Portland2Portland2011

There aren't too many photos due to the incredibly slow upload and I only have two days to waste on it.

Regarding the dance: there are clearly two separate leg lifts, which I believe meets Greta's description of the Swedish dance, and we had two witnesses in addition to the cameraman. Besides, it was the most we could get out of Allan.

July 27, 2011

I awakened to the sunrise over the Atlantic. Clear skies, warm temperatures, and freshly brewed coffee. The house still sleeps. Oh for nice.
After a very enjoyable birthday evening with friends, Dave Daniels and Mike Pinnet, I returned to my much too comfortable Portland hotel for a good night sleep. However, I found myself reflecting on how nice it would be to be crawling into my tent for a good night sleep under the stars.

After a shower and a quick hotel breakfast I ventured back on my bike for the easy ride from Portland to York. A day with no mountains to ride---how can this be??? It caused me to reflect (only briefly) on those 8, 10, and 13 percent grades of the past days. A few were actually “heavy breathers.” I felt a little sad that this would be my last destination ride before putting the bike on the truck for its ride back to the west coast. I began wondering about a ride down the east coast----why had I not planned on a longer ride?

On the ride from Portland to York I did experience one near bike destroying event. On a narrow shoulder I rode over a two foot long piece of heavy steel wire---gage 8, I believe. The front wheel caused the wire to flip up into the spokes of the rear wheel and then wrap around the gears, under the chain, and back into the spokes from the opposite side. The wheel and crank naturally locked as I slid to a safe and upright stop. After 15-20 minutes of work to dismantle the rear assembly, I was able to assess the damage. Fortunately the only permanent damage was one bent spoke and some scrapes to the paint on the bike. As you can imagine, after 3,000+ miles these aren’t the only scrapes on the paint. The bent spoke caused the rear wheel to be less than true and so I released the rear brake in order for the wheel to turn with only a little rubbing. The remainder of the ride was very pleasant along Maine’s beautiful coastline toward Dave’s family.
Memories of this adventure will be with me for the rest of my life and I am very pleased that so many of our friends have followed the trip via Dave’s (nearly) daily entries on the blog. Your comments have enriched our days.

Prior to leaving Portland Oregon I was looking forward to the adventure, the challenge, and the opportunity to contribute in a small way to the future success of the Special Olympics. Never did I imagine how enriching our association with Special Olympians would be for us almost on a daily basis. In retrospect, it is clear that the Special Olympians and the numerous people associated with them have influenced and enriched my life to a much greater degree than I could ever hope to influence theirs.

Much has been shared about our wonderful experiences---the people we have met top the list of wonders. Not enough has been shared about the quality, integrity, and dedication of my friend, Dave Moss. His commitment and effort associated with my success has been over the edge at every turn. All I needed to do was ride my bike. Dave was constantly looking out for my well being. When road or weather conditions were bad, he was always near by. When it was time for nourishment, I knew that he was just up the road a bit ready with either a small café or a picnic lunch under a shade tree or off the tail gate of the truck. He would ride ahead in search of camp sites at the end of dry days or motels when weather was at its worst. If we were camping, he would prepare, hot well balanced, and tasty dinners. The wine was often open and breathing before I had completed erecting my tent. Each breakfast was preceded by a cup of French press coffee. On the days that required that I be on the road particularly early, he would break camp and follow after the tents were dry and stored. There is no way that I can adequately express my appreciation for his support on this trek across country.

Along my journey
Through this transitional world
Dave is always there.

Ta-Da!!!
Seven weeks after departure from Portland OR, Allan rode into the city limits of Portland ME, clocking across the line at 11am. Then after a bit of losing track of each other, meeting up and losing track again, fighting through the masses of people and traffic clogging the popular tourist city on a beautiful Sunday, we had lunch on the docks in the old part of the city, and savored the moment. After lunch we tracked down lodging (at high tourist season rates) for Allan, who will celebrate his birthday Monday in Portland exploring the eastern namesake bookend of the country and have dinner with his friends. On Tuesday, he will hop back on his bike and negotiate old Route 1 down the coast 40 miles to York ME, rejoin the SAG wagon and relax for a couple of days before flying back to Oregon.

Meanwhile SAG with Dave and Tom aboard rumbled down to York Sunday, had dinner with John & Viki Guy (Dave's sister and brother-in-law) on their 46th anniversary. Kabe and Cody (Dave's daughter) arrive from SC Monday to help celebrate. Dave's sister Lennie Ogden will arrive Monday as well, with a load of firewood, as well as a resevoir of woolen mill history with which to regale Tom. Tom by the way has been successfully reunited with his baggage, including his cigars and other less important items.

There will be pictures, but right now the computer is with SAG and the (working) camera is with Allan. Allan will do the ceremonial wheel dip in the Atlantic in York and we will do our best to record the dramatic dance moves I am sure he has mentally choreographed for the moment.

Thank you to everyone who has made this trip possible and successful.

July 23

Last night after our blog, we happened to notice the strangest cloud formation hovering over us. It was a multi-layered circular formation, suffused with sunset light and it looked like a UFO coming to scoop us up and transport us to Portland without effort, a dreamy thought. Take a look at the picture. It's quite startling.

