Tuesday, October 5, 2021

The Andover Ride

 Thursday, October 7, 2020

Looks like Thursday's weather will be a mid October gift!  Let's take advantage of it and do the Andover Ride. 
The route to Andover from Bethel is a gem, a ThursdayBike favorite, worth the drive to Bethel. It is an extension of the North Road ride! It is a beautiful route on quiet roads. It is not a hard ride, only some short grinder hills on Intervale Road within the first 10 miles (and last 10 miles). The remainder of the ride is pleasantly gentle and scenic.

Start at little Davis Park on the Androscoggin River in Bethel 
(where we picnic at the end of the North Road ride) and go north on Intervale Road to where it ends at Route 232 in Rumford Corner.  Take a left and cross the Androscoggin River on the new bridge. A very short ride on Route 2 then right on Whippoorwill Road to Andover Road and eventually into the center of Andover where there is a perfect town green with gazebo for lunching. There has been port potty there.

Return south on Route 5 for a short distance, then cross the Lovejoy Covered Bridge (Maine's shortest covered bridge) then retrace the route back to the cars.

Total distance: 49 miles   (a short out and back on the bike path and wham,  you get a 50 miler)


Lunch: Bring your own, I don't think there are any options for food in Andover anymore.

Starting Time: 9:30 am Ready To Ride from Davis 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, park near the convenience store/Dunkin Donuts on Route 2 where the bike path crosses the Androscoggin River, or at the Bethel Chamber of Commerce.

Carpool: If you want to carpool, meet in Jackson at the parking lot across from the J-Town Deli at 8:15 am, otherwise meet everyone in Bethel at Davis Park.

Shorter Options:  
Park along the edge of Intervale Road, north of our starting point. You can cut out up to 16 miles this way (it is 8 miles to the intersection with East Bethel Road, located on the right off of Intervale Road where the cows are), and avoid the 2 hills at the very end of the ride!  Meet with everyone else at the park at 9:30, then drive up a ways, park, hop on your bike and join the group as we ride by! 

To see a map of the ride (almost exact, the one below has an extra 2 miles that are not included in Thursday's ride) click the link:
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/25168624

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