On the way back from Canada, my dad and I stopped at Acadia National Park to take care of some unfinished business. Twenty years ago my dad asked some chump at the hotel we were staying at what would be a good family activity for a day. The chump suggested a walk around Eagle Lake. It turned out to be a ten mile hike around the lake in which my mom and year old sister got split up from my dad, six year old blind sister and my eight year old self. It's now referred to as the Gresh Death March. Our plan for this trip was to just ride our bikes around the driving loop of the park, and that, some how, would be vengeance for the Death March. Whatever, it makes sense to us.
The loop is a really pretty ride. It's almost twenty miles (there's an additional climb you can do, but we'll get to why I didn't in a moment) and has a lot of elevation change. The only riding I had done before this was my five mile leg destruction ride in Cape Breton, and that was a week prior. My dad hadn't done any riding in over a month before hand, and I don't think he had taken his bike up a hill in two or three months. I think you can see where this is going.
Before I had really gotten a chance to get warmed up, the first hill showed itself. The nice thing about the loop is that the grades a pretty gradual and they go on for a good bit. I slowly climbed my way to the top, then waited for my dad. This went on for a while, us riding together, a hill shows up, I spin up to the top, then wait for my dad to show up. I didn't really mind because I was just happy he was riding.
About a third of the way around the loop we came across a hill that went on for a while. I, again, just spun up. I got about half way and decided to wait. And wait. Then wait some more. I saw another guy and asked him if he had seen a guy with a beard on a hybrid struggling up the hill. "He's about halfway up." At least he was still going.
Turns out my dad had stopped. A new pattern had developed. We would ride, I would spin up hills and wait even longer at the top while he stopped to take a break, then slowly spun up. At the halfway point of the loop he finally just told me to go on my way and get the car, then pick him up at where ever he finally gave up. He looked really tired, so I agreed.
From that point on, I was motivated to just get to the car as fast as I could. I pushed myself the entire way, and the combination of pace, scenery and terrain was fantastic. We had done so much climbing at such comfortable (for me) grades that I kind of didn't want it to end.
The road flattened out for a bit and the turn for the climb came up on my right. A ton of riders were coming off the road and I really wanted to give it a go, but I kept picturing my dad, completely spent on the middle of one of the hills and decided to move on. To that point, there had been far more up hill than down, so I knew something fast was coming up.
Two and a half miles of downhill is a lot for me. I mostly ride rolling terrain where I go up for a bit, then down for a bit. So this was a blast for me. Still worried about my dad, I geared out and just flew down. I usually find 40+mph on my bike terrifying, but this time it was great. I passed cars and got to see that "WTF?" look on drivers faces when some skinny kid passes them on a bicycle. It's the little things.
After two small climbs there is a toll where cars and bikes have to stop to show their pass, or pay to enter the park. I spent over five minutes waiting to get through then rode the last mile to the car. I got my bike in, threw on my clothes over my bibs and started the drive to get my dad. I had no cell reception for most of the drive, so it was kind of a "so how far did he make it?" game. I got to the point where I was sure he would throw in the towel... nothing. I drove up the second long hill expecting to see him half way up... nothing. I finally got a signal and a text from him saying where he was. Three miles from the end. I was shocked. He said he couldn't make it up the last climb, and I get that. It didn't matter if he finished, I was proud of him for making it as far as he did. I took him out for beer and mussels afterward. He earned it.
If you're ever in the Bar Harbor area, bring you bike. The driving loop is a great ride that's not too challenging (my dad later said that if he had done any kind of riding beforehand, he could have finished it), but would be good for all levels. If you include the climb I skipped, it turns out to be about twenty seven miles of awesomeness, and if that's not enough, you can do the loop twice. I highly recommend it.
