Author: Greg Pezoldt

If you are wondering what the city of Chambery is like, well it is pretty nice. It is settled up against the foothills of the alps with mountains on two sides. There is an old part of town in the center that is closed to traffic. There must be 200 sidewalk style cafes there. And shops of all kinds to peruse. Being Saturday today, I found out the major square in the city center has a huge public market. That will be fun once I get my own kitchen in a couple weeks!

I have also been looking for an apartment to rent for the summer while I am here. I think I have finally found one. It is a very small studio that is currently occupied by a student. He is leaving in two weeks and I plan to move in on June 15 (although I need to finalize the paperwork still). That will be a huge burden off my mind and shoulders. Until then, I will continue to stay at the Ibis Budget Hotel. it is nice and clean, the staff very helpful, and close to the city center. Since I am going to be staying here for a couple more weeks, they gave me a huge discounted rate and free breakfast in the morning. Like I said, the staff has been very helpful to me.

I mentioned that I was going to recon the area earlier. I did that and it was enlightening. I drove over to Grenoble (about 60km or 35 miles from here. There is a bike path there that I will be checking out soon as well). From there, I drove to Le Bourg d’Oisans which is the starting point for the epic Alpe d’Huez bicycle climb of Tour de France fame. Driving up to Le Bourg D’Oisans was good to have done. It was a very narrow road with little to no shoulder. I decided automatically that I did NOT want to ride a bike there. I would need to drive up to Le Bourg d’Oisans and ride from there.

I drove up to the top of the Alpe d’Huez to make sure the I would know the route in the future and it is looks to be a nice challenge. 21 switch backs before you get to the top. There were lots of people making there own attempts of the Alpe that day.

Next, I continued up the valley past the village of La Grave. This is the way up to the Col de Lautaret and the Col de Galibier. It would not be too bad of a bike ride but there were lots of tunnels, one of which was nerve racking in a car let alone a bike. When and if I try the Galibier, I will go from the other side of the Col de Lautaret (where there are NO tunnels to traverse). As of right now, the Col de Galibier is still closed due to snow, but I think it will open soon. Oh, a quick note. “Col” is the french word for pass. Hope that clears some confusion.

Then it was down valley again past Le Bourg d”Oisans again to the start of the Col de Croix de Fer (or Pass of the Iron Cross). It is a long climb, over 30 km (or about 20 miles) and a bit cruel. You go up, but then down a few times before the summit. Along the way, you pass the summit of the Col de Glandon which goes up from a different direction (and a possible ride of the future too).

So I have some plans for big rides now. As I mentioned before, I now know that I will need to rent a car on those days since I do not want to navigate the narrow shoulder-less roads between Grenoble and Le Bourg d’Oisans, and the fact that it is just too far to ride from Chambery. It is also worth noting that I had forgotten the majesty of the alps. They are beautiful, steep and awe inspiring.

Back in Chambery, I have scouted out some local rides. There is a nice bike path that goes to Grenoble as I mentioned. It also goes the opposite direction to Lake Bourget and I think it will be a staple of my local riding .

So…….. , so far everything is going pretty well here. There have been some close calls now and then. Like yesterday. The rental car company e-mailed me and said that they couldn’t find where I dropped the car off on Thursday. It was a holiday and I had to drop it and leave the key at a hotel reception desk. So I was hoping no-one stole the car. That would have been a major problem. luckily, it was just where I had left it, albeit in the Avis car area, not the Europcar parking area (who I rented the car from). Then there was the problem of fueling the car up. first, I could not figure out how to open the fuel door for the car. Once I got that figured out (by looking at pictures in the owners manual written in french!), then I had to figure out which nozzle was for diesel (which is not called diesel in france, duh!), then my credit card was rejected at the pump! That would be bad!!! Luckily, it worked at the next gas station I tried and has worked ever since.

Lastly, I know everyone likes pictures. I promise to start including them in the next postings. I promise.

Again, Au Rrevoir

Greg is on the go again. It seems like my amazing ride across the country was just over with but it has been an entire year since I started that journey.

After watching the Tour de France for so many years and seeing the incredible mountains they have ridden over, I decided that I wanted to give them a try myself. I am actually writing this from the town of Chambéry France located on the western edge of the French Alps.

