Jacob Friend
Sleeping by the Atlantic Ocean last night provided us the perfect breeze to let us sleep comfortably, dry off our clothes, and make the trees dance. The night’s winds and clear skies carried into the day for a great forecast to enjoy our last full day on the road. We took our time getting ready, occasionally exchanging conversation with our new friend—Bart—about our trip. When we clipped in together for the 70 mile day, an overwhelming feeling of gratitude washed over me, and so I shouted: “BOYS… LET’S BIKE LOUD!”
A beautiful day for a bike ride
A majority of our day was spent on HW 1. This road receives a fair amount of traffic, especially in July, but there’s only one lane of traffic and usually a wide shoulder. While we weren’t stressed about the road conditions, the loud sound of passing cars was enough to make us keep to ourselves as we pontificated about the significance of our last full day. Occasionally we departed from HW 1 to venture through hilly backroads that were littered with blind spots. Like yesterday, we encountered more impatient and dangerous drivers. Every time a car quickly passed us at the crest of a hill and ran the oncoming car off the road, we thought a head on collision would be inevitable. Thankfully, disaster never struck, and we could continue our scenic ride through the port towns of Maine with cute downtowns and pretty sailboats.
One of Maine’s mid coast region harbors
With the end of our trip in sight, our group has adopted the “Treat Yo Self” mindset. Instead of worrying about price tags, calories, or responsibilities, our decisions were solely based on maximizing self-care and happiness. Our first “Treat Yo Self” moment of the day was when we decided to stop for an early lunch in the quaint harbor town of Belfast. Even though Brian has biked through Maine on previous trips, he’s somehow never eaten a lobster roll. We changed that at the Must Be Nice Lobster restaurant, where we each ordered their signature roll with 4oz of fresh Maine Lobster, lightly tossed in mayo and served on a buttered bun. We ignored the blow to our wallets as we devoured the savory sandwiches with big smiles. I gave the roll a rating of 9.1/10, great meat-to-bun ratio.
Lobster rolls in Belfast, ME
Now that we had ingested high-quality fuel and a healthy dose of laughs, we were prepared for more time on HW 1. The afternoon brought more hill climbs, our last gas station stop, and a navigation over the Waldo-Hancock Bridge.
The Waldo-Hancock Bridge, near Bucksport, ME
We treated ourselves to more luxury with our second lunch outside a supermarket in Bucksport. There’s no use in restocking on food supplies, so we scraped the bottom of our panniers to assemble improvised meals that included any lingering food items—peanut butter, sriracha, tortillas, tuna, and trail mix. While this meal could be viewed as more self-deprecating than self-caring, the laughs still made it worthwhile.
Second lunch of the day, in Bucksport, ME
This was our final bit of rest before setting out for Ellsworth—our final 20 mile effort of our final full day of biking loud. Unsurprisingly, and satisfyingly, these 20 miles were far from easy. Anytime it seems we’re close to comfort, the roads remind us “it’s never easy” and “there’s always something,” and this stretch of Highway 1 was no exception. We battled steep climbs, plenty of traffic, super bumpy shoulders, and amazingly bad drivers. Maine has not held back from giving us challenges, and as always, I’m proud of how we have continued to persevere—even when it seems like we’ve been through it all.
We were able to put the challenges of HW 1 behind us once we arrived at the Hannaford Supermarket to buy ingredients for our last family dinner. We decided it would be fun to collaborate on one big feast together—burrito bowls and dessert. Together we ravaged through each aisle of the store, debating on which ingredients would fit best in our dinner concoction. Our final product included white rice, cheddar jack shredded cheese, sour cream, black beans, sweet corn, limes, cilantro, spring mix, pico de gallo, guacamole, green peppers, chocolate Swiss rollers, and cookie brownies (aka brookies). At the campsite we cooked and assembled our dinners masterfully and effortlessly; a wonderful demonstration of 10 weeks experience cooking family-style meals with portable stoves.
Bike Loud’s last family dinner
For our last night of camping, we pitched our tents next to each other and gazed upon the stars. We enjoyed each other’s company while finishing up our final blogs and recalling some of our favorite moments of the trip. I’ll miss sleeping outside in our makeshift neighborhood of four tents and a picnic table. But I’m incredibly grateful for the past 70 nights I’ve had with Brian, Usher, and Michael. It’s also been a privilege to document this trip on the Bike Loud blog and share stories with you all. We will never be able to thank you all enough for the support we’ve received on this trip. It’s been the best journey of my life ❤️