The sleep had done me a world of good, and the improved weather forecast -- no more rain! -- helped as well. Heading south from Freeport, I had a chance to realize a major problem in my plans for the tour. Sure, I would be riding from my "private island" to my friends' party. But I hadn't given any thought to the route in between, other than how far between towns and how many hills I'd need to climb. I didn't pick out anything fun to see or do along the way. As a consequence, there just wasn't that much to see or do.

I was having these depressing realizations about 10 in the morning, as I was rolling through Yarmouth and Falmouth. Looking down at my GPS (which recovered after a chance to dry out), I saw that just about a fifth of a mile to my left was Casco Bay. I couldn't see it from the road I was on, but it was right there, waiting for me. Clearly, it was time for my morning break.







A chance to sit, a bottle of water, a bag of crisps, and the morning fog just made the day that much better. I put my tire in the Atlantic (it was in the Pacific for last year's ride) and smiled.


The fog burned off as the day went on. I found not only the East Coast Greenway, but also US Bike Route 1.


RidesWithGPS suggested a wonderful bike path -- about 12 miles of small packed gravel -- that went from the classic "green tunnel" to, well, this:


On the path I had my one real on-the-bike issue for the week: the bolt that held on my fender came loose. Tie-wraps got things back in shape in under a minute, and I was back on the trail.

With a spot at a nearby campground going for $40 for a night, I was just as happy to let Priceline find me a hotel room in Dover. Hot showers, free breakfast, and why was I carrying that tent around?