Monday, April 9, 2012

Good Intentions

Never, Ever,

Rides on a paved road.


The plan was simple: Leave Portland early and ride up to Greenville, Maine – 157 miles north: three hours, forty-five minutes away.  Okay, I can't do 60 miles per hour, so let's call it about four hours plus a little bit more.

My BRW (Beautiful Redheaded Wife) called me "a dreamer".  Actually, she told me that I really, really, should think a bit more about going up-country in April.  For those not living in Maine, April is just about mid-winter: a least another month is needed before we even begin to mention Spring.

But.  I convinced Tom Keene, of Scooter By The Sea fame:


 that it would be fun, and he agreed, so I figured "how wrong could I be?"

Very
This was the plan:


Start at the bottom and go to the top.  On the way home, start at the top and go to the bottom, with one difference: a choice of either of two routes – leader's choice.

Neat eh?

Well, at least we made it to Farmington: 78.6 cold, wet, miles.


By that time, we had been showered upon, winded upon, buffered by the many, many logging trucks headed in the opposite direction, and (did I mention that it is April?) cold-ed upon enough that we were ready to stop and smell the flowers.

Farmington: Home of the Twice Sold Tales Bookstore and the Wicked Gelato, a soup, sandwich and gelato store.  How could we resist?  So we parked, made ourselves presentable and trundled in.


The bookstore managed to take half our coins; the gelato shop, the rest.

Thus fortified, we decided upon our next steps.  A quick call to Greenville, provided us with the knowledge that they had received snow the night before (it's April after all), and that the wind was blowing and it was a bit "chilly".  It was the "chilly" that clinched it.  It was time to bow to reality and scoot home, via the red-line route.


Relieved of the pressure to make it to Greenville, we were able to stop and grab a few shots of the fantastic views.




And, as we were punch-drunk from riding in cold, wet, weather, we even took pictures of each other taking pictures.


And so, our road to Greenville turned out to be a "Good Intentions" road – paved, true, and hellish, also true.

One-hundred, seventy-four (and a bit more) miles later, I slid into my local DD, grabbed a coffee (black and large, thank you) and, sitting back, watched the traffic go by.


Next time, with luck, the road to Greenville will be better paved.

7 comments:

  1. Kudos to you for getting out and trying to get to your destination in that weather. It is just no fun to be cold, wet and buffeted around.

    But isn't it nice to end a cold ride with hot coffee and a fresh pastry?

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  2. Indeed! It was a saving grace, and...... it gave me time to plan our "revenge is sweet" ride to Greenville!

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  3. Mike:

    Wow, those scenes looked cold. I would have just stayed home with the BRW until next month

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr

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    1. You know, Bob, one would think that that would be the smart (as well as pleasant) thing to do, but.....
      did I mention that I'm Italian?

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  4. Hey...any day spending a little time on two wheels is always a good day. :)

    And without that cold weather...you would not have known the joy of the coffee and pastry. You might have driven right by in warmer weather. Hehehe

    Glad you tried and looking forward to when you succeed.

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  5. Your comments, as usual, are right on target. Thanks for the encouragement. Better rides are coming.

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    1. I'm a really looking forward to your summertime adventures! But your winter ones are very interesting. ;)

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