NOTE: information below has not yet been updated for 2023! Please check back for updated information closer to the ride date. The route will be similar.
600k Ride Information
Start Location: Parking Lot Between Dunkin Donut and Holiday Inn Express Woburn at 315 Mishawum Rd., Woburn, MA *Note the change from Hill Street Commuter Lot*
4am on July 9th
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: Final Version
Registration: BikeReg
Please note the start change! We will be starting and finishing at the Holiday Inn Express (used for the 400k) due to unforseen construction around the original start location.
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.)
Lodging: Registering for lodging is highly recommended. NER will have a number of rooms at the sleep stop in Portland. We will try to avoid having to double up on beds, but we are also trying to keep the lodging costs down; feel free to throw a sleeping bag in your drop bag. All riders, whether or not they elect for lodging, will have access to food, showers, and a drop bag at the sleep stop. If you choose not to sign up for lodging, please have a plan for resting (examples: you live in Portand and your house is near the route, you would prefer not to share space and have booked your own lodging at or near the sleep stop hotel, you would like to stop earlier and have booked a room in Conway, etc). If the lodging categories are full and you would like lodging, please contact us; we will be monitoring registration and adding additional rooms/slots as long as we are able to.
Route Description
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 and finish at the same hotel as the recent 400km ride. Riders can park across the street in Woburn Mall at rider’s discretion or at the Anderson Woburn RTC.
The 600k will start at 4am.