It was a fairly simple day, mostly following along route 2 with its wide shoulder, making lots of generally short ups and downs. I took a brief stop at Lake George. As I was taking pictures of the lake, I couldn't help noticing a horse in the trees. I had to check it out, and came upon a farm where a woman had several horses she was tending to, getting them ready to head out to a pasture for the Summer. She introduced me to a real gentle one by the name of Ruby, and even gave me an apple to feed her, making sure I knew the proper technique of presenting it with my palm flat. She wished me well for the day and hoped I would beat the rain, and not get too terribly wet tomorrow.
I turned south off 2 onto 152 to Pittsfield and then got on 69, which while less busy than 2 also had no shoulder to speak of, and was not my favorite riding. At Plymouth I stopped at a gas station convenience store to use the port-a-potty and buy some food. A man there joked with me that I must be burning a lot of energy and needing to get my sugar up as he saw me shopping around for junk food. From there I crossed over the beautiful lake on 7 and then made my way on side roads to reach my hosts for the night. I arrived in advance of them and hung out on the porch for awhile, sadly unable to do too much aside for read (while fending off the mosquitoes) as I don't have data in this part of Maine.
My hosts are a nice couple, happy to talk and also to give space for us both to do our own thing. There was lentil loaf for dinner, which I have never had, and while it apparently didn't quite hold the shape it was supposed to, it was quite good. We had some good chatting. He has experience working as a wrench at a bike shop back in the day and that gave us some fun stuff to talk about. He asked me all about my bike, and after some time looking it over, told me that I apparently sold him on a 920. What can I say, they are great bikes. Bree has added almost another 1000 miles now this trip, and she seems to be holding up well so far.
Tomorrow I reach Bar Harbor. Had I planned better, today would have been a longer run so tomorrow could be shorter. But, well, what's done is done. It's going to be raining fairly heavily, cold, with a headwind, and 70 miles of some serious hills. ...Yeah. I think I will hate myself tomorrow. But once it's done, I'll be there. Acadia. It sounds like sonething out of Arthurian legend, a place sought like the Grail. And the weather should turn perfect for Saturday so that I get a chance to really appreciate it. ...I just have to survive tomorrow.
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