Thursday Dirt and Pavement Ride in Conway and Albany

Thursday, September 15th, 2022

This ThursdayBike Ride will be a Dirt and Pavement Adventure hosted by Helle. No Road Bikes, bring a Gravel or Mountain Bike to enjoy this ride.

Ready to Ride at 9:00 am at the Marshall Property Parking area off of West Side Road.

Mileage? 18 miles, some walking will be included.

The ride will take us to the Albany Covered Bridge, logging road "connector" to High Street (USFR380). From High Street we will ride on USFR379 all the way our to West Side Road and back to the Marshall Property Parking lot.

See you out there!

Ride Host needed for Thursday

Thursday, September 8, 2022 

I need a ride host for this Thursday, Anyone interested? I actually need ride hosts for all of the Tuesday and Thursday rides for the fall season.

I will be busy with meetings over the next few weeks, LOTs of really good progress on the xNHAT and associated rails-to-trails projects is happening. I want this momentum to keep going strongly.  One of the projects: a NH connection to the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail via Whitefield and Dalton to St Johnsbury! This is a collaboration with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, we are now a part of their New England Rail Trail Network, 1100 miles of interconnected rail trail in our 6 states. 

I will take a break from the Tuesday and Thursday bike ride planning and weather worrying for the rest of this season, but will resume ThursdaySki when the snow falls and the Tuesday and Thursday bike rides in the spring.  

I request some help in order to try to keep the rides going into the fall. If you can lead a ride, let me know. The rides will be posted on the MVW Bike Club calendar on the website. So, instead of looking for the ride info on this blog, go to:  https://ridewithgps.com/organizations/549-mount-washington-valley-bicycling-club/events.

Let me know if you can hit a ride!  This Thursday needs a host! 

Lancaster to DeBanvilles General Store 9:30 am in Lancaster B/3/49

Thursday September 1, 2022

One of the ThursdayBike Group's favorite places is the Vermont side of the Connecticut River. Vermont Route 102 is a quiet rural road that is very scenic, plenty of Holstein cows along the way. ...very Vermont and very green!

This ride follows the southern section of VT102, starting from Lancaster and ending at DeBanville's General Store in Bloomfield, VT. Get food and ice cream at the lunch stop, but bring some food to have on the bike to fuel you along the way. The store opens at 11:00 am.

Weather: Looks great! 

Ride Starts: 9:30, ready to ride, from the parking lot of Shaw's Supermarket in Lancaster, on the right side of Route 3 North, just north of the town center. The drive takes about an hour to Lancaster from the traffic light in Glen. Dave Sias will be your host for the ride.

Carpool if you like: Meet in the Attitash parking lot, far end away from the lifts, 8:15 am. Otherwise see you in Lancaster.

Terrain: Lots of flat and some very gradual ups and downs, a couple of rolling hills requiring some work. MWV Bike Club Ride Code: B/3/49

How far: 49 miles. See map below. (If you just have to get that 50 mile ride in for your record books - just continue up Route 102 from DeBanville's until your odometer says 25.00 then turn back!!)

Shorter Option?!!! Drive up a bit further up Route 3 north and cross the CT River via the bridge into Guildhall, VT and start from there. Park alongside the Town Green (bear right after you cross the bridge, then make a left alongside the green). This will take 18 miles off and give you a great 31 mile ride. 

Directions: Take Route 302 to the Twin Mountain 4-corners stoplight. Take a right onto Route 3 north. Follow Route 3 though Whitefield, then continue on Route 3 into Lancaster. Shaw's Supermarket is on the right, approximately 0.5 mile north of the center of Lancaster on Route 3. It is across the street from Dunkin Donuts. Park at the part of the lot closest to the road, furthest from the store entrance.

Bring: Snacks and water. 

Map:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13189233

Ride to The Basin 9:30 am B/2/29

Thursday, August 25th, 2022

How about a ride to The Basin?  It is always a beautiful, fun ride, roads are quiet and the weather looks good! 

Meet in North Fryeburg at the corner of South Chatham Road and Route 113, in the park next to the Saco Valley Fire Station. As you already know, please do not block the fire station parking area. There is no porta potty there, but there is one at the Little White Church, so stop there on the way, or, we will bike by it on our way out for another opportunity. 

