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Explore Maine by Region

Cyclist Journals

We and your fellow cyclists want to hear what you think about Exploring Maine by bike. Email and tell us about your experiences, rave about a tour, rant about road conditions, or just to share your general comments.

First-hand accounts, journal entries and photos are always welcome. Here is our first submission. We'll rotate cyclist accounts on a regular basis.

Here's our first submission one cyclist's thoughts on The Passamaquoddy Bay Tour, Ride 24.

Did he say, "Get it in granny gear!"" Or "Get it in gear, Granny!"?

What is your idea of the perfect on-road bicycle ride? Does it include starting off with locally, fresh-baked French baguettes, picking up locally-raised and smoked salmon, to be eaten with apples, or blueberries grown in the fields you ride through? Does it include having your picnic in a park with a 270 degree view of the ocean while watching a moose wander at the edge of the wetland?

Maybe eating does not come to mind as the top priority for a bike ride. Perhaps most of all you want smooth pavement, little motorized traffic, clear invigorating air, some level areas but a few rolling hills to get your heart pumping from good exercise going up and beautiful views as you speed down. And, you want this route to wind through rolling farmland, pastures with grazing horses, next to lakes and streams, passing by waterfalls with fish ladders, and views across the St. Croix River into Canada.

I bicycle with a group of Maine Seniors who don't like to make choices and prefer to have "all of the above" with perhaps some historical points of interest thrown in, so we set off "Down East" to eastern Washington County and the Maine Bicycle Tour #24 on Passamaquoddy Bay.

We picked up our freshly-baked goods at Cinqueterre Farms in West Pembroke, where home-made jams and a variety of wines also are sold. We continued a mile and a half northeast on Route 1 from there to the "beginning" of the route at Putty Park on the Pennamaquan River behind the Crossroads Restaurant. At the trailhead, we visited a waterfall with its fish ladder, the remnants of an old iron foundry, and a swimming hole. The restaurant opens for lunch and dinner in case picnicking is not your style.

The Bike Tour 24 loop ride actually offers four loop possibilities to accommodate all abilities and levels of fitness. The detailed directions and map allowed us to choose between a six-mile, nearly level route with continuous views of the lake, featuring a stop at a second waterfall and fish ladder and the mid-length loop (that we chose), which is 27 miles long. This longer route takes you past Maine-ly Smoked Salmon on South Meadow Road as you head for Gleason Cove Picnic Ground which is located conveniently for lunch at the half-way mark on the ride. (We stopped and chatted with the owner of the salmon distribution outlet who regaled us with stories of his experiences in the salmon farming and salmon-smoking business as he fed us samples of his various salmon delicacies.)

After passing through rolling farm country complete with pastures full of horses and cows, we arrived at Route 1. A short ride on wide road-shoulders over a bridge spanning a tidal creek led us to the "The New Friendly Restaurant." This makes a good "half-way lunch stop" for groups not inclined to picnic. However, turning right off Route 1 at this point takes picnickers to Gleason Cove where we feasted while looking across the apple-tree-dotted fields to the Western Passage and Deer Island, New Brunswick. Stretching some different muscles with a stroll along the shore we spotted a moose that appeared to think the adjacent salt marsh made a good picnic area for her lunch. She wandered up in full view of the lazy group that had not moved from the picnic table and ambled off-stage into the woods.

Re-fueled and refreshed, we headed up the one long hill of the ride. We were rewarded at the top by views of wide expanses of blue, blue Passamaquoddy Bay. The blues blended with pinks, purples and white as we rolled by fields of lupine, all with the sea as the back-drop.

Ready for some refreshment beyond our water bottles, we stopped for some treats at the little store that greeted us when we arrived back at Route 1 where it intersects with the Gin Cove Road.

At this time in our ride an added attraction began to loom overhead to the north. A gigantic thundercloud was forming. We would have loved to stop for a swim in Boyden Lake but instead we pedaled as fast as we could back to Putty Park to avoid the impending storm. While there was no time to stop, we admired the sight of ducks and geese gathered on the Pennamaquan River in the eerie pre-storm light. We were now on the opposite side of the river from where we rode to start with in the morning. It was here that we confirmed the ten cars we had seen during the day really did indicate sparse traffic on this route. The incontrovertible evidence was the basketball half-court the abutting landowners had made with the basket located just at the edge of the road. Ruminating over this sight we pedaled ever faster and arrived at our cars just as the storm broke. We sat in the cars watching the rain sheet down over the windshield and replayed in our minds the 28 miles of the day's perfect on-road bicycle ride.

Author Sally Jacobs lives in Orono, Maine, and bicycle tours around the world with a group of like-minded seniors.

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