Until a rail trail gets developed a little bit inland, the Greenway's route through New Hampshire is basically 1A. We had a drizzly day, which helped to dampen the traffic and crowds as we passed Hampton and Seabrook beaches. We also passed by stately mansions with deep front yards facing the Atlantic Ocean. The charming and buzzing city of Portsmouth, NH, made a fine destination for the end of a day's ride, offering plenty of restaurants and coffee shop choices.
Our six days of riding through Maine to reach Calais, on the Canadian border, formed a strange bookend to our first week of riding, eight days through Florida. Both states brought us headwinds and bridges. Florida was our hottest and flattest; Maine was the coolest and hilliest.
Those Maine hills were the most challenging between Scarborough and Camden. From ten miles or so north of Camden, the hills either mellowed or we got stronger. From there on we almost enjoyed them, especially the rolling hills that let you fly down one side and almost make it up the other side without pedaling. Maine's coastal towns are as charming as you'd imagine, most of them offering a diner or cafe where you can find the requisite lobster rolls or blueberry pancakes. Or both.
The towns grew farther apart, the surroundings more remote the further north we headed. Our last day, riding through the Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge before we hit the outskirts of Calais, we were truly alone, barely seeing even a car pass us. The quiet was nice, offering a chance to reflect a bit on the last two months before celebrating our finish.