As we headed to the breakfast restaurant, which SAG had found by getting up way before the other team members and driving all over Gorham, Allan met a couple of early cyclists who wanted to know all about the trip they had seen on the SAG wagon. They were deeply involved themselves in Special Olympics. A good day starter, as was the early crossing into Maine.

We stopped for a morning break in the historic (self-named) Bethel, a nice country town, home to Gould Academy and a terrific bakery/coffee place whose name escapes me at this minute. The day then grew HOT HOT HOT. Allan's onboard thermometer was registering 105 off the pavement. Luckily the humidity was a smidgen below the dew point. His brow was streaming sweat that shamed the lovely Snow Falls where we had a picnic lunch.

We got to Paris, South Paris and Norway. We were planning an early stop in Norway, but this has to be the absolute worst area we have encountered on the whole trip. The only motel in the whole place was full, funeral parlors outnumber restaurants, and fine dining has a King, Queen or Mac in the name. The roads were torn up all over. SAG ranged far and wide as Allan tried to recover from the heat with a temporary stop in the shade. Finally we heard of a motel with a vacancy sign 15 miles south. SAG headed out to grab it while Allan pushed on toward the goal. Found the lodge, with a bright vacancy sign. But there were no rooms available. Hmm. Went on to the Inns at Poland Springs, which is a collection of aging structures where Jack Paar once hung out, and if you want real ancient history, where the Sonny Liston - Cassius Clay fight took place in the sixties, which was where Robert Goulet was brought in to sing the national anthem and forgot the words and vowed never to sing it again. The first fact was provided by the stuff on the lobby walls, the latter info from a bizarre memory of SAG. Got a couple of expensive rooms, the expense of which was ameliorated by Tom wandering around and talking with anyone who crossed his path and discovering the price included dinner and breakfast, something the blackboard-fingernail-scratching-voiced receptionist failed to mention at check-in.

During our dinner, Tom also discovered a wonderful family and pulled Allan over to meet two sisters and their 35 year old Downs Syndrome sister. It turns out the gal had been a Special Olympian many years ago and had achieved some fame, which Allan remembered. She had been leading a race when she noticed a fellow competitor stumble and fall. She stopped and helped the competitor across the line, thus losing the race herself. That Allan knew the story endeared him beyond measure. We ended the evening by bringing SAG wagon to the front porch and engaging dozens of people in the cause, gaining contributions and signers. A nice ending to a tough day.

Allan tonight borrowed Dave's beard trimmer to get rid of the extraneous growth on the sides of his chin and to leave a reasonably presentable goatee on the front (subject to Madeline's judgement, I'm sure).

Tomorrow: PORTLAND, a day early.

July 22
There probably needs to be a bit of an introduction for the newest member of the Portland2Portland team. Tom Kay has been the on again off again neighbor of Dave for the last 30 years. He is the eponymous descendant of the Thomas B Kay Woolen Mills of Salem (established in the mid to late 1800s), which form the nucleus of the Mission Mill Museum in Salem. He owns the Salem Golf Club on Minto-Brown Island. But more importantly, he is one of the most interesting fellows Dave has ever known (more interesting even than Stephen King). He was student body president at U of Oregon; he attended West Point; he is a Purple Heart recipient for his wade ashore on D-Day, and he was part of the unit that actually fought up off the beach that day, He has received the Croix de Guerre from France, among other honors. He was busted from sergeant to private for commandeering a jeep with some buddies and heading into “off limits” environs of France. He was commissioned an officer and served in Korea. He has an enormous collection of sheet music, with perhaps the most complete collection in America of presidential campaign music, dating back to 1832, and of racist sheet music from tin pan alley. He plays opera, and sings along, at high volume in his car as he cruises Salem’s streets. He can quote from Dr. Seuss at length, as well as Charles Dickens, and “Bert and I” records of New England lore, and as we found out last night, also Groucho Marx. Most importantly, he fit right into the team with his thrift clothes and did the research to find the best restaurant in St Johnsbury for dinner, a small Italian place just opened with a somewhat irreverent owner who enjoyed the wicked repartee of the evening. Oh by the way, he celebrates 89 years in September this year.

We received word last night that Tom’s suitcase arrived safely in Dover NH and is on its way to to meet us in York Maine. Thank you, John Guy.

Friday the 47th day of the trip. On the road by 7:30 for another hot and humid day. Allan has a couple of humps to get over before getting to the Maine border. After a morning break in Jefferson NH, Allan headed to Gorham while the SAG wagon went sightseeing to Mt Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods. This grand hotel is huge and one of the last of the big resorts for summering city folks of yesteryear. It was the scene of the 1944 world financial conference convened by Roosevelt to set up the post war economic reconstruction, the world bank, and the international currency exchange system. We still live with the decisions of that conference. We got to see Mt Washington, the summit of which has been covered with large cement structures and dozens of antennae, creating a gawd-awful blight on the skyline. We dawdled a bit drinking iced tea with the hoi polloi on the verandah, so Allan beat us to Gorham, where we are now ensconced for the night. Allan’s last 8-10 miles were all downhill, so he made good time. He entered Gorham in violation of the speed limit, clocking 30mph in a 25 zone. Where’s a cop when you need him?

Only 90 miles to Portland. We plan to take it easy so will arrive Sunday, a day ahead of schedule. Allan will likely ride 40 miles down the coast to York on Monday to add back some of his “lost” miles.