Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Snowville Loop 9:00 am

Thursday, July 31st

There is a chance of a showers late Thursday morning and afternoon, but I am posting this relatively short, close to home ride. It might be just fine for a ride! Might not!  The longer I wait to post a ride, the more questionable the weather becomes. Make your final decision in the morning. If it is raining or soon to rain, I will not ride.


To avoid the traffic in Conway Village and some road work on the northern end of Route 153, meet at the riverside park, on the right, just past the police station on East Conway Road. Drive down the entrance road to the parking and picnic area on the Saco River.


The ride goes back out to East Conway Road, then left to the stop sign, take a left onto Route 302, cross the Saco River, take a left at the lights to head towards Center Conway, then take a right onto Mill Street to ride by the beach on Conway Lake, up Brownfield Road to Hampshire St, and up the famous Asparagus Hill. This hill is the yearly test of how far you can ride up before having to jump off the bike before tipping over...


The reward is then a great ride to Crystal Lake. You may be able to picnic there, but since most of us are not Eaton residents they may not let us hoodlums enter. Try the picnic tables located in the pines on the lake a short distance down 153 on the left, before the Eaton Store.


Return by Route 153 to Stark Road (right turn at a four corners. This is a nice riding road that cuts out half of route 153 and avoids Conway Village lights and traffic). When you come to the end of Stark Road, where it meets route 113, you can take a right onto Odell Hill Road, which runs parallel to route 113 for a short distance. Then you pop out back on 113 and come to the lights at Route 302 where you go left. Take the right back onto East Conway Road and right again after the police station into the park. Take a dip in the river if you like!

Distance = 25 miles 


Meet at the riverside park next to the police station on East Conway Road.

Ready to Ride at 9:00 am! 

Here is a map of the ride!


http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/21252684

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Apple Acres Ride 9:00 am

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Dave and Connie have put together great rides in the Brownfield, Denmark, Hiram and Cornish area. Their Apple Acres ride looks like yet another great ride, so let's do it this Thursday!  Parts of this ride have been in various Saturday rides, so you may occasionally get that déjà vu feeling, again. 

Start the ride from the Brownfield Community Center, head south down Route 160, turn left on Tripptown Road, left on Durgintown Rd. Stop at Apple Acres for snacks.  Continue and turn left on River Rd to Hiram.  Ride north on route 113 a short distance and take a left on Notch Road. Take a right back onto route 160 and head back to the Community Center.

Distance is about 35 miles. You can make this a forty miler by returning via the Denmark obelisk, if you like. 

Meet at the Brownfield Community Center ready to ride at 9:00. To drive there from the Conway area, take route 302 just over the border into Maine, take a right onto Haleytown Road to the stop sign, then left onto Hampshire. Bear left at the Y junction with route 160, the community center will be a short distance on your right. 


.....I will put together a map and post it here late afternoon on Wednesday....

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Bretton Woods to Wing Road to Whitefield, 9:00 start

Thursday, July 17th, 2014

I have returned from 6 wonderful weeks of exploration and adventure by bike and car. I have ridden my bike in 13 states, enjoying everything from flatlands to endless climbing, catfish to Kentucky BBQ. There are really amazing rail trails in the mid west and mid Atlantic states (many are more than 50 miles in length, some are 100's of miles long).  It was great to explore what each state proudly had to offer for biking on their rail trail and greenway systems. There is huge support for these tourist-attracting recreational paths!

It is also great to be back, and when the rain stops it will be great to enjoy all the biking we have here. 

The weather will be much better tomorrow, but I decided to do a closer-to-home ride. This is one that we have not done for ThursdayBike in awhile. 

We start at the Bretton Woods Ski Area, parking in the lot near the entrance across from the fitness center. Then head west on 302 straight through the lights at Twin Mountain to River Road and Wing Road (along the Ammonoosuc River) to Route 116 to Whitefield. We can eat lunch and/or ice cream at the gazebo on the town green in Whitefield, then head out a mile on route 116 to Hazen Road. Hazen Road takes us to the small airport and wood chip power plant that goes past the entrance to the Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge. There is a climb here up to Route 115 and the scenic vista, then downhill back to route 3 and route 302. The northwest wind hopefully will power us back to our cars.

