KDC1956

I have been wanting to do this trip in September 09 .But now my trip will have to wait until next year due to my wife she is going in the hospt.About the time I was going to leave and she will have to have help after she gets out of the hostp.But I am hoping that I can still take maybe a short here soon only time will tell.My wife is my love life so I have to take care of her first.And there is always next year to do my trip we are only talking a few months different anyway so I can wait.

Windrush

I just got back from a cycling along the coast of Maine. Drove through Bangor on the way home and Hwy 1A had a paved shoulder from Ellsmore. I found the drivers very patient with cyclists and there were plenty of others bicycle touring as well. Routes - https://www.exploremaine.org/bike/index.html

grinningfool

September is a great time for riding in maine. The air is cool, the humidity is gone, the tourists are gone, and we have great roads.
Most of the major routes into Bangor, such as rt. 2, rt. 9, and 1a, are fairly busy roads, but they all have a nice wide paved shoulder. I've lived in the area forever, and it's a pretty bike friendly place compared to some of the other Maine cities.
As Windrush said, most drivers are courteous toward bicyclists.
Some of the secondary roads can be hazardous, with no bike lane to speak of. And some of the streets in Bangor are terrible places to ride. Avoid Broadway between 95 and Burleigh road. Its heavily traveled and there is virtually no bike lane, you have to ride in the traffic lane. It's just plain crazy.
Rt. 2 north from Bangor is one of my favorite rides. It's a pretty ride, and not too hilly.
Across the bridge in Brewer is Pat's bike shop. Nice friendly shop.
Hope your wife recovers quickly.

ggriffinslo

We cycle along the Down East Coast last year and loved it. It was fun, easy and interesting. The only drawback is the lack of public transportation to get back out. We ended up renting cars tag team style because the local "service zone" was so small.

mrhedges

I love maine and I can't wait to go back. don't have much advice other then that.

JimDDD

ggriffinslo- What route did you follow Down East? I live in Massachusetts, and I have only rode as far as Portland, following the coast most of the way. The ACA East coast route goes too far inland for my tastes. I'm especially curious about east of Bar Harbor, where Down East really begins. -Thanks Jim

Nigeyy

Hey, you have your priorities right. My best wishes for your wife -Maine will still be there......

late

We started a cycling trip in Bangor a month ago. We took the back road down to Bucksport. We have done a few trips in the area. Acadia is a popular destination, but there are others. When you start planning, we can try and help fill in some of the details. Pats bike shop is great. We decided to leave bangor early in the morning cause of the traffic.

erbfarm

Can you share the route you took? I'm interested in riding a Boston to Bangor type of route and am looking for good route suggestions. I don't mind going away from the coast for a while, just want something w/o a lot of traffic, thanks

late

Sure.

The problem is staying away from traffic. That will add on a lot of extra miles and effort. I have ridden up and down the coast several times. Give me an idea of the time frame, and the start and stop points.

I always throw in at least one day off in a nice town. My favorite choices are Camden, Acadia,Brunswick and North Conway. I live next to Portland, but it would be good.

Our fave is Camden. Walkable, good food, shops, scenery.

Maine Dept of Tourism puts out a cycling trip book each year. Assuming the budget cuts didn't kill it off. I'll check.

There are some areas that are tricky. Above Camden is one of them. The obvious choice is also obvious to the locals, and it scared me half to death (I'll get specific later, this is rte 52 or something). One time we went via Brooks, scenic farm country.
But once you leave Brooks there are these endless glacial hills, just one after another. If you are in good shape, it won't be a problem. But it's a long day, and not easy. There is a way that is less desirable, but not bad. Rte 3 from Belfast then at Searsmont take 173 to 235.

We stay at the Cedarcrest Motel in Camden, it's not expensive and you can easily walk to anyplace in town.

Going south you have another set of choices. There is a bypass, rte 90, that most use. It's not bad, we have ridden it 4 or 5 times. Going down rte 1 from Camden is a viable alternative. It's a bit busier, but is a pleasant coastal ride. There is or used to be a good bakery along then way, Rockland maybe. There are some backroads you can use, we've done it. But they do add some miles.

You want to stop at Moody's. You have to, really. You can google it. After lunch you have another set of choices. There are backroads south of rte 1 you can take. Quite hilly, and you have to be careful with the map. That will take you to Newcastle/Damriscotta. Newcastle is a touristy town, but small, quaint, nice.

At this point you have a choice. You can head inland to Alna. It's a country road, but without much to reccomend it. It just keeps you off rte 1. We usually do rte 1 here.

Once you get to brunswick you have some real choices. You can turn south and go to Bailey Island. If you spend the nite, we have a place to suggest for dinner. There is a breakfast place, but at least in the past they didn't bother with a sign. Anyway, from there, take the ferry to Portland. It's a pretty ride and a nice change of pace.

Option #2... go to Brunswick. Have a gelato at the Gelato Fiasco or a sandwich at the Tontine Mall (it's tiny). Then take the backroad to Freeport and stop at the LL Beans factory outlet. The town is outlet heaven. From there you can take the backroads to Portland. I'll go into those details later.

Option #3... you can go upriver to the Augusta area. My favorite B&B is the Maple Hill Farm B&B and is close to a couple of my fave restaurants, Slates and the A-1 Diner in Gardner. If you have a bunc of time ans want to poke around, this is just a thought.

When going to NH on bike, we often use rte 25. It's busy, but we have done it several times and it's one of the better choices. You really want to avoid rte 1 south of portland. There are alternatives, but that depends on your priorities.

I've left out a bunch, but it's a beginning. Feed me some pseicifcs and I might have an idea up my sleeve.

https://www.exploremaine.org/bike/bike_tours.html

ggriffinslo

We started at a friends home just north of Portsmouth, went through Dover straight over to the coast. We followed Highway 1 sometimes, and smaller parallel routes whenever we could.

There is a wonderful campground (I think it's a county one) near Freeport. It was three or so miles out of the way, but the setting was great. Right on the water, clean and quiet.

If you have the time, take some of the roads that head south along the peninsulas away from the main road. They were some of the best riding of the trip. An example is Highway 130 and 32 south out of Newcastle.

Our original plan was to rent a car or take a bus out of Calais, but we couldn't reach a live person at any of the transport companies, so we cycled instead, back to a place south of Mount Desert Island and rented a car from there to go back to our start spot. We didn't get up into the area you are interested in.

Enthusiast

I'm heading south along the east coast on a similar tour this week. The only difference is I'll be heading from Vermont through NH then up to Mt. Katahdin before heading down to the coast. The posts so far have been helpful for my route along the coast, but does anyone have advice for routes to and from Baxter State Park?

late

Call the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and see if they can help. Not too many cycling tourists that
far from the coast.

https://www.bikemaine.org/