When the ice on Toddy Pond is thick and clear, the skaters and fishermen come out. Sometimes, so do people on bicycles.
They’re part of a group of friends who started riding across the ice several years ago using studded titanium tires on the mountain bikes they enjoy in the other three seasons.
It’s a fun, practical and unusual way to stay active outside and spend time together during the winter months. But it also gives them opportunities to explore Hancock County’s ponds, lakes and rivers from a new point of view.
“It was like we were 10 years old again, just goofing off and pure enjoyment,” Greg Forrest said of his first ice bike ride with friend Mike Zboray. “We went from feeling nervous to feeling invincible.”
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Their group of friends met years ago through school activities for their children, now in their late teens and early 20s. Forrest and Zboray often went mountain biking and canoeing together in warmer weather; they started to wonder how they could keep going year-round.
Spiked tires were the answer. They can be ridden on ice that’s too rough for skating, can be added to regular mountain bikes and give enough traction to make cycling over ice feel like riding on pavement.
Ice biking has scattered fans in other cold states, including Wisconsin and Minnesota, where some replace their front wheels with ice skates. It’s not so widespread in Maine.
Once Forrest and Zboray tried them, there was no going back. Their friend Paul Markosian borrowed a bike and was “hooked,” he said, using his bike to commute to work.
Soon more friends and their spouses joined the outings, and for the last several years, a fluctuating group of up to 10 have hit the ice around the county every weekend when conditions allow. Sometimes, skaters join them too.
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They’ve traveled often on their “home pond,” Toddy Pond, nearby Craig Pond, Hothole Pond and Alamoosook Lake. They’ve explored water bodies in Acadia National Park including Bubble Pond, Jordan Pond, Long Pond and Eagle Lake. They’ve ridden a tidal swamp stream down to the ocean and explored the meandering whaleback of the Union River’s east branch.
With the ability to travel farther and faster across the water, bikers can have new adventures. Markosian recalled exploring behind beaver dams. Forrest described tracking coyote prints across the snow and discovering eagles eating a carcass.
“I’m more confident, and can cover a lot more ground” than on skates, said Markosian. “I like being able to explore these bodies of water from that vantage point.”
On sunny days, the bikers can head into the wind, then turn around and let it push them back, gliding over the ice with almost no effort. Sometimes they joust with cattails. If snow is followed by rain and a hard freeze, Zboray can take his bike out in the forest, cruising on top of the snow.
A group of Hancock County friends and a canine companion cycle across a frozen lake using special studded tires. Credit: Courtesy of Paul Markosian
They can’t ride when the ice is covered in snow or slush, as it has been this February, and changing ice-out dates can shorten the season. But it’s worth the wait.
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“Nobody can put a finger on what’s addicting about it,” Forrest said. “Some days you’re out there and you’re like, ‘This is boring.’ But it’s not.”
For some, it’s a source of camaraderie with friends, a chance for adventure or a fun source of exercise, Zboray said. It can also be a way to feel in touch with nature and get “in the zone” while riding.
“It’s just really wonderful to have a group of friends who like to do some similar things and adventuring together,” he said. “Everybody gets something a little different from the experience.”
A nearly $7 million home on the coast of Kennebunk topped out as the most expensive home to sell in Maine last month.
We assembled a list of the top 10 most expensive residential properties in Maine that changed hands in June. The information comes from state transfer tax documents that are available to the public online.
While Maine’s most expensive residential property sales last month all surpassed $3 million and averaged nearly $5 million, they are not as pricey as some of the commercial real estate transactions from the same time frame.
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The Press Hotel in downtown Portland, for example, sold for just under $58 million, making it the state’s most expansive property sale from last month.
— Scott Edmunds, Trustee of The Oyster Shell Real, bought 7 Shoreline Way in Kennebunk from Evergreen/Kennebunk Realty LLC for $6.9 million on June 30.
— Rebecca and Eric Deschambault bought 49 Rising Tide Lane in Freeport from Daniel and Lauren Mills for $6.7 million on June 1.
— Sea Rose Holdings LLC bought 488 Main St. in Ogunquit from John Brennan for $6.3 million on June 30.
— Set Family Investments LLC bought 9 Starboard Lane in York from The Richard Jackson Sr. 2023 Trust for $5.2 million on June 8.
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— Suzanne and Christopher Hendriksen bought 904 Kings Highway in Kennebunkport from The Anchorage LLC for $4.5 million on June 15.
— The 149 Lighthouse Road Trust bought 149 Lighthouse Road in Bridgton from The William P. Boardman Irrevocable Trust for $4.2 million on June 30.
— Kevin Devaney and Melissa Croatti bought 7 Nubble Point in York from Jennifer and Andrew Amorosi for $3.5 million on June 18.
— Melanie and David Cox bought 909 Princes Point Road in Yarmouth from Thomas Harden for $3.4 million on June 18.
— The BH Family Trust bought 75 Scenic View Drive in Naples from the Denis R. Landrey and Cathleen Landry Revocable Trust for $3.4 million on June 26.
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— April and Joshua Lafrance and Gail Marie Sasseville bought 93 Governors Point Road in Harpswell from Donna B. Barmore for $3.1 million on June 17.
Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall shares her personal experience as a rape survivor, stating her belief in women as Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner faces allegations.
Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall expresses her belief in women as Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner faces rape accusations. Marshall criticizes the Democratic Party for applying a ‘political litmus test’ to sexual assault allegations, emphasizing that physical abuse should not be overlooked based on political affiliation or timing.
Maine folks are being harassed with political ads. We are all sick and tired of the mostly mean-spirited rhetoric appearing constantly in ads, mail and by phone from traditional and super PACS, dousing us with propaganda.
Trust me when I say that we are well aware of how our representatives serve Maine. Their actions or inactions speak volumes.
Here is an impressive action that should be implemented. Make itmandatorythat all out-of-state campaign spenders, who throw obscene amounts of money on political ads regarding Maine candidates, hence disturbing our peace and privacy, must spend the equal amount directly on the people of Maine, who are literally struggling with various affordability crises (too many to list, but felt daily).
Money is no object during an election year, when they want our full attention. If they invested in Maine folks, instead of bombarding us with ads that we ideally tune out, that might get our attention. We are witness to millions of dollars being thrown at ads, as Maine struggles. And that is all we notice.
