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Tandem bikes and climbing

teagandavis47

I was headed back to spend more time with my friends at The People's Perch, the land with the water tower in East Baldwin, Maine. When I arrived, Nolan and Montana were there working on paper mache masks for an upcoming masquerade party they were throwing for our friend Maria’s birthday. Montana was putting the paper mache right onto Nolan’s face. It took a while to dry, but it's the perfect way to make a form-fitting mask. I hung out with them while they continued to work, but headed to bed early that night.

The next day I went with Nolan and Ian down to the rope swing again. We rode our bikes through the woods on the short dirt trail that opened up to the river. The weather was a lot warmer than it had been, in the high 60’s, so I was excited to jump in this time. We each swung from the rope into the water. Ian did a flip on his way down. Before heading back, Nolan and I enjoyed basking in the warm sun on a rock alongside the river. We talked about hot air balloons, vans, and so much randomness. We also decided that the next day we were going to ride bikes out to South Portland to meet Markie, who was going to be there for the farmer’s market. I asked him if we could take the tandem bike again. He said we would have to think about it since the ride there alone would be 27 mile

We biked back to the People’s Perch and decided it was the perfect day to climb the water tower. We were going to free climb up the ladder on the side and rappel back down. We got all the gear we needed and climbed up the long ladder; it was 100 feet up to the railing. My arms grew tired as I got closer to the top, and I’m slightly afraid of heights, so the adrenaline rushed through me. We eventually made it to the top. Nolan used a hollow metal pipe that doubled as a horn that was already up there to sound our arrival.

We walked around the circular railing, taking in the gorgeous view of a sea of red and orange trees far below. On the side of the tower, there was a door they had cut into the tower so we could go inside. We climbed in through the door, and used a rope and a board that had been placed there to make our way to the rounded bottom of the deep tower. Every noise we made in the tower echoed louder than the original noise. We started making all sorts of silly sounds and sang as the sounds ricocheted around us.

We played in and around the water tower as the sky turned to a cotton candy sunset. We decided it was time to rappel down before it got completely dark. I was going to go first. Nolan had to be at a point that was lower than me in order for it to work. With his harness on he climbed over the railing of the water tower and dangled from the ropes. I had to climb over the railing and hang off of the railing for my harness to hold me. That was one of the most terrifying, and exhilarating, parts for me. Once I got into place where I was being held by the harness, Nolan started lowering me. I thought this part would be scary but it was more fun than anything. When I made it safely to the ground, my entire body shook with excitement. I held the rope as Nolan rappelled down. It was a thrilling day.

We woke up early and left first thing in the morning. I left Maggie at the People’s Perch in the care of Maria, who had kindly offered to watch her. To my delight, Nolan agreed that we could take the tandem bike. We took our bike bingo cards with us. Bike Bingo is a game Ian had set up; you have bingo cards and each spot has the name of a business around Maine. You have to ride your bike to each of the businesses and when you do they give you a stamp. Once you get bingo you can win prizes at the businesses, and you get even bigger prizes if you cover the entire board.


We set off and stopped at a nearby gas station for our first stamp. We continued on towards Portland, but about three miles into our ride the front tire of the tandem went flat. We pulled off into a library parking lot to see what had happened. The front bike tire had gotten a hole which led to the inner tube popping. Nolan got out his patch kit, but when he opened it there was nothing inside. We weren’t really sure what to do. Nolan suggested walking back but I was confident there was a way we could fix it. I knocked on the door of a nearby house to see if they had a patch kit while Nolan tried to figure something out. A man answered the door and was very kind, but unfortunately didn’t have one. I went back to see if Nolan had figured something out. He had an extra tube for the inside of the bike tire, but it was too large. We ended up taking the tube and folded it inside the bike tire and used a business card he had inside his wallet to cover the part where the tire had a hole. He used his little portable air pump and inflated the tire. We were both relieved and it seemed to work, so we set off towards Portland again.

