Day Three: Bicycle Touring Maine

Damariscotta, Maine - Camden, Maine
Mileage Total for the Day: 51 miles
Total Trip Mileage: 121 miles

The morning packing dance took a particular long time at our campside on Lake Pemaquid. I was happy, though, to take my time walking around the city of a campground and take in the lake views.









A persistent knee injury from over 12 years ago, had begun to rear its ugly head again. Last night, it stiffened right up and I mainly limped around the campsite. After taking several rounds of vitamin I (ibuprofen) my knee was feeling better.

We started off late, around nine a.m. Many more rolling hills, with some of them becoming longer and steeper we were making pretty slow time near lunch, having only pedalled 15 miles.

After fixing a few chains that kept popping off, we pulled into the town of Waldoboro for a pee break. It took us over three stops into stores along the main street to find one that had a bathroom they would let us use. Very unfriendly town too. Each store was pretty rude. Finally after going in and out of the main drag in search of a bathroom, the tiny general store, run by a laid back hippie let us use the bathroom. I was so happy to pee that I didn't even notice until it was too late- no toilet paper.



Just seven more miles down the road we stopped off to have lunch at a little farm. One of the girls ran into the nearby house to ask if we could eat lunch on their picnic table. Turns out that the farm was actually a preserve of endangered farm animals. I love how that by biking you find places that you never would in a car.

After reapplying our sunblock and getting hit with another torrential downpour, we realized that by applying sunblock at lunch we were instigated the bad weather. Tomorrow, we decided, we would not reapply sunblock at lunch and maybe we wouldn't get our consistent two and four p.m. showers.

We pulled into Camden State Park, where most of the team hiked up to the ledges after dinner. My knee was still killing me, so I held down the camp and went for a sundae. Life was good.

Read Day One and Day Two of my trip.

Read What I packed.

Read my initial thoughts and on the road product review of the Ortlieb Back Roller Classic Panniers.

Ortlieb Waterproof Back Roller Classic Panniers Product Review- Long Distance Biking

Cycling this summer has really meant two things to me: wet and wet. Would the Ortlieb Waterproof Back Roller Panniers hold up on my week long bike trip through Maine?
As mentioned in my previous post about the Ortlieb Waterproof Panniers, I was concerned about: waterproofness, durability, and everyday use. These panniers are pretty expensive comparatively coming in at $165 for the pair. Here are my thoughts on the panniers on the road:
Waterproofness
These PVC-coated Cordura really held up in some serious rain conditions. Nearly every day we experienced heavy showers and my stuff stayed dry throughout. Some of the other panniers that my fellow cyclists carried had pack covers, but their stuff on the bottom got soaked from the splash back of pedals and tires.
One particularly brutal night, three of us ventured out to the local store for a shower (I know- store- shower- what?). Anyway, I carried all our towels and dry clothes in my Ortlieb Panniers and we got caught in a torrential and scary thunderstorm. The trusty panniers kept it all dry.
The one slight user drawback to the waterproofness of these panniers is totally dependent on how carefully you roll down the top of the pannier. The panniers close by rolling the top over several times and then buckling it. If you pack it up too high or don’t roll the top down enough, water seepage is likely.
Ease of use
Quick and simple to use. They came with directions that I didn’t even read. Pull up on the handle, place over the rack and release- the locking hangers work well and help keep the panniers securely on. Rural Maine can be pretty bumpy at times, and I didn’t experience any wiggle or shaking of the panniers.
Organization
This was an initial concern for me. The most obvious drawback to the Ortlieb Panniers is that they have only one zip pocket located inside of the panniers. I wasn’t sure if it would cause me to go crazy having to open and close it, digging around for sunblock.
Overall, I managed to stay organized and didn’t consider this a drawback of the panniers. That being said, I am a pretty experienced camper and backpacker and this may have been influencing this. Also, I had a large camera bag on front of my bike where I stored snacks, sunblocks, and wipes. If you aren’t a very organized person or don’t have a lot of camping experience, this may drive you nuts.
Summary and More Details
So overall I would give the Ortlieb panniers two thumbs up for long distance bike trips. Since I can’t imagine getting out for more than one bike trip a year, I want to be sure these panniers are practical for trips to the store and commuting. I’ll be giving an update about this soon as well as a final product review summary of all the pros and cons of the Ortlieb Waterproof Panniers.




