CVOA GOES BIKING

A cooling breeze, brilliant sunshine and gorgeous scenery greeted two dozen CVOA bikers June 6 for the first-ever Tour de Gagne, a coastal bike trek through southern Maine.

"Perfect," said CVOA President Pete Weston as he surveyed the crew assembling at the UNE parking lot under great June weather. The trek was the idea of Kathy Gagne and her husband Dan, both avid bikers.

After a quick lesson in the proper use of road bike hand signals, bikers broke into two groups for the ride.

"Team Extreme" roared off for a 36-mile loop from the UNE campus to Walker Point in Kennebunk and back along the shore roads. Trailing Team Leader Danny Gagne was: President Pete and Judy Weston, Jan and Duff Dougherty, Dave and Roni Emery and Cynthia Pernice.

The "B Team" took a more leisurely 24.5 mile ride through Biddeford Pool, Fortune Rocks, Goose Rocks and into Cape Porpoise before booking it back up Rte. 9. Team Leader Kathy slowed down her pace for the ride, stopping at scenic points along the way. Tailing her were: Bob Garrett and Robin Thans, Gail Miller and Joe Loughran, Bill Haefele, Bruce Hanke, Gerry Lemieux, Susan Strommer, Stephanie Rushton, Nancy Perry, Linda Trueworthy, Jeanne Pernice, Susan Fraser, Ellen and Pris Nelson.

Both groups merged for lunch in Cape Porpoise, sampling fish sandwiches, crab rolls and chowder at the outdoor dining spot. Actually, the B Team had made an earlier snack stop at the Goose Rocks Dairy, which opened its door 3 hours early to scoop out ice cream when the 16 bikers rolled in at 11:30 am.

Both crews made it back to the UNE parking lot early afternoon with only a few minor mishaps: Duff had a tree branch jam his spoke, forcing him to abandon his bike at the bike shop and borrow another for the ride and Susan Fraser got a good case of road rash on her arm after careening off the highway on a soft sand shoulder. Team B managed to lose its "sweep" rider when Sue Strommer wandered off for water and got left behind, activating a two-person search party of Jerry Lemieux and Pris Nelson when cell phone contact failed.

Dave Emery got the prize for the most unusual mishap: His prosthetic foot flipped off while he was peddling.

"That's never happened before," said Dave, who put himself back together and continued the ride.

Team Extreme biked into Walker's Point, pausing briefly for photos of the summer home of former President George Bush, a local landmark. 

"Not too many photos," apologized Judy Weston. "We had to keep up!"

The B Team visited several beaches, a pastoral cemetery complete with grazing sheep known as Little Ireland and a dairy bar. Bikers quite literally stopped to "smell the roses" at some of the scenic gardens along he way ... and take numerous photos

The rolling hills on the home stretch proved challenging for some of the newer bikers.

"This is 'mainly flat?" joked Steph Rushton, quoting from Kathy's description of the ride.

The veteran bikers took it in stride.

"Walk in the park," said Bruce Hanke.

After the trek, bikers adjourned at the Gagne home in Biddeford for socializing and a cookout hosted by Dan and Kath.