The original plan had been to take Amtrak from Philadelphia to Boston, and then take a Concord Coach bus from Boston to Augusta. This meant taking the midnight train to Boston -- of all of the scheduled Northeast Corridor trains, it was the only one that had checked baggage and, therefore, bike access. When the day came, though, there was a sudden change to plans when Phil (aka "Mr Jeneralist") had a work assignment in Dover, NH. We went to New Hampshire together; from there, I rented a car one-way to Augusta. With the one-way fee (and $4 for a plastic tarp for the inside of the rented car, to make sure I didn't get bike grease on anything) the car rental came out to about what the train ticket would have cost, but it was a few more hours together before going off on my own for a week.

Then the plan had been to drop off the car and start riding for Lake St. George State Park, in Liberty, Maine -- but on the drive to Augusta I was running into one rainstorm after another. Setting out for a 30 mile ride on unfamiliar roads 4 hours before sunset just felt wrong, so I stayed at a hotel close to where I dropped off the car. In retrospect, this was a major winning move. When I got the bike out of the car, I discovered that the fender was all munged:


After lying flat in the back of a car for too long, the fender mount was rubbing against the tire I was glad for the chance to fix it in a nice dry hotel room, instead of on the side of a busy road during a downpour.

I re-tuned the bike then walked to the grocery store for dinner and last-minute supplies before setting my alarm for 6am.