FJRiders.com

How about a 3 month Ride Report?

My wife and I are settled in at our ABB in Waterville Valley, NH. We will be here for 3 months. I've brought many of my toys and hope to have many chances to play with them along the way.

This is a ski resort town and at least from what we can tell so far, it's pretty quiet here during the summer.



As expected, the food here is decent. Not great, but decent. Being from cajun country, we have pretty high standards. Everything is expensive here, we will be cooking a good bit.



I bought a 12-pack of this beer, brewed in Manchester, NH. It's hoppy and a very good summer beer.



So we are all unpacked and ready to play. Our children get to Boston Saturday afternoon. We pick them up and they will stay with us for a week. Looking very forward to that.

Let the games begin!!!

Stay thirsty, my friends....

Enjoy!

I'll be right over.

0face wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2024 9:59 am I'll be right over.

It's only 2672 by my rough calculation. If you leave now, you can be there by 1:23 am Friday............but you lose 3 time zones, so just about in time for breakfast.

Get geared up bitch!

Subscribed!

Cav47 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2024 10:24 am

0face wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2024 9:59 am I'll be right over.

It's only 2672 by my rough calculation. If you leave now, you can be there by 1:23 am Friday............but you lose 3 time zones, so just about in time for breakfast.

Shucks, just 1254 miles for me! I'll give Tesla $99 for a month of Autopilot and drive straight through!

July 17, 2024

MTB ride today. Unlike previous summers, at this place, there is no need to truck the bicycle to the riding. The White Mountain N/F is literally in my backyard!



Today, I picked the trails close to the ABB. They call these the "Nordic Ski" trails, which are the cross country trails. As such, they are wide, generally smooth, and the climb is very gradual.





I'm looking for adventure - looks like I found the right place!



I then turned onto this N/F trail called the Greenly Pond trail. It started out pretty flat following this creek.



Then the climb got a bit more steep. At a couple of places, I had no choice but to dismount and walk the bike up.





The ride back down hill sure was a hoot!



Not too bad for a first ride, just to get my legs acclimated to climbing.



stay thirsty, my friends...

Enjoy your summer Mr & Mrs Pants.

Pants,

What are you using for navigation out there? Phone is likely, but could lose signal??? I wonder if carrying the XT in the backpack would be prudent? I have done that a few times when the wife and I have been hiking in more remote places. We generally don't get too far out there while walking, but you on the MTB could cover some ground and get a ways out there. Maybe it is not as remote as I thought, but knowing exactly where you are is sometimes nice in case you had a flat or fell off your cycle.

Keep posting up, it is gonna make it even harder to resist making a quick run out there.

Gosh, that looks so amazing and relaxing. Enjoy!

No signal needed if you prepare and download offline maps. Not good for traveling huge distances like on the FJR, but on foot or on an MTB you can easily download the area needed.

Cav47 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 18, 2024 11:38 am Pants,

What are you using for navigation out there? Phone is likely, but could lose signal??? I wonder if carrying the XT in the backpack would be prudent? I have done that a few times when the wife and I have been hiking in more remote places. We generally don't get too far out there while walking, but you on the MTB could cover some ground and get a ways out there. Maybe it is not as remote as I thought, but knowing exactly where you are is sometimes nice in case you had a flat or fell off your cycle.

Keep posting up, it is gonna make it even harder to resist making a quick run out there.

For the MTB, I use 2 phone apps. Ride with GPS and MTB Project. RWGPS is the app I use to record my ride (keep stats and the map is more user friendly (to me). MTB Project allows me to download the entire State (NH) to my phone, so I don't even need a signal on the phone.

For Hiking, I use the All Trails app. Again, I can download any trail to my phone and use it without a signal.

July 18, 2024

Route: https://maps.app.goo.gl/BzpwcCQpVAnXR63X6

I rode the FJR 225 miles. Left the ABB at 67 degrees. It rose to about 75 in the upper elevations, and 79-ish in the valleys under partly cloudy skies. Perfect.

The "Kanc" (Kancamagus Hwy) is about 25 miles away, so I started there. I've ridden twistier roads, but the scenic views (even while riding) are spectacular.





I stopped at Sabbaday Falls and took the short walk. A nice mix of spruce and fir conifers makes is smell like Christmas to me.



I got the whole place to myself on this Thursday morning.



This is Russel Colbath site, the only original homestead left in the area. The barns in this region weather differently than anywhere else I can remember.



In Conway, I turned north briefly and then west on Hwy 302. What a great day for a ride.





At Crawford Notch, I stopped at Ripley's Falls and walked a half mile for lunch. The whole world is mine today.



The White Mountains are beautiful. Perhaps the most "visible" range in the eastern part of the State, meaning the vistas and overlooks are so plentiful from the road.



In Twin Mountain, I took care of an important piece of business.



Then I rode Hwy 3 and turned south on Hwy 16, making miles and smiles. Back in Conway, I took a road that allowed me to avoid the crowded main street traffic and found a Covered Bridge.



The parking lot sign said "$3 an hour to park". This old lady wearing a security vest came up to me and started hassling me for money. I told her I was just going to take a picture of the bridge and leave. Didn't even remove my helmet. She complied reluctantly. Friggin tourist crap.

