Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club

09/03/2026

09/01/2026

NEXT UP: Palermo, Saturday, Sept. 5

We had a splendid turnout for the KVBC ride Sunday from Gardiner to Bowdoinham. A suburb route, despite a few miles of inevitable road construction, and it was great to see the newly reopened store at the midpoint in Bowdoinham again. Many thanks to Joe for leading us! We also had a few members show up and do the ride on Saturday due to some confusion as to the date of the ride start. My apologies, and I will try to be clearer in the future. We all wish Jim Linker a speedy recovery from his crash on Saturday. This coming Saturday we will meet at the Palermo Town Office for a challenging ride over and around the hills of China and Palermo. Please join us - on Saturday - for our first club ride in September!

Saturday, September 5 - PALERMO
"China and Palermo Hills" - a challenging tour over scenic vistas in Palermo, Albion, and South China
START: 9:00 am at the Palermo Town Office, 45 North Palermo Road
DISTANCE: 28 miles
TERRAIN: Hilly
HIGHLIGHTS: many scenic vistas and some challenging back roads
LEADER: Paul Mitnik, [email protected]
LINK TO ROUTE MAP: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/509663173 , https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56951557

08/28/2026

Here is the KVBC lineup for September! Please note that the schedule is subject to change. Also note that the 10th Annual "Share the Road with Carol" event in Windsor (not a KVBC event) requires a separate registration: https://www.bikereg.com/76827. Lots of great local riding in September - even if you have a weird eBike.

08/23/2026

NEXT UP: Gardiner, Sunday, August 30

We had a great turnout for the KVBC ride in Readfield on Saturday. The weather was far more cooperative than when we first scheduled the ride in May, although it did cloud up as the ride progressed. Many thanks to David for revisiting his ride and working out a new route! This Sunday we will meet in Gardiner for one of our favorite rides down to Bowdoinham and back. Hope you can join us as we close out the month of August!

Sunday, August 30th - GARDINER
"Biking to Bowdoinham" - a tour of the southern Kennebec Valley through Gardiner, Richmond and Bowdoinham.
START: 9:00 AM, at the Laura Richards School, Rt. 201 in Gardiner, 1.5 miles south of the junction of Rt. 201 and Rt.s 126/9 (the junction near the A-1 Diner). The school is a modern brick building with a "spiked ball" sculpture, on the west side of Rt. 201, on the left past the Gardiner Armory (just as you enter the "thickly settled" area). Park in the lot on the north side of the school.
DISTANCE: 40 miles.
TERRAIN: Moderately hilly.
HIGHLIGHTS: quiet back roads along streams and farmland south & west of Gardiner.
LEADERS: Joe Renda, [email protected]
LINK to ROUTE MAP: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36860175

08/19/2026

NEXT UP: Readfield, Saturday, August 22

There was more spectacular weather in store as we headed out to Belfast for the KVBC ride last Saturday. We explored a lot new roads (for us) and took in some great scenery, including a nice run along the Belfast Rail Trail. Many thanks to David for scoping out a new route and leading us! This Saturday we will return to Readfield to take up a revised route that was washed out earlier in the season, with much better weather forecast this time. We hope you can join us!

Saturday, August 22 - READFIELD
"The Winthrop Lakes" - a tour around some of the major lakes in Readfield and Winthrop.
START: 9:00 am at the Maranacook School Superintendent's Parking Lot, 45 Millard Harrison Drive off of Rt. 17 in Readfield, across from the town beach.
DISTANCE: 32 miles
TERRAIN: moderate with a few hills
HIGHLIGHTS: some pleasant back roads around the lakes district with lots of scenic, rural views.
LEADER: David Chiappetta, [email protected]
LINK TO ROUTE MAP: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/500107843; https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56746308

08/10/2026

NEXT UP: Belfast, Saturday, August 15

We had a great turnout for our KVBC ride, rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday due to forecasts of stormy weather. Sunday's ride was still quite humid, but warm and dry, and even though we missed out on the scheduled events of Readfield Heritage Days, we had a great stop at the Apple Shed Bakery and a fine ride. Many thanks to Lydia for leading us! This Saturday will feature an all-new route for the KVBC in and around Belfast over roads we rarely get to ride over as a group. The ride will explore a number of back roads and scenic ocean views, including a stretch along the Belfast Rail Trail with a hard packed gravel surface. And there is an option of viewing an exhibit at the public library of one of the few surviving copies of the Declaration of Independence (for details see below). Hope to see you in Belfast on Saturday!

Saturday. August 15 - BELFAST
"Breaking Away to Belfast" - a scenic tour around Belfast, Belmont, and Morrill
START: 9:30am at Hannaford's, 93 Lincolnville Ave. (Rt. 52), Belfast
DISTANCE: 35 miles
TERRAIN: flat to rolling, including 2.3 miles of hard packed crushed stone on the Belfast Rail Trail
HIGHLIGHTS: many scenic roads and views of the Belfast area, especially along the rail trail; opportunity to view an historic copy of the Declaration of Independence (see below for details)
LEADER: David Lipman, [email protected]
LINK TO ROUTE MAP: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56445181

1776 Declaration of Independence - one of the rare broadside copies will be on display at the Belfast Free Library as part of Maine's 250 commemorations on Saturday, August 15, and the end of our ride will pass by the library. To view the exhibit you will need to sign up for free tickets for a specific time slot, which you can do online: https://mainehistory.rezgo.com/details/424962/declaration-of-independence-tour-belfast-free-library. Viewing the exhibit is optional!

08/07/2026

UPDATE: KVBC Ride Scheduled for Saturday Switched to SUNDAY

Due to forecasts of rain and thunderstorms the KVBC ride scheduled for Saturday in Readfield has been switched to SUNDAY. Hope you can stay cool (and dry!) and join us on Sunday! [Photo: considering the current heat advisory, I couldn't resist sharing this photo of two EF Education-Oatly riders from Stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes.]

Sunday, August 9 - READFIELD
"The Maranacook Meander" - a lakeside tour through Readfield, Winthrop, Wayne and Kents Hill
START: 9:00 am at the Maranacook School Superintendent's parking lot, Millard Harrison Drive, off of Rt. 17 about one quarter mile north of Readfield Depot and across the street from the Readfield Town Beach.
DISTANCE: 15 or 30 miles.
TERRAIN: moderate to hilly.
HIGHLIGHTS: many lakeside and hill top views; optional stop at the Apple Shed Bakery in Kents Hill
LEADER: Lydia Leimbach, [email protected]
LINK to ROUTE MAP (Long): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/39797033
LINK to ROUTE MAP (Short): https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56455890

For more information on the Kennebec Valley Bicycle Club, contact Jim Merrick at 293-3784 or [email protected], and check out the club's page at https://www.facebook.com/KennebecValleyBicycleClub and the KVBC blog at http://postedroads.blogspot.com.