Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Tour de Portland, 10:00 am start in Scarborough

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Happy Fall season, everyone! The weather is perfect for an adventure ride! This Portland "Field Trip" is a great ride using the Eastern Trail (part of the East Coast Greenway) as a way to access the sites of Portland, ME. The East Coast Greenway goes from Calais, ME at the Canadian Border, to Key West, FL. Here is the portion that travels though Portland, South Portland and Scarborough.

By starting at the Eastern Road trailhead in Scarborough, near the Scarborough Marsh, the ride is mostly on paved bike path and paved roads. We will visit Bug Light, also the Eastern Promenade, likely see a big cruise ship at the Portland docks, and we will travel over the graceful Casco Bay Drawbridge on a bike/pedestrian path. Perhaps we will see it go up to allow a tanker to pass through, as we saw last year! A hard packed dirt section around the Back Cove of Portland is an option, also an option is to ride the hard packed dirt section that goes through Scarborough Marsh. In the past I have started this ride at the Thornton Academy in Saco, but this puts us on dirt miles which might deter some participants. The dirt sections are options, not required in this ride.

To get there:  My GPS says that it takes 1 hour 45 minutes from Glen to Eastern Road in Scarborough, but I would allow a bit more time considering the road construction projects. Take Route 302 to Fryeburg, then head towards Portland on Route 113. Continue to Routes 25, then 112, then 114.  Route 114 will cross US Route 1 at an intersection with 2 gas stations, an Amato's and a Walgreens. Continue straight across Route 1, and in about 0.5 mile, take a right on Eastern Road, at a well marked pedestrian/bike road crossing. Drive about 0.25 mile and park in the Eastern Trail dirt lot on the left side.

Ready to Ride at 10:00 am

Bring lunch and snacks to eat ...with an ocean view.

Total miles: 38, with options to extend this to 45, either to Black Point or to ride some of the hard packed dirt section headed towards Thornton Academy in Saco.

I have the route posted on MapMy Ride under the title "Tour de Portland".

Email me if you plan to join in so that I will know you are coming.

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