NEWRY – Amid fog-shrouded hills, downpours and mud that splattered up their backsides, 1,450 bicyclists of all ages began the first 65 miles of the Trek Across Maine on Friday.
The three-day, 183-mile journey from Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry to the coastal city of Rockland is the 21st annual fund-raiser for the American Lung Association of Maine.
An overnight deluge brought a wet start at 7 a.m., and rain continued in downpours that stretched from Hanover to Dixfield. The dark and gloomy sky in the east was not a good sign, said first-time trekker Antoine Blais of Auburn, who sat astride his bike in the first wave of 50 cyclists with his teammates Jeremy Storer and Josh Buck, also of Auburn.
“But it’s for a good cause, and it’s a good event in which to get out and get in shape. We’ll try and stick together, and keep a nice pace, but a little mental instability helps,” he added, laughing.
Every five minutes after 7 a.m., a wave of 50 cyclists began pedaling toward Rumford and the first of three rest stops for the day.
Eighty-seven-year-old Erlon Blood of Lancaster, Mass., said to be the trek’s oldest rider for the last eight years, was raring to take off on his 11th trek.
Riding with him was his daughter, Janice Kendrick, and two of his four grandsons, Tom and Mark Kendrick, of Park City, Utah, and Tahoe, Calif., respectively.
“This was not a small undertaking to get them here to do this with grandpa,” Janice Kendrick said.
“But the crazy part is, I’m going to have to struggle to keep up with him. I can’t let him go first, or I’ll never catch up to him,” she added.
Dail Martin, a nurse practitioner and emergency medical technician from Casco, said she only got 15 miles of training in before Friday.
But, Martin, who has asthma, is one of the seven cyclists who, this year, will be riding in their 21st consecutive trek.
Friday’s rain was nothing to her.
The first year, she said, 104 riders faced heavy rain blowing sideways in gusting winds for the first two days. Day 1 ends at the University of Maine at Farmington; Day 2 at Colby College in Waterville.
Martin was one of seven medics doing the trek.
“Our biggest concern is people falling,” said physician’s assistant Randy Gauvin of Farmington, who was riding in his 12th consecutive trek.
“Then, when they get into their routine, they’ll either be too cold or be too bundled up and be hot. We’ll also see people who are not in their best condition since the weather has been so bad for training,” he said.
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