Officially it is still winter, but try telling that to the 7 hearty souls that braved some cold temperatures just to get out for a few hours of riding in Southern New Hampshire! I experienced some severe arm twisting (yeah, right!) the day before at the MV-SCRC Ride Meeting to put a ride plan together that encompassed some of my favorite roads. I have been bragging recently about some roads up in my neck of the woods...so the pressure was on to deliver!

Our meeting spot was the Bickfords parking lot, RTE 125/121 on the MA/NH border. Because of the potential threat of black ice, the ride was planned to begin at 12noon, giving riders from distant locales a chance to allow the sun to warm up the roadways. Everyone was on time, eagerly awaiting to ride!

The ride I had planned would only take a couple of hours and about 65miles...rather short in comparison to an average ride, but good enough for this time of year! We began by heading north on RTE121, to RTE111 East, to RTE121a North, to RTE102 in Chester NH. Hanging a right onto RTE102 North, we headed for Raymond NH. In Raymond NH, we turned onto RTE27 East and followed this all the way to RTE125 in Epping NH. This was only about an hour into the ride, but by now we were all ready for a stop to warm up some cold fingers! (Well, except for Carl...him and his damn heated gloves could have rode all day! LOL!) I had previously planned on a stop at the McDonalds in Epping....not the most glamourous of places, but they have a large parking area, facilities, gas stations nearby and, of course....Hot Fluids! We all spent some time holding hot coffee or hot chocolate and I think it certainly hit the spot. Nobody 'really' complained about the cold...we were just happy to be riding!

We left McDonalds and headed south on RTE125, and then headed west on RTE111A. Out of all the roads I picked, RTE111A was the one I was most worried to have a coating of sand. Luckily, it wasn't bad at all...only noticing a few spots. I kept the speeds very mild through this whole section, but I highly recommend a 20mph speed increase later in the year when all the sand is gone. Very smooth and nice twistys to sink your teeth into! We came out to RTE111 and headed west for several miles, retracing our previous steps back down RTE121 South.

Instead of heading back to Bickfords, I made a slight detour and took the group back to my house. I thought a nice loud MV-SCRC rumble in my neighborhood would be in order! LOL! Hmm...come to think of it, my neighbors haven't spoke to me since. Hahaha! Woohoo! After some idle chit-chat and warming of the fingers, everyone headed out for their respective homesteads before the sun got too low in the sky.

I hope later in the year we can do this ride again! These are some awesome roads that offer just about every riding condition. From layed back or peg scraping twistys, to open range highway speeds....its a ride that I enjoy often by myself when I want to clear my head, and it works wonders!

I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did! Thanks for coming and look forward to more riding very soon....winter or not!!