A Credit Card Tour?

I must admit that spending time off the bike is feeling very good to me.

I achieved the main objective when I set out from Key West last year — to complete a cross country bike ride from Key West, FL to Calais, ME (at the Canadian border). I’d intended to do it all in one go — from one terminus point to another — but true to life, it was messy and unpredictable. It took two seasons as opposed to being one continuous and contiguous ride; and it ended at a strange and unpredicted place in Thompson — Quinebaug, CT. Not the most photogenic of places.

I had an idealized version of how this Key West to Canada ride would unspool in mind, but it never included the particular route I chose overall, nor the Quick Mart & Smoke Inc. as its celebratory terminal point. But I’ll take it and embrace it, as it was the culmination of my dream (despite not being my dream ride). Done!

But that begs the question: what about Lubec, Maine? And why now? — as I’m done and feeling comfortable, and my knee is returning to human dimensions.

Well precisely because the Quick Mart is such an inauspicious place to “finish” a ride. And because when I set out this year from Georgetown, SC I never intended to stop once I merely closed the last gap. I set out to bike to the northeastern most point of the Unites States. And I feel as if I go back out and accomplish that, even though I’ve ridden the entirety of Maine over the last 2 years, I will really finish what I set out to do this year — and Quoddy Head State Park is an infinitely better and more photogenic ending than the Quick Mart and Smoke Inc.

The first bike related chore I did upon returning home was to take my bike in to my local bike shop (Landry’s Bicycles on Commonwealth Ave) and covert over to a tubeless tire set-up. That two hour ordeal, last week in Yonkers, NY, changing the first flat on these new Tracer tires was painfully instructive — and something I don’t wish to repeat anytime soon.

On the ride home I got my first introduction to a sealant shower as the over-pressurized tire seated and a little micro-puncture reopened, but the tire sealed quickly and the tubeless tire set-up  did its job.

Now I’m in planning mode for the upcoming homestretch to Lubec, ME. I’m using Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini (LLM / AI’s) as starting points which I’ll refine with Ride with GPS and Google Maps road view. The reason I’m doing this level of planning is because my knee is still a bit balky and the swelling will now be a chronic thing as long as I’m biking daily. 

I’m going to limit myself to 45-50 mile days — shorter days for the sake of my knee (swelling, flexion, and pain management) and I’m going to plan this out as a set daily itinerary. I normally don’t like to over plan my biketours like this, but due to the circumstances I think it behooves me to keep mileage low and know that I’ll be able to ice my knee down every night.

Believe me, my knee would rather I do this … 

… but knowing myself, and my “completist / non-gapist” tendencies — I need to ride to Lubec, ME and finish what I set out to do on May 1st.

So I’m taking a few days off, mostly for the knee, but also to tweak some gear, and to plan a set itinerary from here to Lubec, ME.

I’m taking some low mileage rides around the neighborhood to keep the knee flexion supple, and to keep form, but not so much mileage as to exacerbate the swelling.

And I love riding my (still new) bike naked (read: unloaded and unencumbered by panniers) and it now only weighs 19 lbs without the tubes. It feels very fast and extremely responsive.

Which begs another question: if I have a set daily itinerary, and reserve lodging in advance, why not leave the tent and cooking gear at home and really lighten my load? What’s called in the bike touring world — “credit card touring.” 

That is, lightening the load — staying at hotel, motels, & Air BNB’s — and leaving the tent, stove, fuel, and food (other than snacks) at home. This would mean I could shave a total of 6 -7 lbs. total off the bike because I would also leave the rack and rear panniers behind and take my saddle bag instead.

Much to consider and get done in a few days. I feel confident that the knee will cede to the ice and anti-inflammatories; and that carrying less weight on the bike and shortening the daily miles will be the route to go to Lubec, Maine. 

Days 28 — 30:
Start: Jamaica Plain, MA
Finish: Jamaica Plain, MA
Miles: 0

Once I’ve got the itinerary set, and the knee is ready, I’ll get rolling again — I figure about 3 days, or so, stay tuned.

What I’m Reading:

This trip is best treated as a Boston-to-Portland-to-Brunswick-to-Downeast progression, then a final push to Lubec. The East Coast Greenway Alliance notes Boston-to-Newburyport options with hotel/Airbnb lodging, and the Maine itineraries highlight lots of hotel and camping choices in Freeport and Brunswick, plus route guidance farther east in Maine.

— Perplexity, (via greenway.org) / “Route Structure” / Perplexity app