After hearing from Terry and others over the years about how fun it is to ride the Airline from Bangor to Calais, I decide to check that box and ride it this week.
I headed up to Maine on Monday. Took the interstate to Brunswick and had an early lunch. From Brunswick I took US 201 to Augusta where I picked up 202 to Newburgh where I connected to 69 north to I-95 north to Bangor. The back roads were really nice and very scenic in spots. Also I rode past the Capital Building in Augusta, which was pretty cool. Clouds were developing as the day wore on and the last 10 minutes of the ride were in light drizzle. I pulled into the Comfort Inn @ the Bangor Mall by about 3:00. The sun was back out by 5:00 PM.
The WX for the ride on Tuesday was just about perfect; mostly sunny with temps starting in the high 60s and finishing in the low 80s. I got an early start and left the hotel at about 8:30. The Airline lived up to its description and was a lot of fun to ride. As expected, there was road work occurring in a bunch of spots. But it was well managed and I was always on pavement.
I had lunch at Karen's Diner in Calais, which is the same place we went last year when we did the Fort Kent ride. Took a couple of pictures in Calias.
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render/00-lT2MFNLjCrRYpdd3MEczfkqsQ63vB8BfhaKMpNS69n8I-sdyJEdz0lnLS3mcZeUZ5cYdfB3jRoL_VZILaXEufg?cn=THISLIFE&res=medium&ts=1630516920https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render/00-lT2MFNLjCrRYpdd3MEczfkqsQ63vB8BfhaKMpNS69n9a57OsqLZsl4MWz7wcMOIXqCe7ffHDJpwno-pEcjtJnw?cn=THISLIFE&res=medium&ts=1630516920After lunch I headed south on route 1. We did the route 1 coastal route last year on the way back from Calais. It's very scenic in spots. Unfortunately north of East Machias, route 1 is torn up with no pavement in both directions for just over a mile. You can actualy see the slowed traffic on Google Maps where there's no pavement. Instead there's hard packed dirt and gravel and some mud to make it interesting. It sucked. The bike needs a thorough wash once it stops raining.
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render/00-lT2MFNLjCrRYpdd3MEczfkqsQ63vB8BfhaKMpNS69n-TY4nkoafNc45WFvi40QsjKwg5ydwHipy3aIZBf9dNYQ?cn=THISLIFE&res=large&ts=1630516922Once back on pavement I continue south to Machias where I picked up route 192 north of off 1A. Just as I was starting on route 192 I rounded a corner and a dough was standing on the side of the road as I passed by. Glad she stayed put.
Route 192 is a mixture of woods, some houses and occasional wide open spaces with wild blueberries. It was very pretty. Route 192 ends at the Airline, where I turned left to ride it west back to Bangor. Was nice to be able to ride it in both directions on the same day.
This morning I left Bangor at 7 with a full tank of gas. I set the cruise control for about 72 mph and made pretty good time as traffic was light on I-95 south to just north of Portland. Only made one stop for gas and a bio-break at the Kennebunk Service area.
I thought I was going to get home dry, but not so. It started to rain lightly on I-495 in Lawrence and did so all the way home. The bike has very good weather protection and because the rain was mostly light, I didn't pull over into the breakdown lane to put on gear. I got home about 11:10. Total trip was 795 miles with an average of 50.1 mpg. Good to be home safe and sound.
