DAY 1 to Wells

Exhausted. That was a long day. We were pretty on schedule this morning but then a vicious thunderstorm with hail slowed our roll. Haha. We hung out at Roger's Haircutters for half an hour and hit the road. Thanks to mums and Woody and his dad for seeing us off. Things started off ok but then we found our biggest problem of the day- our back paniers continually fall off the rack. We stopped between 15 and 20 times to reattatch the packs. It was very frustrating and our goal tonight/tomorrow morning is to solve the issue.

Things were great all the way through Falmouth but Portland was a struggle. Busy streets, unsure directions, and poor roads made it a tough go. We ended up on route 1 and went over a busy bridge with no shoulder all in the midst of 4 lane traffic. Horrifying. After that we rolled to Scarborough with mediocre results. We had burgers at a place called Dimitri's and the owner was really friendly and intersted in our journey. He took a picture of us for their facebook. Sweet.

After that directions were again a mixed bag and we ended up on a bike trail that was great for a few minutes but then scary because it was quite rocky. A popped tire would have been a disaster. Fortunately we were good and continued towards Wells. We tried to get back onto the trail eventually but found sand and unrideable conditions. Greg took a digger in the sand but was ok. Then we got back on track and stayed primarily on route 1. It was long and we really hit the wall around Biddeford. The rest of the ride was a real grind but we eventually made it to Wells around 7. Considering the mishaps and the vicious headwind we encountered all day, I'd consider it a success. We are both absolutely beat. This is much longer than either of us has ridden before. We're getting an earlier start and better directions for tomorrow, so hopefully things will be better. Our destination is Sabby's in Littleton, Mass. Justin's hospitality has been incredible and really boosted our spirits. We ate dinner at a Chinese place in Sanford and hopefully will be heading to bed soon. Day 1 in the books. We learned a lot today and hopefully things will get better going further. Send well wishes of tailwinds, downhills, and high performing equipment.