Monday, April 21, 2008

7 Hours of Fun in the Sun

With temps coming into the mid 70's I decided to get some more long miles in before the start of the season, the Rock Cut Race was appealing but I felt I needed to spend more time riding than driving this weekend so on Sunday I grabbed my riding partner Ben and took off from Madison to Gibraltar Rock in Merrimack. Its this little park that I had heard about but never been to so with maps in hand we took off with one single goal in mind, reach the rock. Above is my favorite Road, a thrilling ride of unexpected twists and turns a road that is pretty smooth down the center, but rough around the edges, just like me.
Here is Ben perched above the soaring Turkey Vultures that dominate the Rock.

The road to the top was closed in the 80's to prevent young impressionable youth from driving to the top to have keggers, so it was a little hike across the barricade and then straight up. The climb to the top was what you would expect out of a road that had not been maintained in 20 years, lots of moss covered marbles ready to throw you down at the first opportunity.
When I saw this sign I knew we were in for some climbing. You know its steep when you pass people hiking to the top with trekking poles and taking a break, but they cheered us on as we made for the summit.

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