Riley & Becky: Day 153, 10/8/10 - North Woodstock to Conway, NH

Readers' Guide to Our Blog

Each post will start with some stats, a brief story of the day, and perhaps a photo or two so our family and friends can share our attempt to bike across the country - we hope you enjoy it! We are also writing it for ourselves - imagining ourselves sitting in our rocking chairs 20 years from now and re-living this adventure (sweet, huh?). SO - we may write more than you want to read; that part will follow the quick review of the day. Feel free to read it all, of course! DON'T WORRY if we don't post on a given day - it probably just means that we can't access the Internet that day; if at all possible, we'll give a family member a call on any such day so someone will know where we are!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Day 153, 10/8/10 - North Woodstock to Conway, NH

Just the Basics: 39 miles and a 2000 foot climb up and over Kancamagus Pass in the White Mountains. Now we are at the White Deer Motel in Conway, very near the Maine border. We will be here 3 days and 4 nights, due to holiday weekend traffic - we will not resume our trip until Tuesday - and then will have only 2 days to go! Since we are staying put we may not blog every day.

We pretty much climbed steadily from North Woodstock to the Pass, over about 15 miles. The climb itself was easier than we expected - the only times we ended up walking were not due to trouble biking, but, rather, to traffic and road conditions - for example, we'd get off our bikes when there was a lot of traffic and then be unable to start up again because we were in very low gears, there was NO shoulder, and we didn't have a good view of the road in order to determine when it was safe to start.

Coming down was initially very challenging - the first 4 miles there was a 7% grade, NO shoulder, some rough pavement, and lots of cars. After that it was not so bad and practically down all the way to Conway! It sprinkled most of the last 2-3 hours of the trip but our biking clothes are light weight and dry quickly moving through the air, even as they continue to get wet again. We were beginning to feel sort of damp and chilly by the end of the ride - but then we got to our motel and hot showers.

A few highlights:

We biked all day in GORGEOUS country -which only got better as the day wore on.
The fall colors got better as we came down from the pass;
There were quite a few Forest Service campgrounds, picnic areas and scenic waysides with vault toilets.
We had 2-3 miles of bike path coming out of Lincoln, which was nice.
About 5 of the last 8 miles into Conway were on a very lightly traveled back road with a lovely covered bridge, some campgrounds, and lots of cabin-type homes.
We saw another lovely rainbow.

Today's Photos: We'll post 'em tomorrow!

Tomorrow: Staying put in Conway through Monday, 10/11, to escape holiday traffic.

For Those Who Want More: Nothing more tonight!