I continued south on Hwy 16 past Conway and turned on Hwy 113A. I rode that east until it met Hwy 113. That was my favorite 2 roads of the day. Perfectly smooth ashphalt with little wiggle back and forth curves, bunny hops, off camber stuff, decreasing radii turns.... everything. The road was completely shaded with ZERO traffic and for about 25 miles it was quite nice. I stopped at this little village of Center Sandwich.

This pretty much sums it all:



I turned north at Lake Squam and headed back to the ABB.

Man I really LOVE this whole area. Some of the roads were a bit crowded close to the towns/citites. But once you get out of town, it gets real nice. The roads are in fantastic shape. My brand new RS4s performed quite nice. Too early to know, but I think they might have felt a bit more compliant than the RS3s. So far so good.

Tomorrow's another day!

Stay thirsty, my friends...

If you aren't aware of the site, have a look at New England Riders
https://www.newenglandriders.org/

Under "Ride", look at "Best of Northeast" and choose location for all sorts of rides of every type. Well done and lots of GPX files.
(Not only rides, but views, food, accommodations, campsites etc.)

I rode that area some years ago when I went to the Laconia, NH motorcycle rally. 302 on the other side of the White Mountains is very nice. Going up the Connecticut River valley was nice. Moosalaukee mountain was disappointing. Very frost heaved, and no paved overlooks. You're going to enjoy that area. We camped with my toyhauler next to Newfound lake. That's all close to the lake where they filmed "On golden Pond". Enjoy.

Well finally!! Some real ice cream!! You could go over to Ben & Jerry's too..........
https://www.benjerry.com/

raYzerman wrote: ↑Fri Jul 19, 2024 9:04 am Well finally!! Some real ice cream!! You could go over to Ben & Jerry's too..........
https://www.benjerry.com/

And if you are in the Stowe VT area, I have a bunch of great rides in Garmin format that were created years ago for a NERDs event based in Stowe.

I have perused the New England riders site. Very informative - excellent source for GPX files.

Lake Squam is where On Golden Pond was filmed - that will be one of our Kayak spots.

July 19, 2024

Today, the ole Bush Pig got the nod. I rode about 60 miles, nearly all of it on unpaved roads. On ADV Rider, I learned that there is a Dual Sport route called the Flatlander. It's a 520 mile loop that basically covers the entire State of New Hampshire. As luck would have it, I can pick it up about 5 miles from our ABB.

This is Sandwich Notch Road. It was one of the original roads cut through this area and it runs basically right through my backyard.





I freaking LOVE this road. It's mostly fully shaded. Good traction. Lots of short ups and downs. All water crossings have a bridge. I mean - PERFECT Dual Sport road for me.





I stopped mid morning for a short walk to Beede Falls. Not much water flowing this morning, but it was nice and quiet.



All of the trails I've found in New Hampshire are very well maintained. It's nice to go to a place that values recreation in nature.





This place is beautiful and once again, I've got it basically all to myself.



I pop out of the woods and follow the GPX track a short distance on Hwy 113A. I rode past this barn yesterday on the FJR and couldn't resist stopping to take a photograph. I love the way the barns weather here.



Very soon, it was back off the pavement and into the woods. This is the Durgin Bridge. It's over 200 years old and it is magnificent.





Since it's lunchtime, I might as well eat here on the Swift River.



This area of the State is called the Sandwich region. There are 3 villages in the area: North Sandwich, Center Sandwich, and South Sandwich. Apparently, all were named after the Earl of Sandwich, but ironically at lunchtime, I'll be dammed if I could find a sandwich! Good thing I brought my own

PB&J to the rescue!



That clear water is quite nice.



I packed up and geared up and continued on the Flatlander route. I'm seeing all kinds of side roads and areas on the GPS to explore for future adventures, but today, I think I'll let someone else choose the way



This evening, there's live music in the Town Square, so I told my wife I wouldn't be late. About 1:00, I turned around back toward North Sandwich. Earlier, I saw something that caught my eye.



I walked into the store, picked out my ice cream, and waited a few minutes. When no one appeared, I went to the porch and asked some other riders if they knew where the clerk was. They informed me that the entire store is on the honor system. There's a QR code to pay by card or Venmo, and a box to insert cash. Absolutely unbelievable. Back home, this wouldn't last a week.

After Ice Cream, I took a 10 minute power nap on top of a picnic table. It was quite pleasant lying there in the breeze. Then I backtracked to Sandwich Notch road heading for home. I stopped one time to take this view in.



A scruffy gentleman sitting on the porch of a house behind that picture approached me and asked if I needed help. I told him that I couldn't want for anything in the world right now. I told him that I was well aware that he knows how beautiful his home is, and that now, I know it too. We chatted like two old retired farts with nothing better to do.

From there, it was a short 10 minutes back to the ABB. Later that evening, my wife and I walked to the Square to enjoy the music. The pizza place is good, and they have 15-20 choices of local beer. I shall enjoy trying each one over the next few months.

I can't believe this is my life.

Stay thirsty, my friends....

Those layered bent wood arches in that bridge are cool. Not something I have ever seen.

You are killing this retirement thing, my friend.