Read initial thoughts on Ortlieb Back Roller Classic Panniers
Read What I Packed for the Trip
Read Day One or Day Two of Bike Trip

Disclaimer: Product Reviews are based on opinion only and are not intended to condone, encourage, or promote a product. Some products are sent to me by the manufacturer or affiliates and are mine to keep. I mention this specifically on products sent to me. Compensation and/or product and/or services never interfere with the review of the product. Otherwise, products and services are purchased by me for personal use. Panniers were purchased by me.

Beat Gasoline Contest

I was tipped off to the Beat Gasoline Contest by fellow blogger Trina. To enter, their weekly contest winner (yeah- weekly- whoo!) simply has to submit video about how they use sport (ex. running, skateboarding, etc) to beat gasoline.

Submit your videos here.

Day Two: Bicycle Touring Maine

Thomas Point Island, Maine - Damariscotta, Maine
Mileage Total for Day: 45 miles
Total Trip Mileage: 70 miles



I was concerned that my bicycle touring packing might be too much or too unorganzied for this ladies-only bike trip, but it turns out that I packed perfectly. I was one of the first up since the tent I was sharing was pretty hard to get in and out of quietly. Even so, I happily enjoyed my coffee as we began our morning dance.



(actually not my bike)

The morning dance mainly requires packing up your panniers, turning a corner, finding more of your stuff, and then repacking your panniers.



Riding was on the easy to moderate side, only packing in 45 miles. There were many hills, but generally manageable since they were rolling. Our top speed downhill was 32 mph.

We stopped in Wiscasset Maine for our lunchtime break. Wiscasset is well known for cute shops and of course, Red's seafood which at times boasts over an hour wait. Since I spent my birthday waiting in line for an hour and a half a few years ago, I was happy to eat something else.



After reapplying sunblock at lunch, we rode in and out of torrential showers which streaked our freshly applied sunblock into our shoes.

Towards the end of the day some of the riders were really feeling fatigued, so we were slowing down a bit. I managed to fall over still clipped into my bike, here is the wound one week post. I've done better.



We camped at Pemaquid Point Campground on Lake Pemaquid. This campground was an all night Massachusetts Party Heaven. Nearly every plate was Mass or New Jersey and everyone had very elaborate campsite setups.





We were pretty happy to have our little fire, with scavenged wood and campfire pizza- recipe to come later this week!

Find Me At

Find me at MTB by 198 posting about how to find other female mountain bikers to ride with. We still want to ride with the boys- just trying to figure out how to hook up with more female mountain bikers. Did I forget about a way that you've found helpful? Let me know by responding here or over at this post. Thanks for the feedback all!

What I Packed vs What I Should Have Packed

You know how before you head out on a big trip you spend a lot of time packing and considering what is worth while enough to carry? I spent a lot of timing thinking about how to pack for a bicycle touring trip up the coast of Maine and have compiled two lists- what I brought and what I should have brought.

What I brought (as complete as I can recall)

Two rear panniers and front camera bag for my Canon Digital Rebel Xti

sleeping bag and pad
undies
2 bike skorts and 1 bike short
2 bike shirts and 2 bike tanks
1 tank for sleeping and relaxing
1 regular pair of shorts
1 3/4 length pants
vest
fleece jacket
waterproof jacket and pants

cup, bowl, spork, knife
lighter
toiletries
oatmeal and morning mix (brown sugar, almonds, and craisins in zip bag)
bagels and PB
coffee
small pack towel
sandals
winter hat
socks
plastic bags and ziplock bags
sunblock
wipes
x tra batteries
wallet
headlamp
camelbak
wetwipes and wipes with witchhazel

What I should have brought:

my own tent (two side doors and two vestibules are seriously better than one door at the head of the tent, plus I snore)
my little Jetboil stove (I got up early everyday and either waited to make my coffee and oatmeal or wasted lots of gas heating my own water in a huge pot)
swimsuit
more campsuds
more quarters
dried fruits

Not too shabby of a packing job I will say! Maybe too much of this and that, but overall I found it pretty easy to pack up each morning and wasn't seriously lacking anything.

