Looking back – 5 year ago (July 2020) The hottest month of the year lived up to its title. Twenty days so far this year of 90 degree temps. Hoping that it isn’t as not in August. Had a lot of fun this month with a little bit of bike, water, trails, mountains, and even racing! I kicked off the Fourth of July long weekend with a long off-road bike ride. I’d been interested in the Northern Rail Trail for a couple of years after having done a few short rides and runs on it. It is the longest rail trail in New Hampshire. Kevin Tilton was the only one who was interested in joining me.
I got to the southern end of the trail (Boscawen, NH) at 5:45am and headed out for an hour run. I wanted some miles in the bank prior to the ride. Kevin was there when I got back and we hit the road to Lebanon, NH. Conditions were very good for early July. Upper 60’s, cloudy, although humid.
Smug and happy, BEFORE the ride Took this one over my head, Kevin riding through the Orange cut
The first 15 miles took us along the Mascoma river from Lebanon, to Enfield, past Mascoma lake, into Canaan, and into Orange. This was not only the most scenic section with lakes, mountains, and covered bridges but also the only real climbing we’d do. There was a little over 400’ of steady climb which really isn’t much when averaged out over 15 miles. We reached the Orange cut (1,000’), which is an impressive rock pass that the railroad had to cut through. It took us 1:09 to cover this stretch. The riding was gentle, and we spent the entire day riding side by side chatting. The miles literally rolled by.
Mini library that looks like Dr. Who’s TARDIS Refurbished station at Potter place
The next 15 miles were in Orange, Grafton and Danbury. We picked up some speed as we dropped about 300’ over this section passing Tewksbury pond and Kilton pond (named for Kevin?). Then continued along the Smith River. We didn’t stop in Danbury as we both still had enough water and food. We covered the 15 miles in 1:05 and passing half-way gave both of us some extra energy.
Next up was closely following route 4 through Danbury, then Wilmot for a very short stretch before entering Andover for a long portion (over 10 miles) before getting into Franklin. This was another fast part dropping about 300’. Our third 15 mile section was covered in 60 minutes, our fastest pace of the day so far.
The final 13.1 miles would bring us through Franklin and into Boscawen. We’d drop another 150’ and then flatten out as we finished along the Merrimack river. We lucked out as it never really rained, although it misted enough that I had to take off my shades to see clearly. I felt pretty good until about 1.5 miles to go when I just kind of bonked. We reached the end of the trail in 4:07:32 for an average of 14.1 miles per hour.
Caboose parked at the station Tired at the end of the line
I finished the day with a short run at the Mast Yard checking out some trails I’d not been on before and then a nice hike up Oak hill and a visit to the highest point in Concord.
Hidden remains of the Outhouse The Concord High Point tree
The next day… Petey came up with an interesting run to do over the long weekend. We met up and were joined by Dave Lapierre and Scott Spence for a 5 mile loop up and over Straightback Mountain. I’d only been up this 1,890’ peak once before as part of a Belknap range traverse. The deer flies were pretty intense, but just at the start. We started out downhill on the Old Stage Road then turned uphill onto the Precipice path. We turned onto the West Precipice path and then the climbing began in full force. There was a solid ½ mile of trail that was very steep and involved scrambling among the boulders. After the tiny waterfalls it moderated but was still steep and even had a little exposure in spots.
Ready to go! Messy climb up Precipice
Scott and I pulled ahead as we got into a good conversation. We stopped at the junction with the Belknap Range trail and waited for the others to catch up. The BRT was a nice run of nearly a mile over to Straightback. The views on top were excellent. We headed down via the Straightback mountain trail and the Blueberry Pasture trail. I liked the Blueberry trail which was more like a dirt road than a trail. The 2.6 miles up took us 55:44 and the 2.4 down took us 31:31 for a total of 1:27:15
Some shots from the top of Straightback
Bill Luti 5 mile - I invited about a dozen guys and we got a decent turnout of 5. I did a quick check of the gates that might block the course and was happy to find that the one at 2 miles was not a problem. The one just after 4 could be negotiated but was a bit tight. The final gate onto the track at Memorial field would be impossible so we’d reroute the last ¼ mile of the race. It was a Tropical day at 77 degrees a dew point of 71 and 84% humidity with 18 mph winds (mostly cross winds).
Tim Cox, Scott Clark, Jim Angell, and Jay Smith joined me for an easy 3 mile warm-up (checking out the last 1.5 miles of the course). Then we all got into race gear and headed to the line.
It was a close race with a fair number of lead changes and pushing each other the whole way. Tim Cox took it out for the first mile, I took the lead heading up the hill (1 – 1.5 miles). Jim and Scott went by on the downhill through St Paul’s school. We stayed bunched with no one getting more than a couple of strides lead. Scott pushed the uphill from St. Paul’s to the Concord Hospital (3.5 – 4 miles). We were still tightly grouped with ½ mile to go, then Jim made a move as we turned onto S. Fruit Street with less than ½ mile to go. I went by Scott but could not drop him (or gain any ground on Jim) as we headed for the finish. The locked gate at the parking lot meant we had to alter the end of the course, heading through the second parking lot entrance and then heading clockwise on the track for the final 200 meters.
Bill Luti Invitational 5 mile – July 11, 2020 8:00am
Pl Time Name Age City,St Age Grade% Age Grd Time
1 31:02 Jim Angell M56 Hopkinton, NH 81.61% 26:07
2 31:05 Dave Dunham M56 Bradford, MA 81.39% 26:11
3 31:06 Scott Clark M54 Gilmanton, NH 80.01% 26:31
4 32:38 Tim Cox M47 Northwood, NH 71.96% 29:37
5 35:00 Jay Smith M61 Concord, NH 75.52% 28:13
The entire field for the Luti Invitational
After racing I was on vacation for a week. With the Erie Canal ride on hold I spent the week driving back and forth to Vermont running in various towns (I’m attempting to run in all 251 cities and towns).
Tivo lead the way on a 16 mile run to the Glastenbury fire tower (one of the three left on my list)
Beautiful run from Newfane through Brookline and on to the summit of Putney Mountain
The Bromley fire tower was removed in 2012, but I checked it off my list
Eric, Murdock and I did four runs in 8 towns on the Missisiquoi rail trail
Many scenic towns and a finish at the “zero” mile marker on the Missisiquoi
Finished the VT fire tower list with a run up Monadnock Mountain in Lemmington VT
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