Maine. Truly farm-to-table, Primo boasts its own sustainable farm (vegetable garden, pigs, poultry) and contracts local fishermen. Asking about the chicken, one of my fellow cyclists is told, “It was walking yesterday – you will never find fresher”. We work the calories off on Day 4 with the longest (71km) option, including a lunch stop (lobster club sandwich) and visit to the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, before a farewell dinner at Natalie’s. Our final day features an easy scenic 29km post-breakfast (lobster benedict) loop around a pristine lake before we board the shuttle back to Portland. Guests swap tales of Backroads trips past and rave about the week’s scenery and food. Including the very best available dining in every trip is a company trademark, so much so that many repeat guests have nicknamed it “Snackroads”.
(1979) and over four decades, Hale has honed every detail, including the bikes, guides and vans. Every group, no matter how small, gets two vans and three guides. It works, and more than half the participants are repeat guests. After lunch, we enjoy a 27km warm-up along beautiful Somes Sound, often described as the East Coast’s only fjord, into Bar Harbor. After our adventures in Acadia National Park, the Day 3 options (34km to 56km) all finish in Camden, perhaps the most scenic of Maine’s many beautiful coastal towns. Many of what were once the homes of sea captains are now upscale inns, Camden now being a summer hub for the yachting set. We stay two nights at Camden Harbour Inn, a Relais & Châteaux property, which is also home to Natalie’s restaurant, renowned for its five-course lobster tasting menu. However, tonight’s dinner is at Primo, the most desirable reservation in
Maine’s two other signatures are its postcard-perfect fishing villages and Maine lobster. As integral to the local fabric as pizza is to Naples or wine to Burgundy, lobster is everywhere here – even in the ice-cream. On our third night, Backroads hosts a cocktail hour with a local fisherman to educate us on all things lobster. Our very first meal of the trip is a lobster roll, the most common local offering: chunks of meat tossed with Portland, Maine’s largest city, and we are driven to Northeast Harbor, a tiny fishing village. The third Backroads staffer, behind-the-scenes miracle worker Susan, has prepared an oceanfront lobster roll picnic and as we eat our guides fit out the bikes. Backroads provides titanium models custom-made in Europe to company founder Tom Hale’s specifications. butter and mayonnaise on a bun. Our group first comes together in Backroads is the oldest luxury active travel outfitter in the United States
“A home that has a contemporary feel, but is still homely and comfortable”
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