By Cliff White

Staff Writer

It’s hard to ride 100 miles on a bike, no matter how good the cause.

When I woke up Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. to prepare for the Eastern
Trail Alliance’s fourth annual Lighthouse Century, a 100-mile bike ride
from Bug Light State Park in South Portland to Cape Arundel in
Kennebunkport – and back – I saw gloomy gray skies and heard the patter
of rain blown against my bedroom window, I made a compromise with
myself.

In exchange for getting out of bed and forcing myself to ride a bicycle
in such objectionable weather, I would “only” ride 40 miles, not the
planned 100.

There were motivations for my actions. Of primary importance was that
proceeds from the ride would be used for the expansion of the Eastern
Trail (ET) and the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000 mile bike and walking
path linking Maine with Key West, Fla. Secondarily – barely – was that
I had prepaid my registration fee and the alliance wasn’t offering
refunds.

As I arrived at Bug Light for the start of the race, I found the normal
buzz of activity that precedes most races. The hive of this activity
was the Eastern Trail Alliance (ETA) tent, where I picked up my race
packet and ran into the organization’s president, John Andrews. We
talked about the importance of the money raised by the event for the
ETA’s future plans to make southern Maine a more bike-friendly place.

“Eventually, we envision the Eastern Trail being the backbone of a
regional trail network running from South Portland to Kittery,” Andrews
said as we stood in a damp drizzle. “There’s so many bike enthusiasts
in southern Maine and so much interest in creating this trail, the
momentum is there to make it happen.”

Founded in 1997, the ETA manages and facilitates the creation of the
planned 68.8-mile trail. With more than 600 members and 50 active
volunteers, the ETA has a large enough network to actively pursue the
goal, Andrews said. He said while the project will take time to
complete, every town government where the trail runs has been
supportive of the project and some have offered funding to help build
it.

When completed, the off-road trail will run through Kittery, Eliot,
South Berwick, North Berwick, Wells, Kennebunk, Arundel, Biddeford,
Saco, Old Orchard Beach and Scarborough, ending in South Portland.

My particular challenge on Saturday was to bike from Bug Light to the
Eastern Trail’s bridge over the Scarborough Marsh, then south to Ferry
Beach in Scarborough and along Route 77 through Cape Elizabeth and back
to Bug Light – a 40-mile loop. About 60 others joined me for the ride,
which was led by Bob Hamblen, who, when he can find time away from his
bike, works as the city planner of Saco.

To my great relief, the rain held off for almost the entire ride. The
first miles along the South Portland Greenbelt felt like we had found
some secret passageway through the city, sneaking along behind houses
and stores. The trail petering out onto a back road happened
inconspicuously enough, but when I found myself among the heavy traffic
on Broadway before the Casco Bay Bridge, I must admit I would have been
scared if I was riding alone. But with such a large group of riders,
and a police escort stopping traffic so we could safely cross, it was
fun to scoff at the cars forced to stop for our entourage.

Currently, 8.5 miles, or about 15 percent of the ET is off-road – the
two open stetches are South Portland’s greenbelt and a section crossing
the Scarborough Marsh between Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach.
Several other sections of the trail are in various stages of
development, including a 1.6-mile section in Old Orchard Beach, a
5.7-mile section connecting Biddeford with West Kennebunk, and a
3.7-mile stretch of trail from Thornton Academy in Saco to Cascade Road
in Old Orchard Beach.

Biking along the roads that connect the traffic-free, off-road sections
is a little daunting, with the narrow two-lane byways offering little
room for cars to pass bikers safely. Most cars, however, did slow down
and attempt when they could to cross the yellow divider – which is
finally legal in Maine thanks to recent legislation – to avoid coming
too close to us.

The off-road section of the ET that travels across the Scarborough Marsh was a lot of fun to ride.

However, some riders on road bikes had trouble with its surfacing of
loose pebbles, which were soft due to the condensation. The bridge over
the marsh, built in 2004, had stunning views in all directions and
marked the halfway point of our journey. We turned our bikes around and
headed north.

Heading back along Route 77, the ride featured stops at Scarborough’s
Ferry Beach and Cape Elizabeth for views of its two lighthouses.

With the backdrop of a foggy Maine coastline, it was easy to fall into
conversation with my fellow riders, such as Peter Losordo of Hingham,
Mass. and Frank Cuff of Bingham, Maine. I started calling them “Hingham
and Bingham” in my head, which entertained me for a few miles. I also
got to meet Prashant Mittal, a Scarborough resident doing his first
long ride, and a very friendly couple, Lee and Vernon Edwards, who had
come all the way from Rhode Island specifically for the ride.

Eventually, sensing an imminent downpour, I took off from the crowd and sprinted ahead to the finish.

I finished my ride just before the squall hit, and I ran for the cover
of the ETA tent. The squall turned a day that had been cold but mostly
windless into temporary hurricane-like conditions, and I was happy for
the relief of the tent. Yet I watched with amazement fellow riders
steadily filter into the finishing area, looking like they had just won
a prize more significant than a free participatory T-shirt.

This year’s rides – the 100-mile century, the less challenging 40-mile
ride that I went on, and the 10-mile family ride combined had more than
170 registered participants and raised about $7,000 for the
organization, said Bob Bowker, vice president of the ETA.

“We had a great turnout given the forecast and the fact that it was
raining,” Bowker said. “We were expecting more people to sign up the
morning of the race, but they must have bailed on the idea because of
the weather. But to have so many people show up on a day that wasn’t
ideal for bike riding, really shows the dedication of people to the
sport and to the Eastern Trail. It’s hard to support our alliance on
membership dues alone, so this definitely give us a big shot in the
arm.”

Bowker, who helped organize the ride, said it was fun and he had a real
feeling of accomplishment to direct it over the newly built parts of
the Eastern Trail.

He also said he enjoyed planning a race that visited nine lighthouses –
he believes it’s the only century ride with those bragging rights in
the world – and to have the ride singled out for mention by “Ride
Magazine.” As a result, he said, the ride had participants from as far
away as Ohio and Washington, D.C, as well as from all over the
northeast.

“It just amazes me how hard core these people are to do these races in
the type of conditions we had. One woman from South Portland, who I
think is about 60, has done the ride all four years, and it’s rained
for two of them. Still, she always comes in with the biggest smile on
her face. I met another couple and it was their first big ride. They
were both just ecstatic, even after they were left dripping wet because
of the squall that came through,” Bowker said.

As for myself, I’m happy with the shirt – it’s pretty cool looking –
but what had made the whole experience worthwhile was getting to meet
members of an organization working to make my backyard more fun for me
to play in.