Start, Ready to Ride, at 9:30 am

We will head to Fish Street first and MacNeil, then out on Union Hill and Meadow to the Stow Store and do the loop section the counterclockwise way then up 113 to The Basin.

Heading back will be a good ride, a few uphills, but mostly downhill, hope for a tailwind!

Total mileage: 29.   This ride allows for many options to shorten or lengthen the ride and choice of route to get from place to place. 

If you want a longer ride, start at the Maine Visitor's Center to add a total of 18 more miles (9 miles each way), for a total of 47 relatively easy miles. If you start riding from the Visitor's Center by 8:40 you should easily meet the group at the Fire Station or at the little white church as they turn onto Fish Street to head to MacNeil. 

Here is a map:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/30519118

RIde Cancelled due to Rainy Weather

Thursday August 18th, 2022

Thursday's forecast looks rainy and gloomy, so let's just cancel the ride and wait until better weather next week!

We need this rain, it is nice to have it.

Fryeburg and Monotomy Road plus Froagies Ice Cream 9:30 am B/2/22

Thursday August 11, 2022

Let's try a ride out of the Fryeburg Visitor's Center for this Thursday. I have been frustrated with all the varieties of weather forecasts over the past few days, and no matter how hard I have tried to outsmart the showers, we have been rained upon or totally soaked... but then the sun came out!

According to the current forecasts, it should be OK to ride starting at 9:30 tomorrow and do a relatively short and easy out/back spin on the bike path, cruise the backstreets of Fryeburg Village then head out Ice House Road to Menotomy Road. We can add Froagie's Ice Cream Shop (Laurel's favorite) to the ride.

We will have a few guests joining us for ride! Both Barbara and I have visitors who like to bike! Yay!

Meet at the Maine Visitor's Center in Fryeburg, just over the state line on Route 302.

Be ready to ride at 9:30 am. 

Here is a map of the ride: 

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13100838

Wonalancet Loop. 9:00 am B/3/23

Thursday, August 4, 2022

Rachel and Deborah will host The Wonalancet Loop!  This is a really scenic ride in Tamworth and Wonalancet. Rachel has shown us the dirt roads of Tamworth, but this time, she and Deb will show you the scenic paved roads! 

Meet in Tamworth Village, in the public parking lot just after the Distillery, There is a porta potty there.

Be ready to ride at 9:00....beat the heat!

The ride is about 23 miles with about 1200 feet of elevation gain.

The club rating for this ride is B/3/23

Here is a map:  Note that this map starts the route at the school, but Rachel and Deborah's ride will start at the public parking lot in Tamworth Village, next to the distillery:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27349245

Six Lighthouses Ride in South Portland 10:00am B/2/38

Thursday, July 28th, 2022

For this Thursday... Field Trip to Portland! 

(As of Wednesday at 2:00:  There is still room to sign up!)

Club Member Vince Pelote has organized a ride for us in his home town area of South Portland, Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough, Maine. The ride will travel by 6 lighthouses and will include a section of the Eastern Trail in Scarborough. The ride is mostly on pavement, the section in Scarborough Marsh is hard packed dirt, relatively short and OK for a road bike.

After the ride, Vince was able to reserve tables outside on a deck for 20 participants from 3:00 to 5:00 at the restaurant in the marina next to where lives: "Bistro 43".  We will get the Happy Hour specials and lunch menu. Because space is limited, can you RSVP to me as soon as possible if you want to ride and to get a seat?  Can you get back to me by Wednesday early evening if you want to join in so that Vince can finalize the restaurant reservations? 

There are bathrooms, changing rooms and showers at the marina.

Info on the ride:

The ride is 38 miles, club code B/2/38. Not a hilly ride (1200 feet of gain)

Bring snacks and lunch.

Meet a the Bistro 43 parking lot at 10:00 am, Ready to Ride. It is located at Spring Point Marina near Bug Light in South Portland, the address is:  

1 Spring Point Drive, South Portland, ME

The website is:  https://north43bistro.com

RSVP to Marianne:  marianneborowski@yahoo.com

The ride will start from there and follow a loop with out/backs starting along the shore to see all of the lighthouses. 

Here is a map of the ride:

https://strava.app.link/CIaSHpLbtrb

...or try this if the other doesn't work:  https://www.strava.com/activities/7415980307?share_sig=24EA886B1657200583&utm_medium=social&utm_source=ios_share

Weather cancels the Thursday Ride again

 Thursday, July 21, 2022

With thunderstorms predicted after noontime and the hot weather, I think it best to cancel the ThursdayBike ride this week.

