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Is Maine as close as it looks?

A

aea6574

Guest
Howdy All:

Is maine as close as it looks on the maps? Would a day ride be possible to have some tasty lobster and then make it back for night?
 
aea6574 said:
Howdy All:

Is maine as close as it looks on the maps? Would a day ride be possible to have some tasty lobster and then make it back for night?

I would have too much trouble sightseeing to make it a day trip. Mileage wise, I imagine it is possible. Then again I live in Ohio, and real scenery is a treat when riding.
 
If you're just going to a lobstah pound and back, you can surely do it. But Loraz is right, you'll likely get diverted and detained. Acadia National Park is a pretty nice detour, for example.

P6180021cropmed.jpg
 
Depends on your idea of "day ride..." I'm thinking NOT.

You'll want to arrive in time to be served at your restaurant of choice, of course,
and unless you're talking a 24 hour Saddle Sore, I'm not seeing it.

And do not underestimate how far EAST we are. It can appear deceiving if you're eyeballing.
And it may be closer to go through Canada, eh?

Yup. Check Mapquest, slabbing all the way:
Total Est. Time: 13 hours, 38 minutes Total Est. Distance: 844.85 miles

Go for the long weekend plan. We need your tourist dollars.
 
Darryl,

Is that Cadiliac (?) Mountian at Acadia National Park? I have a pictue that looks very much like yours. Only I'm in the picture, not you, and it was taken about 40+ years ago. I remember learning how to eat my first "lobstah" at a small dinner in Bar Harbor. Lov'ed them ever since!
 
One blessing (or curse) is that the old saying of "you can't get there from here" rings somewhat true when trying to go east / west in New England.

All our big roads go North and South, from the fairground it would be a very long day.

I would encourage you to come early or stay late and enjoy the area. If you are coming to New England from out of town I would suggest that you head Down East (Maine) first and then take the smaller roads west to the rally. While July is high season, it will still be easy to find a place to camp or even an afforadble B&B is you look inland a bit.

Plus if all you seek is great seafood you don't need to go to Maine, there are some great seafood places on the coast from Rhode Island on East.

Best,

Rob Nye
2006 Rally Co-Chair
 
Yessah A Great Advencha.......

Yessah Chummy,

A trip to Maine'll straighten ya right out mistah man.........It would be
a great before or after the rally adventure. Lots to see and a genuinely
beautiful place to live. A trip to Maine would be well worth a few extra
days..........yu'd have a wicked good time.......ayup..............Don BMWRSM :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod :nod
 
VT to Maine

Sure it can be done in a day. I do a day ride to Freeport, Maine for lobsta' each spring, gets the riding season off to a great start. My home is just 6 miles from the rally, and it takes me 4.5 hours on back roads to get to Freeport (200 miles). I leave at 7 - 7:30 and I'm eating lobster by noon at the warf in South Freeport after an enjoyable ride thru the hills & lakes of VT, NH, and Maine. I can provide the route if you want. After lunch, a quick walk around LL Bean's store and I'm back before 6.

Brian
 
I've never done it but can't you just take RT 2 across NH to ME? I suppose you need to go to the coast for lobster, though. I know that's only one part (like 1/5?) of the NE1000 saddlesore ride.
 
translation - I don't know

Rob Nye said:
the old saying of "you can't get there from here"

A while back, I spend a year working in Providence, RI. On weekends I spent time sightseeing in Boston and other places, frequently getting lost. When I stopped to ask for directions, I was told "you can't get there from here". No one I talked to knew how to get around town. If "you can't get there from here" is true then the Pilgrims would have never gotten off Plymouth rock.

In my humble Southern opinion, "I don't know" sounds better than "you can't get there from here". :dunno
 
As Rob mentioned, East/West routes are not our forte. From Burlington, 2 to 302 is as fast as it will get, and it's slow. While one may get across VT & NH lickety split, Maine takes just about forever. It's a big state. Finding a camp site in July is near impossible. Although with a bike it may be do able to fit "one more" in.

If only we had more time! 3 more days would do it for you. One to, one fro and one there. ;)
 
Maine South Portland

Make sure you go to Capt Newwicks in South Portland Maine. Best lobster in Maine. Easy Day trip 2 1/2 hours each way.
Phil from Florida orig Maine
Broadway South Portland.
 
like Gail and some others said, you can do it quick, but it wouldn't be fun. Our roads are more for scenery than for 'getting there'. Just come early and make a day trip to ME and back.. There are lots of B&B inns in VT ,you should be able to find one to stay over.
 
US 2 to Maine

MarkF said:
I've never done it but can't you just take RT 2 across NH to ME? I suppose you need to go to the coast for lobster, though. I know that's only one part (like 1/5?) of the NE1000 saddlesore ride.

Mark, you sure can. Rte 2 to Bethel then Rte 26 to Auburn then 136 to Freeport. There are a lot of other side roads available. Rte 2 can be hideously slow in the summer months.
 
