NH Bike Week has started

A annual reminder that Bike Week in the NH Lakes Region has started. The bikers don't typically do a lot of hiking but they do a lot of cruising on the roads. The general recommendation is that travel through the NH lakes region is going to be very slow. Its generally advisable to stay away from RT 25 and RT 16. A good time to hike in the western Whites or the Northern Presidential's.

More specific to N New Hampshire

Motorcycle only days for the MW Auto Road are Monday and Thursday 6/16 and 6/19, North Conway hosts " Rally in the Valley " June 14 to 21, Hillbilly's Southern BBQ ( HQ for the rally) , guided scenic rides leave N. Conway daily @ 10 AM. Crawford, Dixville, Grafton, Evans, Pinkham Notches are all impacted, as well as the Kanc , 115, and Rt 2 ME/NH.

The " big run" on MWAR is Thursday 6/16, guided ride leaves Laconia 9 AM, N Conway 10 AM.

Safe travel to all.

Breeze

I was an idiot and forgot to check, so it took me an hour to get through Laconia Saturday (note: through, that doesn't mean I-93 was that bad.) 16 was clear sailing at 8pm yesterday. Be careful when crossing around Crawford--everybody has pipes you can hear from a mile away, so you have no idea if anybody's close, and they don't really seem to be looking for peds.

I think so far it is fairly quiet for some strange reason. I am sure as the weekend gets closer volume will pick up.

We thought it was quiet as well. I drove through 104/25 Friday later afternoon and it was quiet.

The bikers get a year older every year (like me), and it seems that youth aren't embracing two-wheelers in proportionate numbers. I see more tricycles and heavily-padded Harleys with grey-headed riders every year. Extra traffic has never seemed that big a deal, but I don't go through downtown Laconia then.

The news made it sound like there was quite a crowd, but the busiest day seemed like Sunday when they were all leaving and even that didn't seem as bad as some years. They're already talking about the 100th anniversery. I'll be sure to be out if new England that year.

Went up on 6/21 and back on 6/22, I did not see any large groups (30+) out on 93 or along 3 or 302.

Was surprised to see so many cars parked at the Falling Waters and Lafayette Place spots on both days, (around noon) more than I have seen during foliage weekends. Even had a couple crossing the highway instead of using the tunnel under the highway. Got up Zealand Road and wanted to park at Hale Brook but so many cars there, and on road nearby, I did not want to leave rental out on the road. We got a spot recently vacated at the Zealand trailhead but new overflow lot was full and a few parked on the road there too. parking was packed at Sugarloaf lot also on Saturday.

It was a lot quieter in the north country than in years past. In past years there was very steady stream of bikes on RT 2 and this year I feel there were fewer large groups. I expect part of the reason is the number of organized activities like the Climb to the Clouds up the autoroad. Hard to beat the weather this year as for several years, it was pretty predictable that bike week was a washout.

peakbagger said:

It was a lot quieter in the north country than in years past. In past years there was very steady stream of bikes on RT 2 and this year I feel there were fewer large groups. I expect part of the reason is the number of organized activities like the Climb to the Clouds up the autoroad. Hard to beat the weather this year as for several years, it was pretty predictable that bike week was a washout.

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I didn't see many bikes either compared to other times, however by 7:30 Saturday morning, there were 10 cars in either direction along Rt 2 as Appalachia was already full!

When I pulled into Appalachia at 4:45 AM the lot was full and I had to park at the entrance on the shoulder

When I drove up tripoli rd on Saturday there was a long line of cars at the Osceola parking lot. FWIW my laconia connections said it was unusually quiet in town to their surprise.

I actually slowed down and yelled at people running across 93 at Lafayette to use the tunnel.

MichaelJ said:

I actually slowed down and yelled at people running across 93 at Lafayette to use the tunnel.

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I thought about it but remembered my Darwinism...... We saw people around none Saturday doing it.

It may also have been because this year they moved the bike week back one week more into June, so maybe this disrupted a lot of folks' normal plans.

FWIW, the folks who were helping people find parking didn't mention the tunnel and there was no signage visible for anyone who was parked up the road on the southbound side. I was there last weekend (I did the Lincoln and Lafayette loop) and the number of people on the trail was somewhat of a shock to me.

Most of our fellow hikers were very friendly and courteous but there were a handful of idiots running around on the alpine tundra. There was also a group of people on the way down to Greenleaf who lacked the self awareness to let anyone who was hiking at a quicker pace go by. Other than that, it was a glorious hike.

This is the annual reminder that Bike (motorcycle) week in the Lakes Region of NH effectively starts tomorrow 6/13) and runs for an entire week to next weekend.

Hikes near major highways will be nosier than usual. Many group bike rides run though the entire white mountain region and the bikers on occasion act as though they have special privileges or are inattentive to other vehicles on the road. Generally I93 is not impacted but state highways between I93 and Rt 16 tend to get heavy use. Generally when heading up to the whites, its best to head north on I93 and come in from the north rather than cutting across the lakes region.

peakbagger said:

bikers on occasion act as though they have special privileges or are inattentive to other vehicles on the road.

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That is a discussion for another thread, which I'm sure could get quite heated. But I totally agree with that statement. Almost glad I'm recovering from a broken ankle.

I hope I didn't offend Joe, car drivers exhibit similar behaviors 51 weeks a year to motorcycle drivers, its just the usual assumptions in place by both parties tend to be different during bike week.

peakbagger said:

I hope I didn't offend Joe

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Not at all. I was agreeing with your statement.