We’re officially on our way.
After a memorable sendoff from the great people of Portland, Maine, we’ve made our way through some intense rainfall to the first destination, Portsmouth, NH.
We want to send a heartfelt thanks to everyone in Portland that treated us so well.
Thanks to Al and Nancy Pfeiffer, parents to our West Point ’05 classmate Andy, for waking up early and driving down to wish us well with some delicious homemade rhubarb squares and blueberry muffins.
Thanks to Jacques and Erin at the Old Port Wine Merchants & Cigar Shoppe for their generosity and expert fitness tips.
Dahana Lake was also on hand to spearhead a local awareness campaign before we headed out of town.
There are so many more people to thank: Joel’s parents for driving all the way from Texas to see us off, the Portland Police Department for escorting us south out of town (voluntarily) across the Veterans Memorial Bridge, and two Maine gubernatorial candidates who came out in the rain to wish us well on our journey.
After dipping our tires in the Atlantic Ocean in downtown Portland, we headed south through Maine to New Hampshire, fending off rain the whole way.
We stopped for lunch at Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery, Maine before crossing the Memorial Bridge from Maine into New Hampshire, where Portsmouth greeted us with a blinding combination of a typhoon, hurricane, and possibly a tsunami, nearly costing Pete his flip flops expertly strapped to the top of his pack.
Thanks again to Portland, Maine; your Shipyard Summer Ale is delicious, keep it up.
Tonight, we’ll “Live Free or Die” in Hew Hampshire before heading out to Beantown tomorrow.
The XC10 Guys
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Rick, Pete and Dan are riding Specialized Sequoia Elite’s. Joel is riding a Trek 520. All of them are riding with panniers. This all despite my best efforts to convince them to ride Seven Cycles bikes
-Eric
I’ll be watching for your progress from Rochester, NY! I used to live in Maine, and I was in the police academy with Officer Napajelo in the picture you have posted from your sendoff in Portland! If you get a minute, post the kind of bikes you all are using in a future update. Good luck and stay safe!