Ride Information
Destination: Kittery Point, MA
Start Location: Beverly, MA @ Cummings Center (Large parking lot next to 181 Elliott St. Beverly, MA 01915)
Start Time: 7am Note: New Start Time
Length: 200k / 125mi
Time Limit: 13.5 Hours (200k)
Ride Leader: Dan Shinnick
Controls: Amesbury, MA; Kittery Point, ME; Somersworth, NH; Plaistow, NH
Sanctioning: ACP
Cue Sheet: Download Preliminary Cue (PDF)
Registration: Online Registration
Online Map: RideWithGPS Link
Info:
This is an exciting new NER route which starts in the town Beverley, MA (North Shore Boston) and heads North to Maine before returning to the start in a large loop.
Route notes from ride leader Dan Shinnick: (Read his full ride report.)
I originally was going to run it in a clockwise fashion. That would get the climbing out of the way early and leave the flatter section for the second half. The prevailing winds however are from the south this time of year and fighting the wind is one of my least favorite things. Especially since it originally was closer to the coast, the option to turn the ride around and run it counter clockwise seemed like a good option. This allows the early, cooler, part of the day to be nearer the pretty coast and the latter part further inland where there is more shade (if indeed more climbing also) to be had. Also during one of the pre-rides I found this great lunch stop at Controle #2 Enotecca. Running it clockwise would mean we’d miss the chance for a very interesting lunch. The ride first starts on fairly busy 1A in Massachusetts but an early start goes a long way to putting that out of concern. It then targets some of southern New Hampshire’s prettiest seacoast roads through Exeter, Seabrook, Hampton, Rye and Portsmouth before ending up in Kittery for lunch. One important note about this ride is that the original route goes over the Sagamore Creek bridge which is being replaced meaning a detour along the water (1B) in Wentworth and New Castle. This adds about three total miles to the journey but they are very pretty miles. Leaving lunch we turn inland and north some more to begin a bit of climbing. From here to Somersworth the roads are a mix of light to moderate traffic with the heaviest on ME-91 and 236. At Somersworth we turn around and head back home through historic Dover. A mix of city and residential roads lead us out to a very pretty NH-108. This we essentially follow to Haverhill, MA and some of the best roads the North Shore has to offer through Groveland, Boxford, Georgetown and Topsfield. It isn’t until mile 110 just as we return to Massachusetts that we hit the highest point on the ride Corliss Hill Road. The route is not perfect. But I think it’s pretty good and very enjoyable.