1flyer said:
Darryl,

Is that Cadiliac (?) Mountian at Acadia National Park? I have a pictue that looks very much like yours. Only I'm in the picture, not you, and it was taken about 40+ years ago. I remember learning how to eat my first "lobstah" at a small dinner in Bar Harbor. Lov'ed them ever since!
No, I don't believe it is. This is just south and up a bit from the ferry terminal, north of Bah Hahbah.

While the mileage isn't so great, there's a ton of little towns along all the roads back there, so the speeds are down. I did ride from my campsite at the Yankee Beemers' Pemi River Rally in NH to the ME coast and back in a day, at a leisurely pace, and didn't think too much of it. But it's not like riding in the west.
 
Going for Lobster

Since I can't seem to login from work with by login & password, I'll post the direction from the rally to the Maine coast. This is a great ride, lots of backroads and curves. As folks have said, east-west roads are hard to find, but they are sure fun, so here is a great dayride to the coast,

From the rally:
Take Rt 2 E to Richmond (Rt89)
Rt 89 s to Barre (Rt 62)
Rt 62 to Rt302s
Now the fun begins

to Rt 25 s
to Rt5 s
to Fairlee _ take left on bridge to NH
Rt 10 s - .5 mile
to rt25A
to rt 25 s
to rt3a (1 mile)
Left @ stop sign
to Rt 175
to rt 3
to rt 25B
to rt 25 e
to rt 16 s
to rt 25 e (Maine)
to rt 35 e to Gray, Maine
to Yardmouth Rd
to Yardmouth (rt 1 N to Freeport)

200 miles one way, 4 to 4.5 hours, enjoy
 
anythings possible, i did this route (with a few detours) and back in one day last year, but plan 22 hours of straight riding :laugh :

maine IS deceptively big and all those little roads that will take you from the New Hampshire border to the Maine coast are SLOW, on that particular saddle sore ride we made the mistake of taking back roads from Massachusetts across southern NH and up over Portland to avoid the beach traffic on 95, it was a big mistake time wise and extreemly time consuming....................
 

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BubbaZanetti said:
anythings possible, i did this route (with a few detours) and back in one day last year, but plan 22 hours of straight riding :laugh :

maine IS deceptively big and all those little roads that will take you from the New Hampshire border to the Maine coast are SLOW, on that particular saddle sore ride we made the mistake of taking back roads from Massachusetts across southern NH and up over Portland to avoid the beach traffic on 95, it was a big mistake time wise and extreemly time consuming....................

We did US1. Enjoyed it. Stayed in Bar Harbor on the way back from Nova Scotia.
 
Unregistered said:
Since I can't seem to login from work with by login & password, I'll post the direction from the rally to the Maine coast. This is a great ride, lots of backroads and curves. As folks have said, east-west roads are hard to find, but they are sure fun, so here is a great dayride to the coast,

From the rally:
Take Rt 2 E to Richmond (Rt89)
Rt 89 s to Barre (Rt 62)
Rt 62 to Rt302s
Now the fun begins

to Rt 25 s
to Rt5 s
to Fairlee _ take left on bridge to NH
Rt 10 s - .5 mile
to rt25A
to rt 25 s
to rt3a (1 mile)
Left @ stop sign
to Rt 175
to rt 3
to rt 25B
to rt 25 e
to rt 16 s
to rt 25 e (Maine)
to rt 35 e to Gray, Maine
to Yardmouth Rd
to Yardmouth (rt 1 N to Freeport)

200 miles one way, 4 to 4.5 hours, enjoy

Hey now,

You are assuming an overall average of 50mph *including stops*.

That is not going to happen. Better average for that ride is 45mph and that is at Iron Butt Rally pace (not fast but absolutey ZERO stops). Traffic, small towns etc all conspire to make a "fast" east / west ride in Northern New England (Essex is Northern New England) very difficult.

I also host the Minuteman 1000 (24hr endurance rally) and we also offer a Saddle Sore 1000 route that cuts across norther Vermont (from Swanton) to Bangor, Maine. This segment usually takes our riders at least four-5 (in June before schools are out) hours and you end up in Bangor which is a bit north. From Bangor it is about 20 miles south to Bucksport (route 1) where you could find the lobster of desire, if that is your thing. So figure on 4.5 - 5.5 *hard* hours to the coast.

Fastest way from rally site to Bucksport is almost 300 miles. Fastest way from rally site to Wiscasset (Red's eats, good place for lobster rolls) is 239. Fastest way from the rally site to LL Bean (Kittery trading post is much better IMO) is 214 but time wise is not much quicker than going to Wiscassett.

I say the best plan is to come early or stay late and explore Maine and more.

Best,

Rob Nye
06 Rally Co-Chair
 
You'd do fine making good time and a reasonable average speed until you had to got out of NY. Local speed limits in New England tend to run about 45mph, with 35 zones in central town districts. Passing zones are scarce and traffic is somewhat heavier than you'd see on the interstates.

That would be a difficult day ride, especially coming from MI. I'd guess that total mileage would be in the neighborhood of 1500 and large portions of that would be in New England.

Plan on two days, getting home really late the second day.
 
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