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Kancamagus 5 Notch Ride - September 2011 |
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click any image below to enlarge Prologue I met Marc at his home a bit before 4pm, we loaded his bike and associated gear into the back of my Toyota minivan, and we plowed north through typically heavy Friday afternoon traffic. We arrived at Jay's place in Franconia around 7pm and joined the expanding group of gathering riders. And we weren't just expanding in number. The array of beer, wine, appetizers, lasagna, salads, bread, and desserts must certainly have cancelled the weight benefits of the assorted carbon fiber frames and in some cases wheels that the 30 to 40 of us would be propelling up and riding down Saturday's 5 notches. Thanks Jay and Ann for hosting such an excellent pre-ride event, and to all for supplying the lavish layout of well-prepared fuel. 
Our carbo-loading complete and the clock rolling past 9:30pm, we followed Bill and Frank to our lodging at Bill's place in nearby Littleton.
It wouldn't just be the four of us, however--at least one squirrel had infiltrated the lake house, demonstrating a particular
affinity for ceiling tile.
We got to sleep quickly, woke at around 6am, topped off the tanks with an excellent granola/fruit/yoghurt mix
(plus coffee for those afflicted with that particular addiction), and headed back to Jay's for the 7:30am "moderate pace*" group start.
Thanks to Bill for providing such fine lodging (in image above right, Bill's car is the one on the left; his across-the-street neighbor's is on the right). *In the organizational email messages, this had previously been billed as the slow pace ride--clearly an egregious example of bait and switch. The 7:30am group of 15 or so riders was wheels-rolling down Wells Road at 7:48am. With a temperature of 37 degrees at the start and a projected high that would not top 60, I was "fashionably" attired as follows: knit Harpoon B2B skull cap, helmet, Under Armour base layer, jersey, arm warmers, full-fingered gloves, charcoal-activated hand warmers, cycling shorts, full-length bibs, cycling socks, charcoal-activated foot warmers, wool socks, cycling shoes, and shoe covers. Stage 1: Route 116 More so than most rides, the Rippers 5 Notch route (pictured at left) is characterized by distinct stages. The ride's first 9 miles is more of a climb than it first appears. On this morning, that was a good thing, as the early morning temperature quickly took its toll on hands and feet. The effort of going up warmed our cores, though, and the angled sunlight made its way through the trees frequently enough to begin warming our extremities. We regrouped briefly at the left turn onto 112 for the start of Stage 2. Stage 2: The climb up Kinsman Notch I think of the Kinsman notch climb as being bigger than it actually is, perhaps because it's the steepest of the bunch and perhaps because the most recent time I rode the loop, Kinsman was my end-of-day, legs-were-spent climb. It's far smaller than the Kancamagus and roughly the same as Bear and Crawford Notches. (If you count the run-up to Crawford, Kinsman and Bear are a distant third.) Kinsman is no slouch, however, and up we went. We reconvened again at the Beaver Pond parking lot and salivated at the thought of Stage 3. Stage 3: Down to Lincoln 
The reward for climbing Kinsman is the descent that follows.
On my two previous plunges off the top, I recorded top speeds of 44.8 mph
(September 2010, 0.5 mph below my then personal record)
and 47.4 mph (May 2011, a PR).
This year, I pushed through the 50 mph barrier to record a new best of 52.4.
We cruised under I93 and into Lincoln to the first of two "official" rest stops--Tim and Lisa's very well supplied condo
(and drop-off spot for excess cold weather clothing; in my case, arm warmers and shoe covers).
Thanks Tim and Lisa! Stage 4: Climbing the Kancamagus Scenic Byway 
Grade-wise, the Kancamagus climb at 3.8% trails Kinsman and Crawford (both 4.3%) by just a bit,
but its altitude gain of 1,500 feet (2,000 if you measure all the way back to Lincoln) is 3x-4x the others (again, depending on how you count Crawford).
The split in the group over this climb was more pronounced as we (well, I, at least) slogged on up.
The 5 Notch ride offers two of my favorite signs on the planet.
The first of these two is one of the pictures at right.
The "Top of the Kanc" is a traditional and obvious meeting point.
On this ride's visit, we had a pleasant conversation with some new friends of a higher horsepower persuasion.
Stage 5: Ten Miles of Heaven (Down Kancamagus) 
We donned/checked whatever remaining cold weather gear/options we had (hats, full-fingered gloves, raised jersey zippers)
and headed out for ten miles of a delicious but chilly descent.
While this thrill ride doesn't offer quite enough of a downward slant near the summit to equal the top speed off of Kinsman,
Bill (pictured, with Jim, I think) and I bombed it, with the rest of the group catching us near the bottom before the left turn onto Bear Notch Road.
