Lobster Ride and Roll

This past Saturday was the 7th annual Lobster Ride and Roll, an event put on by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, and held in Rockland, Maine. It is touted as the most scenic and tasty bike ride in Maine. There were various lengths of rides, and I chose the 50 miler. I have only been training since late April and did not have enough miles on my legs to do another century ride.

The plan was for me to drive down early in the morning by myself so that Quincy could keep his normal schedule. The start time for my ride was 8:30am and Rockland is about 1.5 hours from Hampden. Dara was going to take Quincy down to Rockland and sightsee. They ended up going to the Owls Head lighthouse – which, unfortunately, was socked in with the morning fog. After that, they did some stuff in the downtown, including Quincy scarfing down most of a large muffin and some sort of flourless brownie – purchased at the Atlantic Baking Company. Needless to say, he was having a good time on the outing.

I, meanwhile, was cruising along in my own mini-peloton. I had been in a large pack, but later in the ride, I settled in with 5 other riders. It was so nice to ride in a group for a change. For most of the ride, the scenery was blocked by fog. We were riding right along the ocean yet couldn’t see it. A little more than half-way thru and the sun began to burn off the fog.

By the end of the ride, I was riding with just one other guy from our group of 6. We weren’t interested in sight-seeing at some of the locations and just motored for the end. Quincy and Dara were at the finish line awaiting my arrival too. Quincy was smiling really big. He was happy to see me ’cause he didn’t really understand what I was doing or where I had gone.

I attempted to eat the lobster roll for lunch, but I just couldn’t do it. Sorry, mom, I just can’t tolerate the taste of lobster. So, lucky Dara had two authentic Maine lobster rolls for lunch. Did Quincy eat any? He’s almost three – what do you think? No way. In case you are wondering, an authentic lobster roll is simply a New England style hotdog roll filled with just lobster meat and a smidge of mayo. And these were huge loster rolls as well.

I will be riding next year too. If anybody wants to join me (Frank), it was a great ride. Sadly, there are no photos from the event. I wouldn’t let Dara take my picture at the end because I had a slight problem with one bike shoe – it was stuck in the pedal. I had lost one of my cleat screws somewhere in the last 5 miles and that made it impossible to remove my foot with the shoe.

We left shortly after lunch to get Quincy home for his nap. All in all, it was a great day for all involved.