Transcription of Kevin Thomas for the show Wheels #39
Lisa: On today’s show, we’ve been talking about the subject of wheels where you get around in the outside, you get around the state of Maine. The perfect person to talk to on this subject is Kevin Thomas who is the publisher of Maine Magazine and Maine Home Design and author of both of the June and July 48 hours Maine pieces in which he describes is biking around Maine. Thanks for being here, Kevin.
Kevin: Glad to be here. Thank you for asking me.
Lisa: I have with me, Genevieve Morgan who as you know, writes for your magazine.
Kevin: Got to love Gen.
Lisa: Well, I love Gen too and one of the reasons I love Gen is that she’s able to take this really broad view of wellness. I also like the fact that Maine Magazine has taken a very broad view of wellness. 48 hours Maine has done just that, you sort of sent people out into the world to become more well that way.
Kevin: We have. We decided that it would be a great experience for our staff, to get out into the marketplace and experience the time on the room rather than interpret that through a writer.
Lisa: Tell me about your biking experiences in Kennebunkport and in Acadia which is described in the upcoming articles.
Kevin: Well, I’ve been on two of the 48 hour excursions and both of those excursions, I wanted to do something physical that some of the other participants maybe have them in the past. In our first 48 hours for myself, was in Kennebunkport and we teamed up with Brandon Gillard from Kennebunkport Bicycle who took us out to the conservation trust land.
Lisa: Acadia is very mountainous compared to Kennebunkport, so how is that?
Kevin: Acadia was fantastic. We rode the carriage roads in Acadia. We had ride roads, they asked for roads, for ways to get to them but that experience was amazing. It was 12-foot wide graveled, well-maintained roads. It was more mountainous but are also as much wider from the very narrow trails and the boulders that we’re climbing on in Kennebunkport
Lisa: People can read about the Kennebunkport part one in the June issue which is out in the stands now and then the bar harbor 48 hours which will be out on the stands in July.
Kevin: That is correct.
Genevieve: Interestingly, the carriage trails in Acadia were built by the Rockefellers before there were cars allowed on Mount Desert Island. There’s the reason for the wideness and the bike riding has really taken the park by storm. I visit Acadia a lot in the summer and the difference between the hikers and the bikers … Biking is far more popular now than it used to be, so in your article, will people find out where they can bike in Acadia?
Kevin: Well, they will find out one of the places they can bike. There’s so many that I wasn’t able to do in during… all the trails during our trip but there is a route around mountain that we took that was absolutely gorgeous and we saw a lot of Acadia from that.
Genevieve: How arduous was it for you?
Kevin: Well, the terrain was somewhat tough. We drew a ride to northeast harbor which was two and a half hours and stopped and took a break there and then had to get the bikes back by 4:30. They return back, two hours was a sprint and my thighs were burning, but it was a great way to see Acadia.
This all really comes from experience I had a few years ago on Isleboro where I had gone with my kids and wanted to explore the island. I set out to explore via car and realized I really wasn’t seeing all the island, not that I have time to walk it or run it, so I pulled my bike off my car and I biked around the island and was able to get out all these great dirt roads and down toward the beach.
I was able to experience a lot more of the island than I would have ever been able to experience in a car or have time to on foot.
Lisa: For our listeners out there, regardless of their fitness level, going out and grabbing a bike or taking the bike out of the garage or renting one at the local bike shop can be a great alternative to explore their community.
Kevin: Absolutely. I think that for me, it was a return back to my childhood days where we pulled the bike out of the garage to go visit our friends and it was a casual great experience. Sometimes, we all get caught up with needing to take a 50-mile bike ride and get the exercise and we forget about the opportunity to get some great exercise, but also enjoy the scenery and that’s what I encourage everybody regardless of fitness level.
Lisa: Speaking of 50-mile bike ride, you’ve also done a trek across Maine, correct?
Kevin: I did trek across Maine, that was several years ago with a group of friends from Cape Elizabeth. They all trained, I did not but it was really a remarkable experience. We started in Bethel and as you probably are aware that … at least that year, it ended at the Owl’s Head transportation center in Rockland I guess.
Lisa: People are able to get out and sort of ride across the state of Maine if they’re that upper level of fitness or even if they’re not because there’s multiple stops along the way.
Kevin: Lisa … that was another amazing another experience. There were a great number of riders for that trek and they were everywhere from people that bike for OA to kids on banana bikes. Just really a remarkable experience to see families going the road and then a group of expert bikers, biking past.
Lisa: Which is great so you can … What you’ve described to us know is sort of the full gamut of biking, going out in the woods, going out up to Acadia, the woods of Kennebunkport, going up to Acadia and doing Bar Harbor and even going all the way across the state. You think you’re sort of personifying what you’re talking about in your magazine?
Kevin: I’m not sure that I would say personifying, but I’m certainly exploring a lot of Maine via bike and foot.
Lisa: We appreciate you taking the time to come in and talk us today and thanks for all the work you’re doing to bring a positive focus to wellness in the state of Maine.
Kevin: Thank you, Lisa. Thank you, Gen. I really enjoyed this.