Maine: Cycling Acadia National Park

When we booked our trip to Maine in the spring, I kept reading about the same activity over & over again: cycling the 27 mile Park Loop Road in Acadia National Park. My husband, already an avid cyclist, was excited to ride in such pretty scenery, but I wasn’t so sure. Much more likely to sit on the couch & watch cycling on TV verses actually getting on a bike & riding, I wasn’t sure that my rather *ahem* lazy self really wanted to do something so active on my relaxing Maine vacation. After all, I hadn’t really ridden a bike in 15 years. But I was determined to give it a shot, so my “training” started in April .By the beginning of August, I was riding 30 miles comfortably in relatively flat D.C. & I was ready to conquer Park Loop Road. As a little warm up, I decided to go on a short ride during our stay in Camden. After about two miles of panting up & down “rolling hills,” I gave up, went back to the hotel & curled up with a book. Perhaps I hadn’t properly taken into account the differences in topography?

Finally, the big day was here: time to cycle the Park Loop Road. We set out of Bar Harbor on a cool morning, just after breakfast. The ride didn’t start off well, as we missed our turn to access Acadia National Park & needlessly climbed a rather steep hill. I was in tears & seriously doubting my abilities when I was greeted by my husband at the top of the hill, laughing, map in hand, explaining that climbing that hill actually hadn’t been necessary. With a groan, we turned around & headed back into the park.

Once inside the park & on Park Loop Road, the roads were smooth (something that doesn’t apply to anywhere else in Maine), relatively traffic free at the early hour & the scenery breathtaking. My husband glided along with the ease of Andy Schleck climbing the Alpe d’Huez (this), while I struggled to keep up. He would race up a hill, while I slowly peddled up behind him.

It went like this for the entire (what turned out to be) 32 miles – I’d huff & puff up the hill, only to find my husband waiting for me at the top, cool as a cucumber. But in the end, it didn’t matter, because I did it. This reformed couch potato cycled the mountains of Maine.

Our time in Maine was the first time I’d ever call our vacation “active travel.” We cycled, we kayaked, we ate well & generally did things that people who some may call athletes do on their time off. I’m not sure if “active travel” will be right for me every trip – we did just book a Caribbean cruise for next spring – but it’s nice to know that the option is there. Besides, sometimes a change of scenery is just what you need to push yourself further than what you thought possible.