Waterford is about 10 miles away from Albany. 82 mile ride up, and down to be fair, many hills and a couple of mountains. I’m looking forward to flatter land. Vermont is beautiful, despite the mountains 😬. Road out at 7:30 this morning to be greeted by 3 goats. Air was thick with smoke and a bit hot. Tomorrow is a long ride of 89 miles to Herkimer, NY almost all along the Mohawk-Hudson Hike and Bike Trail and then the Erie Canal Trail. I’m pretty excited for the change. Thanks for checking in!
Ice cream as prescribed by my doctor.
I must say, it has been fun chatting it up with people young and old about the trip. Fun.
This was a rough day. 68 miles, plenty of hills and not many road shoulders in New Hampshire, especially. I did pick up a couple of Rails to Trails paths which were nice. The biggest take away from the day was the very pleasant stay with my new friends John and Mary Beth, hosts as part of the Warm Showers site. But they welcomed me into their Chester, VT home after a wicked long day. Warm shower, of course, hot supper and cozy bed. Nice
Second day has taken me to just northwest of Concord NH. Some roads were awesome; great surface and no cars, others not so much. Hot and overcast from wildfires in Canada. People have been great. Only 1 knucklehead on the roads. So great ratio. First camping experience of the trip. To Vermont tomorrow!
65 miles from Portland‘s East End beach (after dipping my tire in the Atlantic) to Rochester, NH. Rode with my daughters and partners. Really fun. Eastern Trail sections through Scarborough, Old Orchard, Saco and Biddeford were great. Even the on-road sections were not too bad. The Kennebunk section is awesome. Wide, flat, flat, wide. Surprisingly the roads though West Kennebunk, Wells ( by Rt 9) and others were smooth and sparsely traveled. From South Berwick to Rochester the roads are shoulderless.
The Governers Inn in Rochester along with the Steak and Ale restaurant are absolutely wonderful. Food was perfect, my room is great. Tracy and Danielle were, are so friendly and enthusiastic. They were so supportive of my ride and couldn’t be any more genuine in there support of my ride. So warm. We plan to be back after the ride. For sure.
Tomorrow, 52 miles. I miss my family in a big way already. Kind of feel like the first night of sleep away camp.
(This is the text from a GoFundMe campaign I started. NO money contributed will go towards the trip. ALL will go to the organizations, less GoFundMe fees.)
Hi! My name is Dave Berrang and I am riding my bicycle from my home in Portland, Maine to Seattle – 4,000 miles give or take. I thought that it may be a good time to raise money for 3 interconnected nonprofit groups; Gear Hub (local), Bicycle Coalition of Maine (state), and Rails to Trails Conservancy (national). Together these organizations are building greater and safer access to bicycling all the while building community and a fundamental access point for basic transportation. While you may not live in Portland or Maine or the US, the work these groups do is representative of work being done across the country, and the world. My method of distribution is to take the total and divide by 3. If you’d prefer to give directly, awesome.
Follow me at dberrang.blog. Or the facebook page DBerrang bikes west.
August 3rd viewed from April or May looks much different than seen from July 15th! Right now I go from feeling super excited to asking myself why I ever brought the whole thing up. I’m guessing this is pretty natural. Loaded my bike yesterday for a dry run camping trip to Bradbury State Park. 20 miles with a bike carrying 55lbs of gear/water is a bit different than a bike carrying just me. Pushing off was a bit tricky but became routine fairly quickly. Hills are hillier. And the wind is windier. Slow speeds with weight is a critical time to pay attention to balance. But all went well.
I am going to connect a low-key fund raising initiative to the ride. No hard sell, so please don’t be turned off by this. My rationale is that I’ve become a big fan of safe bicycling and the importance that local, state and national organizations play in this seemingly obvious goal. I believe in the multi spoke approach to realizing this end. So, I have identified 3 organizations that I hope to support. At the local level, I am partnering with Gear Hub, the non-profit outdoor, bike centric shop in Portland that is on the front lines getting all Mainers (new and not as new) into cycling, maintenance and connection. http:portlandgearhub.org
At the state level, Bicycle Coalition of Maine has been advancing the healthy pursuit of bicycling and walking in Maine since 1992. http://Bikemaine.org
And at the national level, I am a supporter of the wonderful mission of the Rails to Trails Conservancy. Imagine a time when a bicyclist can travel from the East Coast to the West Coast without battling vehicle traffic. Well, that vision is the driving force behind RTC. http://railstotrails.org
Shout out to my friends at Maine Bike Works for my bike and setup. Jason and Theron specialize in adventure touring bikes and accessories. See photos. Looking for a name for my bike if you have ideas.
In one month I will push off from my home in Portland, ME for my destination of Seattle. There is so much support behind this effort, especially from my girl Nancy. And my girls Maddie and Izzer. Thank you!!
Dave goes West 