May 17,2019 Bar Harbor to Bucksport, Maine

I left Bar Harbor in hopes of taking advantage of the sunny weather and getting some miles in before the rain came. This was harder than I thought partially because the construction planners have made it almost impossible to leave Bar Harbor on a bike.  I had lots of good advice on safe and scenic routes but they forgot to mention that the trucks had also been detoured that way to avoid the construction. So it was an exciting ride with minimal shoulders and impatient truckers.  I tried to veer off to other routes but it only gave me a few minutes of relief and set my pace back when I needed to renter the route.  I was thrilled when I came to SR 230 and it was quiet and pleasant until Ellsworth.  It did start raining but wasn’t really heavy so I was able to move forward.
Ellsworth was a tough transition back to traffic craziness.  Apparently several main highways end there for people to then access the coastline and there was a steady and speedy stream of traffic. I pulled over after one major hill where I couldn’t stop and the trucks couldn’t pass me and started looking at the map for an alternative route.  Luckily a man who is a Warm Showers host stopped to ask me if I needed a place to stay.  His place was about twenty miles further on my route. But better than that he helped me find a better route with wider shoulders and less traffic.  But of course the new route took me away from his place so I missed that Warm Showers opportunity.
I ended my day in Bucksport, a tiny town on the bay where I found the Fort Knox Inn that looks over the Penobscot bridge that I cross tomorrow.  I might be the only person staying in this inn tonight. Sweet older than me lady is running it but it is quiet.
Several people have told me that Maine is struggling with finances for their infrastructure and consequently the roads are in terrible shape.  So by the end of the day I bounced two of my panniers off of their rakes.  Hard to do with these Arkel Panniers.  The innkeeper told me that the state has started several projects and stopped midway leaving these extremely rough surfaces.  Hopefully as I move further the roads will get better.
Not many photos today because of the rain.  I love the street sign and that’s the Penobscot bridge.