a birthday bike ride

the day: july 17th, another beautiful day in the neighborhood! and beyond, all the way across central new hampshire into maine... sunny but not hot, in the low 70's, a decent breeze most of the day. given it is mid- july and air quality has been crazy bad with smoke from the wildfires in minnesota and ontario, it was pretty much heaven with cool~ish, clean air--just for our ride.

the adventure: taylor and i have been thinking of riding over to maine to visit kevin & mariel and clayton, their oldest. i've been biking to kevin's for years, always trying to whittle a few miles off. so far, it seems like all my shortcuts end in the name "...hill"! 

taylor lives--and runs the 'last stop bike shop'--on province road in dorchester, a favorite shortcut. the last time i rode home, i cut over that way from the back side of plymouth, through hebron and groton. there's a sweet 'untraveled' gravel stretch, with a washed out bridge a mile or so from taylor's house. no cars = very pleasant riding! it made a fine start!!

we went around a couple of the other "...hills" but mostly stuck to my shortest version. not even sure how far we actually road, but probably in the neighborhood of 80 miles. 

the memories: we did go over the durgin covered bridge--off of "fellow's hill"--between sandwich and tamworth, as it was not washed out. later, going up a long steep "moody hill," we were passed by a police car with lights and siren on, going fast. a half mile further, going down an even longer steeper "glines hill," four police cars, lights still flashing, were parked, dealing with an suv, perched precariously down in the ditch, nearly flipped over.

tactfully avoiding "sam brown hill"--we actually missed our turn flying down another hill on the brownfield road--we ended up carrying our bikes across another river, as we headed up to kevin's. how à propos, a bridge out - river crossing on the first and last mile!

notes:

• pack light but for gosh sakes bring electrolytes and stay hydrated... 
  
• "...hills" might make the trip shorter, but they are not always your friend (ask the driver of the car in the ditch--taylor heard the cops giving him a ticket as we passed)...
• thank you pam, a last slice of the birthday cheesecake was a delicious treat...
• ride--and ski!--with taylor more often...

go outside and play!

back on moose mountain, "whoppin' and hollerin'!" with noah

the day: a week ago, the 27th, a beautiful day in the neighborhood! it was in the teens when we left the house, but the sun was out and it was bound to get warmer...

the adventure: noah--a new skier from north carolina--and i, went up wolfeboro road, to the AT and south peak on moose mountain, for his biggest backcountry experience to date. the snow was still soft enough to turn without too much of a struggle.

i have been up there a few times this year and as mentioned in the last goap! post, the coverage is great and few people ski it. i was aiming to take noah over to our stash we call the 'secret sherbie'--named for the sherburne ski trail down mt washington from tuckermans ravine. that was if the sun didn't turn the fluff into what is sometimes called 'wet cement.'

the memories: it was definitely the day to go out. only where the sun was shining on the snow, it was indeed getting softer. while it wasn't quite wet cement, it was thickening up and heavy enough to make turning in the deep real work. check out the chunky snow kicked up in a turn noah caught in a picture coming down a south facing slope from north peak. 

noah is really getting the hang of backcountry skiing. the AT trail coming down from south peak, was packed out by snowshoers. to keep our speeds safe, we often went 'off trail'. more than once, i heard a good bit of "whoopin' and hollerin'!" from his direction.

luckily, the 'secret sherbie' was shadier. with the temperature going up, the snow was getting heavy. i've always said, when you have the choice go left, that's why we took option B, avoiding a sunny option A. it went well--i heard another "whoop" when noah followed me over the "stump jump!" (scroll through this goap! post for a series of pics jumpin' the stump.)

notes:

• deep snow, even when it's getting heavy, 'unfluffy', is still heaven... 
  
• it's a joy to add noah to the history of "the best skiing ever!"
• we did share a spot of tea this time--cookies, chocolate, and some muffins too--but the picture i took with noah's fancy camera was out of focus...
• so glad noah is loving his new hampshire winter adventures. here's a picture he took of his ski up--and half way down (it's a long~ish story)--moosilauke this week...

go outside and play!

out in the backcountry, enjoying a very fine snow year!

the day: a couple of saturdays ago, the 14th, cold ~ish, maybe teens, and feeling like it could snow soon. definitely completely overcast--some wind but not in the woods ...

the adventure: simon and i had been trying to get out skiing for a while. he mostly has weekends and since i have been avoiding cardigan due to the increased activity up there, i suggested going up wolfeboro road, to the AT and south peak on moose mountain. 

i had been up there a couple weeks before and the coverage was great--since then, we had gotten another foot of powder. not too many people go up from the eastern, goose pond side. even fewer people go up another old road that branches off a ways up wolfboro. if you know where to turn left, you can cross over and hook up with what we like to call, the 'secret sherbie'--named for the sherburne ski trail down mt washington from tuckermans ravine.

all in all that gives a good bit of steep ~ish terrain. the AT is narrow, mostly less than a ski length wide-- sometimes, half that, even less. the old roads are mostly more than two ski lengths wide. even nicer than being wide, the 'secret sherbie,' totally opposite from wolfeboro road and the AT, there are practically no rocks.

the memories: deep snow, plenty of steep, and first tracks made for what simon's dad, skip, likes to call "best skiing ever!" there was plenty to smile about. even though i mentioned very few people use the trails we were on, we followed somebody hiking in my old ski tracks. no snowshoes, no skis, boot packing in the worst way. weirder still, the boot prints head off into the woods a half-mile from south peak. my comment to si, "whoa, they are on an adventure."

notes:

• deep fluffy snow is my idea of heaven... 
  
