Nice ride today (Manchester, Rochester, Londonderry: houses, tax, living)

[CrazyDave]

For those of you who don't know.. I don't take bike week off so I can hang around the boulevard watching bikes and chicks go by, but rather so I can have ample days to ride as I choose.

Today we went in search ( well no real searching was involved ) for a pond that made the news recently because a woman had to be rescued after falling off a cliff. Now when I think cliffs and bodies of water I think the mountains.. I don't think Barrington NH..so it definitely intrigued me.

We went via route 43 to 202/9 which took us by one of our favorite spots on 43, right across this old dilapidated barn..it has been sitting like this for eons







Stonehouse pond road is a gravel/dirt affair leading right to the pond itself . If not for the recent rains it would be negotiable it's whole length but a mild overflow made the last section un passable for the bike



The pond itself was lovely, a nice quiet little place just far enough away to cancel out traffic noise and filled with the sound of birds, frogs and small wildlife. You can see the cliffs in the picture below.

Sadly Linda has been having trouble with here knee and the terrain on the trail leading to the cliffs is rock/ root strewn and much of it is on off camber hillside with plenty of steep sections, just the kind of thing that will tax even a healthy knee.



We meandered a bit around the Bow lake area before hopping onto 126. Yes folks I too love small town USA, especially small town NH.. This is from Strafford





We got a little hungry so we stopped into Wild Willies in Rochester for a burger.. Linda loved hers



On the back roads we came across another barn that has seen better days in a time gone era, but she is still standing and her roof holding strong.







all in all a nice relaxing day riding and site seeing.

[GregW]

My friend and I took a short motorcycle jaunt from Manchester to Peterborough via Greenville and New Ipswich. We had a snack at the Peterborough diner and then rode back to M'chester. Nice 90 mile ride on a really great day. The state roads appear to be in better shape than up north. Rt 123 from New Ipswich to Peterborough has some raveling and loss of top coat but was pretty decent.

Saturday my wife and I took a car trip to Freeport Maine to Plymouth NH via Federal 35 to Londonderry. Dinner at the Common Man in Plymouth was uncommonly good. Rt 25B around Meredith was just about a rough as a road can get and still be considered paved. In places it was dangerously decrepit. This is woefully unmaintained and an example of neglect. That area is dependent on tourism and most tourists do not want to ride their bikes or driver their flatlander cars on a motocross course.

Not sure where we will ride next weekend if the weather permits.

[GotBackHome]

Hey Greg! you went through my area! now you see why I keep arguing (or wanting to) when everyone keeps slamming southern NH for being all congested and mostly just 'northern mass'. Only the eastern part of southern NH is - the central/west is nice and rural. ok, Greenville is a little economically depressed, but there's only barely 1100 people in the town!

[GregW]

Wanna - It was a very nice and relaxing ride. The mills and old houses in Greenville Town center are spectacular. Many of these back road rides are observations of rural archectuture and farm buildings as well as wondering how do these people make a living. Next time I think we will try to ride around Monadnock.

[GotBackHome]

it's a nice and relaxing place to live, too. it actually feels like the towns farther north. we plan to build our earth shelter house on the bill hill across from Warwick Mills (jct of 123 &124). we just love the peace up there compared to the hectic business down here.