It's not often that I stray outside of my home area with my bike where my goal is to do (to ride?) day trips. Day trips usually mean I ride a loop from home, or I drive a reasonable distance (one hour? two?), do a loop or an out & back ride, and then drive home. Somehow when I planned this trip it felt right as a series of rides where I started and ended in the same location each day, varying my starting point each day.
Day rides were absolutely the right decision for me this time. I wanted to ride at Acadia again - both Park Loop Road, and the Schoodic Peninsula. And I wanted to visit the puffins. While it would have been possible to pull this trip off as a tour, given the weather and my somewhat wacky wish to visit the two pieces of Acadia National Park twice - well, I was very happy with my non-tour long weekend.
And now? It's time to dream once more, to dream of traveling somewhere, somewhen, me & my bike...
If you want to cover the same ground (well almost, without my out-and-back ride through Cutler, and without my multiple visits to Acadia & the Schoodic Peninsula) - but do it as a tour, here are possible day-by-day riding breakdowns:
- Loop Acadia National Park once, then ride to Winter Harbor, loop the Schoodic Peninsula. Finish the day with a short ride to a B&B in Prospect Harbor. Mileage, following the most direct route: 60 miles
- A relatively short riding day, direct from Prospect Harbor to a very friendly B&B in Jonesport: 42 miles. The distance could be extended by riding the other (further) side of the triangle to Jonesport from Route 1.
- Ah, time to visit the puffins. Morning boat trip, possibly some wandering by bike in the afternoon
- Jonesport to Bar Harbor, 74 miles.
