The traffic in the valley these August days is really heavy, and any local ride I have done lately has been sharing the road with a continual line of traffic. I think that until Labor Day is over, I will be setting up Thursday rides that are out of this valley in as quiet a place as possible for our enjoyment and safety!
The ride I would like to do on Thursday is a new one to ThursdayBike but is one of my favorite rides. Do you like the North Road to Bethel Ride? This is an extension of it!
We routinely ride North Road about 20 miles from Gorham to Bethel then eat our lunch at the park on the river. Less than 0.1 mile from the park, Intervale Road heads north along the east side of the Androscoggin River all the way to West Rumford. (Carters XC Ski area is on this road). It is quiet because all of the car and truck traffic stays on Route 2, which is on the west side of the river. From West Rumford, the route crosses the Androscoggin and Route 2 and continues to head North to Andover following the Ellis River Valley.
Andover has a couple of good lunch spots and a nice shady town green with picnic tables, so either bring a lunch or buy one there. The weather forecast looks great, so the views should be excellent, and a tailwind all the way home...
Total distance: 49 miles (No notches! Not hard! You can do it!)
Shorter options: (but, I really want you to do all of it!) To the Lovejoy Covered Bridge (Maine's shortest covered bridge) in South Andover (No lunch!) 40 miles. To The Androscoggin River in West Rumford (No Lunch!) 25 miles.
Starting Time: 9:30 am Ready To Ride from the riverside park at the end of the bike path in Bethel on Route 26 (our usual lunch stop with picnic tables, porta-potties and playground).
Parking: There are not a lot of parking spaces at the riverside park! If the lot is full, you can park along Main Street in Bethel, also there is parking near the convenience store/DunkinDonuts on Route 2 right at where the bike path crosses the river on its own bridge. I also noticed parking spaces on the right side of Lincoln Road which is a right turn off of Parkway Road (runs parallel to the bikepath). Wherever you park, just ride your bike down to meet the riders at the park at 9:30 am.
Carpool: Meet at Grant's parking lot in Glen at 8:10 am
Driving to Bethel: There is a lot of construction on Route 2 from Gilead to Bethel - lots of delays and one way traffic. Best plan to drive Route 2, past the junction with Route 113 (Evans Notch), continuing on Route 2 about 0.3 mile and take a left turn (Bridge Street) to cross the Androscoggin on the Gilead iron bridge. Take a right onto North Road and continue in peace and quiet to Bethel. Take a right at the end onto Route 2, then next left at the blinking light onto Parkway Road that leads to the riverside park on route 26.
To see a map of the ride click either the link or the button below ( I will bring printed maps for you):
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/me/-bethel/842125004396560418
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