Lewiston, ME to New Castle, ME 58 miles

I took my time fueling up at the Hampton Inn’s breakfast bar. Then picked up second breakfast from Labadie’s Bakery to be enjoyed somewhere down the road.

Heading out of Lewiston there was a bike lane. I could hear someone say “I told you I could fit in a bike lane.” Really, look at it, the parked truck’s mirror is halfway across the bike lane and the stencil that designates the bike lane didn’t even fit.

I would be on United States Bike Route 1 (USBR 1) most of the day. Both USBR 1 and the East Coast Greenway go from Maine to Florida. They share the same route in places but in others they diverge.

The Greenway was established by the East Coast Greenway Alliance and they wanted the route to be all off roads. Because of this, they consider the greenway to only be 35% complete with road segments connecting the off road segments.

USBR 1 was established by the Adventure Cycling Association and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The route primarily uses existing roads making it more direct but at the cost of having to ride with cars.

Crossing the bridge from Topsham to Brunswick on a busy road, I found the shoulder completely taken up by a construction sign. They could have put the sign a little farther down the road just past the turn off to the bike path along the river. I called the Brunswick Police Department and they sounded like they cared and were going to do something about it.

Halfway between Brunswick and Bath I smelled salt water for the first time in a while. And on the way into Bath, there was a Bicycle Friendly Community sign (photo below). It is a designation given by the League of American Bicyclists to communities that support the use of bicycles. There is a whole application and approval process they have to go through.

Bath was a cool town. It was hard to decide which bakery to patronize but I made a solid choice going to Solo Pane e Paticceria. They were kind enough to let me eat my own lunch at one of their outdoor tables if I bought a pastry and a coffee. I had a sourdough bagel and an excellent free farm stand tomato for lunch.

I could see the Bath City Hall just up the street while eating my lunch.

I had lined up Thomas and Katie as Warmshowers hosts for tonight. Thomas is a retired soil scientist and Katie is working as a nurse. I loved getting to know them. They heat the house with a wood boiler and had prodigious piles of firewood. They also make their own maple syrup. They made a spectacular spread for dinner and waffles were promised in the morning. I liked hearing about Thomas’ experience working trail crew in the Adirondacks and how he still gets together with some of the folks he crewed with. We also discovered my wife and I had ridden with them across North Carolina last year in the Mountains to Coast ride.

Thank you Katie and Thomas!