A week of rest

So the bike stayed in the garage for an entire week. No excuses really, except that it took me three days to recover from the fun of ripping apart the floor of my front porch with my father and laying a new floor down. He was the master cutter of the 1x8s. I was the nailer. He stood up and whipped his tape measure around. I spent four hours on my knees pounding about 12,000 nails into every piece of wood.

My legs hurt, my knees hurt, my butt hurt, my shoulders hurt.

So, no bike.

But yesterday I got the fever and took her out ... and I rode like the wind. Seriously. On fresh legs I did 22 miles in 80 minutes, which for me is like I was zooming around through Westrook on a Vespa.

(Imagine riding each day of the Trek on fresh legs. Like Sunday River to Farmington one week, Farmington to Colby the next week and Waterville to Belfast whenever you feel like it. Plus, baked potatoes at every rest stop. I would raise triple the $500 for that.)

I tried out a new route you might like: From Northgate in Portland, head over to Riverside so you pass the recycing center. At the intersection of Forest, head toward Westbrook on 302. You'll pass Four Seasons Bingo and Pride's Corner Drive-In and pretty soon you'll see Methodist Road on the left. Wait for a break in the ridicoulously thick 302 traffic and get yourself on Methodist.

This is a pretty flat route with just a few minor rolling hills. Ride Methodist down to the Little League park and then turn around. You can cut through East Bridge to get back to 302 faster or you can go all the way back down Methodist, take a left on 302 and then an immediate right to Duck Pond Road. This road brings you back to 302 again so you can head for home.

Check it out. You can make it as short as 13 miles or as long as 22.