Epilogue: August 8, 2007

It’s been close to two months, and I have finally found the time to write the epilogue for this trip. It’s not that it hasn’t been on my mind, it has just been real busy since I returned. It seems that I have had something going on constantly. I am on a camping holiday on Lake Ontario and this seems like a fitting place to recall the Northeastern Loop ride.

The actual route showing night stays.

As far as the route goes, it was all and more than I expected. Except for Vermont, there were hardly any big climbs. In fact, the terrain was mostly flat after we hit Lake Champlain, except when we were approaching Quebec City, and then again as we headed south at Riviere-du Loup towards Fort Kent, Maine. The roads and accommodations along la Route verte in Quebec Province were perfect for bicycle touring. The roads were good, services were plentiful, and the people were friendly toward those traveling on bicycles. A couple of times people in cars stopped and beckoned us by even when they had the right of way. This rarely happens in the US. The scenery was also more than I expected. The coastal area in the northeastern section of the Saint Lawrence River was spectacular as were portions along the coast of Maine. I am familiar with the terrain and scenery for most of the remainder of the route in New England, but it is still pretty each time I see it. There were only a couple of sections in Maine and Connecticut that were a bit dicey for bicycle touring, but all in all the roads were suitable. The fact that I had no flat tires and Denny only had one is a testament to road conditions.

la Route verte Route Sign

Denny and I got along quite well. Denny is easy going, soft spoken, honest and forthright. He has a wealth of experience from hiking the Appalachian Trail. I have learned a few tricks that I didn’t know about camping from him. Our discussions were many on the road and I also learned a few things about organic farming, goats, tree harvesting, bee keeping, and the mill areas south of Worcester, Massachusetts. Denny is also an accomplished rider. This was evidenced when a State Trooper in Vermont walked around a car he had pulled over and into the road without looking. Denny locked up the rear wheel, swerved to avoid him and brought the bike back in line without going down or hitting the Trooper. Now that was a fine bit of cycling. Denny also has good endurance and could ride for hours on end and not need many breaks. The only drawback to this is our days in the saddle tended to be longer and I was awake later in the evening writing my log.

Plugged in and writing my log after dark

The weather was cooler, well actually, colder than I expected. I think this was true for the entire northeast in late May and early June 2006. The weather patterns seemed to be coming out of the northwest which accounted for this. When the remnants of a “tropical storm” coming out of the south hit us in northeastern Maine and combined with the weather pattern coming out of the northwest, it was anything but tropical. Temperatures were in the upper 40’s to low 50’s and it rained all day. Opting for a dry room at a fishing cabin was an excellent choice as everything was wet and we were chilled to the bone at the end of the day. The weather pattern also meant that the winds were less favorable than normal. All in all though, we had our share of favorable winds, especially near the end of the trip when they should have been unfavorable so I guess there is no need to complain.