Getting here was “half the fun”! I left Wenatchee on Sunday morning the 26th of May. My good Nick Covey drove me down to the transit center where I took the Wenatchee Valley Shuttle to SeaTac airport. That went very smooth and was about the only element of this trip I did not worry about. I had to wait about 6 hours before my flight but the time went by pretty quickly if You can imagine that. I had to wait for about 2 of those hours waiting for Icelandair to open their ticket window. I needed to complete some business with them concerning the flight to Paris. My bicycle was considered an extra piece of baggage and I needed to pay for that. I tried to do it on-line but was not able to figure how to do it. The website said I could do it at the time of check in so that is what I did. That went pretty smooth and I am not exactly sure if they even charged me the extra $116 that I was supposed to pay. I guess I will have to wait until I can review my credit card statement. That will be interesting since I seem to be hemorrhaging money right now.

Next, I needed to secure a plastic bag from the airline to put my backpack in. It has so many straps dangling off of it that it always gets hung up in the baggage sorting mechanism and never seems to get to my destination at the same time as I do. Of course, Icelandair did not have any bags so I had to hunt one down at the Alaska Air counter (at the other end of the airport I might add). So that got accomplished as well.

Next was reserving a Rental car at Charles DeGualle airport in Paris. I had thought about taking the train from Paris, but after consulting with Ed Farrar I decided to go the rental car route. Ed would know since his son Tyler was a pro cyclist and raced in the Tour for a few years even winning a stage! Ed said the train was tough and people have had their bikes stolen off the train before. Plus, renting the car saved me from having to haul the bike box all over Paris for who knows how long. Feel good about the rental car!

Now the next thing is to actually get on the the plane for a brief flight of 11 hours (with a brief reprieve in Iceland of 1.5 hours). You would think that getting on the plane would be easy. Well Icelandair found a way to put drama into that! For some bizarre reason, they have two flights from SeaTac to Iceland that leave within 5 minutes of each other. You read that correctly. 5 minutes. And the flight numbers are 582 and 584. And from gates S9 and S11. Just to make it even more interesting, they decided to flip the gates around so people were running back and forth. My original booking was on flight 582, but they managed to put 584 on my boarding pass so I was a little stressed out about that. But after going to both gates, I was finally confident that everything was alright. And it was, thank goodness.

Once in the air, a minor miracle occurred. The flight was not booked full and I shared my aisle with one other person. I had the window and he had the aisle. As soon as the captain turned off the fasten seatbelt sign the other guy left! I don’t know where he went but he did not come back to his seat until 30 minutes before landing. So I took full advantage and slept lying across all 3 seats during the short night we had. I say short because we flew a semi polar route and flying toward the sun so the night was only a few hours long since the days are longer the further north you go and then the massive time change as well. But I did sleep a little bit. But it was better than the normal lousy attempt that I usually make while flying.

So leaving at 7pm on Sunday, I got to Paris at 4:30 pm on Monday. Got the bags and bike, got the rental car and was out the door by 6 to negotiate my way through metro Paris. My only goal for Monday was to get out of the Paris suburbs and find a Motel to sleep at. Oh, and to get some food. Icelandair doesn’t feed you unless you pre-purchase a meal which I declined. So I only had 2 sports bars and a sandwich that I ate in Seattle before the flight. So yes, i was more hungry than tired.

But I was tired so I slept good. And woke up only a little early so knock on wood, I haven’t really had any jet lag to be bothered with.

Today, Tuesday, I finished the drive to Chambéry, France. This is the town I think I am going to call home base for this trip. It is close to many great climbs in the Alps. The Alpe d’Huez, the Col de Galibier, the Col de Criox de Fer, the Col de Magdeleine, and others. Once in Chambéry, I found a motel for a few nights and started doing research on bike routes and other important things like trying to find my car after I parked it and got lost in town, etc.

Tomorrow, I am going to recon some rides and see about logistics for some of these epic rides. They are not all accessible from Chambéry without having to ride 100 miles or more round trip. That generally is too much for a ride of that nature, but we shall see. I am going to check the bus and train situation tomorrow or the next day as well to see if I can take a few miles off the total ride distance.

So in the mean time, I am just enjoying the French restaurants and sampling some of there wines as well.

Just some final notes. I am not planning on riding every day like last year so I will not be posting everyday either. Lastly, my cell phone doesn’t work over here without costing a small fortune so please e-mail me instead if you want to contact me. You can still comment on the blog page too. My e-mail is pezoldt@flymail.net.

Au Revoir….. for now.

I arrived in Wenatchee early this morning and it feels good to be home. My trip on Amtrak was nice and relaxing and without drama although a long trip (but not 121 days long)!

Now that I am home, my friends Maureen and Carl are also glad I am home and are hosting an Oktoberfest style get together at their house this weekend. They want to invite and encourage all of their fellow blog followers to come over too. Of course it goes without question that I would love to see everyone too. You know what I have been up to this summer, but I would like to catch up on what you have been up to also.

