Our first bike tour, but not our last! Mike and I were novice riders, but we biked 100 miles in a three day span, including one day that was a personal best of 39 miles. We had electric bikes, although Mike rarely used the “boost”. I took great joy in passing a former “IronMan” athlete while peddling uphill. “On your left, IronMan!”
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- A bike trip in the middle of tropical storm Elsa? As we say, it’s either a great trip or a great story.
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- Our first day was indeed 100% rainy. We decided if we were going to get soaked, we’d do that in the hot tub at our hotel, thank you.
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- We stayed at the historic and marginally creepy Wentworth-by-the-Sea hotel, built in 1874.
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- Finally ready to ride! Note the shower caps on our helmets.
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- Just in case you think we’re serious bikers…
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- These electric bikes are so fun! Mike loves “turbo” mode!
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- Great Bike Tours provided me with a cushy bike seat, pictured here next to a serious girl biker seat. Ouch!
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- A beautiful church in Portsmouth, NH.
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- GBT chartered an historic gundalow, a shallow drafted cargo barge with a collapsible sail for going under bridges.
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- “The only way to get a good crew is to marry one.” ― Eric Hiscock
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- Great Bike Tours is a family owned business. Simon and his wife Jessica, along with twin sons Julian and Elliot, were fabulous guides.
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- You bet! Ha!
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- We had thorough briefings before every ride, and customized GPS instructions on our iPhones.
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- Perfect Kodak moment.
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- Riding along the Presidential Range Rail Trail was pretty bumpy, but I still have all my molars.
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- Mike hiking the Flume, and 800 ft. long gorge in Franconia Notch.
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- We’re stayed at the lovely Omni Mt. Washington in Bretton Woods, where the Bretton Woods Accords were signed, creating the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, setting the USD as reserve currency in 1944.
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- Enjoying the sunset in traditional New England Andirondack chairs.
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- In Franconia Notch, we tried to see the “Old Man in the Mountain”, but a) it was foggy and b)his head fell off in 2003.
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- Overall, we couldn’t believe how many graveyards there are in the northeast. WAY more than out west.
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- The Franconia Notch Basin is a wonderland of stone carved by water.
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- We spotted a baby moose along the trail!
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- The Mt. Washington Cog Railway took us to the top of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the northeast at 6,288 ft.
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- With a max grade of 37%, this is the second steepest cog rail in the world, right behind Mt. Pilatus in Switzerland.
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- Biodiesel locomotives are now used, but that conductor sure looks like he’s from the coal-fired engine days.
