Spent long beer visiting with mtn bike riders in the Outback. Learned some rides.
Slept in same spot behind flat bed truck. Got cold, down to 44 deg inside. Started heater & warmed up.
Decided to research other rides in NH to avoid riding a cherry during the weekend. Found one in N. Conway.
Turned off heater so I thought & closed windows. I started felling light headed and discovered that the heater was still on & I was possibly breathing less O2. Managed to shut off heater & opened windows and wooziness went away. Scary lesson.
Drove over hwy 112, Kancamagus highway. Lots of birch kill. Lots of motorists & people. Overcast day. Colors have lost a bit of intensity. Back in the mountains again.
Into heavy traffic in Conway & into N conway.Lots of factory outlets (PI), EMS perhaps flagship store.
Found owner of Red Jersey bike shop & riders out for a ride. Couldn’t join them, said to come by tomorrow & he will have maps for rides. He also said that The Nan, the IMBA epic was too wet to ride because of all rain they have had.
Drove out to Echo Lake to ride without map or local data. Wandered around woods & trails around lake. Beautiful setting over lake with rock cliffs in background.
Ready to quit when I spied a rider getting ready to head out & I invited myself along. He was hesitant at first but gave in. He took off at a hectic pace for me through the tight twisting ST that he knew. He pedaled all the time & I pulsed & stayed w/ him. Maybe his style is better than mine. Trail dumped out on a closed gravel road & climbed up to Mineral site. Then dropped down hill on a well built trail. Dark in woods, leaves covering trail & hidden delights. He smoked me on downhill as he should have as a local.
We entered ST from golf course. He said he worked at the resort hotel just off trail. I asked about a shower and he gave me building layout description. It will be up to my incognito dirt bag mannerism to enter luxury building & walk hall ways undetected to the shower room & back. Made it. Another shower this time in the lamp of luxury. But used my own towel.
Drove back to outside gate of Echo Lake for camp.
Presidential Range of White Mtns has fresh snow dusting. Thinking about a backpack trip into at least Tuckerman Ravine and perhaps a summit bid on MT Washington. Tomorrow I will learn the particulars.