Living in Vacationland – Part 4 – Wild Animal Park

This is the final installment in this blog series.

We saw some kids at the Portland Observatory that were here on vacation and mentioned they were headed to the Gray Wild Animal Park during their stay here. That reminded me that I hadn’t been there since I was a kid and though Dad might like it.

They are a lot of native Maine animals at this park. Unfortunately it was so hot that many of the animals were trying to stay cool in some of the shade, including the moose so we didn’t really get to see them – they were too far away under the cover of some trees.

Moose hanging out in the shade very far away from us.

This fox was finding a little shade in the scrub.

I think the bears had it the best – a pool to cool off in.

The deer and the bears knew the routine – people meant food. There was a food dispenser not far away that you could buy to throw to the animals. This guy was enjoying the corn we provided him from a nearby dispenser.

Even the albino porcupine was dealing with the heat in his own way. This was the funniest photo we took all day.

There were a fair number of birds at the park. Many of them in cages so taking photos was a challenge but we did get a few:

We hoped he was going to spread his feathers but never did.

A golden eagle. They are always majestic. There was a bald eagle too, but we were not able to get any photos.

One of the best displays there was this display of two moose that whose remains had been found a while back with their antlers locked. It’s believed that they got locked during rutting season and never came loose and the animals died as a result.

Living in Vacationland – Part 2 – The Coast

As I mentioned in my previous post, my father-in-law came to visit recently. The first day he was here we spent the afternoon on Peaks Island with a picnic lunch.

The next two days, after all that walking, we thought it might make sense to take it easy. We drove to Kennebunkport the day after Peaks Island and then meandered our way back along the coast, which includes views of Walker Point (the Bush residence) and Ferry Beach.

Walker Point, Kennebunkport, ME

Dad and Don at Ferry Beach

The next day we made our way around closer to Portland with a trip the the Observatory, Two Lights, including lunch at The Lobster Shack, and Fort Williams/Portland Head Light.

View of the Portland Observatory

View of Portland Harbor from the Observatory

My lunch of fried clams at The Lobster Shack

The last stop of the day was to the iconic Portland Head Light.

The most photographed lighthouse in Maine, Portland Head Light.

The best part of the week’s events planned was still yet to come. Stay tuned for that post!

Living in Vacationland – Part 1 – Peaks Island

If you live in Maine, chances are you have people that visit from other parts of the country in the summer. It’s usually family but sometimes it’s friends, too.

A couple weeks ago my father-in-law came to visit. He had a break during classes (he just graduated from Eastern Kentucky University this spring and has started classes for his masters in History) so we had him fly up for a week’s visit.

He’s 76-years-old and spry! So we had a lot planned for the week.

One of the first things we did was go to Peaks Island by ferry. It’s approximately 4-5 miles if you walk all the way around, which we did and it was hot! We packed a picnic lunch and found a shady spot on the rocks under a piece of ledge.

A view from Peaks Island

Our lunch spot - a respite from the sun.

A healthy lunch for all of us consisting of fruit, veggies, humus and sweet potato chips.

Me & Dad

One of my favorite photos of the day was this one – I took it of both Don and his Dad taking photos of flowers. It made me chuckle.

Photographing flowers.

Stay tuned. I’ll wright more about the other adventures during Dad’s recent visit to Vacationland.

 

Horner Wins at AToC!

What a win for Chris Horner yesterday at the Tour of California!

He’s one of the best guys in the peloton and well deserving of his win.

He wrote about his win and how it played out on his blog. He also gave one of the best interviews I’ve ever seen with Bob Roll after the win. I felt like a little school girl giggling with excitement for him.

I remember seeing him at the Grand Prix Cycliste in Montreal last fall, just kicking it in a late break over Mont Royal. Unfortunately that break didn’t last and he was caught before the finish so the win eluded him that day.

Before the race we had a brief exchange about him coming to Maine to ride in the Dempsey Challenge, and event I was also participating in. At that event, I actually met Chris and had him sign a great photo we took of him when he was in that break on the slopes of Mont Royal the month before.

I had friends that hung around after the Dempsey Challenge and talked a bit with him about his racing in Europe and specifically his feelings on the 2010 Tour de France. They claim he was a very down to earth guy, as was Levi who was also there, and it was like talking to any other cyclist we might know.

As we enter the last couple stages of the Tour of California, I will be cheering greatly for him in my living room from Maine. It is especially nice when the good guys win!

March Madness

After posting this photo before heading out on a very chilly Saturday morning ride with the club, my friend called it “March Madness”.

I have to agree with her. It was 21 degrees but felt like 12 with the windchill. So much for March, “in like a lion out like a lamb.”

We have seen below normal temps for over a week now. It feels like it will never warm up. At least this morning it wasn’t snowing like it was last Saturday morning.

The alternative to riding outside this morning was the trainer (yuck!) or waiting for it to “warm up” but having to deal with 20+ mile an hour winds. So a cold morning ride seemed like the best option for me.

