Trip Summary9 Days / 8 Nights |
When we think of Maine, we think of jaw droppingly beautiful coastlines, lobsters and lighthouses. We also think of quiet rural roads, sunrises and sunsets over the water, amazing vistas, down to earth, friendly people, and … a few hills to climb. Come join us for a ride along Maine’s coastline and Acadia National Park in July, 2021.
We have had a lot of interest in this tour, so we will be offering the same tour on two separate dates. Trip 1 will run from July 5 – 13 and Trip 2 will run from July 19 – 27.
While all of our expected riding is on paved roads, if you have 32mm or wider tires – the wider, the better! – you can feel like a Rockefeller riding along Acadia’s lovely carriage trails. (John D. Rockefeller, Jr. built over 50 miles of car-free trails, later donating them to the park system.)
In addition to great riding, this tour also has lots of opportunity to shop, go kayaking, whale watch, hike or simply relax. And of course, you can’t go to Maine without enjoying a lobster dinner!
Each night we stay at lovely Bed & Breakfasts.
Note that we are requiring that all participants be fully vaccinated prior to the tour dates in July 2021.
| Day 1 |  We will meet at the family-owned Berry Manor Inn in the town of Rockland. If you are flying into the area, Rockland is about 1.5 hours from either the Portland or Bangor airports. You can take a car service or rent a car to get from the airport to our start point. We will offer a range of loop rides. The shortest ride takes you just a few miles to the Rockland Lighthouse which is at the end of a mile long breakwater that you can walk. We will enjoy a group dinner in Rockland. |
| Day 2 |  We will offer loop rides from Rockland in the 30 to 55 mile range stopping at the Owls Head Transportation Museum with its working antique cars and airplanes, the Owls Head Lighthouse and the Marshall Point Lighthouse and Museum. Dinner is on your own in one of the many restaurants near our Inn.
Back in Rockland, be sure to check out the lovely shops. Also stop by the Farnsworth Art, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Maine Lighthouse and Sail Power and Steam Museums, all within walking or short riding distance of our Inn. Also take a stroll on the Rockland Harbor Trail along the oceanfront. |
| Day 3 |  Today we leave Rockland and ride to the town of Camden. In Camden, you can take a harbor cruise, go on a guided kayak tour, go fishing, or take a walk along the High Street Historic District. There is also an optional climb up Mount Battie for a great view of Camden and the harbor. We will plan a group dinner in Camden. |
| Day 4 |  We offer a number of rides today ranging from 18 to 50 miles. You can also ride both the 18 and 50 mile routes to make it a metric century. The longer rides take the ferry from Lincolnville to Islesboro Island. You can gape at some of the summer cottages built here as you cycle through quiet roads. Dinner is on your own in many of the restaurants near our Inn. |
| Day 5 |  We will continue to ride through quiet country roads, to the town of Belfast. The riding ranges from 29 to 48 miles. The town of Belfast sits along the Penobscot Bay where you will see an assortment of boats and yachts moored. Pedal along Belfast’s beautiful Harborwalk with its working shipyard, shops and restaurants. We will enjoy a group dinner in Belfast. If you drove to the start of the tour, we will shuttle you back to collect your car. |
| Day 6 |   We will spend another day in Belfast. Our rides today take us north to Fort Knox historical park and the Penobscot Bridge and Observatory, the tallest bridge observatory in the world! We will enjoy a picnic lunch in the historical park. Dinner is on your own in Belfast. |
| Day 7 |  If you have a car, you can continue the tour driving to Bar Harbor. If you do not have a car, we will transport you the sixty miles to Bar Harbor. Explore Acadia. If you have wider tires, you can enjoy the carriage trails through the park. Or ride along the park loop road with an optional climb up Cadillac Mountain. You can even take a day off of riding and go rock climbing along Otter Cliffs. (We recommend hiring a guide for that though!) There are a lot of options in Bar Harbor. Dinner is on your own in one of the many restaurants within walking distance of our Inn. Or you can join us and bring a take out dinner up to the top of Cadillac Mountain to watch the sunset.
