Ride Kancamagus Highwat NH.

In article <NYvjb.88938$a16.41707@lakeread01>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

This summer I was up in New Hampshire and saw a lot of people riding the Kancamagus highway on
road bikes. It looks like quite a challenge. Have any of you done it. Any comments or suggestions.
I am planning to do it next week. One day on the highway on my road bike and a couple of days
alongside on my mtb.

I would be very concerned about traffic during leaf-peeping season...

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Quoted message said:

This summer I was up in New Hampshire and saw a lot of people riding the Kancamagus highway on road
bikes. It looks like quite a challenge. Have any of you done it. Any comments or suggestions. I am
planning to do it next week. One day on the highway on my road bike and a couple of days alongside
on my mtb.

I did a loop up through Franconia Notch, over to Crawford Notch, over Bear Notch, then over the Kanc
back to Lincoln.

I shouldn't have left the Kanc for last.

--
mac the naïf

"Chris Hughes" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<NYvjb.88938$a16.41707@lakeread01>...

Quoted message said:

This summer I was up in New Hampshire and saw a lot of people riding the Kancamagus highway on
road bikes. It looks like quite a challenge. Have any of you done it. Any comments or suggestions.
I am planning to do it next week. One day on the highway on my road bike and a couple of days
alongside on my mtb.

Which way you going?

I rode from Lincoln to Conway and found the ups not too bad. There isn't any killer steeps but it is
the length that hurts the most. The climbing doesn't get serious until the first left near the
hairpin (just before the picnic area). Beyond that there are a few tough spots where I was in single
digits but never for long. Going down towards Conway was fine but I made sure to take up the lane
because it was raining and I was going upwards of 30. But that side is pretty straight.

Do beware of leaf peepers this time of year.

Enjoy the ride!

Andy

Quoted message said:

Chris "50 year old clydesdale in search of my youth"

Funny you should mention it- last week I tried. (I'm 55) I would have made it if I had tried it
first, but instead we did the 80-mile loop - from Lincoln clockwise through Franconia Notch, then
Crawford Notch, then Bear Notch, and finally the Kancamagus pass. By the time I made it to the
Kancamagus, I was so beat that I bonked about 3 miles from the top and had to walk. The whole loop
had over 6000 feet of climbing. But the scenery was beautiful, and I had a great time and was able
to finish the ride. Foliage is peaking right now. Next week, the foliage will be better in
Massachusetts.

Chris Hughes said:

This summer I was up in New Hampshire and saw a lot of people riding the Kancamagus highway on
road bikes. It looks like quite a challenge. Have any of you done it. Any comments or suggestions.
I am planning to do it next week. One day on the highway on my road bike and a couple of days
alongside on my mtb.

Chris "50 year old clydesdale in search of my youth"

I did it a few years ago -- I highly recommend riding the road from Lincoln to Conway (i.e., head
East) as the eastern side of the descent from Kancamagus Pass has much smoother pavement, plus it
doesn't have a hairpin turn at the bottom of it. You can definitely get hauling down the eastern
side -- I was easily cruising at 45+ for a couple miles. The side of Kancamagus that I climbed isn't
terribly steep -- I did it in a 42x27, but I wasn't necessarily spinning. As others have said, the
bad part is the 2 or 3 miles from the hairpin turn to the summit -- but it is a long gradual uphill
from Lincoln to the hairpin turn.

When I did it, I rode from Lincoln, over Kancamagus, over Bear Notch, over Crawford Notch and back
through Franconia Notch, which is about 90 miles and I-don't-want-to-know-how-much-climbing. Bear
Notch has some spectacular views of its own, and very few people seem to know about that road's
existence. If your climbing legs have anything left after Kancamagus, you might want to consider
riding over Bear Notch (which will take you to US-302 in Bartlett), head east on 302 to NH Route 16
(now in North Conway) and head south while will take you back to the Kancamagus Highway.

As others have said, beware of the leaf peepers at this time, although that far north might be
seeing the end of leaf season.

Kevin

"Chris Hughes" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:NYvjb.88938$a16.41707@lakeread01...

Quoted message said:

This summer I was up in New Hampshire and saw a lot of people riding the Kancamagus highway on
road bikes. It looks like quite a challenge. Have any of you done it. Any comments or suggestions.
I am planning to do it next week. One day on the highway on my road bike and a couple of days
alongside on my mtb.

Chris "50 year old clydesdale in search of my youth"