Tour de Cliff: Hitting the road with the Eastern Trail Alliance
By Cliff White, Staff Writer
The Scarborough Leader Online Edition - www.scarboroughleader.com
Vol.13 No. 22 September 21, 2007
It’s hard to ride 100 miles on a bike, no matter how good the cause.
When I woke up Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. to prepare for the Eastern Trail Alliance’s fourth annual Lighthouse Century, a 100-mile bike ride from Bug Light State Park in South Portland to Cape Arundel in Kennebunkport – and back – I saw gloomy gray skies and heard the patter of rain blown against my bedroom window, I made a compromise with myself. In exchange for getting out of bed and forcing myself to ride a bicycle in such objectionable weather, I would “only” ride 40
miles, not the planned 100.
BIKING THE MARSH – Bob Hamblen, who served as a guide for the ETA’s Eight Lighthouse Ride, points out the sights of the Scarborough Marsh to Rich Muir, who traveled all the way from Denver, Colorado to participate in the ride. (Cliff White photo)
There were motivations for my actions. Of primary importance was that proceeds from the ride would be used for the expansion of the Eastern Trail (ET) and the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000 mile bike and walking path linking Maine with Key West, Fla. Secondarily – barely – was that I had prepaid my registration fee and the alliance wasn’t offering refunds.
As I arrived at Bug Light for the start of the race, I found the normal buzz of activity that precedes most races. The hive of this activity was the Eastern Trail Alliance (ETA) tent, where I picked up my race packet and ran into the organization’s president, John Andrews. We talked about the importance of the money raised by the event for the ETA’s future plans to make southern Maine a more bike-friendly place.
“Eventually, we envision the Eastern Trail being the backbone of a regional trail network running from South Portland to Kittery,” Andrews said as we stood in a damp drizzle. “There’s so many bike enthusiasts in southern Maine and so much interest in creating this trail, the momentum is there to make it happen.”
Founded in 1997, the ETA manages and facilitates the creation of the planned 68.8-mile trail. With more than 600 members and 50 active volunteers, the ETA has a large enough network to actively pursue the goal, Andrews said. He said while the project will take time to complete, every town government where the trail runs has been supportive of the project and some have offered funding to help build it.
When completed, the off-road trail will run through Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, North Berwick, Wells, Kennebunk, Arundel, Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough, ending in South Portland.
My particular challenge on Saturday was to bike from Bug Light to the Eastern Trail’s bridge over the Scarborough Marsh, then south to Ferry Beach in Scarborough and along Route 77 through Cape Elizabeth and back to Bug Light – a 40-mile loop. About 60 others joined me for the ride, which was led by Bob Hamblen, who, when he can find time away from his bike, works as the city planner of Saco.
To my great relief, the rain held off for almost the entire ride. The first miles along the South Portland Greenbelt felt like we had found some secret passageway through the city, sneaking along behind houses and stores. The trail petering out onto a back road happened inconspicuously enough, but when I found myself among the heavy traffic on Broadway before the Casco Bay Bridge, I must admit I would have been scared if I was riding alone. But with such a large group of riders, and a police escort stopping traffic so we could safely cross, it was fun to scoff at the cars forced to stop for our entourage.
Currently, 8.5 miles, or about 15 percent of the ET is off-road – the two open stretches are South Portland’s greenbelt and a section crossing the Scarborough Marsh between Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach. Several other sections of the trail are in various stages of development, including a 1.6-mile section in Old Orchard Beach, a 5.7-mile section connecting Biddeford with West Kennebunk, and a 3.7-mile stretch of trail from Thornton Academy in Saco to Cascade Road in Old Orchard Beach.
Biking along the roads that connect the traffic-free, off-road sections is a little daunting, with the narrow two-lane byways offering little room for cars to pass bikers safely. Most cars, however, did slow down and attempt when they could to cross the yellow divider – which is finally legal in Maine thanks to recent legislation – to avoid coming too close to us.
The off-road section of the ET that travels across the Scarborough Marsh was a lot of fun to ride.
However, some riders on road bikes had trouble with its surface of loose pebbles, which were soft due to the condensation. The bridge over the marsh, built in 2004, had stunning views in all directions and marked the halfway point of our journey.
We turned our bikes around and headed north.
Heading back along Route 77, the ride featured stops at Scarborough’s Ferry Beach and Cape Elizabeth for views of its two lighthouses.
With the backdrop of a foggy Maine coastline, it was easy to fall into conversation with my fellow riders, such as Peter Losordo of Hingham, Mass. and Frank Cuff of Bingham, Maine. I started calling them “Hingham and Bingham” in my head, which entertained me for a few miles. I also got to meet Prashant Mittal, a Scarborough resident doing his first long ride, and a very friendly couple, Lee and Vernon Edwards, who had come all the way from Rhode Island specifically for the ride.
Eventually, sensing an imminent downpour, I took off from the crowd and sprinted ahead to the finish. I finished my ride just before the squall hit, and I ran for the cover of the ETA tent. The squall turned a day that had been cold but mostly windless into temporary hurricane-like conditions, and I was happy for the relief of the tent. Yet I watched with amazement fellow riders steadily filter into the finishing area, looking like they had just won a prize more significant than a free participatory T-shirt.
This year’s rides – the 100-mile century, the less challenging 40-mile ride that I went on, and the 10-mile family ride combined had more than 170 registered participants and raised about $7,000 for the organization, said Bob Bowker, vice president of the ETA.
“We had a great turnout given the forecast and the fact that it was raining,” Bowker said. “We were expecting more people to sign up the morning of the race, but they must have bailed on the idea because of the weather. But to have so many people show up on a day that wasn’t ideal for bike riding, really shows the dedication of people to the sport and to the Eastern Trail. It’s hard to support our alliance on membership dues alone, so this definitely give us a big shot in the arm.”
Bowker, who helped organize the ride, said it was fun and he had a real feeling of accomplishment to direct it over the newly built parts of the Eastern Trail. He also said he enjoyed planning a race that visited nine lighthouses – he believes it’s the only century ride with those bragging rights in the world – and to have the ride singled out for mention by “Ride Magazine.” As a result, he said, the ride had participants from as far away as Ohio and Washington, D.C, as well as from all over the northeast.
“It just amazes me how hard core these people are to do these races in the type of conditions we had. One woman from South Portland, who I think is about 60, has done the ride all four years, and it’s rained for two of them. Still, she always comes in with the biggest smile on her face. I met another couple and it was their first big ride. They were both just ecstatic, even after they were left dripping wet because of the squall that came through,” Bowker said.
As for myself, I’m happy with the shirt – it’s pretty cool looking – but what had made the whole experience worthwhile was getting to meet members of an organization working to make my backyard more fun for me to play in.
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