I just finished a ride in the White Mountains along the Swift River. I am the mountain bike dude for a summer camp in NH and we decided on a fairly solid trip this time around. The Middle and lower Nanamocomuck ski trail off the Kankamaugus Highway. The trail head at Bear Notch Road was a good central access point. I took a group of 7 summer campers plus 3 staff members and myself along Rob Brook Road which was a nice double track 8 mile pedal to where the Middle Nan started. I had heard that the Middle "Nan" is famous for "New England Tech" and "blow-downs"....which turned out to be quite true!....
The seldom traveled single track trail started with challenging roots, rocks and plank bridges through marshy areas that had not seen traffic since the winter. It became clear to me that preserving equipment was just as important as trying technical elements....even more so. I had us opt out of several plank features that I knew would snake bite our tires, and had us try other areas to learn new skills.
The roots and rocks were relentless at times and just seemed to keep coming!....then the ferns would invade the trail and hide them!.....
I did adopt a modified position on the bike which helped in this type of terrain a great deal. It was a combination of riding more over the rear wheel with the occasional handle bar pull and an overall rear biased weighting which allowed a more natural and flowing front wheel travel over the terrain. A more accentuated curve in the spine and slightly straighter arms and core engagement is how it felt.
We took a break at a spot in the trail that kissed the Swift River's edge and enjoyed the cool waters there as it was hot and steamy along the trail....
back on the trail and roughly 2 miles into our 5 mile return we had an opportunity to bail through the Passaconway Campground bridge exit to the highway, but we were feeling adventurous and cocky so stayed in the woods. it was just down the trail from there that things got interesting!
The blow downs became relentless....with some of the trees completely blocking the path with swampy terrain on either side. Teamwork was the only answer and we helped each other get our bikes through the branches of the downed trees. The trail disappeared at times due to very light traffic and the clear need for maintenance. occasionally I would look for trail markers only to realize that they were on the fallen trees that blocked the trail.
We kept a reasonable pace, taking short breaks here and there...Then we came upon a very wet area maybe 12-24" deep in spots interrupted by root mounds that stuck a few inches out of the water....it was great fun and the bottom was solid enough to slog through it!
A beautiful wide bridge appeared soon after and we stopped for a few photos along this marshy river.....beautiful.
back in the woods, for a bit...more blow downs, then more blow downs......this was getting old.
popping out into a clearing I saw a mound of gravel on one side, and an embankment on the other.....the gravel mound was calling me to ride over it...but something kept me from doing so........maybe it was intuition, or the campers behind me...but just as I was passing by it a big bear cub jumped up from behind it which scared both of us...we both looked at each other for a moment....brown nose and big ears...eyes wide....and he bolted the other way!....whew!....I ushered the boys past the spot and we looked left and right for Momma bear, but none appeared....good thing!....
more woods and then a warning sign for winter travelers...."Bridge Out....Do not Cross".....well, we got to the river only to find no bridge at all....looking to the right...oh, wait, there it is....30 feet down and wrecked...carried away by a storm no doubt. (this bridge was a good 12 feet wide and 35 feet long)...so it was time to shoulder the bikes and find a way across the river....
back on the trail more of the same tech and blow downs but we began to climb uphill.....and clearly this is a hiking trail here.....so, tired at this point....we hiked to the top of the grade, pedaled where we could and hiked again...finally getting to a small culvert and back onto the Rob Brook Road where we met up with Bear Notch Road again and rode down hill 7 miles to our campground at Blackberry Crossing for a nice rest and swim in the Swift River.
Steak Tips and Pasta and Gatoraid and water awaited the tired bikers.....
we had gotten on the trail at about 12:30 and back to the campground at 5:45....a nice little pedal!
Ill try to get some pictures up....wish I had one of that bear cub!
JP
The seldom traveled single track trail started with challenging roots, rocks and plank bridges through marshy areas that had not seen traffic since the winter. It became clear to me that preserving equipment was just as important as trying technical elements....even more so. I had us opt out of several plank features that I knew would snake bite our tires, and had us try other areas to learn new skills.
The roots and rocks were relentless at times and just seemed to keep coming!....then the ferns would invade the trail and hide them!.....
I did adopt a modified position on the bike which helped in this type of terrain a great deal. It was a combination of riding more over the rear wheel with the occasional handle bar pull and an overall rear biased weighting which allowed a more natural and flowing front wheel travel over the terrain. A more accentuated curve in the spine and slightly straighter arms and core engagement is how it felt.
We took a break at a spot in the trail that kissed the Swift River's edge and enjoyed the cool waters there as it was hot and steamy along the trail....
back on the trail and roughly 2 miles into our 5 mile return we had an opportunity to bail through the Passaconway Campground bridge exit to the highway, but we were feeling adventurous and cocky so stayed in the woods. it was just down the trail from there that things got interesting!
The blow downs became relentless....with some of the trees completely blocking the path with swampy terrain on either side. Teamwork was the only answer and we helped each other get our bikes through the branches of the downed trees. The trail disappeared at times due to very light traffic and the clear need for maintenance. occasionally I would look for trail markers only to realize that they were on the fallen trees that blocked the trail.
We kept a reasonable pace, taking short breaks here and there...Then we came upon a very wet area maybe 12-24" deep in spots interrupted by root mounds that stuck a few inches out of the water....it was great fun and the bottom was solid enough to slog through it!
A beautiful wide bridge appeared soon after and we stopped for a few photos along this marshy river.....beautiful.
back in the woods, for a bit...more blow downs, then more blow downs......this was getting old.
popping out into a clearing I saw a mound of gravel on one side, and an embankment on the other.....the gravel mound was calling me to ride over it...but something kept me from doing so........maybe it was intuition, or the campers behind me...but just as I was passing by it a big bear cub jumped up from behind it which scared both of us...we both looked at each other for a moment....brown nose and big ears...eyes wide....and he bolted the other way!....whew!....I ushered the boys past the spot and we looked left and right for Momma bear, but none appeared....good thing!....
more woods and then a warning sign for winter travelers...."Bridge Out....Do not Cross".....well, we got to the river only to find no bridge at all....looking to the right...oh, wait, there it is....30 feet down and wrecked...carried away by a storm no doubt. (this bridge was a good 12 feet wide and 35 feet long)...so it was time to shoulder the bikes and find a way across the river....
back on the trail more of the same tech and blow downs but we began to climb uphill.....and clearly this is a hiking trail here.....so, tired at this point....we hiked to the top of the grade, pedaled where we could and hiked again...finally getting to a small culvert and back onto the Rob Brook Road where we met up with Bear Notch Road again and rode down hill 7 miles to our campground at Blackberry Crossing for a nice rest and swim in the Swift River.
Steak Tips and Pasta and Gatoraid and water awaited the tired bikers.....
we had gotten on the trail at about 12:30 and back to the campground at 5:45....a nice little pedal!
Ill try to get some pictures up....wish I had one of that bear cub!
JP