Ignorance is Bliss

We had our own little sendoff crew to begin our second day: Chief LaHaye, Margo, G-ma, and a city councilman (from the town hall building that nooked us next to the Public Safety Building) we're all there by the flare of their wrists. We said goodbye to everyone and pedaled right on down HWY 1. This time- the right direction.

I really don't want to be a negative Nancy, but there's truly no other way to say it: HWY 1 through Maine sucks. What sucked about it you ask? A 6in or less shoulder (think about it- a sidewalk is probably at least 30in... and some of you can't keep on it even in those perameters... I'm not excluding myself. So yeah, 6in was tough. (That's what Guadelupe said) SO- a 6in or less shoulder WITH constant semi traffic to our left(semis are not allowed on the interstate in Maine therefore they all ride HWY 1, ha!). Oh! and on the right side of the 6in shoulder was a never-ending deep dug ditch, death would be imminent should one of us fall. But we learned to roll with it, there was nothing I, or Adam, or Steve could do... except growl. Literally growl. I growled a lot. At least it was "mainely" flat...

for the first 15 miles that day. Around lunch we pulled over in Camden, ME. It was beautiful and a visually epic spot to dine. We could touch the ocean and just a few hundred feet behind us were the reason for the the up-and-downs 15 miles into the trip: mountains. When you think about it... besides the west coast, Maine is one of the only places in America you can experience a view like that.

So we plopped. Next to a lobster house. Sitting oceanside we altogether looked to the smoke billows on our left circling from the outdoor steampots, we couldn't help but notice how delicious another juicy meal of bottom feeders would taste inside our clif-bar filled stomachs. But instead I pounded another handful of granola.

While I was lip-deep in a spoonful of peanut butter, Adam and Steve got chatted up by a gentilmanly tourist. I overheard he used to be a cop. He used to bike.... wait what??? He USED to bike until people started throwing glass bottles at him on the road in NC. Dammit. Something to look forward to if we actually made it there alive. I quickly came to realize that just like in every other area of life ignorance truly was bliss. Experienced cyclists we bumped into along route were always perplexed as to why were so positive and excited about what we were doing... because they knew the dangers, the risks. They feared the known and we feared learning about it. Hence why we never asked questions and why not nearly one moment was planned.