Local loop
Jul 31, 2022
(~269 miles)

It’s been almost four weeks since returning from the LDX journey, and just a week after my run back from Tulsa with a new ST for the stable. Char hasn’t been on the bike with me for almost eight weeks so it was time to enjoy some wind therapy together again. We had a beautiful forecast for Sunday, so I plotted a route into southern New Hampshire to give the NER Hillsboro County Ramble ride a whirl.

We had a bit of a late start around 11:00, slabbing it through Rhode Island and into Mass via route 146. Turning onto local roads in Millbury, we picked our way over to North Oxford, then up MA 56 into the hilly center of the state. It was an easy pace, cruising north through Leicester, then Hubbardston and further on woodsy back roads up to Winchendon, which we skirted to the east. US 202 is a pretty quick, open ride north for several miles, crossing the New Hampshire state line and avoiding town centers until hitting Jaffrey.

One mile east on NH 124 and Kimball Farm Restaurant awaited for our lunch stop. The weather was gorgeous, though it was getting a bit hot out in full gear when not moving, so we were glad to find a parking spot up close to the building in the shade. I don’t usually go for greasy fried food while riding, but was in the mood for some seafood, and opted to try their haddock nuggets, with a side of onion rings.

I have to say that I hope there is a special place reserved in hell for whomever invented the “single-serving” sized ketchup packet. Is there anyone on the planet who might bite a tear through one of these messy, frustrating foil baglets, squeeze out the few red drops and think, “Gee, that’s just plenty of ketchup for me!” 🙄

After putting away a healthy (read: unhealthy) portion of fish and rings, I decided to spring for a bit of ice cream since we probably wouldn’t be stopping anywhere else later. Char elected to stay at the picnic table we’d commandeered while I went to hunt and gather.

The ice cream lines had grown while we were eating, but there were still maybe only 6-7 people waiting in each of the lines before the windows. Well, we waited, and waited some more. For some reason, everyone seemed to be ordering sundaes today and so it was taking the girl at our window a lot longer per person.

In maybe 15 minutes or so, I’m finally second in line and the guy in front of me starts ordering sundaes and sending them off with his kids to bring them to other people. He informs those of us in line behind him, that he’s ordering for a group of 15! Not only that, but apparently, there is some sort of special sundae being offered this weekend only in memory of a long-time regular customer of the restaurant who’d recently passed away. He pointed to the flyers posted to the building in a few spots. Oh. Great.

Try as we might to smile and take it lightly, the guy must have noticed the looks the rest of us were exchanging. I mean, come on, couldn’t you have at least warned the rest of us before we waited this long? I’m sure a few of us would have elected to move to one of the faster-moving lines. Well, he must’ve felt bad. After he paid and left to find his tribe, I stepped up to order my kiddie-size cup of coconut almond ice cream. When I tried to pay for it, the girl said that the big-spender guy had taken care of it already. Hah! OK, thanks Mr. Sundaes-for-Everyone, you’re forgiven… mostly. All told, it was probably closing on 40 minutes before I sat back down with my ice cream!

Dairy craving satisfied, we geared up and hit the road, picking up the NER route now and enjoying curvaceous route 137 heading north to Bennington. Then NH 31 up through Antrim, joining route 9 for a jog east into Hillboro, where we turned onto Main Street. At a big intersection, US 202 arrives over a pretty double-arched bridge. I decided to pull in to get a photo or two while we stretched our legs. Apparently, these bridges are a thing around here.

Hillsboro NH

More nice riding followed on NH 149 east, then 77 south, and route 136 back to the west, looping all around the landscape of the southern Granite State. In Greenfield, we turned southeast on NH 31, passing through the cute little village of Wilton, where Garmin took us on a scenic but useless parking lot tour behind an old mill building before pointing us in the actual direction we needed to continue. The route joins up with NH 123 in Greenville, zagging through the hamlet of Mason.

At this point, we were concerned with timing for getting home, as Char had a zoom call scheduled with far-flung family members this evening. We cut the route a bit short and headed south for home, taking 123 back into Mass. We picked up MA 13 in Townsend, down into Leominster and slab highways for the remainder of the jaunt.

The time for the call was rapidly approaching and we weren’t going to make it home, so we pulled in at a basic rest area on 146 a couple miles from the RI border. We commandeered a stone-finished picnic table, set way back from the sound of passing highway traffic. This is not a highly-used area, so we were able to have a pretty functional video call outdoors in the twilight, before finishing up the remaining miles of a very nice summer riding day.