If you are interested in coming over, contact me through e-mail or text and I will give you more details. My contact information is also on the blog site if you open the menu and choose contact. I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

For those of you who are living in California and cannot make it to Wenatchee, don’t despair. I am planning on making a trip south this Spring and I plan to get together with everyone down there at that time.

It’s good to be home. Now it is time to get ready for ski season. Let it snow!

Here are the estimates of the final statistics from my ride.

Total Miles: 5,826 miles

Days Riding: 106

Total Days: 121

Number of States: 16

Beginning Point: La Push, WA

Ending Point: Bar Harbor, ME

Northern Most Point: Eureka, MT

Southern Most Point: Delta, CO

Highest Point: 12,187 Ft ASL w/o Gear

12,095 Ft ASL w Gear

Lowest Point: Sea Level

Crossed Continental Divide: 7 Times

Named Mountain Passes: 18

National Parks: 7

National Monuments: 4

Days Camping (in Tent) : 74

Estimated Pedal Revolutions: 3,893,833

These are mostly estimates. I know that some of you want to know the total elevation climbed and I really couldn’t even figure a way to make any kind of estimate. Miles and miles though.

The number of pedal revolutions was based on an average gear of 38/17. Feel free to check my math. I also assumed a wheel radius of 13.5 inches, not 350 cm.

I have very mixed feelings about today. On one hand I am excited that this will be my last day of riding. After 105 days of riding, I will turn the pedals for the last time on this odyssey. On the other hand, I am a tad bit sad because the trip has been so wonderfully amazing and it is ending. But there is one more day of riding, even if it is going to be a short ride.

This morning when I woke up, I immediately looked toward the sky. The sky was broken clouds tending toward mostly cloudy. I was wondering if this was going to present a problem with THE PLAN. It was not my plan, but my cousin Steve’s plan. The plan was that I would ride back towards Ellsworth to the Bar Harbor airport and Steve would fly in and pick me up in his private plane. If the weather was not clear enough, he would have to scrub his flight and I would be in a state of limbo either waiting for the weather to clear or maybe having to ride another 150 miles to Portland , ME.

Well, first things first. I had to tear down my camp and ride into Bar Harbor just to check for any text message that Steve might have sent because there was no cell service in the campground. Riding back to town I was pretty sure the weather was clearing so I was gaining optimism by the mile. In Town I got lunch and also received a text from Steve saying he was leaving and his ETA was around 1:45. That was fantastic news.

I needed to leave Bar Harbor pretty quickly at that point since I still had to ride about 13 miles to the airport. I thought I would get there about the same as Steve.

The ride today was now almost certain to be my last of the trip and the weather was now actually getting better by the minute. I felt pretty strong today too. Maybe I was riding on Adrenalin, but the hills were all pretty easy to tackle.

I got to the airport with time to spare so I changed clothes into something fairly clean, got out of my cycling shoes and donned my tennis shoes. I thought I might as well be as comfortable as possible on the flight. It would be about 90 minutes.

Steve arrived pretty close to his estimated time. It had been an easy flight in with nearly perfect flying conditions.

My bike fit into the rear seat of the plane, but only after taking the wheels off along with the panniers. And then just like that, we were airborne.

The view of coastal Maine was amazing with all of the bays and islands.

The one thing about the view from the air was that everything looked so flat. Could all of those hills have been imagined? No, they had to have been real. My legs told me so every day. Flat or hilly, the view was awesome!

We landed near Sterling, Mass (not too far from Boston) where Steve and his wife Sue lived. I planned on staying through Saturday afternoon so I could visit with my cousin plus get some necessary errands out of the way. Then I would be catching the Amtrak Saturday to Chicago, change trains and ride to Whitefish, MT, visit with my friend Joe for a day, and finally arrive home in Wenatchee around 5:30 AM on Wednesday on the last leg of the Amtrak trip.

I am almost home. Home sweet home, here I come.

Well, it rained all night. Not really hard, but steady.

Waking up in the morning, the rain had stopped so there was no question about whether to ride it not. Ride it would be! But make no mistake. It is a dreary looking day. No sun at all this morning.

For some reason, along with the rain last night came warmer temperatures. I had started off wearing all of the same gear as the last couple days, but found that I was sweating too much and had to stop and take some of it off. That was a pleasant surprise.

This morning, I only needed to ride 20 miles to reach Bar Harbor, ME. This is the end of the Adventure Cycling Northern Tier route so it represents a milestone, but it is not quite MY final destination. That would be Acadia National Park which really is adjacent to Bar Harbor, but a significant distinction in my mind.

