Date: 2007-07-30
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Miles today: 0.0

7-30-07Farmington, ME74 miles today2886 easterly miles6971 total milesI guess it's time for an update. This entry will be different because I'll try and cover everything since my last entry...all in this one entry.I had planned on riding out of VT the day after Mrs Gorp finished, but for a few reasons, I couldn't get motivated. I didn't even write my journal everyday like I always do...in fact, I'm catching up on about 4 or 5 days in this one entry I'm writing tonight.It was very hot and humid that next day. I've rode in hotter weather, but I haven't seen humidity like this on the whole trip. It was easy to stay at Mrs Gorp's home one more day when she offered...and Larry didn't mind. :-))I have rode every mile up to this point...almost 7,000 miles, with Mrs Gorp and now I was leaving and riding by myself. Her adventure was done, but I still had more miles to ride and I needed to get going, but it just didn't seem right leaving without Mrs Gorp. :-((The third reson for having a harder time getting motivated was because although I've driven the roads in Maine before, I wasn't a bicycle rider at the time, so I didn't pay attention to the shoulders. I had a feeling that the route through Maine was going to be a lot like Rt 17 up in Canada and I really wasn't prepared for more of that.We said goodbye to Lone Wolf and Gypsy. They walked out from Mrs Gorp's home in the morning. Later in the afternoon, we went looking for them near the Whistle Stop on Rt 103 or 113...I don't remember.We drove up and saw them standing out front. Long story short, they came back to Mrs Gorp's for one more night.The next day was my day to start riding all by myself. I had my coffee and we got everyone loaded into the car and the bikes on top.We dropped Lone Wolf and Gypsy off at the Trail, then headed back to Middlebury and stopped at the bike shop.Mrs Gorp put her bike on consignment as a low mileage (7,000 miles) '07 Cannondale. :-))She wants a steel frame bike for her next set of wheels. The aluminum frame of the Cannondale was too jarring a ride for her. Other than the harsh ride, it worked flawlessly on this trip.I said my goodbyes to Mrs Gorp.I ended up in NH late that day and called Dr Doolittle. She was a close Trail friend from my '03 sobo walk and I knew she was at her Grandmother's home in the area.We went out to dinner. I'll bet John Galt's ears were ringing that night. Ha!! ;-)) (Another '03 Trail friend and another long story)She stayed and talked until she noticed it was way past my bedtime. I guess I must really start looking tired by 10pm.We made plans to meet for breakfast the next morning.I checked out of the motel in the morning and headed out into a drizzle of light rain.I did meet up with Dr Doolittle and had breakfast, then headed towards Littleton, NH for the day.I got rained on for about 2 hours, but then it stayed cloudy and cooler the rest of the ride.I had a short day planned for the following day. That day I ended up in Gorham, NH.I met Gretchen just as she was getting on her bicycle. I had been climbing a hill for a while, so it was easy to stop and talk. It turns out she was training for ANOTHER Ironman competition to be held in September.We talked about 5 or 10 minutes, then she got on her bike and she was gone in a flash.That made me realize that I'm a slow bike rider. :-))Gorham is a Trail town near the AT and I was hoping to run into a bunch of thru hikers.It had been a beautiful ride through the White Mountains, but the warm weather along with high humidity were back.I checked into the motel I always stay at in Gorham, then headed out to see if I could find any thru hikers.I ran into only one...a nobo by the name of Chips. He was staying at The Barn.We talked a while and he remembered seeing my truck near the Trail when he first started down in Georgia. He also hiked with Bushwhacker, another friend of mine.I left and rode around town. The new internet cafe that opened last year had closed, Welch's was still closed, The Birches was gone and Crabby Jack's opened in it's place and there's a new Super Wal-Mart 2.5 miles out of town.I headed out of Gorham early on Monday morning. I was still hesitant about riding Rt 2 in ME.This is the same Rt 2 that I started riding way back in Montana.I headed towards Maine and stopped when I got to the AT crossing. I took a couple pictures, then rode a few more miles and stopped again for pictures at the Maine State sign.The road had been narrow without much shoulder in some parts, but I was riding on a nice, wide shoulder at that point and I was hoping it would last. It ended up being a very nice ride today. I had a good shoulder about 90% of the time.It was supposed to be in the upper 70's today for a high, but was a hot 85 when I pulled into the motel parking lot in Farmington, ME.I called a Trail friend who lives near here by the name of Mailar and made arrangements to meet for lunch tomorrow in Skowhegan.The weather hasn't been too bad and the roads were much better for riding than I thought they'd be.Two of the three reasons that I couldn't get motivated for the rest of this ride turned out to be OK.I still miss riding with my bicycle partner though. :-((Looks like I only have about 125 miles left of this bike trip. I'll be in Millinocket almost a month before I thought I'd make it, so I may just get done walking sooner than New Years Eve too, if everything goes well on this year's walk.*** I just re-read this entry and it almost sounds like I'm not enjoying myself. I am still enjoying this ride and enjoying myself out here. I really love riding the bicycle and I'm having fun talking to people at the places I stop at.I especially enjoyed talking to a young man at a convenient store today. I said something about how nice his Honda motorcycle looked and he said yeah, it's an '07 and I've already got over 2,000 miles on it.That's when I told him my bike is an '07 too and I've got over 7,000 miles on it. That started about a 45 minute conversation with him. :-))I guess it's just harder right now because Mrs Gorp is home. We really had a great ride this summer. She finished her planned ride and I'm out here finishing my planned ride.Another great day on Stumpy's version of the Northern Tier Bicycle Trail. :-))