* * * * * * * *
Slideshow
Slideshow
A
slideshow
of photos from my "after ride" in Maine can be found at
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WCXkGkzg4c1z3dv3A
* * * * * * * *
Missive No. 4: Wondering Where the Bears Are
Missive No. 4: Wondering Where the Bears Are
In my fourth missive I wrote, "You may rightfully conclude that this is not the final missive for the summer. My journey in Canada and Alaska may have been foreshortened, but my «after ride» to home in Maine is still to come. I’ll write the missive about that ride in due time when I'm home in the GDBMA."
What can I say? "Due time" is long overdue as time at age 70 speeds ever onward at an accelerating pace. According to the official records, I turned 70 while I was on the ferry from Alaska to Washington, but other than for the seemingly ever-accelerating pace of time, "It's **not** terribly strange to be seventy." How many of you, like me, remember the Simon and Garfunkel "Bookends" album from the 1960s and the line from "Old Friends" about how terribly strange it is to be seventy?
And so, before the past three weeks slip away into the black hole of time, let me at least briefly bring things up to date.
Once in Bellingham, WA, I took the train to Seattle and spent a day with my high school friend Mike Korolenko. I also did a good, 15-mile ride on the hilly streets of Seattle and can report that my right knee gave me not an inkling of trouble. Then, as I have in four out of the past five years, I boarded Amtrak's "Empire Builder" for the journey back east. After a week with family and friends in the DC area, I took the overnight train to Boston and the bus to Brunswick, ME. After a night at the Relax Inn -- one of my favorite "cheap motels" -- it was time to start my "after ride," the 300 km (~180 mile) ride to home.
This year's "after ride" duplicated my route after riding the TransAm in 2021. The first day took me from Brunswick to Gardiner and an overnight stay with WarmShowers host Kevin. This is the third time I have stayed with Kevin, and I believe it is time to say we have moved on from being "host and guest" to being friends. The next day took me to a night with my friend Ellen in Northport, and the following day brought me to an indoor camping night at the house of my friends Greg and Mark in Bangor.
That brought me to the final day, the ride from Bangor to my home in Burlington. The sun shone brightly without a single cloud in the sky, and only a slight headwind slowed me as I made my way north on Route 2 along the Penobscot River. I had no interest in speed that day and was aiming, rather, for the opposite, a slow day to appreciate that this was my "last time on the road," the end of another summer bike-packing journey. I always have the feeling of wanting to hang on and put off journey's end, but this year the feeling was even stronger. Since the fall of 2019 I have crossed the U.S. by bicycle twice; I have ridden from Prudhoe Bay, AK, to Whitefish, MT; I have ridden in the SW in Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California; and now I had crossed Canada's Northwest and Yukon Territories on the Dempster Highway. In those travels I achieved what I set out to do: I have seen my own country and large portions of Canada. No longer can I say that I have seen more of the former Soviet Union than I have of North America. I have evened the balance. When I rolled into my own driveway on Labor Day, I lay in my hammock and then sat on the porch to watch the sun set behind my red pines. As the twilight faded, I felt true contentment and thankfulness for these five summers of bike-packing coupled with the sense that I am done, that there are no other such journeys calling me onward. This year my final day of riding from Bangor to Burlington truly feels like my "last time on the road."
That does not mean I'm done with riding by any means. Just two days ago I rode back down to Bangor for a dentist appointment and then back home to Burlington. (It's amazing how easy a 142 km [89 mile] ride seems when one is not carrying 20+ kg of bike-packing gear.) I've also been to Lincoln and to Howland for grocery shopping and banking. In short, I'm still very much on two wheels and will continue to be so. I likely will do some shorter bike-packing trips in the coming years, but they will be local ones, say around Nova Scotia. It's my career of doing trips "way out there" in the far north that is entering the book of memory.
Meanwhile, an adventure of another type is about to begin: my return to Kazakhstan! I fly on September 28, and this year my boyfriend John is going with me for the first month. I myself will return in time for Christmas. Before we fly, however, I am overwhelmed by an impossible list of household chores, not to mention that I have not balanced my checkbook since June. I suspect that some of those chores may be taken care of only when I return in January.
