BIKING ALONG THE EASTERN TRAIL

The Eastern Trail Bike Trail goes from Maine to Key West, mostly along former railroad track beds. On one of our recent days off, we decided to ride from Scarborough to Saco, Maine. Even though we scheduled to complete the ride during the recent heat wave in Maine, most of the ride was along a tree canopy lined path as seen below. It was probably at least 10 degrees warmer in the sun as compared to the shade.

During the ride, we crossed lesser traveled roads by walking our bikes across the roads. When we came to busy U.S. 1, we had our own bridge that allowed bikers and hikers to safely cross over this busy thoroughfare.  This bridge pictured below crosses this busy highway near Old Orchard Beach, a popular family beach resort area in southern Maine. The Eastern Trail is a multi-use pathway, so there are benches every mile or so for walkers or bikers to rest. With the temperature approaching 90 degrees, we choose not to rest on this bench in the bright sunlight. Our rest stops for water were in shaded areas.

A portion of the Eastern Trail goes across the Scarborough Marsh along this bridge. Because this is a saltwater marsh area, there are no trees for shade.  You can not see any of the salt water in the marsh because it is almost low tide. As the temperature slid above 90 degrees, we chose to only photograph this sunny part of the path.

Our 8-mile bike ride was enjoyable over mostly level terrain. After a stop at one of the local ice cream stands for some freshly made hand-dipped ice cream, we headed back to the campground. This is the second time we have utilized this trail, once for walking after work and now for a bike ride. With recreation opportunities like this, it is easy to see why so many Mainers are outdoor people, at least in the summer months.