Lee Hook Loop

This ride takes you past farms, rivers and through the woods on mostly lightly traveled roads. If you start at the Newfields Town Hall, you will go through "downtown" Newfields with all the hustle and bustle of a country store. The country store is across from the Town Hall and offers coffee, muffins, sandwiches, soups and more.

Head west on Route 87 (Piscassic Road) and you will pass Piscassic Ice Pond on the left. Route 87 does not have much of a shoulder and usually has 2 to 4 cars per minute. Often fewer cars than that. Turn right onto Bald Hill Road which is has very little traffic and is mostly residential, with a few small farms and fields along the way. You can follow Bald Hill Road to the end and take a right onto Grant Road, but I like to turn right on Johnson Road just before reaching Grant Road. Grant road has more traffic than Bald Hill, and no shoulders, but usually not too many cars pass me while on Grant. There is a short climb shortly after turning onto Grant. Follow Grant straight through the 4 corners intersection with Ash Swamp Road, and all the way to the end. Then left onto Route 152 which has more traffic, but does offer a shoulder most of the way until you reach Lee Hook Road. You will then pass by picturesque farms and have some fun on some rolling hills. The last hill at the end will get your heart rate up. Be careful when making the left onto Route 155. The view of cars coming is not very good. The speed limit on Route 155 is higher and there isn't a shoulder, but you are only on it for a short run down a fun hill. I am almost always able to make the left onto Tuttle Road at 30 mph. Once in awhile I have to hit the brakes and let cars go by. Tuttle Road is very lightly travelled and goes through a forested tract of land. Wadliegh Falls on the Lamprey River is at the intersection of Tuttle Road and Route 152. Go left on Route 152, over the Lamprey, then a quick right onto Campground Road, which is also very lightly travelled. Campground Road takes you to Jacobs Well Road which ends up back at Route 87, a little further west of Bald Hill Road.

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The Versatile VRex

I finished the cleaning and tune up of the VRex. It's a 1999 Rans VRex, the second recumbent bike I owned. The VRex is a classic that's known as a do everything bike. It does well on the road, isn't bad on dirt roads and has a lower seat to bottom bracket difference than my Aero.

I am about 3mph slower on the VRex than the Aero, but the VRex is setup with wider tires and rugged rims. The newer VRex's have lighter seat options also. I haven't weighed mine but I'm guessing it is in the low 30 pounds range. It's a little easier to get it started than the Aero and I can wear baggier shorts when riding it without the wind blowing the short's legs up. The shorts still can't be too baggy though. The lower bottom bracket does mean the rider is not as aerodynamic as a rider on a high racer like the Aero.

As I understand the history of the VRex, it was originally designed by Mark Colliton who is now with Bacchetta Bikes. He showed it to Randy and John Schlitter of Rans in 1994 or 1995 at a show. They liked the bike and decided to add it to their lineup.

I've ridden it on the rails to trail path here in Newfields and have also taken it on the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota. It does pretty well, but the smaller front wheel does get a little squirmy when the sand gets deeper. I don't have aggressive treads on it though.

April Fools and Wind

Seems like there has been some sort of precipitation every second or third day this spring. And when we get a "nice" day, over 40 degrees and no precipitation, the wind is howling. We were treated to an April Fools Day snow storm, that dropped 3 to 4 inches of wet snow on Friday. Most of the new snow was gone by Monday, but it did mess up the roads some. I did get out for short rides on Saturday and Sunday, but didn't take any pictures. I was too busy holding onto the bike as the wind was trying to blow me over. Also got a ride in today with a strong wind, but not as gusty as the weekend. The forecast is for a pretty good weekend and 70 to 80 degrees on Monday!

A couple of pictures of April 1st.