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My girlfriend and I went on vacation in Portland, ME and then drove across ME, NH and VT to my parents lake house on Isle La Motte. Granted this was in a car, but I thought I should highlight some of the awesome roads I got to drive, those that I couldn't help but think of how awesome it would have been on a bike, and just give general updates on the roads.
1. Hurricane Mtn Rd - Everyone knows about this one, pavement is still decent compared with last year although there are a few raised portions that are extremely jarring where I hit the bumpstops on my car. I remember them from last year but they didn't seem quite as bad. Also seems to be a LOT less traffic heading east to west.
2. Rt 112, the Kanc - Obviously a classic, but what interested me even more than the section between Lincoln and Conway was the portion from where it splits off 116 and travels west to meet up with 302. LOTS of excellent twisties, almost all of it smooth freshly paved road.
3. 302 from 112 to 232 - A very boring and uninspired ride. Not much else to say.
4. Rt 232 from 302 to 2 - I love finding new (to me) and fun roads that I've never been on, and this road is a shining example. It goes through the Groton State Park and, according to my GPS, has a speed limit of 50 all the way through, which IMO seems to surpass its actual navigability. That's not to say you can't do it at 50, not at all, but it seems extremely twisty with major quick hills to have such a fast speed limit, which is excellent since you can speed slightly over the limit and have some major fun on this road. Pavement seems brand new, I could still smell the tar with the window open. The road winds every which way through the forest and seems to wind up a mountain and down the other side. Very little traffic on a Thursday at about 4:30PM, and no enforcement in sight. Highly recommended road!
5. Rt 2 from 232 to I89 - Very scenic road, very beautiful and relaxed drive and some fun long sweeping turns and fast hills. More of a scenery ride than anything, I took it because we did our vacation in the opposite direction last year except took all of Rt 2 to St Johnsbury and it was a very nice ride in the fall.
6. Isle La Motte - Can't forget all the tight curves heading into the island. If you're making your Sunday ride up through the islands, you can't ignore these curves. Just be warned - you dump it or lose control and you'll end up right in the swamp or lake
7. Smugglers Notch - We hit this up on our way home. Very sparse traffic for a Friday, I was pretty amazed at the lack of out-of-state cars. I practically got all the curves to myself. I even got a couple of BMW GS riders hanging on my tail enjoying the corners with me. Road conditions haven't really changed from last year. They're still pretty decent, I imagine due to the lack of plowing.