Riding in The Whites

The scenery when riding in the White Mountains is constantly changing and always surreal. Early spring you won’t be able to see over the snow banks, and by fall you won't be able to focus on the road (from all the leaf peeping). Whether you ride out and back or make a loop, there will be great views of some of the most iconic mountains and slides. For those motivated to do longer rides, four hours or more, amazing rides can be planned out. Our shop favorite is riding around Mount Washington. The eighty-six mile loop has almost four and a half thousand feet of climbing and travels through two mountain passes, Pinkham Notch and Crawford Notch. No need to worry about refilling water, for there are endless streams and rivers to fill your bottle up-just make sure to bring a filter or purification tablet!

While some of us get annoyed by snowmobiles and side by sides (ATV), they sure do make great trails for exploring on a cross country mountain bike or burly cyclocross bike. Many of these trails exist on the outskirts of the National Forest and make for great adventures. For days when the weather is chaotic in the mountain passes, it is nice go into the woods for shelter. Modern day hard-tails, gravel bikes and full suspension cross country bikes make these trails easy and fun to ride. 

The mountain biking in the White Mountains is exploding. In the past couple of years the amount of trails as almost tripled. These mountain bike trails takes many different forms. Some trails are manicured and machine built while others are no more than a hiking trails-there are many more kinds trails in between these two standards. The enduro/downhill riding in the White Mountains tends to be rocky, steep and chunky. The lack of dirt in the White Mountains means you will be rolling on sharp rocks most of the time, remember it is the Granite State! The amount of rock can get tiresome however, when it rains the trails always dry out quick!

Want to link all these different kinds of transportation up? Consider a modern cross country bike with fast tires. These days cross country tires have efficient patterns and are light weight. Using them on roads is not as efficient as road bike tires, but if you want to travel on many different types of terrane it is well worth the extra effort. Many online maps have records of all the different types of trails that exist in and around the valley. If you want help getting ideas of how to start creating your own loops give us a call!

For those who have not cracked into the endless amounts of routes in the White Mountains, I suggest you get started now, or you may never finish.