Boston 600k – July 9th 2022
600k Ride Information
Start Location: Near the Hill Street Parking Lot, Woburn, MA (use 7 Hill Street, Woburn, MA to find the parking lot and 15 Hill Street, Woburn, MA to find the start location in your favorite mapping program).
Length: 600k / 375mi
Time Limit: 40 Hours (finish by 8pm July 10th)
Lights & Reflective Gear: Required
Ride Leader: Sarah Bergstrom
Sanctioning: RUSA/ACP
Cue Sheet: See RWGPS
Online Map/GPS: To be added, see last year’s version for reference (will be similar)
Registration: TBA
The Boston 600k will be a repeat of the route used last year — the White Mountain Getaway. (There will only be a 600k offered, no 200k option.)
Have you ever looked at an NER route, and said “what this really needs is another mountain pass?” This was my (Sarah) take on my favorite parts of the old Lake Winnepesauke 400k, combined with Kancamagus Pass, and a return via Portland. It’s chock-full of rollers (about 18,000 feet of climbing, comparable to PBP), some beautiful brand-new pavement (and some typical New England potholes, sorry!). There is one 2.5 mile stretch of dirt road on Old Shaker Road on the first day, the usual 11 miles of crushed-stone bike path and .5 miles of well-packed Sheep Rd on day two. All of the dirt should be passable on skinny tires; the section on day 1 is the bumpiest but is fairly flat and well-packed. The scenery is the best New England has to offer — hilltop vistas and deciduous trees give way to pines lining mountain valleys as you criss-cross the Pemigewasset River up into the White Mountains. The section from Conway to Portland rolls through remote, quiet farmland and woods; bring good lights to supplement a crescent moon along this stretch. There is a 51-mile section with zero services after Conway; please come prepared for that.
The host hotel in Portland will be the Super 8, on Larrabee Road. Riders should expect to share rooms; we will try to avoid any need to share beds/sleep on the floor but are balancing cost and the fact that not everyone will be at the overnight simultaneously. There will be an option to register without lodging; please be very sure that you will not need lodging (food and drop bags/showers will be open to you at the overnight control) if you choose this option.
On the Woburn end, we will start in a small area between the Hill Street Commuter parking lot (on Hill Street off Montvale Avenue) and the bike path behind it. There are two hotels in close proximity for out of town riders — the Comfort Inn Woburn also on Hill Street, and the Best Western Plus New Englander across Montvale. There is not currently a room block/group rate at either. Parking at the Hill Street lot is free.
The 600k will start at 4am.