Northeast - Southern Maine (USA)

Anyone else around? I'm in Westbrook, and would be interested in conversing with others, especially commuters.

dude whats up, portland here......

Hi Boundconcubine(?),
Falmouth here. Supposed to go over 40F today. Once it gets above freezing, I'm riding... :eek: I'm going to the Mall to exchange something for wifey.

temp says 41 ouside........ you better be headed out, and on that note me thinks it's time for a ride

Called Time+Temp and it said 29F. My backyard thermometer says 30F. Dress warm.

Maybe late has already left (in which case I am late), but if anyone's riding near the mall, let me know and we can meet for lunch. (Or in Westbrook on a week-end.) I think it'd be fun to meet other bike commuters, but it's hard to know how to do that. It's not like you can tell a bike commuter by looking, except when they're riding, and then they're on their way somewhere. I guess you'd just have to advertise somewhere they'd be looking, like on this forum!

Forget to mention: I bought the warmest head thing from a stand in the mall a few weeks ago. It's a PolarTec hood made by Headsokz Inc. (www.headsokz.com), it goes over your entire head and shoulders, and you can optionally pull part of the lower brim up through the inside front to make a mask to cover your mouth and nose. For really cold days, you can use the drawstrings to pull it tight so only your eyes are showing. And you can even fit a helmet on over it. I wore it this morning, not even that tightly, and it was almost too warm. Definately beats the plain headband and small nose/mouth mask I used to use.

Hi John,
sorry I missed you. I'd enjoy meeting you sometime.

not that bad out today, besides any day when you can ride is not all bad..... hope you all made it out........

:eek: My wife told me she heard on the radio news tonight that a bicyclist was killed in an accident in Portland! No doubt it'll be in the news tomorrow; look/listen/watch for it!

Press-Herald story here (http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/050106cyclist.shtml). Name was Kevin Spaulding, age 45. He was riding against traffic through the big intersection at Forest & Marginal, and was hit by a U.S. Postal Service tractor-trailer turning right. :(

Hi,
riding against the traffic is dangerous. I felt a lot safer
after I read Forrester's Effective Cycling.I found it at Portland Public Library.

riding against the traffic is dangerous. I felt a lot safer
after I read Forrester's Effective Cycling.I found it at Portland Public Library.
Thanks, I'll look for it!

Yo Maina's! CRUM here in Springvale. Great to see some folks from these parts in this forum. Hey, if enough of us get together, we could give those cocky Aussies a run for their money with our own thread.

I lurk alot in the cycling threads, but post a lot in the politics/religion forum, foo, and Gen cycling, with a remark here and there. Since I am in the business, I feel like an intruder sometimes, so I just read mostly.

heyy, im in portland.
just wanted you all to know about Critical mass in portland.
its the last friday of every month at 5 p.m.. Meet up in monument square, come and celebrate independence from auto-dependence.

bikesnotbombs, would you happen to be Percy? Or maybe you know him? He was a bike messenger, and now operates a little LBS by the corner of Congress and Bramhall. There was a newspaper article that profiled him and some others a few months back.

nope, but does he work at the bikecycle?

Yeah, I think that's place. I know he was involved with CM in Portland. I met him protesting the war together back in March 2003.

yeah, hes a nice guy.
i got my bike from his shop.

It's good to know you're there. I'm a stone's throw away in Portland on Forest Avenue. I'm not a commuter but I'm with the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and ride thousands of miles per year all over the state. I was dubbed "Powerhouse" because of the energy reserves enabling me to finish longer rides no matter what the lay of the land.

What makes me shy away from riding in Portland is that I don't quite know how to deal with the heavy traffic here. Perhaps you could give me some tips?

I look forward to hearing from you

My brother heard the story on TV and thought the rider was me. He's conveyed his concerns every now and then ever since.

Hey,
Portland Public has a copy of Effective Cycling. Get it, read it, it will help. It uses the vehicular cycling idea. That is where you act like a car.

While you really need to read it, I use whatever tactic seems to fit the situation best. I try to use side streets where I can. There are intersections I mostly avoid (Forest and Allen, for example).

You are lucky, ten years ago people were hostile to cyclists. That seems to have gone. And if you think the traffic is bad here, you should try riding in Boston sometime.

Actually, the Portland Public Library no longer has it. I was in there a few months ago to get it, and we found that it had been stolen! (Good that someone wanted it, I guess, but still...) I was told that they would re-order it, but I just called for an update and the woman said it hadn't been yet. BUT, she found two other copies available through inter-library loan. I'll probably ask for one (I couldn't right now because I didn't have my library card handy), but you can ask for the other, powerhouse. Call the reference section (871-1700) and say that you were told it was available through Maine Infonet.

I have also written an article on one of my websites about riding safely in traffic, with some links to other places, here (http://www.mainebrook.com/opac/info/kb/Riding_In_Traffic.php). You might find it useful, and I very much welcome constructive feedback on it.

Anyone in the York/Kittery/Portsmouth area?

Anyone doing the 8 Lighthouse Right for the Eastern Trail Association?

Hi,
we're up in Falmouth. Thanks for mentioning the ETA ride,
we'd never heard of it. Might do the 35 mile ride. Gonna see how the girls react to the idea of 75. We did 66 miles a couple weeks ago, but we were pretty sore the next day.

Hi Late,

My son & I signed up for the 35 mile ride. Should be a good time. Several weeks ago we rode from Amato's in Scarboro on the ET to the Casco Bay Bridge, through Portland (around the back cove), and then to the Maine Mall. Lot of fun, especially the South Portland section.

Hi back at you. I will prob be at that ETA ride. I will be the fat guy
on an orange bike. My wife rides a blue bike, and most everything else is blue too, including her tires.