 I am looking forward to a better forecast for biking next week! 

RIde Cancelled for July 14th due to the weather forecast

Thursday July 14th, 2022

Because yesterday's Tuesday Dirt and Pavement riders met a soaking 15 minute downpour (but followed by sunshine and blue sky), and then I got wet again later that afternoon as I biked to retrieve my car from the service shop... I think it best to cancel this week's ride due to the chances of rain and thunderstorms over most of the day.

Update on The Bus:  Dan was able to get it all set and registered so it made its debut on Sunday, transporting 16 cyclists and 16 bikes from Bethel to Woodsville. Of the group 15 are from Washington DC and one is from Albany, NH. They did 3 days on the xNHAT,  1 day of hiking. They finished today and received their Celebratory Embroidered End-to-Ender Patches!

Dan will still take us on a bus ride so that we can enjoy a one way trip back. Stay tuned, this may happen next Thursday!

ThursdayBike: A test of a new shuttle bus and one-way ride back from Jefferson to Gorham. 11:00

UPDATE as of Wednesday afternoon:

Unfortunately....Dan cannot bring the bus to do the loading test and the shuttle for us. After preparing the bus for inspection, and painting it, too, he brought it to the DMV today for the inspection. Turns out he needs the DOT to do the inspection, not the DMV, because of the conversion of the school bus to an alternate use. The DOT does inspections once a month, and that will be in 2 weeks.  When the bus is all set and inspected, we will try to set up a shuttle trip again (maybe a VT side of the CT River ride, one way!)

The plan for this Thursday will still be to meet at the rail trail parking lot on Route 2 at 11:00 am for a ride up the Presidential Rail Trail. We can look for the beavers that have been very active in the ponds, and check out Rollo Falls and then have a 10 mile downhill ride back to our cars. 

ThursdayBike Returns:  July 7, 2022!   

I am going to start up the ThursdayBike rides again!

This is a unique Thursday Ride:  Dan the Shuttle Man, who is a shuttle driver for The Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail, has a new shuttle vehicle: a renovated school bus. He wants to test the bus and his inside bike rack system before his first official clients later this month. The bus can take 16 passengers with their bicycles. 

For using us as his test case, he has offered to give us a shuttle, for free, so that he can evaluate the rack system that he built. 

On THURSDAY, July 7th, meet at the Presidential Rail Trail Parking lot on Route 2 in Gorham at 11:00 am. We will load up the bus with the bikes and us, and Dan will transport us to Jefferson up on the hill to the general store/gas station where we have often stopped for a lunch break. He will drop us off there and we will enjoy the excellent, scenic downhill ride back down to Israel River Road, Valley Road, and the take rail trail back downhill to our cars in Gorham.

A stop a the Big Day Brewing Company would be a good apres-bike celebration?

A hybrid or gravel bike is best for this ride, mountain bikes will be OK, too. 

The ride is about 19 miles, here is the map:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/40079997

This first Thursday in June might be rainy, check back on Wednesday for a better forecast!

 Thursday June 2, 2022

The long range forecast indicates rain on this coming Thursday. Check back here on Wednesday, the forecast might be trustable by then!

The Ride is on Tuesday May 24th this week

Thursday's (May 26) weather looks rainy, so check out the info for a ride on Tuesday, May 24th... it will be the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, stating at 10:00 at the trailhead in St Johnsbury.

Lamoille Valley Rail Trail 9:30 am

Thursday, May 19, 2022

The May 19th ride HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO RAINY  WEATHER!  

Look for this ride on the Lamoille Valley RT NEXT WEEK, likely on Tuesday, at present the weather looks ok for next Tuesday, but lots of time for changes in the forecast to occur!

Rail Trail Ride!

The eastern end of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail runs about 16.5 miles from St. Johnsbury to Danville, ending at Joe's Pond.  This section is a part of an ongoing construction project to create the longest continuous rail trail in New England, stretching 93 miles across Vermont from St. Johnsbury to St. Albans. The 93 miles will be done in November, 2022. There are efforts underway to continue the rail trail eastward to connect into New Hampshire!

The surface is hard packed smooth stone dust, in really good condition. There are tunnels and bridges, lots of forest, good views of the Vermont hillsides and some lakeside biking. When we have done the trail in the past, there were bikers, pedestrians, dog walkers, and horses out enjoying the trail. The weather forecast looks good for this out-of-the-valley-experience. 

