When I left first thing this morning the office was still shut, so I left a message. Not having a pen handy I had to use the only thing to hand:

• Today’s Distance (miles/km): 70 / 113
• Time in saddle: 6h 24
• Max/min temp – in sun (°c): 34°/18°
• Climbing (feet) : 3,916
• Calories used: 4,548
• Today’s 2nd Breakfast: Rockland Cafe, Rockland Maine
• Cafe time: 2h 38

It was perfect weather for cycling, with cloud cover and a cool breeze. The road was quiet all morning, being a Sunday I guess, and it felt great to be back in the saddle. I took the highway back towards Belfast but turned off so that I could drop down and use the footbridge back to the Shipyard.

Then I raced through several Maine ports, Northport, Camden & Rockport, until I stopped in Rockland for 2nd breakfast.

I had decided out on the road this morning that it was going to be a day to eat lobster. There are so many places to to choose from around here that the problem is deciding where. I stopped and asked a woman walking her dog just outside Rockland, and she recommended two places. I had a look at both, but they failed to pass my wish-list requirements, which were (1) Not Fancy, and (2) No tourist queue outside.

Rockland is one of the world’s most famous places to eat lobster, and I had some amends to make: back in Shediac, New Brunswick (considered another prime lobster town) in 2017 I ate haddock and scallops, because I had no idea about the lobster reputation of the town. Here you can’t avoid it – the word LOBSTER is absolutely everywhere. Because the symbol of a red lobster is also so ubiquitous – along with the fact that there is never a price displayed, just ‘Market Price’ – it almost assumes the status of a currency in its own right. The dollar, the yen, the lobster. Divided into 100 langoustines.

Taking a few quiet side streets brought me to the Main Street but away from the harbour a little, where I saw the Rockland Cafe and decided that this was for me.

I loved it straight away – inside it was busy, but with a table free, lots of women serving there who greet you so warmly and brought coffee refills without ever having to ask, and a super lobster roll absolutely stuffed with delicious creamy lobster meat and served with a sweet apple and chopped cabbage salad. It had the feel of an old seaside cafe in Dorset, UK.

…I said goodbye to two things; the lovely Penobscot Bay, and the lovely wide, smooth hard shoulder. I missed both of them a great deal during the afternoon, but mostly the hard shoulder. If you look on the map of my route, you’ll see that the map uses a dotted green line to denote ‘scenic route’ (like Michelin maps in France), which was true, but because I had to keep such a close eye on the terrible surface, I just didn’t appreciate it.

In case I arrived at the right time, I’d pencilled in a stop at the famous Red’s Eats in Wiscasset for a lobster roll, but it was actually near my finish point today. The queue made me feel just a teeny bit smug for having found a quieter alternative. (Sorry again for more sweaty, smeary cyclist-face. Wiscasset, in fact most of Maine, is just one big hill)

What I did appreciate was arriving at the beautiful Chewonki Campground. Having cycled 70 miles to get here, it was slightly disconcerting to find that the owner Pam is a good friend of Astrig & Steve, owners of the Searsport campground! Then I got straight into a nice bike conversation with Garrett, who is part of the family that run the site. AND he has a Brooks saddle, so. I also really like the name Chewonki. It’s exactly what it sounds like Michael Jackson is singing in Smooth Criminal:

‘Eddy are Chewonki? Eddy are Chewonki? Are Chewonki Eddy?’

Smooth Criminal – Bad

After setting up camp and taking a shower, I had a fabulously therapeutic swim in their saltwater pool, which was deserted.

THE ADIRONDAK SEARCH CONTINUES: I may have to stop including empty Adirondack chairs that are For Sale, because it’s just too easy. Like shooting ducks in a bathtub. But today I’ll make an exception because there were so many.

ARTS & CULTURE: This blog is beginning to read like a Sunday newspaper section. Here’s a great mural painted on a semi-derelict garage I passed on the highway this morning.

GETTING RID OF ONE THING EVERY DAY: Remember this, loyal followers? I’ve actually been (almost) doing it again this time. I can improve though. I think I’ve got too much stuff. Here’s today’s reject.

SIGNS THAT ARE FUNNY: A bumper haul today. This first is for a friend I work with, Mr Perry Montague-Mason, and I’m going to ask Mr John Mills to make sure that this is delivered! Or perhaps Debbie W (Hi Debs!X), or Natalia B? (Hi Natalia!X):

And the second one, ditto – sorry Mr Warren Zemlinski. (Same again, John, Debbie or Natalia? Thanks!)

They’re now producing road signs that will tell you what’s happened to them:

And I thought that my brakes struggled a bit from time to time…