With the pandemic raging across the south and parts of the west, I decided to take a trip to New England and explore some gravel. Lighter travel restrictions and promises of cooler summer weather made New Hampshire a great choice. I researched key hub areas to stay that had access to gravel rides and other outdoor activities like hiking and canoeing. I find the website Gravel map to be very helpful when it comes to looking for gravel rides and routes in a place I’ve never visited. Coupled with RidewithGPS, riders can find build and ride their favorite gravel routes globally. The New Hampshire lake region just south of the White Mountains fit the bill perfectly. With views of Mt Washington (highest peak on the east coast at 6,288’), the area includes a variety of terrain and its fair share of long climbs. I was able to get a condo for a week near the small, family owned King Pine ski resort. The resort boasted its own set of trails and was centrally located to take day trips outside of riding bikes to places like Portland ME and Portsmouth NH.
The Gravel Riding
The gravel roads in this part of NH are in top condition, especially in the summer months. Many of the roads are the primary access to summer homes and year-round residents. Like most places, gravel conesouiers have to take a “connect the dots” approach, riding sections of pavement to link up with the various sections of gravel. This area, with its higher hills and lakes, has state routes in the low-lying areas, and the gravel roads connect between them up and over the hills in most cases. If you want flat, and you want gravel, this is not your place to ride. I ventured out on the first day based on some RWGPS research I did before leaving. This really gave me a sense of the roads and variety of gravel rides.
After day 1, I was sold. The views from atop the hills across the valley were amazing; the mostly shaded gravel roads with their steep and steady climbs made it even more worth it. And the descents were fast, with the occasional washboard sections. Another bonus was the copious amounts of blueberries growing on the side of the road.
After a few more rides, I learned that there are different kinds of roads in NH. Private landowners in some cases allow non-motorized access to their land via gravel roads. This made connecting the dots even more of an adventure – sometimes opening-up new options to ride.
My last ride was a compilation of the three rides I’d done that week: climbing up 4,000 feet in just 38 miles with about 60% of the ride on gravel roads. Here's the link.
Equipment
I rode my Cobalt Warhawk with WTB Nano 40s the entire time. They held up well to the more rugged sections I found in Freedom Town Forest Trails (which were more like MTB trails) and were fast on the road. I had one minor sidewall cut that caused me some trouble, but it sealed up after a few minutes.
An area I didn't have time to fully explore was the MTB trails just outside Conway, NH. The green and parts of the blue trails would've been perfect for my set up; I just ran out of time to do all the riding I wanted to. Next time.
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