I took today off from work for a nice mental break.  I headed up to the Kancamagus and then 1 mile up Bear Notch Road to the parking area for the Rob Brook Road and Nanamocomuck Mtn Bike Trails.  Some of the only bike specific area in the White Mountains.  It poses as a XC ski area in the winter, but it has been “marketed” for mountain bikes for quite a while now.

I decided to take the Fargo along for the ride instead of the Cannondale.  I thought it would be a bit more interesting on the Fargo.

I had to stop at The Mountain Wanderer to pick up a map.  This is a tiny book/map store in Lincoln, NH.  I had read enough about the area that people definitely recommended the map, it can get quite confusing out there between the forest road and the riding trails.

I wasn’t too sure what to expect as far as the trails.  I knew that there was a basic Forest Service Road, which would really not be “real” mountain biking, but there was supposed to be some pretty good singletrack and doubletrack too.  Plus a couple really technical areas on lower Nanamocomuck (Nam for short).

I was only on the forest road for a few tenths of a mile before I got to head off onto a right hand turn onto some singletrack.  It actually wasn’t too  bad,  being on the Fargo  made me work for it a bit more.  Had I been on the full suspension Cannondale it would have been a lot easier.

It was pretty chilly and I had rain and even a little snow on the drive up from Concord.  Once I hit the trails though it was nice and sheltered from the wind and really no precip to speak of now.  The sun even peeked out now and again.

I kept my eye peeled for moose, only saw tracks in the mud, but no actual moose.  I did spook a grouse at one point and saw lots of chipmunks too.

It was pretty easy to read the signs and look at the map and have a good idea of where I was.  Only a few intersections were a bit confusing, but nothing too bad.

Some of the area allows snowmobiles in the winter.  Because of this there are some pretty sweet bridges out there.  Not your typical packing crate bridges, but big and well built wooden structures.

There were a few parts of the trail that I was on that were starting to get under water from a few industrious beavers.  Not sure if anyone goes out and addresses this or if they just let the beavers “do their thing”?  I’m sure in the winter it really isn’t that big of a deal with snow cover.

So I was going to explore the Lower Nam after riding the Upper and Middle sections, but I flatted my rear tire and decided it was best to keep it safe at that point.   I changed the tube out and jumped back out onto the Kanc from the Sawyer River Trail.  It was a bit boring way to end the ride, but safer since this was my only extra tube.  I really need to set the Fargo up tubeless!

I still ended up with over 3 hours of riding around, and there is still a lot more I need to explore out there.  Next time I am going to bring the Cannondale which should handle the roots on the trails a bit better.

To top it all off, as I was heading back over the Kanc and into Lincoln…it started to spit snow (again)!

While the trails are not the most technical around.  They offer some awesome views of the white mountains that I have never gotten to see.  It allows you to cover a lot more ground than just hiking too.  I will definitely go back!  Hopefully with a few more people next time.

This sure beat spending the day at a desk and behind a computer screen looking at budgets!

Thanks for reading

-Pete