I also wasn’t alone in showing up for the club ride. We even took a club photo before the ride. (Though this only represents only part of the riders that rode, many others just weren’t in the photo because they are not club members.)

Entertaining Guests

We had guests visiting from Atlanta and Germany this weekend. They all flew in for a long weekend of sightseeing and seafood eating.

Portland Head Light

The gang about to warm up with some food at Gilbert's Chowder House.

Alex from Germany tackling a lobster at J’s Oyster Bar

Joel showing how it’s done.

The temperatures were pretty cool but we made the most of what sun we had. We managed to see some coastline and lighthouses, with a little shopping thrown in for good measure at the outlets in Freeport. We laughed, drank, and took tons of photos.

Alex and Sabine at "The Big Boot" in front of LL Bean

We made our new friends from Germany, Alex and Sabine, and Joel from Atlanta promise to come back in the summer when the temperatures are warmer and they can enjoy more Maine has to offer.

Kit Social

The kits for the PVC women arrived recently so we organized a kit distribution social as an excuse to get together.

We had about 50% of our membership base participate, which made for a nice group photo.

I’m not alone in my assessment that we have a wonderful group of women ranging from 25 to 60 who just love to get together to ride their bikes. (And if you thought the 25-year-old smokes the 60-year-old on two wheels, you’d be dead wrong!) Our group continues to grow and it’s a testament to the character of the women and cohesiveness of the group. The respect and support these women give each other is truly amazing. AND we have a ton of fun!!

Portland Velo Club Women

So the biggest reason for my hiatus is the work I’ve been doing with the Portland Velo Club (PVC) women.

This group started out last fall and was the idea of David Brink and Eddie Quinn, owners of Cyclemania in Portland. After a couple years trying to develop a women’s team, unsuccessfully, they wanted to try again.

About 35 women showed up for the initial meeting in October. However, there was a different spin on it this time around. They encouraged women who wanted to ride triathlons and charity rides to be members as much as people that wanted to race. It morphed into more of a club than a team.

Over the past several months we have grown to 50 female members. Now, that might not seem a lot to you but every other club I’m aware of in the state can’t come close to those numbers for women.

We have two group rides during the week – one on Monday nights at 5:45 and the other on Saturday mornings at 7:30. There has been as few as 4 or 5 and as many as 20 on these rides.

We have become a sight to behold in the Greater Portland area. I recently bumped into a women who is new to cycling and she saw us on a ride, all in our baby blue kit, and said, “I want to ride with them.”

The most important thing we focus on in this group is having fun. And we have a ton of that, anywhere from hanging out and enjoying coffee or beers after a ride to brunches and private yoga sessions.

Before you think this group is a bunch of 20-something hard core cyclists, think again. The median age of the group is probably in the mid-40’s. There are some triathletes, one racer, and mostly ordinary cyclists. The group has also been a catalyst for some to try training crits and some time trials.

Our group received a little press in the local paper recently, in addition to a mention in the August issue of Bicycling Magazine featuring Portland, Maine (pages 22 & 23). (There was actually a photographer that took photos on one of our rides but none of the photos of us were used in the article.)

Below are some of my favorite photos taken thus far this season.

Ladies at a social event.

Trek Across Maine Team.

Team PVC photo from Trek.

Yoga Session.

Post-TT photo.

Trek training ride.

Birthday brunch.

Saturday morning ride.

More to Racing Than Just Winning

The Scarborough Industrial Park Spring Crit Series began today.

This year they added a women’s race and combined them with beginners to get them to try criterium racing.

The women’s race started at 7:30, which was a new addition this year. That meant that my warm-up ride to the event needed to start pretty early, between 6 and 6:15 am. I was thankful that the temperature was in the low 50’s when I started off and was predicted to reach 70 degrees today. Odd for so early in April but happily so. Last year it was very cold and I remember going to watch the previous year and it was just as cold.

Unfortunately there were only a few of us on the line for the first race. However, it’s Easter Sunday so many people had family obligations I’m sure.

The start of the Women’s/Beginner race.

I was happy that another PVC member joined me for the race.

Me and a teammate, Elizabeth Ehrenfeld.

I stayed out of the wind and on a wheel the entire race but couldn’t match the acceleration in the end and finished, unbelievably, DFL. Sheesh!

Then I hit the start line for the B-race.

I managed to hang on for 6 of the 12 laps. I almost got dropped on the 4th or 5th lap and managed to get back onto the back of the group. Then the bell rang for a preme lap and I got dropped. I wasn’t surprised and I just sat up and pulled out.

All things considered I feel pretty good about how I performed. Sure I finished last in af the women’s race. Sure I pulled out of the B-race 1/2 way through after being dropped. Still, I was there and rode some of my best riding. I cornered better than I have ever cornered. When I was getting gapped in the women’s race on the corners I assessed why that was and made adjustments. I was focused and relaxed.

There is more to racing than just winning.

First PVC Women’s Clinic

Go check out the recap and photos at the PVC Women’s Blog.