I had lunch in town. Amazingly, right when I entered Bar Harbor, the sun came out. Only briefly, but it seemed to be a sign from the cycling gods.

Right after lunch I set out to ride the Park Loop Road which is the basic loop road in the park on the main island.

Riding around the Park Loop road, the weather returned to the overcast dreariness of the morning. The scenery was still impressive with the famous rocky coastline. And the sea was angry my friends.

I completed the loop and headed for the ferry dock in town. I was going to take the ferry over to Winter Harbor on the Schoodic Peninsula and camp there so I could ride the loop road there and see Schoodic Point. Unfortunately, the rough seas forced the cancelation of the ferry service for the day. The Schoodic Peninsula would have to wait for another day.

Given this change of plans, I needed to find a place to camp on the main island. The closest was the Blackwoods campground within the park. It was only 5 miles away, but the weather was deteriorating pretty quickly at this point. The wind slowed my progress to a crawl at times, I did eventually make it to the campground for the night.

So, the trip is over! I made it to Acadia National Park and saw the Atlantic Ocean. That feels so great to say that. I do need to ride again tomorrow, but not far and actually backtracking a bit as I start to make my back to Wenatchee. So in deed, the trip is completed. I drank a beer that seemed appropriate for the occasion.

I will still be making some blog entries to chronicle the trip home with some trip statistics and offer some final thoughts on this amazing adventure. And I would be remiss to not thank everyone who has followed me along the way. I never really felt alone because I knew everyone was “riding along” with me. Thank you!

Lastly I think way back to the day that Natalie and I rode through Rexford, Montana. We stopped at a place to fill our water bottles. A gentleman there inquired where we were going. When Natalie replied that we were going to Maine, this gentleman blurted out “the old guy won’t make it”. To that gentleman I simply say “SUCK IT!”

It was cold again this morning which was not a surprise. It was also overcast which also was not a surprise. There was rain in the forecast and I needed to try to stay ahead of it as long as possible.

I got an early start to the day which I felt I needed to do today to try to get as many miles in as I could before it started to rain.

I rode along the coast and by the bays that are around every turn in the road. They are not always in sight, but they are never far away now.

Just outside of Stockton Springs, I stopped for lunch. Today would be LOBSTER day. I needed to have lobster at least once since I was in Maine. I am not really a big lobster person, but I would have regretted it if I did not indulge at least once. I opted for the lobster roll as opposed to the full meal deal with the mallet and bib.

I have to admit I really did enjoy it.

After lunch I rode pretty hard trying to stay ahead of the approaching rain. I was lucky enough to have made it to Ellsworth which was one of the places I had identified as a good place to stop today. Because it actually started raining as I got to the outskirts of town, I decided on a motel room. Better safe (and dry) instead of sorry.

I hope that I am going to sleep well tonight. Tomorrow is an extra exciting day.

If yesterday had an autumnal chill to it, this morning was flat out cold! And the wind was blowing to make it even colder feeling. Getting out of the warm sleeping bag was not easy today. The sun was still out, but I put on a lot of clothes to keep warm. One really nice thing was that the wind kept my tent dry. Packing up my camp went really fast and easy today which was very welcome.

The route up to Bar Harbor from here would now travel northward and follow the coast more or less. Not that there would be any less hills and that they would be any less steep. Just now instead of riding from lake to lake, I would now be riding from bay to bay, and harbor to harbor.

First would be Bath, ME and neighboring Woolwich, ME. I needed to cross the US Hwy 1 bridge across the Kennebec River, but my directions left me a little confused (a common occurrence). My confusion must have been obvious because a local cyclist asked if I needed help. His name was Mark and he said that he once rode from Bellingham, WA to Boston. He was now 80 and still riding his bike. He actually led me through town and successfully got me on the bridge and on my way again. Thanks Mark!

Next was the harbor town of Wiscasset, ME. There was a famous lobster shack called Red’s Eats there and there was a LONG line to get their famous lobster roll. A lobster roll is pieces of lobster on a hoagie roll with a sauce. I passed on this famous treat due to the long line, but it was time for lunch. I found a nice place to enjoy my peanut butter and honey bagel sandwich.

After lunch I decided I would try for Camden, ME to end the day. On the way and just before Warren, ME, I suffered my 7th flat tire. I didn’t like the trend here so I checked everything out extra carefully. I found the cords in my rear tire were starting to show after over 3,000 miles when I bought it in Denver. It was time to replace the tire so I used the spare I had been carrying for some 5,500 miles now. I also used a brand new tube so I think I am good to go for the last days now.

I got to Rockport around 4:45. It was another quaint Maine harbor town.

