Open Road Press

As it was another gorgeous day in Maine, we needed no base layer nor arm warmers this morning. At 9 a.m., Nick Coit met us to “finish the story” of our Mom-to-Mom tour. He took some video of us riding around the parking lot of the Super 8 and then “taped” us riding down the road toward downtown Bangor. It is amazing how much goes into a two-minute segment of news. Between spending an hour with us on Thursday night, and then another half hour or so Friday morning, and editing, much goes on behind the scenes. Yet it is also clear that a skillful touch can communicate much in just two minutes! Thanks to WABI, Channel 5 in Bangor, for their interest in our story and expertise in covering it. You can view Nick’s artistry by clicking here.

Tim made a quick call to a former co-worker and mentioned we were doing a “drive by” on our bicycles and if anyone from the office wanted to come outside to meet us, we would be by in about ten minutes. As we cycled through downtown Bangor and approached the office, there they were: a small crowd of warm hearts clapping and cheering as we arrived. It is both fun and touching when others are excited about celebrating this magnificent trip with us.

After a quicker “drive by” of Tim’s humble abode of twenty-five years, off we went: headed to Lincoln to meet Tim’s brother Randy.
Randy treated us to a late lunch and filled us in on local happenings. This has become more than a Mom-to-Mom tour, as we saw four of our six siblings along the way. It was a great treat to catch up with them.

Our ride to Lincoln was relatively short—forty-nine miles. The road was flat, but the north wind provided some modest resistance—about the only time we remember having any consistent wind in our face during this trip. With the sun beaming in the refreshing summer sky, the cool breeze was simply an added element to remind us of how wonderful it is to spend so much time outdoors during summertime.

Our speed has slowed considerably since our days in the flat South. We suspect we may be somewhat slower than on our first trip in 2010. On this tour, we have had daily averages between 10 and 13 mph, depending upon the day and the terrain. We haven’t figured out if it is a result of being two years older since our coast-to-coast, or if it is the terrain and the riding conditions. I would like to think it is only the latter! Regardless, we are grateful to be able to do this together and at our age! Tomorrow will be the last day of our ride, so I can skip laundry duty tonight and rest up for our seventy miles to Houlton.