Stopped for lunch in Intervale NH
Crossed the Androscoggin River at the Shelburne Dam
Here's my riding GPS setup
I didn't think the suction cup would hold on all day, but it was solid. I wish it were up on the handlebars because I wouldn't have to look down so far, but for already having the window mount, this was great.
So I decided to check out a road I have been looking at on google maps that leads to a couple trailheads I want to hike from just past the dam. It turned out to be a dirt road, which I thought was no problem, but after being passed by a dirt biker going the opposite direction, and having the road condition deteriorate pretty severely, I realized that I was not on a road, but it was actually a dirtbike/ATV trail...
This picture does not do justice to how rough the trail really was...
I stayed on it anyway, and got a couple nice viewpoints. Here's the first viewpoint on the Androscoggin
A little ways further
This trail ended up going along for about 3 miles, and had some pretty rough patches for a street bike, but the XJ handled it all great. It's certainly not a dirt bike, but she did great with no problems despite hitting a couple ruts quite hard. I followed a couple signs to try to get off the trails, and I ended up going over a neat wooden bridge that goes over the Andro river and right over Rt 16 through the middle of Gorham. I finally got back onto the road and headed up through Berlin. Took Rt 16 up to Errol which has alot of nice twisties, but I got stuck behind some slow folks that I couldn't pass, so they kind of ruined the fun... From there headed south to Grafton Notch on a nice empty twisty road which was great.
The XJ in front of Old Speck Mountain
I stopped at the Moose Cave, Mother Walker Falls, and Screw Auger Falls. Someone took a dump right in the middle of the trail at Mother Walker Falls; random, and gross... Screw Auger falls was pretty cool, and a great place for kids to swim a bit. Cool rock formations, but lots of people.
From there I headed south on back roads. Lots of really nice little towns, and some beautiful scenery. Eventually I ended up on I-95, and made my way back to Boston, hitting the toll booths every 10 miles; thanks east coast. I got home around 7:30PM with a soar butt, a nasty tan line between my gloves and jacket, and a dirty bike. Good day.