On June 27, at 4:18AM, I departed from Quoddy Head in Lubec, Maine, from the lighthouse, known as the easternmost point in the USA. It was a cool morning with a slight breeze, and the sun was on its way up as I began pedaling. For the first few hours, it was like I had the roads of Downeast Maine all to myself. It was beautiful! I was so excited that I really had to hold myself back from going too hard too soon. Having lived in almost every section of Maine, this ride was to serve dual purpose as a fun long day in the saddle, as well as a long trip down Memory Lane. Having a history in multi-day racing (having completed every distance from Double to Deca Iron triathlon), but not in this format, I was super amped to not have to worry about anything but pedaling. The goal was to try and match the West to East record, because I felt like it would be legit to go against the prevailing winds and beat the faster time of the two crossings.
I kept a long sleeve on until mid morning. The weather report stated that it would be a warm day, but it certainly didn't feel that way until I made my way inland. As I made my way through Ellsworth around 9am, the heat was starting to build, as well as the traffic. I was happy to have my folks and Christine, the UMCA official in the car directly behind me, especially as I made my way through the heavy construction around Bucksport. For the rolling terrain given, I was glad to have used my road bike, with clip-on aero bars. I tried to stay aero as much as possible, but the climbs between Belfast and Augusta really put the hurt on me. The sun was beating down, and with not a lot of breeze to cool me off, I suffered in those middle miles. During that time, my parents would roll up to me in the follow vehicle and hand me a water bottle of Tang, or a piece of pizza, and I'd be good to go for a while! In my head, the middle miles are always the ones that hurt the most- too far from the beginning to be fresh; too far from the end to start pedaling hard. Just mentally brutal. Sometimes funny things happen during those doldrums. At one point, I passed a farm tractor going downhill, which was followed by a very long, steep uphill. As I made my way up the hill, I could hear the tractor, who also had a follow vehicle, getting closer and closer. I wasn't about to let the old John Deere by, and it made me smile as I attacked, trying to separate myself from that diesel beast! As we closed in on the final 30 miles, I made a slight wrong turn thanks to some construction and ensuing missing road sign, which was a huge mental blow. We only lost a mile or so, but at that time, you just want to be done, and any extra mileage feels like an eternity. The climb up Gore Road just about killed me, as I was still on a low from taking a wrong turn. Even though I knew I was close to being done, I couldn't get myself to be happy about it. As I pedaled into familiar territory in Bridgton, I climbed out of town, and all of a sudden it kicked in that I could still go under 15 hours, which was my initial goal. I put my head down, and began pedaling my face off. I went into time trial mode, and could not stop looking at my watch as I tried to extrapolate speed vs mileage left to go. Pedaling through downtown Fryeburg, I prayed the light would not turn red, and it didn't. Up and over the final hill, I sprinted toward the state line, and crossed into NH after 15 hrs and 1 minute at 7:19pm. It was a total blast to see Maine in a day, in a way that not many people ever will. Big thanks to my parents, and Christine, UMCA Official. I could not have done this without them. For anyone interested, check out my GPS track: https://www.strava.com/activities/334403914 Stay on the Grind! kp
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