Thank you for following me on this summer's adventure.
* * * * * * * *
Снова приношу извинения, что только коротко пишу на русском. Обещаю друзьям в Казахстане, что всё расскажу в подробностях когда приеду осенью. Кстати, я прилетаю в Казахстан 2-го октября и пробуду до 22-го декабря. Скоро увидимся!
Пока скажу только, что я провела неделю с семьей в Мэриленде а затем вернулась в Мэн на поезде. Но расстояние между моим домом и последней железнодорожной станцией составляет 300 км. Значит, я провела ещё четыре дня на велике и вернулась окончательно к себе 2-го сентября в наш американский праздник, "День труда."
* * * * * * * *
Daily Log
Daily Log
Thursday, August 29, 2024 -- 14,514 km cum - 4 km/day
I'm at the Relax Inn in Brunswick after an all-night train and bus from DC that followed a good week with John and with family in Maryland. My after ride to home in the GDBMA begins tomorrow.
This is the fourth time I am staying at the Relax Inn. It has become something of a tradition on these "походы," The first time was at the start of my BAM in 2020. I stayed here when I was coming home from my TransAm cross-country ride in 2021, and I stayed again on my way back from my Alaska-Montana North Star adventure in 2022. Last year was the only exception, the only year I missed. It seemed appropriate that I be here again this year at the end of my Northwest Passage journey. I expect this was the last of my epic rides in places "way out there." There is a pleasing circularity to staying at the Relax Inn this year. I am ending where I began with a good feeling.
Friday, August 30, 2024 -- 14,569 km cum - 55 km/day
Saturday, August 31, 2024 -- 14,647 km cum - 78 km/day
Sunday, September 1, 2024 -- 14,708 km cum - 61 km/day
Three good riding days in beautiful "Welcome Home to Maine" weather and, most importantly, with no knee pain whatsoever, not even a hint. What happened to me on the BC-AK border was very real and very painful, but it has gone completely. Could it have been climbing too many days in the cold and rain with too much weight? I don't know. If it doesn't recur, I will leave it at that.
I'm repeating my after ride of 2021 when I returned from riding the TransAm. I'm enjoying the repeat as Maine scenes and memories pass. I spent Friday night with WS host Kevin in Gardiner. This is the third time I've stayed with him, and we enjoyed dinner and talk at the A1 Diner. He's no longer a WS host, but a friend. On Saturday, I rode to Belfast and met Ellen for dinner at the Front Street Pub, also a post ride tradition. After spending the night with her, today I rode on to Bangor. I'm in home territory now, indoor-camped for the night at Mark and Greg's home on James Street, just as I was in at the end of my ride in 2021. There is comfort and joy in repeating the "after ride" of 2021.
Monday, September 2, 2024 -- 14,785 km cum - 77 km/day
I am sitting on my front porch as the sun sinks to the horizon. It is September, late summer, not the start of summer as it was when I set out on this journey a bit over two months ago. The sun is setting straight in front of me, almost due west, not to the north of west as it did in June.
For the fifth time, I have returned home with WoodsWoman after a summer adventure. Make that six times if you count my DC-to-Maine ride in September 2019 when I retired. Five years ago right now, I was somewhere on the C&O Canal heading west. Little did I know then how important a place these summer journeys would come to occupy in my life, that the DC-to-Maine ride was only the beginning.
This year's return brings with it a sense of completion. Over these five years, I have seen North America on two wheels and have been to the Arctic twice. I have fulfilled a dream, and I am content. I will continue to ride and may bike-pack for weeks or a month, but with the completion of this summer's journey, the months of solo, self-supported epic riding are in my rear view mirror. In the years to come, I will set my sights on local adventures here in Maine and in the Maritime. In this, I am content and happy with a sense of fulfillment and completion.
That future may also include a return to Kazakhstan where there is still much to see, much to do. The adventure of life will continue,
No comments:
Post a Comment