Mike and I hadn't been up to the house in Maine in two months, so we decided it was time to head up to make sure all was well (and to clean up mouse poop, and set the traps!).
This morning, we drove over to Glen, NH, and parked at Storyland. We unloaded the 'cross bikes, and set off under beautiful sunny skies and warm temps to get in some good miles, and a climb or two.
First up - climbing Bear Notch from 302 in Bartlett, NH over to the Kancamangus Highway. The roads were a bit wet, but the views and the colors were spectacular! I would say that this weekend is peak foliage in the North country, and you could tell all the leaf-peepers were out ;-).
After descending down to the Kanc, it was time to head up. This climb isn't steep, but it is relentless - going on, and on and on, with no breaks. And today, we did it into a headwind - just to add insult to injury. Once we reached the top, we decided not to go with the original plan (which called for a descent into Lincoln and then continuing over Franconia Notch to Twin Mountain and then down Crawford Notch to return to Glen), and headed back down the way we came. Going up at between 7 and 8 mph turned into a tailwind-aided 40+ mph descent! It was fast, and surprisingly, COLD!
We climbed back up over Bear Notch and headed into Conway on West Side Road, and then back 302 and 16A to the car. We were cooked - 4 hours and 62 miles with A LOT (approx. 3500 ft) of climbing. But, it was a beautiful day, and as tired as we are, it was a great day.
I'll have to post pics tomorrow, since blogger isn't currently cooperating.
Oh - and NEBC became famous with pics up on cyclingnews.com! Thanks to Geoff for taking some awesome shots on the first day of Gloucester.
1 comment:
Foliage is nowhere near peak in the Hudson River Valley. Glad to know the leaves are somewhere, though.
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