Well this was supposed to be ride day 3, but the broken ferry and torrential downpour made us alter our plans to stay on schedule. To stay on schedule would not be too important but we have several prepaid hotel reservations ahead and all the other reservations that may be difficult to rearrange at the last minute, especially over the Labor Day weekend. We left the motel in Ellsworth around 8 a.m. Weather cool and overcast. About 56 degrees! The first thing on the road was to climb up out of Ellsworth! It was a very steep climb for our muscles that were not warmed up! As we crossed the river at Belfast, we could see the other Fort Knox on the distant shore. After climbing out of the river valley we crossed the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. This new bridge replaced the former Waldo-Hancock Bridge. The new bridge opened in Dec 2006. We pulled into the observation area and marveled at this modern structure. The nearest tower actually has an elevator that takes you to the top ...
The inspiration for our ride comes from the Dec 2020/January 2021 article in Adventure Cyclist magazine titled "Where There's A Will There's A W-A-Y (Week-A-Year)". There is also a YouTube video https://youtu.be/0KvyzmlhY5M made by the same group as in the magazine article. This group rode the East Coast Greenway one week per year, taking 9 years to complete the full trip from Calais, ME to Key West Fl. Being retired, I am able to spend more than one week per year touring. Obtaining permission from the "One Who Must Be Obeyed", I came up with the idea to ride at least two weeks per year and hopefully we will be able to complete the total East Coast Greenway ride in 4 years. When I asked my long time touring friend, Dan, if he might be interested, there was not even a brief pause when he agreed to participate. Then asking Gary, our two time cross PA (routes "Y" and "S") touring friend, there was a quick email response "Absolutely...
In Calais, ME that is! I told my wife that my follow my dot will not go any further northeast than it is right now! Our wonderful West Transportation driver Erica, got us right to the motel before 5 p.m. And that was even after we stopped for a few minutes to pick up her daughter who stays after school with her mother in law. They met us on the road to Calais (Route 9) a few miles out of town. She was grateful that she did not have to backtrack to pick her up for their school open house. She saved us an hour of riding time, so we really could not have any issue! Motel is old, but clean. Lots of working people staying here. Should not be an issue on a work night. I’ll bet it gets a little wild here on a Friday night! Rode to the US/Canada border and spoke to border control officer who took our photo at the same place as the W-A-Y folks took their group photo some 10 years ago! Then rode the first mile of the ECG back to the motel. Will probably do that again in the morning.
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