Day One: Bicycle Touring Maine

Portland, ME- Thomas Island, ME
Mileage total for day: 25

On our first day our mileage was pretty meek looking, but really, coordinating the meet up of six women from three different states first thing in the morning is challenging. After meeting in a parking lot in Portland, we strapped, packed, restrapped our gear onto our bikes. Finally we were packed up and rode the ferry from Portland Maine to Thomas Point Island Maine.

We had trouble squeezing our bikes through the narrow walkways to board the ship. The ferry took three hours to our destination at which time we needed to do the bicycle touring dance once again and finagle our bikes off the ships narrow walkways, down a pier, and up another narrow ramp. As you can see, we did have some assistance.

We ate our peanut butter and jelly bagels after we managed to get our bikes off the ship. After strapping, packing, restrapping our gear again we embarked up our first steep hill on our loaded bikes. A quick 14 miles later we were at our campsite and pitching our tents beneath the patchy shade.

Having arrived so early at our campsite we decided to try to make it into Brunswick to visit the Sea Dog Brewery. We still had a week's worth of food in our packs. What the heck right?

This was definitely our easy day.

Ortlieb Waterproof Back Roller Classic Pannier Review – Initial Thoughts

Racking in all of my training miles in the pouring rain this summer had me thinking one main thought on panniers – waterproof. Is that my primary reason for choosing these the Ortlieb Waterproof Back Roller Classic Panniers to ride 300 miles with? Well, yes actually.

Realizing that the purchase of the Ortlieb Classic Panniers required more use than one bike trip I really have two purposes in my review. Are the Ortlieb Panniers good for bicycle touring? And two, are they good for regular things- ya know trips to the store and maybe some bicycle commuting.



Initial Thoughts on the Ortlieb Panniers

I admit that I slightly panicked when I received my panniers in the mail. The box really seemed far too small to house two panniers and having waited till the last minute to order them – I might have been screwing myself out of a bike trip. Thankfully, these panniers just pack up really small and flat.

Some features that I instantly liked:

• Great color selection with lots of options. I went for the yellow – black option for visibility purposes.
• Easy mounting- just pull the handle up and drop over rack
• Large size – I had a pair of panniers that I was contemplating using, but they were very small. I wasn’t sure exactly what 2,441 cubic inches looked like from pictures online, but they’re pretty darned big.

Some features I wasn’t sure about:

• Besides an inner zip pocket- there isn’t anything to help with organization. Having side pockets might be very helpful on multi day trips.
• Would the panniers be durable and waterproof enough to warrant their hefty price tag ($175 for the pair)

Specs on the Ortlieb Back Roller Classic Panniers
Average weight: 4 lbs. 3 oz.
Material: PVC-coated Cordura
Dimensions: 16.5 x 12.5 x 9.1 inches
Volume: 2,441 cubic inches

An update about how the panniers held up on my week long bike trip, as well as general everyday use later this week. Subscribe to my feed below for daily blog updates.

Disclaimer: Product Reviews are based on opinion only and are not intended to condone, encourage, or promote a product. Some products are sent to me by the manufacturer or affiliates and are mine to keep. I mention this specifically on products sent to me. Compensation and/or product and/or services never interfere with the review of the product. Otherwise, products and services are purchased by me for personal use. Panniers were purchased by me.

Bicycle Touring Through Maine Trip: Planning and Preparation

I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't nervous for this trip. While I am an experienced camper and cyclist, I have never really combined the two. I was invited on this self-planned ladies bicycle trip through Maine by another woman that I mountain bike with. I didn't know the other three women, nor did I really know the other woman that I would be sharing a tent with.

I spent the weekend before packing, repacking, packing, and repacking my two rear panniers. I kept reading online that you should pack as little (but completely) as possible for your bicycle touring trip, set it all out and then half it and then half it again.

Much of my frazzled brain resources were put into being as light as possible since I was concerned that I might be holding the group back if I packed too heavy. After I spent most of my weekend reducing my packs- I sat back and asked myself what in my pack was the biggest/heaviest and could I do without it?

Looking at everything spread across the floor I decided the biggest/heaviest stuff was my food and my underwear. I pondered this for a while- food or underwear, food or underwear- could I do with less of one of these? I cut back on one and I'll simply tell you that I was always well fed.