Monadnock to Mount Washington, NH

On 09/11/2010 I took the first of many (hopefully) 'fall' trips on my G650GS.
The bike itself calls for an adventure -- a little bit of hills, a little bit of lakes, a little bit of dirt -- what better place than New Hampshire.


View Larger Map


This particular trip commenced in Keene, NH. I started out early in the morning and headed west on Rte 9 towards Concord. Thanks to decent riding gear, a review of which is coming later on, the brisk morning air moving past me at 60 mph did not bother me at all, despite the temperature being in the low 40F. With Keene behind me, the road follows gently sloping hills and scattered lakes and ponds, offering some spectacular scenery. Nonetheless, keeping my destination in mind, I kept going.
My initial plan was to take 93 North and cross the White Mountains on Re 112. Plans and motorcycles, however, often do not agree with one another.
Nearing Canteburry, I noticed a slight wobble coming from my front tire. Since I was going fairly fast, I decided not to push my luck and pulled over at the next rest stop. Upon close examination, I discovered that my front tire developed a series of cracks along its sidewall, very close to the rim. Not really seing any other option, I decided to keep going and hope to find a dealership along the way. While this may sound crazy, I'm not insane, so I pulled off the highway and headed towards Meredith keeping my speed below 50mh.

While I came across three motorcycle dealerships, none had the proper tire size in stock, so I kept going farther up north. Finally, just before Conway, luck smiled at me.
A small Yamaha shop on the side of the road not only had the right size tire but also had the time to install it for me. Well, an hour and a few cigarettes later, plus $170 lighter, I was back on the road again.
It was around noon and going back to the highway or crossing the Whites on 112 was out of the question. I pushed fast forward making it to the Mt. Washington Auto Road in a decent time. The weather was spectacular with close to 70F and clear summit. Temp at the summit was just below 50F and winds stayed close to 30mph. A perfect day for a climb...a two wheeled climb that is.
I paid the toll ($10), put on a long sleeved shirt under my jacket, saddled up and hit it.

I drove Mt Washingon once before, in a car, but going on a bike was a whole new experience. The lack of a metal cage provided for amazing views (some scary) and I almost felt that I could feel everything around me. The climb itself took about 30 minutes as I stuck behind some cars, and when I reached the top I got off and went exploring the scenery.




Unfortunately, just as my luck had it earlier that day, the clouds moved in fairly quick, and visibility changed from great to near nothing. Well, down the mountain I was. 









From Mt. Washington I headed to Gorham where I had a late lunch break. Since most of the day was now gone and I still had over three hours of riding ahead of me, I cut across to Twin Mountain and headed for Franconia. From there it was smooth coasting down 93 to Concord and Rte 9 back to the Monadnock region.

New Hampshire is a beautiful state. In a day I was able to cross two completely different mountain regions and the lake district. I only wish I had taken more pictures, but due to the complications early in the day, I was short on time. Next up, the seacoast.