Crud! My van blew a head gasket yesterday ($$$$$)!

I'm gonna miss the 8 Lighthouse ETA ride tomorrow! :-(

Alternate plan B is to go to Pappa Wheelies bike shop in Portsmouth tomorrow, their gonna have a "Ride with the pros" in Seacoast NH (pros here for the York Beach and Portsmouth Criteriums (Criteria?).

Those of you going on the ETA ride, have a great time.

Crud! My van blew a head gasket yesterday ($$$$$)!

I'm gonna miss the 8 Lighthouse ETA ride tomorrow! :-(

Alternate plan B is to go to Pappa Wheelies bike shop in Portsmouth tomorrow, their gonna have a "Ride with the pros" in Seacoast NH (pros here for the York Beach and Portsmouth Criteriums (Criteria?).

Those of you going on the ETA ride, have a great time.


Hope you have a good time. Sorry about your van. Bummer. I will be driving from Dover-Foxcroft to Portland for the ETA. Hope for no rain. :p

Anyone actually do the ETA 8 Lighthouse ride? How was it?

I was gonna, but my van died, so I wasn't able to go up to S. Portland.

Hi,
the weather was crap, and I was sore from commuting during th week. So I blew it off. My wife and Sis went. They said it was real hard. Lots of wind, a few miles of rough dirt path. But they said they were glad they did it, but they were some tired when they were done.

Thanks!

Well, I at least got the tee shirt in the mail the other day. Hopefully I'll make it next year.

I rode the ETA for the first time. I thought it wasn't too bad. The only thing i did not like was that the ETA group left before we all got back. I wanted to buy an extra T-shirt. The REd Bull Rep was there. It was great to get free Red Bull. It was the first time i tried it. I did't really like the Carbonation it had though.

Ride ON

Bringing up an old thread - anyone still out there? I'm in Scarborough. As soon as I get my 'cross bike squared away, I'll be able to use the Eastern Trail to commute to work, provided I can turn left across Black Point Road at 7AM.

And re: traffic, I feel like I can ride *anywhere* after doing the NYC Century Ride the weekend before last. Probably not the immersive therapy for everyone, but it was really neat and it supports Transportation Alternatives in NYC.

I started reading this thread and thought it was brand new!

I'm in York and commute to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Hey, Ritehsedad, you may well commute past my house in Kittery Point.
I'm a noob and have been riding alone to get the feel. Fun rides in this area so far include the 32mi. RT to Ogunquit (drivers, Yikes!, though), across Memorial Bridge to New Castle and beyond and the S. Maine "25 Best" ride (thanks for the reference, Late). I'm a long way from riding with a group, to be sure, but I'm loving it!

'05 Trek Pilot 5.0
'8x Bridgestone 500
'06 K2 Alturas 3.0

I probably don't ride by your house. I actually live up near Eliot, so I don't go through Kittery Pt.

Seacoast NH here

Line in Cumberland, work in South Portland, Commuter here.

hey - any of you Southerners got any good fall rides in mind? I'm stuck in a rut of the same old rides here in Kennebunk/Wells.

Hi finnegan. Nothing planned but my daily commute to work. Maybe a couple weekend rides along York Beach or Rye/Hampton Beach.

Fun to read about riding in Portland. Someday when I retire (~10-12yrs), my wife and are thinking of buying a condo in Portland, in town, maybe near the Old Port section. I am from Maine originally (Greenville, GO LAKERS!) and someday think of moving back. I live in Vermont and am spoiled by the great road biking aroung here (Upper CT River Valley). I would like to know more about biking in the Portland area. I would be mostly carless. How is the road biking? How is the urban biking in town? How about bike paths? In my misspent youth I lived in Boston, riding my bike as a commuter and as a messanger (Marathon Messanger, I wonder if it is still there...) while in college so I am used to urban riding years ago. However, I went to my college reunion this spring and took my bike with me. I road around some of my old rides. I had forgotten some of the edge of urban riding after being too mellow in Vermont. Davis Sq./ Mass Ave in Cambridge/Somerville/Arlington seemed busier. I did enjoy the Minuteman Rail/Trail to Concord/Bedford. How does Portlan compare to Boston? Are the roads bike friendly or an urban free for all?

MotoMan
An Old Geezer in Hilly Vermont

Hey, Finnegan, I live in Kittery and have been ranging north to my limited abilities, when I don't get drawn to the magnificant Newcastle (NH) area. What are your "rut" rides, briefly? If you get down this way, the York/Eliot/Kittery ride in the 25 rides in Maine book is a nice mix of seashore and rural riding (surprised a huge flock of turkeys this week).

Bump

Hey, I live in Yahmuth and commute to Pawtlandh...

Road bike most of summer, not comptitive, just commute to work(25 miles round trip). I am now getting ready to ride my first winter, in fact first snow tomorrow, I believe. Should be "interesting"!!
Bigfoot

...as long as it doesn't stick to the road...

I actually enjoy riding when it it snowing. Much more pleasent than when raining.

Just seeing this thread again. Motoman, if you've done any 'urban' riding at all, you should be all set in Portland. You may remember it's not so much 'urban' as a big town, and as such, the riding in town is very manageable, at least to me.

Ritehsedad - you ride along the snowbanks in the dark during the winter? I'm not sure I put that much faith in drivers around here.

...as long as it doesn't stick to the road...

I actually enjoy riding when it it snowing. Much more pleasent than when raining.


+1

Ritehsedad - you ride along the snowbanks in the dark during the winter? I'm not sure I put that much faith in drivers around here.

You always have to have a bail out plan. In winter I think they are more careful around cyclist that during the summer.