I had a GREAT stay at the Riverbank Motel and Cottages, but it was time for all of us to move on to Conway, NH our home for the night . . .

. . . on the way out of town there was a Moose Tour operation . . .

. . . which talked about BIG results . . . ( I wonder if they include Rocky pictured above in their nightly count.)

Today we had the last big climb of the trip, up to the Kancamagus Pass at 2,855 feet. We would be riding mostly through the White Mountain National Forest . . .

. . . better have your car full before you drive up (probably means there are no Gatorade stops on the way either!!!)

. . . OK we’ll see . . .

. . . no problem, I’ll stop to take a photo . . . hope to see one, it will be a first on the trip!!!!

. . . as we began the climb, we rode by the Loon Mountain ski area. Here was an actual restored locomotive used in the area during the logging era.

. . . Labor Day weekend, so the road construction was shut down for the weekend . . . notice anything interesting about the photo above ?????

. . . there may not be a lock on the door, but the blades on the front loader have been adjusted to not allow the door to open . . .  not very friendly!!!!!

. . . lots of great scenery today along the way . . . as we climbed and climbed and climbed . .

. . . Jigger Johnson????  Read all about him here . . .

. . . this is what we have been biking through . . . BEAUTIFUL!!!!

. . . this creek actually had some water in it!!!

. . . as we climbed, the colors were starting to show at elevation!!!

. . . the good Lord provided us with cool temps, partly cloudy skies AND a 10-15 mph tailwind, with gust to 25mph!!! Unfortunately, the combination made for a very, VERY cold ride as we sweated away on the uphill . . . this sign meant the top was near!!!!

. . . soon we were at the TOP . . . YIPPEEE!

 

. . . we were FREEZING!!!! The conversation went something like this:

Mark: “ I’m freezing and they wind is really vicious “.

Rick: “I’m freezing too and getting colder from all the sweat dripping down my neck. We should head down, now.”

Denise: “No Shit”

. . . and down we went!!!!!!

. . . not like the 12% descents the other day . . . but fast enough. There were two more signs like this down the road so we actually descended about 11 miles. Hands were freezing!!!!

. . . Bonzai . . . by the time we reached the Village of Conway we were at 500ft of elevation. It was a LONGGGGGGGGG drop!!!

. . . right out of town there was this Inn.  Zimmer frei . . . (room available) reminded me of our upcoming trip to Provence!!!! YES!!!!

.

. . . oh boy, Conway has a scenic railroad too!!!

. . . nice to be on a bike, as I rolled to the head of the Labor Day traffic line that extended a mile and a half from the first stop sign coming into town!!!

Tonight we are staying at the White Mountain Hostel . . . where they have showers and they are HOT!!!!!

. . . this place puts you in the right frame of mind!!!!

I was the first one to arrive at the hostel. Natalie, the manager of the hostel, was very accommodating by letting us in BEFORE the 4:00pm ‘Doors Open’ time!!!!

. . . this is the room I picked . . . first floor, an easy haul from the parking lot. Right bunk, lower level!!!

. . . the second boy’s room was on the third floor. In mbbt parlance, it would be the ‘submarine’ !!!!

. . . nice kitchen for our use. Jim and David are cooking tonight . . . we’ll see what they come up with!!!!