Lupines and The Pond of Safety Ride. 9:00 am. Ride Code B/2/24
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
This ride is a good one that Joan Kelly put together for her "Fat Tire Cruisers" ride (which morphed into Tuesday D+P after many years of her scouting and hosting). It is a combination of familiar terrain (Presidential Rail Trail, Valley Road in Randolph and Jefferson) and some good dirt roads that lead up to a remote, scenic pond that harbors local lore, history and legend. Let's revisit this ride! I ave not posted this ride in the past couple of years! I tend to save it for lupine season or fall foliage.
There is a mix of surfaces. We start on the Presidential Rail Trail which is a mix of cinder, grass and hard packed dirt, some gravel thrown in here and there for you grind. It is in good condition for mountain bikes and hybrids. We then ride Valley Road, the paved parts have been repaved recently, smooth black velvet, the dirt parts are in good condition. When we intersect with Route 115, we will take a RIGHT and go for a short distance and take a left onto Stag Hollow Road. The road dead ends and we walk-bike up the highway embankment to cross Route 2, heading to Ingerson Road. We will now travel gradually uphill on a scenic dirt road with good views. We keep going on to Pond of Safety Road and end up at the scenic, historic little pond.
The lupines along the way should be spectacular!! This ride has lupine splendor on Valley, Stag Hollow and Ingerson Roads.
THERE WILL BE TICKS!! Bug repellant required!
Carpool for the 9:00 start
Meet at the JacksonXC and golf course parking lot, across form the J-Town Deli, at 8:10 am, otherwise, see you at the Bowman parking lot.
There is an interesting history of this pond, this info was copied form the Randolph Mountain Club:
The Legend of the Four Soldiers
The Name “Four Soldiers” comes from the days of the American Revolution. It is said that four Continental Army soldiers, William Danforth, Benjamin Hicks, Lazarus Holmes, and Capt. James Ryder, were captured by the British and then released under the condition that they would fight against them no more.
For fear of being arrested if they refused combat upon return, the four soldiers escaped and fled home to the North Country, finding their way to the remote pond, where they lived in safety for more than three years, until the war ended. At the war’s end, the four soldiers were exonerated of their charges of desertion and welcomed back to civilization.
From one generation to the next this legend is passed along. Randolph Paths, Randolph Old and New, other mountain guidebooks, and writings about Randolph and Coos County include versions of this tale of the Four Soldiers at Pond of Safety.
Distance is 24 miles, MWV Bike Club ride code is B/2/24
Ready to Ride at 9:00 am
Meet at the Bowman parking lot, Castle Trailhead, which is the height of land on Route 2 in Randolph, a few miles west of the Appalachia parking lot. It is on the left as you drive west from Gorham, and is marked by a brown hiker sign. It is up the hill from Lowe's gas station and store.
Map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36325881
Ready to Ride at 9:00 am
Meet at the Bowman parking lot, Castle Trailhead, which is the height of land on Route 2 in Randolph, a few miles west of the Appalachia parking lot. It is on the left as you drive west from Gorham, and is marked by a brown hiker sign. It is up the hill from Lowe's gas station and store.
Map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36325881
Carpool for the 9:00 start
Meet at the JacksonXC and golf course parking lot, across form the J-Town Deli, at 8:10 am, otherwise, see you at the Bowman parking lot.
There is an interesting history of this pond, this info was copied form the Randolph Mountain Club:
The Legend of the Four Soldiers
The Name “Four Soldiers” comes from the days of the American Revolution. It is said that four Continental Army soldiers, William Danforth, Benjamin Hicks, Lazarus Holmes, and Capt. James Ryder, were captured by the British and then released under the condition that they would fight against them no more.
For fear of being arrested if they refused combat upon return, the four soldiers escaped and fled home to the North Country, finding their way to the remote pond, where they lived in safety for more than three years, until the war ended. At the war’s end, the four soldiers were exonerated of their charges of desertion and welcomed back to civilization.
From one generation to the next this legend is passed along. Randolph Paths, Randolph Old and New, other mountain guidebooks, and writings about Randolph and Coos County include versions of this tale of the Four Soldiers at Pond of Safety.
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