We rolled out of Center Sandwich in the late morning after a good helping of coffee and farm fresh eggs (purchased 100 yard down the road). The plan was to do a counter clockwise century that would take us through Conway, across the whole length of the Kancamangus Highway, Lincoln and then back home.
The air was cool and the traffic light as we spun our way up to Conway on the flatter terrain of the day. After a quick snack at the turn off for Kancamangus we started the gentle climb to the peak. The Highway is 38 miles with no gas stations, restaurants, shops, nothing. The climb itself wasn’t terrible, with no significantly steep sections. It was just a long grind to the top and a fun but safe drop to the bottom.
Next up was a misreading of the map, which tagged 15 extra miles and 1000 feet of climbing onto the ride when we thought we were close to home. The finish was the true epic adventure of the whole day though. We had planned to take Sandwich Notch road back into town, but when we turned onto it was gravel and rocks on what must have been a 15% climb. Unsure of our detour options we decided to press on. It was an hour of pure heaven or hell depending on your point of view. The road was not a road, the pitches were steep and relentless, and the descent necessitated a cyclocross style tripod the whole way down.
We rolled home in a super-bonk induced state of euphoria. 120 miles. 8 hours in the saddle. Epic.
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