On the way, we stopped at a little farm store, another bike bingo place. They sold all sorts of pumpkins, apples, and fun little trinkets. We got our cards stamped and Nolan asked the girl working there if she had a bike tire patch kit. She did not, but she gave us some duct tape instead. We were off again, and made it a few more miles before the front tire went flat again. We pulled off into the entrance of someone’s driveway. Our spare tube now also had a hole in it. I wasn’t sure how to fix it, but I was confident in Nolan, and I figured if we couldn’t get it fixed, we could always hitchhike to Portland. I offered up a few suggestions but I don’t know a lot about bikes, so I mostly read Nolan a book we had found to entertain him as he worked. Since the tube we had was already too big for the tire, he figured we could pinch off the tube where the hole was and use some dental floss he had to tie it off. Unfortunately the dental floss kept breaking. We had a rag with us though, so Nolan tore a long thin piece of the rag off. We twisted the bike tube and were able to tie the fabric piece around it, blocking off the piece of the tube that had a hole in it. We put a little air in and it held! As for the tire itself, he used the business card again and the duct tape we had acquired to cover the hole from the inside of the tire. He also detached the front brakes. He figured it might be the brake rubbing on the tire that was causing them to pop. He put everything back together and we were safely on our way again.

We pedaled along nicely and stopped at a few more bike bingo places as well. The tire was still holding up, but we were hoping to find a spare or a patch kit, just in case. As we were driving through a small town we came across a bike in a front yard that was free. The front tire just happened to already be detached from the bike, and it was just sitting there. We pulled over to check it out and the tire was the exact size we needed. It was as if it was placed there just for us. We detached the tire from the rim and placed it in the trailer with plans to come back for the rest of the bike later. We ended up pedaling the rest of the way to Portland problem free, and the tire that Nolan put together held up.


We pulled into Deering Oaks Park where we were meeting Markie. We had planned to get there to join her for the market, but by the time we got there everything was over. We hung out in the grass a little next to Markie’s mini bus, having a few snacks. Markie had her bike with her too, so we all decided to go around Portland and then head to the beach. It was in the 70’s, a beautiful day, especially for October. We all stopped at a few different bike bingo places along the way.

When we reached South Portland Beach, we took off our shoes and walked barefoot in the sand, which felt wonderfully warm beneath my feet. There were people and so many dogs walking all along the water. In the water, different types of boats cruised everywhere, and we especially enjoyed watching all the sail boats that were out and about. On the shore, row boats nestled all along the sand dunes. I went and stood in the water, but it was far too cold for me to go farther. Instead, I sat up against a little teal row boat with Markie, and Nolan ran into the ocean to swim. The entire scene made it feel like we were in a novel. Markie and I sat there and chatted, and Nolan joined us after his swim. We sat there enjoying some beers we had been given, while taking in the sun as it reflected off the water.

As the sun was getting lower in the sky we took our bikes and ventured on through Portland, going to different little parks and taking in the sights. We went back to the bus for a bit and climbed up through the escape hatch to hang out on the roof as we split the last beer we had.

We decided to hit one more place that was on our bike bingo cards. It was a little restaurant, and since Nolan and Markie both had bingo, they could each get a free margarita. When we arrived, we parked our bikes next to the building. It looked like it was packed, so we weren’t sure we would be able to get in. Luckily for us, there were exactly three seats left at the bar, and they were on an end part so we didn’t have to sit next to “the insiders,” as Markie called them. We all ordered drinks and found a barbecue platter we shared. We enjoyed the food and each others’ company as the night went on. I was so happy to have friends who I could fully be myself around. After dinner we got on the bikes and headed back to the bus. We loaded the tandem on the bus and rode along with Markie back to the water tower. We stopped along the way to pick up the bike from earlier, but it was already gone. We arrived back late and tired from our amazing adventures. It had been the perfect day.

If you would like to visit the People’s Perch website:



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