Pondicherry - The Foliage Tour

The colors have really popped in the last few days.   So now is the time to visit the gorgeous Pondicherry area.

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  mountain views and the panoply of wild flower filled fields.

The rail trail has a pretty firm surface and is a combination of dirt, gravel, stone, cinder and ballast. This is a relatively flat route with no major hills. It’s just a wonderful cruise through a beautiful area.

Directions: 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 that says Trail Parking. Go right into the small parking lot. We may have to do some creative parking to fit us all in here.

Carpooling is a must due to the small parking lot at Pondicherry. Meet at 9:00am at the far west end of the Attitash

Click here for a map of this ride.
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/11313897 

Tour de Gorham

This perennial favorite is about a 14 mile circumnavigation of Gorham on mostly dirt roads and trails with a bit of paved road thrown in too. Starting by the common in downtown Gorham. We'll head north to the Gorham Emergency airport toward the rail trail.  This trail leads to Hogan Road east for about 5 miles on the virtually untraveled north side of the Androscoggin River where there will be awesome views of the river and several power dams. Here we'll start to head back to Gorham Center with a short ride on Route 2 to the pipeline trail in the woods.   Most of this ride will be on pretty flat and smooth trails and roads. The pipeline trail and Hogan Road do have some manageable hills.

For those of you who want to carpool meet at The Old Town Hall in Jackson, across the road from the post office at 9:30.  Let's start the ride at 10:00am. 

Please let me know if you plan to ride.  Don't forget to bring your lunch.

Directions: Drive north on route 16 to Gorham. Just before the T intersection with route 2 there will be railroad tracks. Immediately after crossing the tracks turn left onto Railroad Street. Hook a U turn and park on the other side of the road across from the Common.

Gale River and Forest

Last year was our first ride on this route.  Afterwards Bob declared it "a keeper".  So let's do it again! This trail starts off with a ride on the rail bed of the Gale River Lumber Company which now is a little known rail trail that parallels Trudeau Road in the National Forest in Bethlehem. Then we’ll head farther into the National Forest on a loop trail that leads to Route 3 at Five Corners.  Across Route 3 is the Gale River Loop Road an active forest service road which will lead us back to Route 3 and from there to the rail trail and our cars at Pierce Bridge.  

So put them together and what do you get? A13 mile route which goes through the forest, along a portion of the Gale River and by scenic beaver ponds with great mountain vistas and river views. Not a bad combo eh? The surfaces vary from dirt to grass with some sections of gravel. This ride is not for novices but it is on the "harder side of easy" mostly due to the uphill portion of the forest loop.  The uphill is worth it though, as the next couple of miles are really fun.  We may also encounter some tree debris across one section of the trail.

The forecast is for temps in the mid 80s. It should be cooler in the woods. We will start the ride at 9:30 am.  Please let me know if you plan to ride and where you plan to meet the group.  Bring lunch, bug spray, sunscreen and water.

Carpooling - Meet at 8:45 am at the western most section of the Attitash parking lot across the street from the lift.

Directions - Take route 302 to Twin Mountain. Continue 5 miles north of the intersection of routes 302 and 3. Just past The Wayside Inn and the now defunct Pierce Bridge (on the left) is Muchmore Road. Go left and follow Muchmore Road for 0.1 mi as it bends around to the south. When the road pavement ends hook a U turn to park on the opposite shoulder by the old and closed bridge over the Ammonoosuc River. Park just south of the yellow fire hydrant.