To start our multi-sport week, we’ll go biking on the unique carriage roads of Acadia – hard-packed gravel roads which are perfect for cycling. We’ll cover about 18 miles today on our bikes.
A continental breakfast will be served at the motel.
Welcome and orientation, followed by custom-fitting of bicycles. We’ll give you a capsule look at Mount Desert Island, “the jewel of New England,” and show you the route we’ll be biking today in Acadia National Park. Mount Desert, known for its dramatic scenery and universal appeal, is the third largest island on the east coast. As we prepare to start today's cycling adventure, our experienced staff will provide an individual bike fitting for each participant, and your group leader will make sure you’re comfortable with your 21-speed mountain or hybrid bike. We’ll begin our biking on the carriage roads of Acadia, built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. These unique roads are closed to motorized traffic – thus they’re perfect for bicycling -- and are home to a dazzling array of scenery. Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond, carved by a glacier thousands of years ago, feature clear, cold water; we’ll skirt both of them on our morning ride. We’ll encounter rolling terrain – yes, there are hills, but they’re manageable -- and our group will move at a comfortable pace. Today’s cycling adventure will last five to six hours, including frequent breaks and our lunch period.
We’ll enjoy a picnic lunch – individually prepared, of course – on the tea lawn of the Jordan Pond House, an iconic landmark in Acadia. From the gentle sloping shores above Jordan Pond, you’ll experience an unforgettable vista of the water and the Bubbles, twin mountains that dominate the northern end of the lake.
After lunch, we’ll leave Jordan Pond to continue our cycling trip, passing one of the stone gatehouses that mark the entrance to the carriage roads; the detail is interesting, and the skill of the masons who built this gatehouse is evident. There’s an optional side trip up Day Mountain, with gorgeous views south across the Gulf of Maine, with the Cranberry Islands dotting the seascape. We’ll also pass Bubble Pond, with the craggy west slope of Cadillac Mountain jutting out of the water to form a near-vertical granite face.
We’ll dine at a downtown Bar Harbor restaurant, where we’ll enjoy our meal while replaying the day’s adventure.
We’ll experience a scenic drive up Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the eastern seaboard. When the serpentine summit road was built in the 1930s, it was considered the best-engineered mountain road in the world. From the summit, we’ll marvel at the 360-degree views and will look west towards Blue Hill as the day comes to an end.