RetiredJake
Junior Member
Northern Loop - Sunday, Sep 13
It was not raining this morning, and there was a good possibility that I would stay dry the whole day. It was like a miracle. I was beginning to understand why people in Seattle commit suicide in the winter.
I headed north towards York to get a shot of the bike at the shore, to complement the one taken next to the Pacific in June. I spotted the Old Gaol in York, ME, circa 1719, on the way. How would like to have spent a day or two in this?
I made it the York beaches and they were lonely. Of course it was a Sunday morning and most of the tourists have gone home. This completed the decision I made in June on the western loop when I decided that these rides had to include pictures of the bike at both oceans. Mission accomplished, to paraphrase a famous American.
I then rode out to the end of the point to capture the lighthouse. It sits on an island and they have a cable car to get back and forth and to bring supplies out. As you can see, it was a little bit foggy, and the fog horn was blowing. Love that sound, wish I could make the bike horn sound like that.
As I headed north from York, the sun actually came out. I have to admit that I was a little confused for a few minutes until I figured out what that bright light in the sky was.
A little further down the road I stumbled across ‘Uncle Donald’s Pig Farm’. Some people’s vivid imagination knows no bounds.
Shortly after crossing into NH, I was approaching the mountains. Stopped at a rest area and caught this shot of where I was headed. Note the clouds building up.
I decided to take the road to the top of Mt. Washington since it was so warm and the clouds were breaking up again. The top of the mountain was in the clouds, and that should have tipped me off that this was not a good idea. This is an 8 mile road up the mountain, with an average grade of 12%. Yes, that is the actual grade. There is about 1 ½ miles of hard pack gravel, with the rest being paved. About half way through the gravel part, we entered the clouds. Visibility continued to drop as we climbed. I was following the taillights of the car in front of me, and they slowed down to the point I was having to slip the clutch to keep off his bumper. This was not a lot of fun. I finally got to the top, and it was so foggy that you could not see anything. I hear that the view is spectacular.
I took this picture to show what could be seen.
On the way back down, it started to spit water, felt like ice particles and may have been. The temperature dropped to below 40 degrees at the summit. Going down, it was hard to stay off peoples bumpers. They were going very slow and the bike wanted to wander back and forth. I did not want to stop for fear the guy behind me wouldn’t see I had stopped in time. A little nerve racking to say the least. Fun road, and I would do it again, on a clear day. Do not recommend under these conditions.
On through NH and into VT, the sky continued to cycle from overcast to partly sunny. As I would work to the north, I would get some sun. As I would head west, it was back under the clouds. It was like this the rest of the day. YES, I did not get rained on today. The rain suit stayed in the saddlebag all day ! :newsmile01:
I was a disappointed about the color. I had hoped there would be some, but there was hardly any at all. Just isolated spots here and there.
I finally crossed over Lake Champlain and called it a day in Rouses Point, NY. See ya’ll tomorrow.
It was not raining this morning, and there was a good possibility that I would stay dry the whole day. It was like a miracle. I was beginning to understand why people in Seattle commit suicide in the winter.
I headed north towards York to get a shot of the bike at the shore, to complement the one taken next to the Pacific in June. I spotted the Old Gaol in York, ME, circa 1719, on the way. How would like to have spent a day or two in this?
I made it the York beaches and they were lonely. Of course it was a Sunday morning and most of the tourists have gone home. This completed the decision I made in June on the western loop when I decided that these rides had to include pictures of the bike at both oceans. Mission accomplished, to paraphrase a famous American.
I then rode out to the end of the point to capture the lighthouse. It sits on an island and they have a cable car to get back and forth and to bring supplies out. As you can see, it was a little bit foggy, and the fog horn was blowing. Love that sound, wish I could make the bike horn sound like that.
As I headed north from York, the sun actually came out. I have to admit that I was a little confused for a few minutes until I figured out what that bright light in the sky was.
A little further down the road I stumbled across ‘Uncle Donald’s Pig Farm’. Some people’s vivid imagination knows no bounds.
Shortly after crossing into NH, I was approaching the mountains. Stopped at a rest area and caught this shot of where I was headed. Note the clouds building up.
I decided to take the road to the top of Mt. Washington since it was so warm and the clouds were breaking up again. The top of the mountain was in the clouds, and that should have tipped me off that this was not a good idea. This is an 8 mile road up the mountain, with an average grade of 12%. Yes, that is the actual grade. There is about 1 ½ miles of hard pack gravel, with the rest being paved. About half way through the gravel part, we entered the clouds. Visibility continued to drop as we climbed. I was following the taillights of the car in front of me, and they slowed down to the point I was having to slip the clutch to keep off his bumper. This was not a lot of fun. I finally got to the top, and it was so foggy that you could not see anything. I hear that the view is spectacular.
I took this picture to show what could be seen.
On the way back down, it started to spit water, felt like ice particles and may have been. The temperature dropped to below 40 degrees at the summit. Going down, it was hard to stay off peoples bumpers. They were going very slow and the bike wanted to wander back and forth. I did not want to stop for fear the guy behind me wouldn’t see I had stopped in time. A little nerve racking to say the least. Fun road, and I would do it again, on a clear day. Do not recommend under these conditions.
On through NH and into VT, the sky continued to cycle from overcast to partly sunny. As I would work to the north, I would get some sun. As I would head west, it was back under the clouds. It was like this the rest of the day. YES, I did not get rained on today. The rain suit stayed in the saddlebag all day ! :newsmile01:
I was a disappointed about the color. I had hoped there would be some, but there was hardly any at all. Just isolated spots here and there.
I finally crossed over Lake Champlain and called it a day in Rouses Point, NY. See ya’ll tomorrow.
