Adventure with Alex

The weather the last few weeks has been perfect for getting outside and enjoying the transition to Fall. Yesterday we drove over the scenic Kancamagus Highway to Lincoln, NH to ride the Franconia Notch Bike Path. This notch has long been one of my favorite places in New Hampshire and is easily one of the most naturally impressive areas of the White Mountains.  I have childhood memories of trips to see the Old Man’s profile, swimming in Echo Lake, learning to ski on Cannon’s steep and icy trails, and later in life learning to rock climb on the biggest cliff in New England along with learning to bail off scary ice climbs in the middle of snowstorms… suffice it to say visiting this notch always stirs up some great memories. A new memory was created yesterday, and while it will be cherished, it certainly wasn’t as ideal as I had hoped.

Following out-of-state leaf peepers along “the Kanc” we pointed out colors to Alex as he counted cyclists pedaling along the scenic byway. We arrived at a bustling Flume Gorge parking lot, the southern terminus of the 9 mile paved bike path, at about 11am. After a quick visit to the Visitor Center we hit the trail and started our climb through the Notch. The weather could not be nicer. 65 degrees, sunny and dry, leaves turning, birds singing…

First bridge crossing the Pemigewasset River

Color!

Then something strange happened. From back in the bike trailer came a cry… then a scream. We stopped to investigate. Were the straps pinching? Let’s adjust his clothes to give him more padding. Let’s try this again. 5 minutes later screaming again, stopped again. What’s wrong buddy?

Out of the trailer, holding, soothing, calming down, look at the water… throw some sticks in the river… no more tears… Ready to get back in?

“no… no… no… NOOOOOO!” reminded me of his first hiking trail meltdown….

“He just hasn’t had a nap yet” I tell my wife, lets just bear it for 10 minutes and he’ll fall asleep. 10 minutes later the screams reach a crescendo and I pull over again. This time it’s a 20 minute stop, and we’re discussing turning around. We’ve only gone 3.81 miles on the 17 mile round trip trail… I’m convinced our attempt is through and Michelle catches me by surprise when suggesting we continue as he is momentarily OK being in the trailer.

5 minutes of riding in silence… I savor every rotation of my pedals praying he’s falling asleep. If he falls asleep he should be out for at least 2 hours, long enough to complete the whole ride. We go over a bridge. He’s screaming again. We push on.

Cannon Cliff looms

symmetry

Artists Bluff close to the end

I wish I could say he fell asleep and we enjoyed our ride. The truth is I spent most of the ascent wondering if I should turn around. That’s not a great way to enjoy any trip. I was certain if we turned around he’d be asleep in 10 minutes anyways so why not push on? The temperature was perfect, he was dressed well for the weather, he had food & water with him in the trailer… so what was bothering him so much? I can’t wait till he is just a little bit older and able to say “Daddy this is what I don’t like”. Michelle thinks it may have been the wind at speed (20 mph on the downhill), but lowering the wind-shield on the trailer did not resolve it.  She also thought it may have been to much of a jostle when I hit small bumps on the paved road. I was reluctant to think this could be the cause as the road is quite smooth with rare little bumps, but I’m resolved to cut up some closed cell foam and try to add a bit more comfort in the cockpit for the kiddo.

We reached the northern end in just under 2 hours. Of course this was truly only half-way, since it is not a loop trail. It’s definitely a climb though!

You can see how many stops we made starting out on this distance graph:

Our return trip only took 40 minutes

I count 6 stops in the first hour & a half! Only 1 real quick stop on the ride back down the notch, right before the parking lot.

My bike with the torture trailer attached

Mount Lafayette in the background

On the descent

So many good memories

Almost back

Towards the end I was desperate to get the kiddo out of the trailer but also get back to the car… he clearly had not enjoyed this ride through the Notch. We noticed one other couple with a bike trailer with 2 slightly older kids inside. They, my wife pointed out, had books to read which seemed to keep them happy. Great idea! So I’ll be adding some custom closed cell foam to the trailer this week which will also let me ride with Alex later in the season as it will be warmer. And books for the road are now on the gear list. I’m hoping this was just an isolated dislike of the bike trailer, but we will see!

The Franconia Notch Bike Path

Oh, did I mention he just turned 2 last week?

We have plans to go apple picking, maybe hit the Fryeburg Fair, the Sherman Farms corn maze, some more hikes, and maybe, just maybe,  a bike ride (we’ll see). I’m also attempting to commit to blogging once a week, probably Sunday’s, so if you are interested in more consistent trip reports, gear reviews, etc, please subscribe so I know folks are reading.

Also, how are you enjoying this Fall with your kids? Please leave a comment below about this post or what you love to do with your kids during this awesome time of year, and thanks for reading!