Manadnock NH Hookey Ride

 Caution: Motorcycle content contained below.

Went for a hookey ride with the Chipstah, a friend of mine who is semi
retired over in Dublin New Hampshire. Dublin is just west of
Peterborough and is the home of Yankee Magazine. This is in the
southwest corner of New Hampshire, and the area is a hidden jewel, not
the suburban sprawl of southern NH like it is over on the east side of
93, where all those damn Obama votin' commies moved up from Boston so
they wouldn't have to pay Massachusetts taxes. It's a mess over there
and I don't ride over there unless I have to. Yes, Laconia is over
there, but it's north enough to almost be White Mountains as opposed
to the more southern parking lot.

Anyway, me and Chipstah played hookey. Chip has one of those Harley
Street Bobs. He's a real NH boy, he ain't got no Gerbings and he ain't
even got a windshield. He just wears his longjohns and a wool hat and
some gloves. We decided to just stay local as this area has a web of
gorgeous roads that interconnect all sorts of cute little New
Hampshire villages that only God and the locals ever heard of. I live
not far from here myself, but he knows the area better than I do, I
just know the routes, he knows the back roads.

We run through 137 into Hancock NH and he takes me up this back road
to a small lake. It's right off Rt 123 and there's only one bank
accessible by auto road. Chip tells me the biggest trout in NH are
caught in this little lake, it's beautiful and deep and a real nice
little find. There's a public boat ramp anyone can use for free and a
sign that says no ski boats allowed. Chip tells me that the state does
a fly over stocking to a remote section of this lake that is somewhat
of a connecting pond, mad me want take up fishing again.
http://www.pbase.com/stevel1949/image/105554400

The rest of the day we spent going through villages such as
Harrisville, Nelson, Greenfield, Francistown and Bennington. None of
these towns would have more than a flashing yellow light someplace in
them, maybe an old woolen mill long since closed, a lot of summer
homes shuttered for the season, and maybe a year round population of
less than a thousand, two thousand if you include horses, cows and
pigs.

Great little ride. The temps didn't get above 60'F but stayed out of
the 50s. We stopped a lot for Chip to warm up. I really didn't need
the Gerbings. I think I'm going to surrender to the cold this year
without as much of a fight. I need to stack wood, and then clean up
the yard and then maybe pick up where I left off on the guitar and
take some pictures of this beautiful area.
http://www.pbase.com/stevel1949/hookey_wednesday

There's a certain beauty to living here that almost takes the bite out
of winter. I like the fact that New England as a whole voted Obama.
That and the fact that we've got the Red-Sox.

 
:The rest of the day we spent going through villages such as
:Harrisville, Nelson, Greenfield, Francistown and Bennington. None of
:these towns would have more than a flashing yellow light someplace in
:them, maybe an old woolen mill long since closed, a lot of summer
:homes shuttered for the season, and maybe a year round population of
:less than a thousand, two thousand if you include horses, cows and
:pigs.

I was raised in Peterborough and learned to ride on those roads.
Peterborough is the biggest town in the area. It has one stop light
(out on the highway). There were about 3300 residents when I lived
there. It doesn't seem to have changed much.
___
Cogito Ergo Spam - I think therefore I ham

 
I go through this area when taking one of my short cuts to the waste
land in the south east.  Rts 123 and 31 make a nice diagonal, except
that they don't quite connect.  The connecting road from Hancock to
Greenfield doesn't have a route number, and parts of it don't even
show up on many maps.  Pretty sure its name is Forest Road, which is
appropriate.