Today was an interesting day for many different reasons. I woke up early around 7 am after not sleeping that well. It seems as though the past few weeks my mind has been in a haze as I have been both preparing and anxious to start my journey. First thing I did was go down stairs to the continental breakfast at the hotel and “carb up” with a few pastries, english muffin and 3 cups of coffee. I then began to pack my bags when a bit of anxiety and nervousness hit me like a ton of bricks. This usually doesn’t happen to me and I was caught a bit off guard. So… I decided to take a shower and wash it off. Frankly… it didn’t work. This was odd considering today is going to be no different than other days at home when I would go for a long ride. The only difference is that I won’t be doing a return home loop and I will continue to move west. Hmmm…

So I packed up my bags and tripled checked to make sure that I had everything was intact my family and I made our way down to the Belfast Harbor. We parked the car and had breakfast at a local diner. I am a big fan of diners and this was no disappointment. So after another “carb up” session we went down to the harbor and loaded up my bike with all of my gear and I gave her a test spin. It was then all of my nerves and anxiety had vanished. I felt calm, in control and very comfortable. I knew I was ready.

At 11 AM the reporter from the local paper came down to the harbor and had me dip my back tire in the water, asked a bunch of questions and take some photos. She was great and I am looking forward to reading the article. I then took a few minutes to hug and kiss my family goodbye, turned my back and rode away.

It didn’t take long before I got a big dose of the landscape and the elements. These hills were by far the biggest hills I have tackled on a bike and the winds were by far the heaviest I have ever ridden in. Beyond that I honestly felt as though it was just seconds until a major rain storm hit and I was on a race with Mother Nature. I took a few deep breaths, pedaled hard and ignored the wind. I climbed those hills and I looked back at them and smiled.

Just outside Unity, Maine I stopped at a local ice cream shop to see if they could recommend a hotel and to my surprise there were no hotels. As a matter of fact there is only one B & B and they were full. So they called the guy next door with a nice house with an extra room in which he rents out and he agreed to take me in. I was relieved. It was too cold to camp and there were no hotels. I sit here now and blog from a comfy warm bed with high speed internet.

The most amazing thing on this leg of the journey happened about two miles from my destination. As I was climbing yet another hill an Amish man came tearing down his drive in a buggy pulled by a horse. Naturally I grabbed my camera and started filming. But he wasn’t riding past me… he was riding to me. It turned out he saw me from a distance and took just as much interest in me as I did him. We talked for a few minutes and he invited me to his land to lend a hand tomorrow. There is an excellent chance I will take him up on that offer.

I then “checked in” to a hair salon / B&B hybrid and I took a walk through Unity. It’s a great little town where people are kind and working class. They have been good to me so far and I plan to return the favor. My host here just came down a few minutes ago and we had a great conversation and… he trusts me alone in his house tomorrow as he is leaving early in the AM before I will awake … and that says a lot.

This is one post of many to come. And there were many tiny details in which I just don’t have the air to articulate. I would hate to get “long winded” ;) Until next time. Take care… and take action.

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