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| Day 8 |  We recommend driving or taking the ferry to the Schoodic Peninsula for a ride along very quiet roads along the ocean. Some of the route will be in this more remote part of Acadia. Other parts of the ride will be along fisherman’s villages with incredible vistas. You will have choices between 18 and 36 mile routes. We will enjoy a final group dinner in  town. |
Day 9 |
 Our tour concludes after breakfast. You will have the option to add to your time in Bar Harbor or continue on your own adventures.
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This is an eight night trip. Note that we require that all participants in this tour will be fully vaccinated in time for the tour. The cost is $6,200 per couple ($3,100 per person). We limit the size of our tours to be no more than ten couples. We only accept couples on tandem bikes. Come join us!
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What is included?
- Eight nights lodging (see the hotels/country inns below)
- Eight breakfasts
- One picnic lunch
- Four dinners
- Admission to the Fort Knox historical park and Penobscot Bridge Observatory
- Routes
- Luggage transport
- Transport to pick up your car (if you drove to the start)
- SAG support (although we do expect you to ride the full routes, we are there to help with mechanical issues)
Note that we do not provide any bicycles. We expect that you have a tandem that is in good working order and that you are able to assemble your bike. If you do not have your own tandem, you can rent a coupled tandem from Mel at Tandems East. If you live on the West Coast, you might want to consider renting a bike from Mark at Tandem Diversity. Both Mel and Mark sell tandems, so if you end up renting from them, you might get a discount if you purchase a bike from them. If you have a tandem that is not coupled it is possible to bring it, but you should make sure that all of your flights could handle the larger box. Lastly, Adventures in Tandem has a coupled hybrid tandem that we can rent you if the sizing works out. Email us for more details.
What is not included?
- Airfare
- Transportation to the Berry Manor Inn (start point)
- Meals, other than those mentioned above
- Alcoholic beverages
- Admissions to points of interest
What is the average mileage per day? Required rides range from 25 to 60 miles with the average mileage being 35. We believe that there is enough to see so that more miles may prevent you from fully enjoying the culture and beauty of the area. That said, we can work with you if you would like to ride more miles. Bear in mind, though, that we will not be providing SAG support for these extra miles, except in an emergency, if you are off the main route.
Here is a summary of the routes:
| Day | Route | Miles | Ascent |
| 1 | Rockland Breakwater Loop | 4.7 | 114 |
| Rockland Thomaston Loop | 14.1 | 561 | |
| Rockland Union Warren Thomaston Loop | 35.1 | 2120 | |
| 2 | Rockland Owls Head Loop Short | 35.1 | 1313 |
| Rockland Owls Head Loop Long | 54.6 | 2196 | |
| 3 | Rockland to Camden Short | 11.5 | 683 |
| Rockland to Camden with Magunticook Lake Loop | 28.8 | 1617 | |
| Rockland to Camden with Magunticook Lake Loop and Mt Battie | 35.1 | 2395 | |
| 4 | Islesboro Loop | 49.3 | 3005 |
| Camden Magunticook Lake Loop | 17.6 | 1057 | |
| Camden Magunticook Lake Loop w/Mt Battie | 23.8 | 1843 | |
| 5 | Camden to Belfast Short | 29.2 | 1739 |
| Camden to Belfast Long | 48.1 | 2748 | |
| 6 | Belfast Fort Knox Loop | 40.4 | 2608 |
| 7 | Acadia Road Loop with Cadilac Mountain | 37.4 | 3066 |
| Acadia Carriage Trails 1 | 33.8 | 2206 | |
| Acadia Carriage Trails 2 | 23.4 | 1647 | |
| Acadia Carriage Trails w/Cadilac Mtn and Town | 36.1 | 2993 | |
| Bar Island | 4.9 | 357 | |
| 8 | Schoodic Peninsula Loop Short | 17.7 | 1008 |
| Schoodic Peninsula Loop Medium | 30.5 | 1710 | |
| Schoodic Peninsula Loop Long | 35.7 | 2105 |
Where will we be staying?
While this could change, here are the inns and hotels that we plan to stay in. If you are into large hotels, this isn’t the trip for you. We enjoy staying in smaller, family owned inns.
Jewelled Turret Inn / Alden House Inn
How do you get to the tour?
The nearest airports are Portland, ME and Bangor, ME. We recommend that you rent a car for the entire time of the tour. That may be less expensive than hiring a cab or Uber from the airports.