Monadnock Backroads Biking

On Sunday, June 5th, Tom, Rick and I...and Baxter met up at my place in Jaffrey for a bike ride around some of the Monadnock area's backroads. Everyone arrived by 10:45 and we got ready and were off by 11AM (Baxter was stuffed in a backpack!). We immediately headed to Gilmore Pond Road. This road passes through some small farm lands as well as past the picturesque Mountain Brook Reservoir and Gilmore Pond. Gilmore Pond Road ends at the Old Jaffrey Center, where we took a break behind the Meeting House. During the break we explored the old burial ground here, where such notibles as Willa Cather and Amos Fortune are buried. We continued, passing Melville Academy and turning onto Thorndike Pond Road. Along this road there were nice views of Mt. Monadnock as well as Thorndike Pond, itself. This road started out as a paved road and subsequently became a packed gravel road, which proceeded north along the edge of Blaine Forest. Just after entering Dublin we turned onto Page Road. This climbed upwards towards the Dublin Christian Academy, where there were beautiful views again of the mountain. We crossed Rt. 137 and took Gold Mine Road up to Union Street in Peterborough. A side road headed to MacDowell Lake and Dam. On the way up the road, Baxter jumped ship and we got to talking to a woman who came out to see him...Baxter was definitely the star of this ride. We headed further up the road and rode across the dam and took a break here. After the break we proceeded back out of the park and down to Union Street, where we took this into downtown Peterborough. After riding through this quaint little town we hooked up with the railtrail, which headed south out of town. At Noone Falls and Settler's Rock (where Peterborough was first settled), we headed across Rt. 202 to Old Jaffrey Road / Town Farm Road. This route passed through farms with several hills as we meandered back. Along the way there was a wonderful view of the mountain across some pastureland. The rest of the ride involved taking Dean Farm and Old Peterborough Roads back into downtown Jaffrey and heading back to my place. Afterwards we hung out for a while at my place, where we also enjoyed burgers and hotdogs on the grill and continued to chat.

Thanks to Rick and Tom for joining me on this bike ride. A special thanks goes to Baxter...I didn't initially know how he would do the ride, but he had one of the best seats in the house and just quietly enjoyed the ride!

 Join me for this roughly 25-mile bike ride loop through Jaffrey, Dublin and Peterborough.  We'll be taking secondary roads through the country-side almost the entire way...with additional portion(s) on rail-trail which parallels the Contoocook River.  Along the route you'll get a chance to see some picturesque ponds, views of Mt. Monadnock, Old Jaffrey Center, the Edward MacDowell Dam and historic Peterborough.  Note:  The roads are all good, but they will be a mixture of paved and hard-pack gravel roads (Class V).  As you'd expect the region is hilly and you can expect a ride that is almost anything but flat (ca. 400' elevation gain)!  A road bike with good tires or hybrid bike should be ideal.

The ride will begin and end at my place in Jaffrey.

Bring along:  Your bike, helmet (recommended), bug repellent, sunscreen, light lunch / snacks for the ride, water.

After the ride:  We'll do burgers and dogs on the grill (provided). Bring along a side or desert to share.