Bangor, Me to Gorham, NH
ECG was up early to head to Bangor Powersports for a new tire. He's gota history with them. http://moto2our.blogspot.com/2008/07/finishing-up.html. A check of his front tire showed the pressure was 25 PSI. That should have been 36. Not a mechanical problem, just good old fashioned ignoring.
Rain came through during the night. I guess he hit a little in the ride to Bangor Powersports, but I slept in and didn't see any of it. Was definitely swampy and humid and hot by the time we were rolling.
We started the day with a 30 mile interstate run, which seemed to go by so fast we were both wondering if we were taking the wrong exit. We changed up the route during the night to avoid having to go back into Canada. It's just not worth the hassle for what we were going to do.
I've got a really weird feeling in the back end of my bike and did a final drive oil change in the parking lot of Quality Auto Parts to look for metal. It looked fine. The thinking now is that the tire is the problem. It's totally squared off and needs replaced a few hundred miles ago. We're looking for a place to get it changed.
The roads were nice enough. More desolate Maine roads. I'm really starting to like these things as much as the really twisty roads that are deeper in the mountains to the south. But the real treat was Moosehead lake. "The second biggest freshwater lake entirely contained within a single state east of the Mississippi". A total old-school summer vacation resort town with little hotels and lodges, all local businesses and a bunch of tourists.
The scenery was beautiful, and the people were great. Lunch at the Black Frog was awesome. eating on the pier on the lake. Pretty waitresses. Huge lobster rolls, the perfect Arnold Palmers.
We hit Kamp Kamp, which was a fantastic souvenir shop, where ECG got a terrific Pendleton dress jacket and a Dremel engraver ($5!).
We stopped at cool general store, that really was a general store, for a bit and took a stretch. Eric took my bike out for a bit to feel the back end weirdness. All kinds of kids in swimsuits who had been out tubing on the river coming in to buy cases of beer and bags of ice. They all looked like they were having a blast. Fun to see.
On 201 South, we got stuck behind 3 school buses, doing 10 mph under the speed limit (we're used to going 10 over) for about 15 miles. We couldn't manage to pass them. It was maddening.
Then we got on 2 and made the pass over the mountains to New Hampshire. Great road, except for the construction. Huge chunks of road missing. It was rideable, and plenty of bikes were taking it. But it was a little hairy. That pass will be fantastic when it's all repaved.
I've hit the spot where my brain and body have switched over to riding mode. Feels more natural to be on the bike than off. 25 miles feels like 2 minutes when riding. Off the bike, I can't figure out time at all. It's great crossing this point.
A Top Notch Inn is great. Dinner at J's, and sleeping in. We're off to ride up Mount Washington today. Tallest peak in the east.
