Over The River & Through The Woods *

What a ride I had yesterday! I broke 2 personal records on the ride- furthest point north in NH on a bike, and longest in-state ride. I made it as far north as Groveton (about a half hour south of Colebrook). The trip was 6 hours, 350 miles. Not bad for a work day!

As is typical, I started off the ride with no idea where I was going to end up. But I felt like covering some distance, so I stayed on Rt 16 to get some miles under my belt rather quickly. I soon decided to continue on that route and ride up through Pinkham Notch, since it's beautiful up there and Mt. Washington was the northern most point I've been on a bike. I started entertaining the idea of hitting the Canada border as my goal for the day, but it soon became apparent that the time I had for the day wouldn't allow for it. Instead I decided to just head for the North Country and see what there is to see up there.

After passing through Conway, I came into Jackson, where Laura and I had stayed at the Inn in January. I remembered a suggestion from my Motorcycle Journeys Through New England book and turned right toward Jackson center (16a). There is a loop off this loop known as Rt. 16B that the author recommended. I soon found out why. It was very winding and had lots of ups and downs, views of the valley, and a great river that looked right out of a page of the Kangamangus, complete with little waterfalls and swimming holes. I'm surprised this road was designated 16b. It had all the look and feel of a non-number designated back road. Indeed, Microsoft Streets & Trips does not show a 16B. It was about a 15 minute side trip and very worth it. I will return next time I come through the area.

Back on 16, I made my way toward Pinkham Notch. Heading through the Notch was incredible. Unfortunately the day had a thick haze and was mostly cloudy, so Mt. Washington was nowhere to be seen even as I rode right by the end of the auto road. A deciding factor that had me skipping the auto road. Besides, I'd like to bring Laura when I take that next. Nevertheless, the views were still incredible, and the steep slopes on both side of the road put a smile on my face. Just after cresting the notch and beginning my decent toward Gorham, I noticed a stopped SUV and directly behind it was standing a moose, who was lazily making its way toward the road. The man in the SUV was understandably nervous that he was about to witness a tragic head-to-head momentum match between beast and machine (with unlucky rider), but I had seen him the from the moment I rounded the corner. Not knowing this though, he jumped out of his truck and began frantically waving his hands in the air and pointing at the moose. As I got closer the moose started to trot across the road and by this point I was close enough that I got a great show as he darted in front of my now stopped bike and quickly disappeared into the vegetation on the other side. A much more enjoyable nature show than the night before (see previous blog entry).

I rode Rt. 16 until I made it into Gorham where I stopped for gas, and then made my way into Berlin. From there I branched off and took Rt 110 west for 25 miles to Groveton. My map showed a dotted line next to this road indicating it was scenic. It was a nice ride, but not as scenic as I had expected. The main appeal to this leg of the day (and more to follow) was the feeling I began to get of remoteness. There was very little traffic on this road, and even fewer dwellings, so I began to feel like I had the place all to myself, which always enhances a ride by leaps and bounds. The little traffic I did see was made up by a large portion by other bikers, happily waving as they rode by.

As I reached Groveton, my watch was saying it was 3:30. At this point it was time to start heading south again. I had already been riding for 3 hours and had been heading away from home the entire time. Not before a little bit more great riding however.

First I headed south on Rt. 3, which is a relatively large artery for the area, so it was back into what civilization is around up there for a time. I kept thinking over and over up there how run-down and trashy everything up there is. Houses were dumpy shacks, with loads of rusting crap in the yard. Businesses were dumpy or boarded up. I could tell that money is not all that easy to come by in the North Country. And as pretty as the roads are up there, that is why I could never move to the area. (I'm sure there are tons of jobs available for Software Engineers up there!)

From here, I began to take some more suggestions from my Motorcycle Journeys Through New England book. One of the NH day trips involves this area and I'm hoping to take his suggested route sometime this summer. I couldn't remember much of it, and I didn't have enough time left to take much of it anyway, but I got on 135 south from Lancaster which was a beautiful ride and one the author suggests. This was soon surpassed by taking a left onto 142 south. This was one of the highlights of the day. Twisty backroad, and no traffic. Again, I had the road to myself and took full advantage. I continued on this great find until I made my way to Rt 93 in Franconia, 40 miles north of Plymouth. It being a TAC night, and me still being hours and hours away from home at 4:30 or so, I decided to call it a day on the back road cruising and hop on the interstate. I settled in at a good 85-90mph clip and started to cover some quick ground toward home.

The scenery was not over yet however, as I made my way through Franconia notch and past Canon Mtn, and what used to be the Old Man of the Mountain. The interstate through the notch is one lane in either direction and the steep slopes on either side are steeper and closer than Pinkham. I looked up at a grassy trail on Canon and thought how I had stood at the crest of the trail last winter tooking down and taking pictures of the interstate and thinking to myself how close it was. Now I was looking back at the other side of the same coin.

It was back to reality time when I was stuck in rush hour traffic around 6ish in Manchester. From there I got on 101 east for the final leg home. I had to stop in Epping for gas again. That's probably another first- using over a full tank of gas on a day ride. I rolled back into the driveway at 6:30, 6 hours after starting.

What a day!