Riding the White Mountains

After a quick stop in Montpelier to do laundry and run the trails at Hubbard Park, I ran into the White Mountains of New Hampshire. And the first thing that struck me was, alongside the beautiful, colorful, tree-lined roads was a nice wide, shoulder for cycling. And excellent roadway almost everywhere. Similar to the Adirondacks of New York, but with much less traffic and generally less rushed drivers. I had to ride. Luckily for me, I happened to meet up with some others who had come into town with the same idea and already a big route in mind. And so it was, I set out with the three of them for one of the most awesome rides yet.

In front of the Capitol Building in Montpelier.

Near the top of Kancamagus Pass. This was quite the climb.

Mt Washington and hotel in the distance.

Towards the end of the ride, crossing a bridge on a dedicated bike path just north of the town of Lincoln, close to the highway.

The bike trail was so beautiful. And quite dangerous in this direction. It was full of sharp, twists and turns, and mostly downhill. Tons of fun!

All in all, the ride totaled over 80 miles with a ton of climbing, each with an amazing, fun, and long descent. The route we took started just north of the town of Lincoln where the bike path starts/ends and travels down highway 3 south, and all downhill, into town, and the continues east along 112 up over Kancamagus Pass and then takes a left up Bearnotch Road (good, short climb), and then back west onto 302 to form a big loop (if I remember correctly, it was a long day...) with two long climbs (and descents) and two short ones with the rest being mostly rolling hills. An awesome day of riding with some great people who had come all the way up from the Boston area just for this.

This spot was missed along the ride as it was on the first big descent from the pass, but I didn't miss it on my way out of town!

Very interesting to see large patches of grass with no trees on this hillside.

New Hampshire. An amazing place for cycling. Who knew? Well, now. You do. And I do.