Total Loop from Bretton Woods parking lot: 37 miles.

Shorter, but still a loop - start at Zealand parking lot on the north side of route 302 for 29 miles. Look for riders passing by at about 9:30. Or park at the visitor center/tourist info gazebo at the Twin Mt 4 corners where routes 302 and 3 cross at the light.  This will make a 25 miler. 

Let's meet at 9:00 am, ready to ride at the big parking lot across from the Bretton Woods Fitness center building. The fitness center is on your right just after you enter into the Bretton Woods Ski Area road.

Carpool? If you want to carpool, meet at Attitash in the parking lot across from the lifts at 8:15. 


Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Summer in Brownfield 9:00 am

Thursday, July 10, 2013

How about the Brownfield Loop -- it has options for long or short versions that you can choose from, depending on your energy level.

Meet: Maine Visitors Center, Fryeburg. It is on the right, just over the NH-ME border on Route 302.

Time: Ready to ride at 9:00 am

Distance 32 or 21 miles

Longer option: Cross route 5/113 and get some hill climbing on the triangle loop. 32 miles total
Shorter, easier option: 21 miles (does not include the hilly triangle on the east side of route 5/113). There are options to make this ride even shorter if desired. 

I will join you next week.... Have a great ride!!


Map:

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

North Road to Bethel 9:00 am

Thursday, July 3, 2014

With the upcoming 4th of July weekend, the traffic in the valley has been increasing. The North Road is always a good place to get a calmer, quieter place to ride.

Start at the intersection of North Road and Hogan Road, on the north side of the Androscoggin River, ready to ride at 9:00 am.

To get to this point, drive north over Pinkham Notch on Route 16. Turn right at the intersection with route 2 in Gorham. Drive about 3 miles, and turn left onto North Road, just after a beautiful stone house and barn. Cross the river at the dam, and proceed about 1/4 mile to where North Road bears sharply right. Hogan Road, a dirt road with access to several trail heads, comes in from the left, and there is a dirt parking area there. (Those of you from the Fryeburg area probably do best by driving up and over Evans Notch).

The entire ride on North Road to the picnic area alongside the river in Bethel, and back, is 39 miles. The ride is not difficult - it has a mix of flat sections, rolling hills, a few short granny gear climbs, lots of farm and mountain scenery and occasional views of the river. Near the end, just before reaching Route 2/Route 5, there is a bike path that turns right at a red fire hydrant and goes behind the water slide park. The path goes for 1.1 miles, ending at a nice riverside picnic spot (and porta-potty).
Although there are many options for food in Bethel, it easiest to bring your own lunch.

Shorter Options:

Option 1. For the best shorter option, do the eastern (Bethel) portion of North Road. This starts at the Gilead bridge at a parking area for boaters. This option allows you to meet up with everyone and have lunch together at the riverside park. This is a 20 mile option.

Drive to the Gilead steel trestle bridge (Bridge Street) via Route 2 (look for it on the left soon after the intersection with the road that goes over Evans Notch - after the new Route 2 bridge), park at the canoe parking area on the southwest side of the bridge, ride across the bridge and join the riders there as they ride by on North Road at about 10:45.
You could also drive from the Hogan Road parking area 9.3 miles down North Road where you will come to an intersection with the bridge on your right. Starting at the bridge and riding to Bethel will give you a 20 mile round trip. To lengthen this a bit, start earlier, cross the bridge, turn left and ride until you meet the riders coming from Hogan Road. Turn and join in with the group!

Option 2:

If you wish to start at the Hogan Road parking area, you can ride out with the group and turn back when you've had enough:

To Shelburne and back is 10.2 miles round trip
To the Gilead steel trestle bridge is 18.6 miles round trip

CARPOOLING: To carpool, meet in Jackson at the golf course parking lot across from the J-Town Deli at 8:00 if you can either take a bike or two in/on your car, or if you would like to join a carpool.

For a map you can play with, click on: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/871217

If you cannot get this link to work, go to www.mapmyride.com and search for the ride called: "North Road to Bethel". All my rides on this site are listed under "marianneb".