Year 1 - Ride Day 5 - Wisscassett ME to S Portland ME - Sept 5

We met a nice lady at the Wisscassett Lodge.  Their vehicle had a couple kayaks and bicycles on it. She graciously offered to take a group photo. 

The Lodge also offered us and bicycle related tools that we may have needed. I took them up on their offer to use a floor pump to bring my tires up to optimum pressure. Its good I did as my tires were down to about 40 lbs. from the desired 65 or 70 lbs.

We passed over the Kennebec River going into Bath ME. As we were on the bridge, Gary stopped to take a photo of the US Navy Zumwalt Class ship, the USS Linden B Johnson that was in port. It was neat to see!

We went through Brunswick and right through Bowdoin College campus. A very pretty campus. Leaving Brunswick, the ECG route proceeds on Pleasant Hill Road. The hills are pleasant until you get close to Freeport, then not so much! These short downhills followed by quick short uphills challenged our equipment and personal shifting talents! 

Gary had mentioned that it was getting warmer and he soon needed to remove his leggings. So when he disappeared from my rear view mirror, I just assumed that he had stopped to do so. Generally speaking, we will wait for the person behind you at the next turn. We stay together, but not immediately in front or behind the next person. This allows one to ride at their natural rhythm and not have to conform to the others riding styles. We do not do a paceline except when the wind is really severe.

I caught up to Dan at the steep hill going into Freeport. He had turned off into a residents lawn to wait. This was also a decision point! Do we climb the hill into Freeport or do we bypass Freeport entirely? The property owner came out onto his porch and was very pleasant, asking if we needed anything. 

While we waited for Gary, Dan and I took the opportunity to remove some clothes. It was in the mid 50’s when we started this morning and by now it was well into the 60’s. Then I returned, what must have been the third call from the hotel in Chatham. A very pleasant lady who I must assume was a little hard of hearing because I had to repeat myself over and over. 

Those tasks completed, but still no Gary. We were beginning to discuss going back to check on him when he came down the hill and around the corner toward us. Once he got to us, he showed us his from derailleur. It was bent down below his chainrings. Also his handle bar shift lever was not functioning properly. We are uncertain whether his shift lever malfunctioned and possibly caused his chain to drag the derailleur into the chainring or if the chain got stuck cause the derailleur and shift lever to fail! Anyway, he was stuck in his small ring (low gears) unless we sought repairs. We thought possibly the shift lever issue could be a damaged shift cable. Sometimes the cables fray inside the level and cause it to jam.  

It was Sunday, so likely bike shops would be closed. We thought maybe LL Bean could be the answer. I also wanted to stop at Bean in hopes I could obtain a pannier bag repair kit. One of the weatherproof seams on my bag was separating. As my bags are waterproof (hopefully), there is no stitching or sewing. All the seams are bonded or glued. So up the steep hill into Freeport we went!

Freeport was a madhouse! People everywhere! We found the LLBean bicycle shop. Gary began disassembling his shift lever and removed the cable. The cable was fine and was not the issue. He checked to see if the shop had an exact replacement derailleur and shift lever. No such luck! Then he asked if the shop had any old fashioned friction shifters. After searching, the shop tech advised that they did have a bar-end friction shifter and the front derailleur associated with it! Sold! Now he just had to get it installed!

Gary’s bike went into the shop. I shopped and found a wader repair kit that I thought would work to repair my bag. We ate lunch at Linda Bean’s restaurant. We sat and people watched. Finally four hours after we arrived Freeport, we were back on the road with Gary’s bike having a fully functioning front derailleur!

It was good that this was a relatively short mileage day, only about 57 miles! We arrived in South Portland late in the afternoon around 5:30. 

It had been several days since we did any laundry. So tonight we absolutely had to do laundry! In fact, we had so much that it required two loads. The washing machine was on the top or 4th floor of the hotel. We gathered our dirty clothes and headed for the 4th floor. Upon arriving at the room, we discovered the washer full of wet clothes. As is customary, at least in the military, we placed these clothes into the dryer and proceeded to start our first load. The wash took 40 minutes. The owner of the wet clothes, now in the dryer, did not show up to start drying their clothes. So our first washer load now done, we unloaded the wet clothes from the dryer, put them on top of the dryer, and placed our first load in the dryer, 

Did we get a surprise when we started the dryer! It made such a rumbling noise that it could be heard throughout most of the hotel! The occupants of the room behind the laundry room came out to see what was make such a racket! They eventually were move to a room down the hall. The dryer worked for drying clothes so we proceeded to wash our second load.

I was babysitting the dryer when the lady who owned the wet clothes arrived. Man was she mad! She said “who does this? Takes a persons wet clothes out of the washer!” I said “I did. You were not here and have not been back for over an hour!” She proceeded to give me a tongue lashing! I guess she never did wash in the military! She should be happy her wash was not on the ground!