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Conway, NH Traffic Buster: August 5, 2003
We headed south on Route 16 from our home in Albany, NH. We wanted to go into Conway, which is north of us, but the traffic into Conway on Route 16 is notorious for being backed up a few miles. So, we chose to go south to go north. I'll explain...
But first, we passed Lake Chocorua on our way south.
This is where the watershed lets out over a dam.
This little ice cream shop sits right in front of the dam. They have fantastic ice cream.
A few miles south of Chocorua Village we passed Route 41 as we entered West Ossipee, a road we would eventually return to as our route around the traffic. First...
We had to grab some gas...
Sammie took a look around...
Then reassumed her regular riding position, raring to go.
We went back north and turned right on Route 41. This is the beginning of the Conway Traffic Buster Route, so don't miss it as you ride up Route 16. It is just north of the intersection of 16 and 25 in West Ossipee. I spotted this old car in a driveway after we turned onto 41 and CJ barely got a shot off before we were by. Funky paintjob. Anyone know what it is?
This whole route is dotted with lakes and ponds. This is Lake Ossipee. The road winds along it's shore for a while, then spends a few miles running through the pines.
This is where 41 leaves off at a "T" intersection with Route 113. Take a right here.
First you pass through Silver Lake Village. This is a typical New England Village with local grocers like this one.
This pair of horses grazing in a field in Silver Lake were a very smooth cream color, darkening to coffee at their faces and manes. Very unusual looking.
Just down the road a mile is the Madison Fire Department and, behind that, the Town Offices. The Town Office building used to be a few miles further up the road on the other end of town, but they moved it last year. People came for miles to see this antique hulk slowly sliding down the road. It was almost like watching a Saturn 5 rocket coming out to it's launch tower.
At the end of Madison proper there is another intersection. Turn right and you are on the East Madison Road.
Once on this road you will see a whole neighborhood of nice farmhouses with manicured lawns. This one is just the first of many. Notice the 'babbling brook' running thru the yard. This section is a very nice scoot of about five miles.
When you come to the end of the East Madison Road turn left onto Route 153. This picture is looking right, but turn left to head to Conway.
You'll pass Kink Pine Ski Area at Purity Spring Resort as soon as you turn onto 153. I used to teach skiing here in the late 60's and early 70's. This is a very small hill, but is a popular family destination.
Within a mile and a half after turning onto 153 you will come to one of my favorite sequences of turns. They begin with a round right hand curve.
Then they quickly funnel into a series or right/left combinations that get tighter and tighter as they flow around some small ponds.
Someone spilled a whole truckload of "spooge" through the second half of this series, so beware. I'm not sure what it is - haven't ridden on it - don't want to - and recommend you don't either :)
Some of these curves are hard against the woods and some stone walls. These stone walls were made by farmers clearing their fields hundreds of years ago. They would use the unwanted stones to build short walls to define their property. As you can see here, the farmer who made these walls was here so long ago that the woods have grown back up in what used to be his field behind the wall. You can find these walls out in the middle of nowhere. You will be hiking along, bushwhacking, and suddenly you realize you have just worked your way through the regrowth of an old farm, long abandoned to the moose and deer, the squirrels and woodpeckers, and the winding stone walls.
After a couple of miles of twisties we round a final curve before coming to...
Crystal Lake in Eaton, NH.
The sign on this church reads, "The Little White Church, Eaton, NH".
Immediately after the church the road takes a 90 degree right turn. From here it runs another six miles or so of rural roads before coming into Conway, NH.
This is the intersection of Route 153 and Route 16 in Conway Village. You've just passed some of the worst traffic in the valley. From here you can go straight to get onto West Side Road, one of the older routes north through the valley. West Side Road ends up on the north end of North Conway Village.
You can also choose to turn right and then make an immediate left. This is Route 16, right through the heart of the valley, past the "strip"' of factory outlets and other shops that have sprung up here in the last 20 years.
Finally, you can turn right and then keep going straight to get to Fryeburg, Maine.
We turned south and headed back to our home, passing these tourers just getting to the end of the line of traffic snaking into Conway Village.
And here we are, home again.
Total miles ridden: about 40
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