A Hundred-Miler to New Hampshire

The ride

When I lived in Seattle, we’d finally have a glorious sunny day after a month of non-stop drizzle. Everyone would pour outdoors, smiling, outgoing, and friendly. Yesterday felt like that kind of day. Cars stopped for me. Two amiable police officers shepherded me through a closed road and made sure that the road workers didn’t bury me in asphalt. The other cyclists on the road waved and made small talk.

Notes from the ride:

• There are Kimball farms everywhere! I passed two of their main locations (Carlisle and the one on the NH border), but I can swear that I passed another smaller stand.
• The welcome to New Hampshire sign has “welcome” in both English and French! Je me suis demandé pourquoi.
• I passed a large charcoal house with deep purple trim. It had a small turret and a barren lawn. In its window sat a sign that read “Enter, if you dare.” I didn’t.
• I think the route retraced parts of the ride up to Portland I followed at the end of last year. I recognized a swamp that overflows onto the road. Later, the approach into Nashua looked familiar.
• Speaking of the route, there must be others out there using the same or similar planning software as me¹. I spent about fifteen miles narrowly ahead of two other cyclists through quick turns onto narrow backroads. I was convinced that they were following me after about mile ten of this chase, and I was relieved when I didn’t see them after a series of exceptionally quick turns.

Nominal

The pace. I finished the ride in 6 hours, 20 minutes with an average pace of 15.8mph and an average moving pace of 16.4mph. This is the fastest I’ve ever ridden over a longer distance.

Off nominal

I got slightly sunburned. A friendly reminder to apply sunscreen early and often.

The route