A climb, a swoop, a ramble in Peterborough and Greenfield

Peterborough and Greenfield, NH, 18.5 miles. Elevation gain 1526 feet. Challenging. Up and over the end of the Pack Monadnock range, by Zephyr Lake and then lots of quiet back roads to downtown Peterborough You've gotten your legs back, you're reasonably aerobically fit, and you're looking for a nearby ride that's a bit challenging, a bit new. Try this one. Park anywhere in Depot Square in downtown Peterborough. Good access to apres velo options here. Wend your way out to a right on Main St., cross the bridge and take a right on Pine St./Rt. 202. In 0.1 miles bear left to stay on Pine St. away from busy 202. This is a stately neighborhood of historic homes. (I helped to organize an almost too scary Halloween trick or treat experience in one of these barns about 30 years ago, complete with the appearance of the Grim Reaper.) Take a right on Cheney Avenue. For future ambling options, consider the Cranberry Meadow trail off here to the right. At 1.3 miles take a left on Old Street Road and at 2.5 miles a right on Sand Hill Road. You've left Peterborough behind and you're heading towards the heights. It's up and downy for a while and then around mile 4 you start a 400 foot climb up the Wapack Range ridge. The grade gets up to 12% at one point, but you'll be distracted by the farm meadows and views. After passing the Wapack Trailhead, it's time for the carnival ride — a two mile downhill with grades close to 15% at some points. Way fun. Remember to favor your right hand when breaking — it controls your rear break. Too much pressure on the left hand/front break and you're over the handlebars. At the bottom take a left on Russell Station Road to pass through the lost hamlet of Russell and then take a left on Forest Road/Rt. 31. As you turn, be sure to check out the massive 26 ton Yankee Siege Trebuchet and the grounds with castle targets and a moat. This trebuchet once held the record for pumpkin chucking — its best chuck was 2800 feet. From here it's about a mile along busy Rt. 31 to a left on Zephyr Lake Road. This town beach here makes a good water stop and a good swim stop if you like mid-ride immersions. Continue on Zephyr Lake Road to a left on Slip Road to enjoy a couple of miles of empty gravel roads. A right on Gulf Road (which becomes Old Greenfield Road) and you're cruising for the next four miles. There are a couple of modest climbs followed by two delicious, long, unfettered descents. It's thinly populated and comfortably lonely along here 'till you swoop down to merge with Greenfield Road and come to the intersection of Routes 136 and 202. Take a right on 202, cross both lanes of traffic for a quick left on Hunt Road. Hunt Road takes a sharp left and you're cruising along a meadow-y stretch of the Contoocook near the site of the old Wilder Thermometer Factory. At 16.7 miles hang a left onto the Peterborough Rail Trail to slide back down into town through a wooded glade along marshes and the river. It's a lovely way to end a ride. The trail ends and you turn left onto Summer St. Cross Main Street onto Depot and wend you way back to your car. For a digital map for this ride see: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56649393 Thanks due to Jim Hassinger for designing this loop. Après Velo Post and Beam Brewery, 40 Grove Street, Peterborough, NH Post and Beam Brewery, at 40 Grove St. is located in the Grand Army of the Republic Hall. It was originally a school, then a club for veterans of the Civil War and then went through many incarnations before being empty for years. It's nice when breweries revitalize unused, yet historic, town buildings. There are comfortable indoor and outdoor spaces and a limited menu of food —pretzels, dips, soups — though on many weekends Blackfire Farm serves wood-fired farm to table pizzas sourced mostly from their nearby Hancock farm. Thornton Wilder wrote his famous play, "Our Town," while in residence at the McDowell Artist's Colony in Peterborough. The town in the play, Grovers Corners, is based on Peterborough. So it's hard not to recommend the Our Town draft — it's a quintessential hazy, juicy, New England IPA. If you snag the corner table on the patio outside, you have an expansive view over downtown Grovers Corners. As you float in your post-ride endorphins and sip a fine brew, you can meditate on the lines from Emily's soliloquy delivered from the cemetery overlooking the village in Act III. "Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? – every, every minute?" A good goal to aspire to on a bike ride.