The surface is fine for most bikes.  The trail climbs gradually all the way to Danville, a gradual climb. The downhill trip back is a hoot!  It is certainly the easiest, flattest way to travel east-west across any part of Vermont!! A Thank You to the railroad designers, and surveyors.

Check out the website:  www.lvrt.org

Round trip we will have a 33 mile car-free adventure!!

Time:  Ready to ride at the Lamoille Valley Rail Trailhead at 9:30 am. It is about 1 hour 15 minute drive. No porta-potty at the trailhead, so stop at the Welcome to Vermont Visitor's Center on the right side of Route 93 soon after you cross the CT River.

Carpool? If you like, meet at Attitash parking lot, far end away from the lifts, at 8:00 am to carpool, otherwise, meet at the trailhead in St Johnsbury. 

Bring snacks and lunch or stop at the General Store near Joes Pond. We can eat at picnic tables on the beach at Joe's Pond. Might be too cold for swimming this time. 

See you Thursday!

Directions:

Take Route 302 over Crawford Notch towards Bethlehem and get onto Route 93 north to Vermont. At the Route 91 interchange, go north on 91 for a very short distance, hardly off the entrance ramp. Take this first exit (Exit 20, Route 5) then take a right at the end of the ramp and go a short distance, noticing the sign for the bike path on the right. It is called Railroad Street or Main Street depending on map. Take the right and then immediate right again down a short steep slope into the trailhead parking lot. It is a very quick succession of right, right, right, right. The map app says it is a 1 hour 15 minute drive.

Tuesday D+P is Thursday this week: Wild River Road, 10:00 am

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Tuesday D+P is Thursday this week!

Wild River Road is a really nice dirt road that goes alongside the Wild River in Evans Notch. It leads to a campground. It is a scenic gradual uphill at river grade, easy. On past rides, we have enjoyed lunch on the rocks, riverside. Looks like the weather may allow us to dine in the sunshine on the rocks this time, too!

The ride starts in Shelburne Village, NH, at the Chester Hayes Memorial Park. We head to North Road and ride to the iron bridge over the Androscoggin River. We ride over the bridge and stop for a nice river view. Continue to Route 2, take a right and after a short distance, turn left onto Route 113, the road to Evans Notch. This is a beautiful ride along the Wild River. After 3.3 miles, we take a right onto a dirt road, Wild River Road, that leads 5 miles to a backcountry campground. Ride this out and back.  Lunch break on the rocks in the sunshine.

Distance: About 30 miles. 20 miles on pavement and 10 miles on a good dirt road.

Time: Meet at the park in Shelburne ready to ride at 10:00 am.

Bike: A mountain bike will be OK, but a Hybrid, All-Road or Gravel bike is better due to the 20 miles on pavement. A road bike with wider tires can work also.

Meeting place and parking: Start from Shelburne Village, just off Meadow Road (a left turn off of Route 2 about 5 miles east from the Route 16/2 junction in Gorham). After turning left into Meadow from Route 2, take a quick right onto Village Road. Take a quick left into the Chester Hayes Memorial Park and park on the left, off the dirt pathway on the grass.  It is about a 40 minute drive from Glen. There is a Porta Potty in the field! 

If you want to carpool, meet in Jackson, in the parking lot across the street from the J-Town Deli at 9:00 am. Otherwise, see you in Shelburne!

Map:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28390552

ThursdayBike 2022

May 1st, 2022

ThursdayBike will be delayed a bit this season. I will be concentrating more on the Tuesday Dirt and Pavement Rides early in the season. 

Check the bike club calendar for the link to Tuesday Dirt and Pavement:, or go directly using this:  www.tuesdaydirtnpavement.blogspot.com.

ThursdaySki in March!

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Hey.....When are we going to start ThursdaySki?

Argh......I am concerned about the Omicron variant issues. I have been hesitant to put together a large group of skiers, and I think it best that we continue to delay starting up this event until after the current surge settles down.

How about if I set a goal to set up epic, sunny skiing Thursdays for the Spring Skiing Season??  Check this blog in March!

I hope for more snow to give us a deep base so that we can ski throughout March and into April... t-shirt skiing and crust cruising!

Stay healthy and keep skiing!!

MB