Stage 6: Bear Notch While relatively steep, the climb up Bear Notch is also comparatively short. We also had a mid-climb stop when Dan broke a spoke. The combination of Dave's spoke wrench and Dan's wheel skills (he'd built the set he was riding) served to take a decidedly out-of-true wheel and make its shimmy only barely perceptible. Note to self: when a spoke breaks, the wheel will "lean" away from the broken spoke's side. To fix, loosen one or two adjacent spokes on the opposite side of the wheel from the broken spoke and tighten one or two adjacent spokes on the same side as the broken one. Before continuing, wrap the broken spoke around a good one to keep it from getting in the way and jamming up the works. Like a run-flat tire, though, the fix won't last all that long--put a real fix in place as soon as possible (and no later than before the next ride). 
The repair effected, we continued up, over, and best of all, down Bear Notch.
Arguably, the up and down could be two Stages, but the shortness of the up had me keep it at one.
A look at the profile highlights the cyclist's dream of a short climb followed by a long descent ... as long as you aren't heading the other direction.
At the bottom, we made the right turn onto 302 for the short quarter mile out-of-the-way detour to Bart's Deli, the second of the two "official" stops.
We made it a quick pit (I took on water but didn't need food) and headed out for Stage 7.
Stage 7: Climbing Crawford Notch It's easy to remember the Crawford Notch climb for the 15%-20% grade (depending on which mapping tool you believe) in its last quarter mile or so. What's harder to remember is the 12-mile long, 700 foot gain lead-up to the steep section. We started with a nice paceline (Bill, Dan, Dave, David, Jim, Marc, Michael, Roger, and me--apologies if I missed anyone!), but somewhere around a third of the way along, I dropped off the back (the active verb sounds so much better than "I got dropped," doesn't it?) and faced the moderate headwind alone save for a short stretch with Dave. Michael had never really caught on leaving the rest stop, belabored as he was by a broken rear derailleur that left him with only 4 low and 4 high as gearing options. Some interesting views broke up the monotony, at least (see the slide show for the full set). 
The climb up the steep section of Crawford Notch was harder than my two previous ascents of this particular length of roadway.
(Not so for Michael, who caught and passed me, in part because he didn't have the gearing option of riding any slower!)
At several points (keeping in mind that it's "only" a few hundred yards), I was sorely (ha!) tempted to walk.
With bike computer readings in the 3 to 4 mph range and with a lot of pressure on my 34 x 27 gear combination,
I "I think I can-ed" up over the top past my favorite sign on the planet (near right) to the group waiting at the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Stage 8: The Mount Washington Leg 
With Crawford Notch behind, the rest of the route is about finishing, not suffering.
We reformed the paceline, with Marc and Michael not catching the train.
Given the headwind, they didn't really have a chance to make their way back on as we passed the
Mount Washington Hotel--we got everyone back together at the Twin Mountain Trading Post (one bottle of water, one wonderful bottle of Mountain Dew)
just before the stop light (the third of three--discounting the temporary one later on Route 3--over the course of the entire route)
at the left turn onto Route 3.
Stage 9: Pushing Up Franconia Notch 
We took the turn onto Route 3 with the freshly re-constituted paceline.
The 10 mile stretch isn't the prettiest of the ride, it's generally plagued by a headwind (as it was this day),
and it's just enough of an uphill grade to remind you that
you've already ridden 75 miles.
Also, as the picture at right indicates, you have to be on your guard for moose.
(Why someone would consider not braking for such a creature is beyond me.)
Jim, David, and then Jim again took massive turns on the front--I'm sure this time around was the quickest of my three times along Route 3.
As the road turned up with less than half a mile to go to the intersection with Route 141, Jim's pace proved too much for me and I pulled out of the line.
I saw the bulk of the group veer left (a route I didn't know) away from the Route 141 option (the one I *did* know).
Figuring I'd be riding the last 5 miles along anyway, and seeing Dave head right onto 141, I followed Dave.
Stage 10: Downhill to the Finish My after-the-fact understanding is that the main group pushed up the bike path, then down what can politely be called a "rugged" Three Mile Road to Kerr and finally Wells. Well, I wanted no part of "up," the slightly longer distance at that point, or the rough road surface. Passing under I93, I whizzed by Dave (well, his bike, really, as he was tucked into the trees taking a ... natural break) onto the steep drop to Route 18. I didn't leave any stopping distance to spare, as it turns out, the smell of brake pads confirming that fact. I made the left onto 18 and then the quick (unmarked) right onto Wells. From there, it was a quick, flat cruise to a 3pm or a bit later arrival at Jay's and Ann's house and the waiting and awaited shower.
**I'm not sure I have the desire to break the 55 mph speed limit. Normally one to unnecessarily tap the brakes on descents, I found myself scared to go near them at the peak of my speed this time around. Marc pulled in shortly thereafter, and after some conversation with riders who'd taken one of the shorter routes and a few of the 8:30am fast group who'd made their way back, we loaded up the minivan and made for Massachusetts (for schedule reasons, opting out of the Saturday dinner and Sunday recovery ride). We barely remembered (catching the exit with about a hundred yards of advance notice) to pull into Lincoln to pick up the gear we'd left at the condo, then made fast time home. I dropped Marc off and drove out Route 9 into a beautiful Natick sunset. 
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