We would like to extend our gratitude to our donors who support BU Cycling year after year, and to our sponsors who supply us with awesome equipment to ride on. Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to make cycling accessible to all of our riders. Thank you so much!
Earlier this month, we hosted our annual training camp in the Kancamagus mountains. Over the weekend, we ride 100 miles as a team–up and down the Kancamagus Pass, and around the White Mountains National Park.
This year, we started in Lincoln NH, climbing the Kanc first. The second half of the climb always becomes an impromptu race, with riders either attacking each other and playing bikes, or continuing at their own pace to the rendezvous point at the very top. Following tradition, we take pictures, throw around some banter, and check out the vista points before we descend down to Conway.
We normally stop for lunch somewhere along the route, and this year was no different. At a café in Conway, we stopped for coffee (of course), sandwiches, and soup. Refueled, we began the latter half of our century. Undulating hills populated the next couple dozen miles, which cumulated with the very, very, very steep and punchy Crawford Notch. We continued on towards Franconia, turning off at the bike path running parallel to Route 93. By that time, darkness had fallen upon us, accompanied by a large amount of rain, contributing to an exhilarating descent through the wooded bike trail. We arrived back at Lincoln some 8 hours after we started, exhausted and battered, yet satisfied.
Some quick stats: Distance: 100 miles. Elevation: 5600 ft. Average Speed: 17.2 mph.
At the top of the Kancamagus Pass. We were joined by BU Cycling alumnus Ryan Singh, who now races for ButcherBox Cycling.
Several miles before Crawford Notch, undulating hills punished our already-fatigued legs. We had the “big guys” go to the front and give everyone some much needed draft.
We were joined by some puppies at the top of the Kanc–a godsend for a group of tired, dog-deprived college students.
The morning after, a motivated group of riders went on a short dawn ride on some quiet roads. Beautiful views all around…until it started raining.
