In Pursuit of the Loose Caboose (Day 5: Portland to Brunswick)

Posted by Jeff, 11/04/14

Miles: 34

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Eve and I first met in Juneau, Alaska, in 2006...

...and D and E were mutual friends. She had only seen them once since she left Juneau, and I hadn't seen them at all, so it was exhilarating to get the chance to hang out with them and catch up -- on the opposite coast this time -- the conversational familiarity returning after seven quick years.

It was the afternoon by the time we pushed north from Maine's largest city. As in Salem, we wanted to linger and explore more of Portland.

Casco Bay was glimmering ethereally from Munjoy Hill in the morning.

I took a ride downtown to get breakfast with a Portland woodworker and bike enthusiast I once sat next to on a plane. We ended up having a great, meaningful conversation, which is rare as far as in-flight chatter is concerned, and exchanged contact info.

Eve and I didn't really have specific places to see, so we wandered downtown on foot. It is walkable, historic, and full of activity.

We picked up lunch at the Public Market House, an indoor collection of restaurants and fine foods, including cheeses from around the world. I had a smoked whitefish wrap that was about as good as any wraps I've had in my life.

We did have one semi-planned stop: a bike shop, for the only mechanical problem of the whole trip. It was minor: my chain wasn't resting neatly on some of the cogs after shifting, and I had futzed with my rear derailleur in Wells, without success. When a mechanic at Cyclemania looked at it, he found what I didn't think to look for. The derailleur hanger was slightly bent, and the resultant skew of the derailleur and jockey was probably putting some lateral pressure on the chain. With a quick pull from a hanger alignment tool, the problem was solved.

After stocking up on food from Rosemont Market & Bakery, we said goodbye to Munjoy Hill, and the great city of Portland, and made our way down to the East Prom Trail. The trail, by the way, is one of two that I know of that go by wastewater treatment plants. Even though that part smells, I liked how they turned a potential drawback into an opportunity: there are interpretive signs that describe each step of the treatment process. Pretty interesting, um, shit.

We took the Black Cove Trail bridge (next to Tukey's Bridge, which carries I-295/US-1) north, then the US-1 bridge over the Presumpscot River.

It was a pleasant ride on the US-1 shoulder through Falmouth, and the ECG route through Yarmouth, including on the Beth Condon Memorial Pathway, named after a local teenager who was killed by a drunk driver while she was walking along US-1.

This is, or was, Herbie, once New England's largest elm tree

We stayed west of I-295, following rural residential roads (Old County, Webster, Pownal) indirectly into Freeport. I couldn't tell you for sure, but I believe there may be some shopping opportunities in Freeport, perhaps even a full general store!

Moving right along, it was a few miles up Pleasant Hill Rd. to Brunswick. As we rolled into this college town on Church and McKeen Sts., I blasted Bob Dylan on my phone. The sun was low in the sky, and there was little wind. "Pleasant" was a good way to describe this day, a beautiful morning in Portland followed by smooth riding in good weather. Nothing extreme or dramatic.

Our day wound down in mild amusement at Thomas Point Beach Campground.

I see you, Loose Caboose

The campground had less people than we thought. We were content enough with our spot amongst the trees that we had a dinner of bike trip snacks: blueberries and granola. We walked around the campground and beach in the gloaming as it started to drizzle. The rain came that night, the first precipitation since the pre-rainbow drizzle in Salisbury. Our tent fly succeeded, but our bikes got a bath.

The next morning