Maine is one of my favorite states. However, the coast south of Portland and US 1 highway are my least favorite parts of Maine. The state becomes more interesting in the small hamlets inland or further up the coast than Bangor.

There are two major roads along the coast. The Maine Turnpike is a toll road taking interstate type traffic. US 1 is the main street of a string of towns along the coast, e.g. Kittery, York, Ogunquit, Wells, Kennebunk, Biddeford, Saco, etc. It alternates between town streets and more open areas with many businesses . There are other roads but those go off separately to the coast or for a short while. You can even piece together some smaller roads for a while.

Today I figured I would start off riding US 1 while it was early and then pick alternatives once it got busy. That worked well and by 11am, I had my 35 miles of US 1 behind me. The photo above is at the side road of Pine Hill St – the name alone had me thinking of going straight.

The town of York had many of these signs up. Reassuring that they have bikes on US 1 they want to call attention to, but disconcerting they have to do this. Overall, traffic was good today.

A more residential part of US 1.

Like the pottery? Take it and leave money behind.

Stopped for lunch at 11am. By now US 1 was becoming busy. So I found my way onto the Eastern Trail. It started out OK as an unpaved trail but then had soft sandy parts that slowed me down.

After six miles of trail, roads and also some more trails.

Large solar installation in South Portland.

Last bridge heading into Portland itself. I have a nice inn accommodation for tonight. No elevator and my room is on the third floor with a steep narrow stairway so my bike is in the garage. Today wasn’t difficult, but I anticipate a shorter ride tomorrow.

Strava tells me: 51.41 miles, 5:37:00 elapsed, 9.2 average with 1631 feet climbed and 3790 calories.

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