Since early childhood, Griffin Lavertu of Portland has been traveling to visit his grandfather James in Madawaska. But this summer he decided to take the trip on a bicycle.
The idea sparked when Lavertu was skiing with some friends over the winter, and they said the trip across the state would probably be manageable. So, he and his friend Malcolm O’Wril left on Monday, June 22, and arrived in Madawaska at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Recreational cycling is surging in Maine, with trail expansions ongoing from Ellsworth to northern Maine and the advent of long-distance routes such as Maine Bike Route 501, which goes from Bangor to Allagash. This was Lavertu’s first time embarking on such a long trek. Now that he’s done it, he’d try another long-distance trip, he said.
“It might be a little while,” he said. “But I would say it’s definitely a fun experience.”
Lavertu was born in Portland but his father grew up in Madawaska. The family would take trips up to Aroostook a few times a year.
When he told others about his plan to pedal across the state, they reacted with shock or surprise, he said.
“Even afterwards, when we were in Madawaska talking to people at the Tim Hortons, they thought at first that we rode a motorcycle up here,” he said. “But when we said we pedaled all the way, they were like, ‘Oh, my God.’”
Like many other Mainers, Lavertu has frequently traveled from Portland to Aroostook. But doing it on a bicycle gave him a new perspective of the state.
“It was very scenic, and I saw a lot of things that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise,” he said.
A hill that would seem inconsequential in a car, for example, is far more noticeable when traveling via bicycle.
Lavertu and O’Wril started in Portland and followed US Bike Route 1 and 1A to Bangor. From there, they took US Bike Route 501, Route 2, Route 157 and Route 11, and finally connected back to Route 1.
They used a service called Warm Showers, which helps cyclists find safe hospitality, and camped out on a porch in Belfast. On the other nights, they just camped in a tent outdoors.
The two each had about three or four bags strapped to their bikes. They packed fairly light, bringing clothes, food, towels, sunscreen and rainwear.
They quickly covered a lot of ground, traveling 85 miles on their slowest day and 120 miles on their final day. Lavertu said if he takes another long trip, he would probably travel at a less strenuous pace.
While they knew the trip was going to be hard, it actually went faster than expected. They were trying to hit 10 miles per hour on average, but ended up going 14 miles per hour throughout the trip.
Just before leaving Portland, Lavertu purchased a used 1980s Cannondale road bike. The previous owner had traveled across China and through 25 states, but this is the bike’s first time going across Maine.
Most bike tours average 40 miles per day, less than half of what he and O’Wril averaged during their trip to northern Maine.
For his next long-distance trip, Lavertu said he would like to take a little more time to sightsee.
“I’d probably go somewhere that I’ve never really been and take a little more time,” he said.
