October 27, 2009
Marianne has been working overtime. She's found a great ride for us in Lovell. There aren't enough O's in COOL to describe this ride.
We'll start out at the Lovell Historical Society and take Old Waterford Road to the Kezar Falls Gorge, an outstanding natural wonder. It will feel like the week of Halloween here as it is in the middle of nowhere. To loop back to our start we'll take ATV Trails through creepy hemlock forests and spooky scrub woods. You'll breath a sigh of relief to be away from the haunted and isolated back country, when you see familiar territory.
There are a few hills and you may want to walk up one or two. Otherwise the terrain will be relatively easy to cover. The surface will be pavement, dirt and packed, pretty firm, sandy soil. We should cover about 13 - 15 miles.
Please be ready to ride at 11:00am. Park in the lot which is on the left, just across from the historical society building 1.5 miles past the intesection of routes 93 and 5 in Lovell. To get to Lovell take route 5 north out of Fryeburg, Me. Please arrange your own carpooling.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Bretton Woods Triangle
Tuesday October 20th, 2009
This week we’ll have a really fun adventure in Bretton Woods. Several of you have said that you’d be interested in just exploring an area some Tuesday morning. Well this ride is for you. The area that lies inside the perimeter defined by Mt. Clinton Road, Cog Base Road and Route 302 in Bretton Woods has lots of ride able trails in the National Forest. When I was checking out the logistics for this ride, on Saturday, the views were magnificent. The Presidentials were most imposing and they have shed their summer coat and are now wearing winter white. Even though the temperature hovered around fifty, it was quite comfortable with warm pants and a fleece top over a turtleneck.
We’ll all be discovering this area together. I have a general plan for the ride that will get us started and we can improvise, at will, on this base route. The surface appeared to include wide woods paths, jeep trails and some double track. Expect to encounter surfaces that are dirt, grass covered and gravel and don’t forget rocks and roots and mud.
We’ll meet in the Attitash parking lot at 9:45 am for carpooling. The ride will start from the turn out for the Upper Ammonoosuc Falls on the Cog Base Road. It is a little more than 2.5 miles in from Route 302. There is a small bridge across the river here. If you don’t see a bridge across the river you are probably at the middle falls turn out and you need to travel a little further up the road towards the cog station. Please be ready to ride at 11:00am.
Bright clothing is recommended. It's that time of year.
This week we’ll have a really fun adventure in Bretton Woods. Several of you have said that you’d be interested in just exploring an area some Tuesday morning. Well this ride is for you. The area that lies inside the perimeter defined by Mt. Clinton Road, Cog Base Road and Route 302 in Bretton Woods has lots of ride able trails in the National Forest. When I was checking out the logistics for this ride, on Saturday, the views were magnificent. The Presidentials were most imposing and they have shed their summer coat and are now wearing winter white. Even though the temperature hovered around fifty, it was quite comfortable with warm pants and a fleece top over a turtleneck.
We’ll all be discovering this area together. I have a general plan for the ride that will get us started and we can improvise, at will, on this base route. The surface appeared to include wide woods paths, jeep trails and some double track. Expect to encounter surfaces that are dirt, grass covered and gravel and don’t forget rocks and roots and mud.
We’ll meet in the Attitash parking lot at 9:45 am for carpooling. The ride will start from the turn out for the Upper Ammonoosuc Falls on the Cog Base Road. It is a little more than 2.5 miles in from Route 302. There is a small bridge across the river here. If you don’t see a bridge across the river you are probably at the middle falls turn out and you need to travel a little further up the road towards the cog station. Please be ready to ride at 11:00am.
Bright clothing is recommended. It's that time of year.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Cancelled
October 13th Ride
It looks like we're in for a chilly and wet morning tomorrow. All the forecasts indicate that the temps will be in the mid to upper 30's in the morning and that it will rain and/or snow. SNOW!?! Let's wait for next week to ride again.
It looks like we're in for a chilly and wet morning tomorrow. All the forecasts indicate that the temps will be in the mid to upper 30's in the morning and that it will rain and/or snow. SNOW!?! Let's wait for next week to ride again.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Don't Miss This Ride!!!
October 6, 2009
This is it the ride you have been waiting for, Pondicherry! We’ll start at the western terminus of The Presidential Range Rail Trail and pedal through almost four miles of The Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge where the views are absolutely magnificent. Then we’ll head for more open vistas on three miles of paved country road and another three plus miles on the dirt Valley Road. When we reach Jefferson Notch Road we will return to Pondicherry on The Rail Trail. In all we’ll cover about 18 miles with breath taking fall foliage views.
The rail trail has a pretty firm surface and is a combination of dirt, gravel, stone, cinder and ballast. Today, after last night’s copious rain, there were spots with about 1 to 2 inches of water on the trail. Since the rail bed is firm it was easy to ride over these areas. And we can expect a little less water on the trail by Tuesday. Also there are a couple of spots on the rail trail where the stones are loose, some may want to walk across these areas. This is a pretty flat route with no major hills.
The drive to and through Crawford Notch is just stunning right now. So take route 302 through Bretton Woods and at the traffic light go right on route 3 for 1.9 miles. Then take another right on route 115. In 4.4 miles Hazen Road will be on your left, take it. In another 1.4 miles you will see a sign on the right saying Presidential Recreation Trail Pondicherry. Go right into the smallish parking lot. We may have to do some creative parking to fit us all in here.
Carpooling is highly recommended. Meet at 8:55am in the Attitash parking lot. Please be ready to ride at 10:00am
Click here for the route map
http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/nh/jefferson/246125466746595495
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
