Saturday Ride: New TOWM Race Route

Saturday Ride: Hey folks! Maybe you've heard and maybe you haven't, but the Tour of the White Mountains is going to have an entirely new 18 mile single-track race course this fall. This Saturday, you can get a chance to see what that's all about, because we'll be having a group ride where we'll be covering most of it.! The new route includes parts of the Iron Horse Connector, Country Club, Blue Ridge, Lumberjack, and Springs trails.

Carol Godwin and her bike pose next to the giant alligator juniper on the Lumberjack trail last summer.

Each of these trails have their own character. The Country Club and Iron Horse sections are relatively easy without much climbing and little to nothing technical in them. Springs is also relatively flat and has some nice sections that are fun and easy to cruise . . . but there are a few technical sections to keep things interesting. TRACKS has done some work on Springs to make it a little more usable for the TOWM race this spring, so it isn't as rough as you may remember. Then we've got Blue Ridge and Lumberjack, which are going to offer us about a three mile climb, and then a three mile descent over some moderately challenging terrain. You need intermediate MTB skills for this ride for sure. All told, this should be about a 16 mile ride.

To join us, meet at Blue Ridge Trailhead #2 at 7:00 a.m. That's at the junction of Sky Hi Retreat Road and FR 187. We should be back to the trailhead right around 9:30 a.m. Saturday may be the last opportunity to ride trails for awhile based on how the forecast looks starting on Sunday, and that's fine given how badly we need the rain. See ya Saturday morning!