September 8, 2021
Day 100: Hillsboro to Boscawen
Back roads
“I feel like we are on a parade route,” Rachel says as we are cycling through a stretch of road where at the end of every driveway there is a tall flag pole and a full sized American flag. Later at our warmshowers host in Boscawen, we are told it’s organized by the town in Hopkinton.
We pack up and head back to town and ride for Henniker. There’s a chance for a second breakfast at a bakery. Charlie, our host for tonight has given us a route suggestion. We follow the advice mostly except for an occasional spot. Mostly we follow the Contoocook River, there are some steep hills, but the route is well chosen for quiet roads and light traffic. We pass one more covered bridge, and then a covered railroad bridge in the town of Contoocook where we take a break in the park.
When we get close to town, Patrick texts him that we expect to arrive around noontime. Charlie rearranges his schedule originally not being home until 4pm, but will be at 2pm. We find the park in Penacook and dry the tent and wait awhile before going to “Chief’s Place” for lunch.
We still need to wait some more so we ride to where there is a statue of Hannah Dustin, a colonial Massachusetts puritan, mother of nine. She was taken captive in 1697 by the Abenaki Indians, held on an island in the Merrimack river, present day Boscawen. She was made into a heroine by scalping 10 Indians in the escape. The statue has been defaced and still covered in red paint splatters. We later hear the whole story is disputed and has been used to justify atrocities against the Indian tribes.
By then it was ok to ride to our hosts. Charlie takes us for a drive to his forest land that he manages for small scale timber harvesting . We hike through the forest and see many species of trees. Charlie has a small tractor to pull out the logs and a pad where sawn lumber is drying. For dinner, he makes some fine pizza. His wife Mabel who is a nurse manager comes home much later her 10 hour shift and joins us for a beer and conversation.
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Today's ride: 32 miles (51 km)
Total: 3,968 miles (6,386 km)
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