• i have a long history of "the best skiing ever" with simon--but i miss skip in the backcountry...
• first tracks on secret stashes are to be savored--that said, i don't mind sharing...
• a spot of tea is always appreciated--even when i forget the cookies...

go outside and play!

back in the saddle

the day: last tuesday, the 19th, partly sunny or partly cloudy--depending on your perspective, somewhere in the 70s with barely a breeze ...

the adventure: a couple of weeks prior to last tuesday, i got an email from a former student, lu, suggesting i ride over to vermont and meet them, camp, and then ride back to canaan the next day. i loaded up the panniers with all the essentials, hooked them onto the bike racks, and pedaled off. i made it over the connecticut river and was heading up hill out of east thetford. two loaded bikers came over the top of said hill and the one out front, crossed over the yellow line, and greeted me, "hellooo koby!"

it was lu and sophia, headed to cedar circle farm stand for a fancy espresso to go with lunch. they had been biking since friday, from white hall, new york, across vermont. we chatted over lunch and changed plans a bit to include riding through a covered bridge back over in orford new hampshire and a swim in post pond in lyme.

after a swim over to a raft, a 'cannonball' and a 'watermelon' splash, and a swim back, we returned to our changing barn--my friend dave lives across the road--and hashed over the rest of day's ride. it was an hour and a half back-west into vermont and camp up by vermontasaurous or an hour and a half ahead-east into new hampshire and camp at my house in canaan ...

the memories: though i was thinking a visit to the giant wooden dinosaur would generate some fun memories, i didn't push an agenda and let the two decide--we road east to canaan. i'm not sure, but the promise of going by the recent murder scene and a longboard session the following day may have helped them choose.

the riding was as pleasant as a loaded ride could be. though i went twice as far as planned and ate way less than half the food weight in my panniers, i was smiling the whole way. obviously, the company was the big hit and i would have ridden twice x "twice as far" to pedal next to lu. bonus, sophia is a grand biking companion--and she happily put up with my nostalgic stories of adventures with lu! (scroll through 'a pandemic summer and fall outside--plenty of playing!' for an account of the famous moose incident!) ...

notes:

• riding with folks half your age--or even less--is therapeutic... 
  
• cooking on a kitchen range is easier than a camp stove...
• a year out from hip replacement*--everything works well...
• i should post goap! more than once a year...

go outside and play!

ps--*the two snow storms--and 7-8 days of skiing--i mentioned in my last post on march 29, 2024, made me realize something had to be done with my hip. sawyer reminded me of the walking uphill at our eclipse viewing was also a good reason to go in and get it checked out and ultimately, get it replaced july 11th.

a late season blessing in a dismal snow year

the days: the last week in march. we finally got a honest to goodness snow storm, with 2 feet or more of fairly heavy, good snow-person making snow. that fell on saturday the 23. saturday into sunday, it got a bit colder and much windier drying out the snow pack for early sunday, before the sun came out and heated things up. monday and tuesday it was sunny ~ish. wednesday and thursday, there was rain off and on. ...

the adventures: shoveling saturday and sunday & skiing each day except wednesday. ...

the memories: saturday was epic for several reasons: the deep, heavy stuff was a blessing after a rather dissmal winter. but with nobody to help break trail, going up through the glades at the shaker wma, would prove to be brutal on the hip. i suppose plowing turns through the same stuff on the way down didn't help either. then it could have been the ski that submarined a blow down that did me in. or maybe dropping the saw on the ascent, and finally finding it on the descent, once i took the skis off and kicked through my trail. anyway, by the time i got home, i was hobbling around.

sunday, early morning was a totally different story, skiing 2 feet of dry fluff up on town hill, was comparitively effortless!  the trade off was after shoveling the rest of the day, it was my upper body that was spent. 

monday was a recovery day while i went to work, but i got another town hill run in as the sun was sinking. even though it had been in the 40s the whole afternoon, the snow was still deep and fluffy ~ish, enough to prompt several attempts to find that best line through the trees.

tuesday after work, with my hip coming back into shape, i went up town hill again. the snow was still fairly deep and covering most everything, but also, definitely getting heavier. wednesday was a total washout, though my body seemed to like the rest.

by thursday after work, the rain had stopped, so i geared up for a soggy attempt to get in one more run out the kitchen door. coverage was getting pretty sketchy, especially where it was more open to the sun and rain. still, on the north facing spots i found plenty of snow with only an occassional rock to avoid.

notes:

• the older i get, the more i appreciate vitamin I...
• playing out in two feet of snow will make you smile...
• i'm seeing one more large ~ish snow fall forecasted for later this week...
• even if that doesn't pan out, this last dump was a great 'end' to the local season...

go outside and play!