Day 68 – August 10 – North Woodstock, NH to Fryeburg, ME – 46 Miles

Today Ride for Water lived up to its name, well sort of.  We could actually call today, “Ride in Water.”   We woke to a steady rainfall, lightning and thunder in North Woodstock.   By 9:30 the rain had stopped and it looked clear enough to start. Lincoln and North Woodstock is a resort area that serves as a base for a wide range of outdoor recreational activities.  We passed though numerous stores and outfitters that cater to snow skiers in the winter and kayakers in the summer.  Restaurants, hotels and conference centers are abundant.

As we made our way toward the pass, we met another cyclist going east, John Minor, from Boulder, Colorado.  John had started his trip in Bellingham, WA as was riding to Bar Harbor.  This was John’s second transcontinental cycling trip having ridden from Yorktown, Virginia to Seaside, Oregon in 2010.

The forecast called for the 60% possibility of rain showers all day.  We were fortunate to have dry conditions for our ride up the pass.  Traffic was moderate but for a majority of the distance the roadway was wide with an decent shoulder.  As we neared the top however the road narrowed and the surface deteriorated.  The weather did as well.  With just 100 feet of altitude to go to the top we could see the road disappear into the cloud above us.    There is supposed to be great views from overlooks at the summit.  Today it was fog shrouded.  Visibility was a couple hundred feet.  John took our picture at the summit, we donned our rain jackets then headed down toward Conway, NH.

The downhill ride was enjoyable, but precipitation quickly accumulated on our glasses making visibility difficult.  The first part of the descent was steep followed by a long, more level run.  About halfway down, it began to rain.  We came upon a scenic pull-off just in time to take refuge from the downpour and the cool temperatures.  The rain dissipated after about 20 minutes and we finished the run into Conway where we had decided to stop for lunch.  We found a nice café that just happened to be across the street from a Laundromat, another perfect opportunity.  We ordered lunch then I ran our clothes across the street to get them started.  As we ate, the rain intensity varied.  A check of the weather radar showed a large weather system south and west of Conway, moving generally, north and east.

We had hoped to make Naples, ME this evening.  There was camping there and it would put us in a good position for making our way through Brunswick the following day.  John joined us for lunch and he too had ambitions of riding to Naples.  John left for Naples after finishing lunch, Joe and I went to across the street to finish our laundry.  By the time we finished laundry the rain had again intensified.  We waited for a break, then decided to continue east.  Conway is a resort town in very much the same way as Lincoln is on the other side of the mountains.  It was Friday afternoon and the traffic was busy.  Freyburg, Maine, is just 9 miles east of Conway connected by a two lane state route.  Traffic was heavy and we had a good shoulder until we reached Maine.  There the shoulder disappeared and the rain started again.  We finished our ride today, hopelessly waiting out a steady rain that is still falling as I write this at 10 PM.

Today was a mix of both success in making our last major climb of the trip, but also frustration at the lack of progress we have made recently. With the weather today, and mechanical issues over the previous few days, we feel we are about 2 days behind where we thought we would be just a week ago.  It is almost as if the closer we get to the end, the slower we make progress.  On the other hand, we did make it to Maine!

Tomorrow we will see what the weather will allow.  Forecasts are calling for more rain.