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October 20 Thursday Bicycle touring from Monticello Maine to Mattawamkeag Maine The gravel road from the campground was full of potholes. No wonder we were bouncing over them in the dark. We had traveled less than two miles before Sharon's touring bicycle got a flat, on her rear tire this time. It was the tire we bought in Taber and hadn't used much -- maybe 1000 miles tops -- and already the tread is bare. We put her Continental touring tire back on -- the one with the glass slice that we took off the front of her bike last night -- as it has more tread. We put my old bicycle tire inside as a liner and boot. We bought a chicken for lunch at Houghton and cycled down the road a bit before stopping to eat it while sitting on a closed grocery store steps at the side of the road. It wasn't a great view as the traffic whizzed past. Sometimes bicycle touring doesn't present the best options. Or we're too tired to care, or look for better ones. It started to rain. It lasted on and off all day. It was nearly dark at 5:30 PM when we stopped cycling in Mattawamkeag. We dried our clothes in a laundromat. I hadn't bothered to put on my rain pants all day and my cotton cycling pants were soaked. We had supper at Keag's Cafe, next door to the laundry. Nachos ($1.95) and sour cream (.25¢). And a ten inch pizza. ($2.95 plus .40¢ each for toppings.) Talk about back-in-time prices. That's a great thing about bicycle touring off the beaten path. |
