion and he took us the 20 metres or so across to the south hero side. From there we cycled up to Allenbaum farm for some apples and a maple creamy and then along the west coast of South Hero and Grand Isle through to North Hero where we stopped for lunch at Heros Welcome. The island apart from being lovely and flat is mostly farmland, lots of cows We stayed at the Ransom Bay inn and restaurant in Alburg. Rick and Lorraine were delightful hosts and we enjoyed chatting to them although after a sumptuous breakfast it was a late start for our ride down the west coast of Lake Champlain in New York State.

Alburg to Keeseville 2 October 83kms
We did a quick detour to Quebec, our son wanted a Canadian stamp in his passport and it was only a few extra kms. We continued along quiet lakeside roads mostly to Plattsburgh. I rode the rest of the way while the boys caught the bus from there to Keeseville. Along the way I passed Ausable Chasm. The chasm is a tourist destination and you pay to visit and tube down the river. I just took photos from the bridge.

Keeseville to Vergennes 3 October 49kms
This morning we headed further south on the New York side of Lake Champlain, the sun was shining from the start of our ride as we rode to the ferry at Essex and crossed to Charlotte on the Vermont side. Essex was a lovely little town and we have now arrived in Vergennes another quaint New England town. We are staying at another historic inn, this one is called Emerson House, its a short walk to town so a handy location.

Vergennes to Middlebury 4 October 45kms
A little cloudy today as we headed off for Middlebury, a college town a little south east from here. A short day sees us at our destination by lunchtime. We stopped a Morgan Horse Farm on the way, here they have been breeding the UVM Morgan horse since the 1800s, the property and original barn was bequeathed to the government in the early 1900s and has been run by the university of Vermont since there. Here apprentices come from all over the USA and some from overseas to learn about raising, breeding, caring, and training of these beautiful beasts. They must have a 'horsey' background to apply. From here a short roll down the road, the terrain is for better choice of word 'undulating' to a covered bridge, this one was called 'Pulp Mill' bridge. Like Vergennes, Middlebury is on Otter Creek and has a hydro electric plant so we are greeted by a waterfall in both towns. Very pretty, the old bridge across the creek was built in 1893 and has a marble top. The area around here is/was rich in marble.

Middlebury to Brandon 5 October 47kms
It rained before we started today but the day came good and it was just cloudy. We stopped at the farmers market in Middlebury before we left and bought a picnic lunch. We headed down to east Middlebury, to visit the largest lolly store in Vermont. Enroute we stopped at Salisbury station covered bridge. Then onto Lake Dunmore for lunch and a walk up to falls of Llana, more a cascade than what we would call a waterfall but pretty enough. Brandon is another quaint town and has yet another waterfall on otter creek. Our accommodation was at the Gazebo Inn with Donna, delightful host and fabulous breakfast.

Barndon to Woodstock 6 October 65kms
Our host had arranged a lift for all of us to the top of Brandon gap, I thought I was going to have to cycle the 600m height and meet the boys there so was pleased when I was able to be fitted in too as the weather has deteriorated!! We had a lovely 25km downhill before another uphill but the weather wasn't our friend today. This was probably our most scenic foliage ride but spitting turned to drizzle turned to a downpour so some very wet and cold tourists arrived in Woodstock this afternoon. Really lovely town had something to do with Rockefeller but because the US government won't pass their budget, therefore can't pay their non essential services the national parks being one of them they had closed the Rockefeller museum in town so I can't tell you more, lucky we had already been to Acadia because its now closed too.

That was the end of our cycling, I just did a quick 28km to White River to pick up another rental car. From there Boston and New York then home sadly. We had a great time. No major issues, not even a flat tyre. We of course carry spares and tools along with our gear. We had 4 panniers on each bike and a handle bar bag. We took lights, rain gear, warm clothes and used it all on the last day!!

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Copyright © 2007 by Ray Swartz