A day of epic proportions indeed.

We woke up at 5am on day 3 (if you can call it waking up after a night of no sleep,) to the sound of cars zipping by on Route 1 and mosquitoes buzzing on the other side of the screen. We packed up our things in a hurry, as no-see-ums nibbled our kneecaps, and hoofed it back to the road. It was another beautiful, foggy morning, perfect for biking. The air was delicate, chilly, and refreshing.
The previous night, inspired by the incredible food, we had decided to get BLT's for breakfast. We hadn't anticipated how thirsty they would make us though, and we were almost out of water. So we made a pit stop on the highway to fill our bottles; fortunately they had a special parking spot just for Harriet.
These sweet gentlemen had a truck full of ice and gave us a bag to cool ourselves down with. We filled our bottles and then took ice baths on a rock out behind the gas station.
With newfound energy, we flew like the wind and landed in Damariscotta by 8:30am, despite a few breakdowns along the way. We stumbled into the Old Country Store to get some coffee and tea, but look what we also found: barrels full of candy and peanuts!The proprietors were very sweet indeed. We bought some treats for later, and applied sunscreen as the skies cleared and the sun came out.
I went outside to fix the Hootie perch, and an old man parked near Harriet leaned out the car window with an open jacknife, offering his help in a classic Maine accent.
After our fuel stop, we walked to the bridge to admire the view. A kind man who worked across the street came running out and offered to take our picture.
And then off we went. On our way out of town disaster struck. Every time we took off, the back pedals would spin independently of the front, and the chain would break free. The novelty of fixing the chain wore off, and we realized we needed help from the professionals.
First stop: Napa.
The guys there were incredibly kind and offered their tools (new tools, right off the shelf!) and brute strength to help us tighten the pedals and fix the hand brake. We took a quick spin around the parking lot, but to no avail. The problem was greater than we had anticipated.
Second stop: Bridgestone Tires. Hope discovered that the metal peg on the pedals had shorn off and wasn't staying in its hole, so no force could be put on the pedal without it spinning free. Bridgestone wasn't able to weld, but they pointed us to another location that might be able to help. We were starting to get desperate, and wondered if this was going to be the unexpected end of the journey for Harriet, and us too. How sad that would be!

Third stop: Don Foshay's Discount Tire and Alignment
We walked in, and described the problem to the guys behind the counter: "The pokey thing on the pedal that sticks into a hole on the gear thingy is shorn off so it slips out when we pedal. We were hoping that maybe you could weld it?" (Insert poking and gear spinning hand motions where appropriate.) They knew just what we were talking about and led us into the depths of the garage where all of the really cool tools were. "Yippee!" we all thought. "Our journey might not end in Damariscotta after all!"

After warning us that welding it would keep it from ever coming loose again (which sounded like the perfect solution to us), sparks flew as they welded Harriet's pokey pedal thing into the gear crank. It was very exciting.
This man was our hero. He was like an angel. And he saved the day. Seriously. We swooned. And offered to pay, but he said "Your smiles are the only payment I need." We beamed back at him, told him how incredibly grateful we were, and skipped across the street for a little respite before continuing our journey.
The morning's drama helped us realize just how epic this trip really is, and highlighted for us how strong we all are. Especially Harriet with her shiny, new, red-hot gear set-up. Wow.
We were grateful to be back on the road. We felt so strong! And after biking a while more and working up a good sweat in the heat of the day, we decided we were ready to stop for a dip in the lake that we were passing. We knocked on the door of the first house we came to, and the sweet people there let us swim from their dock and lunch in the shade on their lawn.
We glided onward. The back roads through Damariscotta and Nobleboro were beautiful, and we didn't mind the hills at all. On the way into Waldoboro we stopped for a short time so that Harriet could enjoy the view overlooking the river.
And then we cruised into town to get our daily ice cream. With the sun shining so bright it was super duper hot, and we were ready for a cold treat!
Next we headed to the local bakery/cafe for iced beverages and to put our feet up. We also had a chance to swing by the air conditioned library and cool off a bit.
On we biked to Route 90 where we took our next rest by the side of the road. A friendly policeman stopped to check in on us after he had seen us sitting in the same spot for an extended period of time. We assured him that we were just stopping to snack, so on he went in his fancy souped-up policemobile.We savored those final 7 miles before we reached our destination...
And we took one last stop before the long, slow push up the steepest hill yet.
At the top of the hill we took in the gorgeous view of the sun setting over the Camden hills.
We made it home before Hope's mom and quietly ducked under the kiwi arbor.
We biked 35 miles today, and landed in Rockland two whole days early. We are tired, but triumphant.
And ready for a long nap in the cool grass.
Thankfully there were plenty of good snuggles and food to greet us on our arrival.Before heading to bed we took a swim in the pond next door, re-painted our nails, and gathered ourselves. We are still in awe of what we just did. Tomorrow we head onward to the next part of our journey.

Goodnight!