I found a campground in neighboring Camden, ME which was my goal. Before I went there, I ended up having dinner at a waterfront restaurant appropriately named the Water Front! I finished eating just in time to sprint the remaining 2 miles to the Camden Hills State Park before dark came. I just barely made it and set my tent up in the dark. (I can set it up with my eyes closed at this point).

Back in the warm confines of my tent, I finally took all of those warm clothes off. I wore them all day it turns out. I think fall has really set in in New England.

I must admit that I slept really well in the nice bed last night. I woke up to bright sun, but the air had a definite autumnal chill.

The first thing I did in the morning was to go check out the grounds of the Tarry-a-While Inn. The main house was on a nice large piece of ground, but the real attraction was down the hill. Their property went right down to Highland Lake where they had a beach, picnic tables, kayaks, fire pits and a roped off swimming area. I can see that it would be a popular spot to vacation at.

Walking back up the hill to the Inn, I met Donna. She was the sister of Dan Richards who is the owner and who offered me the room. I must have looked pretty pathetic yesterday riding toward Bridgton. Donna also saw me riding and though just as Dan that she should offer me a place to stay. So that morning, I insisted that we talk a bit so I could find out some history of their family and properly thank them for their generosity.

Running the Inn was a true family endeavor for them. Donna offered to make a breakfast for me, but I said that was too much. After talking till 10:00 Donna had things to do and I needed to be on the road.

This part of Maine has a lot of long skinny lakes. You ride from one to the next and to the towns that are associated with each one. The roads that go between these lakes and towns are rolling hills, except that you cannot really roll from one hill to the next. The hills are short but STEEP and your momentum from one hill to the next doesn’t even come close to letting you coast over the next. After doing this all day for a few days was taking a toll on my legs.

Later in the day, I got to Brunswick, ME. It was late enough and I was tired enough that I looked to find a campground for the evening. I found my way to the Thomas Point Beach campground. The beach however was on the BAY. Meaning that the water I was looking at was connected to the Atlantic Ocean.

While I could not actually see the ocean, it really felt like a major milestone on the trip. The ocean was SO SO close now.

I actually got to cook dinner in the sun of the day which was a nice change from recent other dinners. The sun was setting around 7:00 now so that was taking a real adjustment in my timing, especially now that I was on the other side of the equinox.

Looking at salt water today means that the trip is starting to get to the last days now. That means that each day will be extra exciting now. I slept looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.

The sun woke me up this morning at the Lewises House. A very good sign. It was windy and cool, but not raining.

I was raring to go today which is typical after a rest day. And it was going to be a Big Day too.

Today was going to be the last major climb of the trip. Kancamagus Pass. Not super high, not super steep, not super hard. But the last real climb. After this, it would only be lots of rolling hills but nothing long and sustained.

After a breakfast at the Lewises, it was off again. I negotiated a lot of local traffic that was going to see the local Highland Games at nearby Loon Mountain. The Highland Games is a Scottish Festival with games and bagpipe music. And I assume beer too.

The climb up Kancamagus Pass was great. The sky was clear so there were some nice views going up.

And after 2 hours, I reached the final summit.

It was also going to be my last downhill descent. But it was a good one. Downhill basically all the way to Conway where I had lunch.

With all of the downhill completed, now it was time for the rollers. And lots of them. And one big milestone too.

I have reached Maine! Basically my trip goal and my 16th state and probably my last. (I have to go to Massachusetts but I don’t think I am going to ride there). Like Vermont and New Hampshire, I have never been here before. How is that possible with a State Nickname of “Vacationland”!

Now it is on to Bridgeton to find a campground. There are a few to choose from, but the trick will be finding one that is open. Places are closing for the season so it gets “interesting” at times. As luck would have it, as I was approaching Bridgeton, a car pulled over and flagged me down. The driver inquired if I was going to be camping and that he ran a resort and I could camp there tonight. Well that solved a problem for me. I said that I was looking for a campsite and gladly accepted his offer. He said that he was going to to be gone so I told him I would pay for my campsite in the morning. He said that there would not be a charge since I was touring. Like Dan in Middlebury, he had toured and was just “giving back”. These people in New England are really nice, at least to cyclists. He was waiting for me when I showed up. He said I was still welcome to camp if I wanted to, but offered me a key for one of the rooms in the resort. He said that he had a big wedding party that cancelled on him this weekend and that I would be the only one there. I thought that there must be a sad story behind the wedding cancelation. You don’t just cancel that at the last moment after months of planning without a reason that is probably heartbreaking to someone.

So as sad as someone out there is right now, I am feeling pretty cozy in a really nice bed. Not without some guilt though.