Back in 1995, I was approached by my friend Jim to participate in a ride from Ottawa to Kennebunkport, Maine. After calling him crazy, I broke down, being drawn by the romance of cycling to the Atlantic Ocean from Ottawa.
At our start, we were each given sheets of coloured construction paper, a different colour for each day, on which were marked the towns we were to aim for along our route. The first year, there were five of us. Leap-frogging from car to car, staying in B&B’s, first in Malone, NY, then Hartwick, Vermont for the second night, an an inn in North Conway, NH for the third night, on the fourth day we finally arrived in Kennebunkport, Maine. That was when I found out that there had been no arrangements made for a place to stay. Fortunately, it did work out.
The next year, the initial organizers dropped the planning of the tour, and I took over with one of the other cyclists from the first year. By now we were up to eight cyclists and we still stayed in B&B’s. Year three, our numbers skyrocketed to twenty-four, and the routes had to be changed, stopping night two in Morrisville. No more B&B’s, and we added a late summer edition, giving some people who want to get more riding in before attempting the 614km route the chance to join us.
Each year, we have about two thirds return who have previously participated in the ride. The route is tweaked annually. Typically, the spring tour is now up to about sixty people. Our riders are drawn to this tour by the camaraderie, great support, daily hospitality suite, the possibility of a massage being available after the ride, or perhaps the extra discount coupons at Pearl Izumi factory outlet in North Conway or the Louis Garneau factory outlet in Newport, Vermont!
Manny Agulnik