Our final downhill destination was Mt. Agamenticus. Historically, with an elevation of 692 feet above sea level, it served as a marker for mariners off the coast of southern Maine. In more recent history (from 1966 to 1974) it was a ski area named "The Big A", and one can still find remnants of a chairlift and t-bar.
A paved road winds all the way up to the summit, including a few hairpin turns. The inside portion of this particular curve has a pitch of almost 15 degrees.
There are literally no mellow or near-flat sections, so we were not able to start far above the curve...nor continue far after. The only way to make it was to slide...up go the sleeves to get down to business.
Not stop, drop, and roll but rather roll, drop, and (slide to) stop.
After a few tries myself, I kept eyeing the remaining slope. Following the hairpin is a steep but long right turn which empties out to a quick flat-ish section followed by another slope into a "T" with a bigger road. I debated whether or not it was makeable.
In my first attempt I started from above the hairpin, at the same spot as before. The amount of speed gained by the end of the turn forced me into a slide (from which I never recovered).
Not satisfied, I hiked back up and started right in the curve. I still picked up quite a lot of speed by the time I skated past Byron, but I was able to ride it out to the runout.
Our final downhill destination was Mt. Agamenticus. Historically, with an elevation of 692 feet above sea level, it served as a marker for mariners off the coast of southern Maine. In more recent history (from 1966 to 1974) it was a ski area named "The Big A", and one can still find remnants of a chairlift and t-bar.
A paved road winds all the way up to the summit, including a few hairpin turns. The inside portion of this particular curve has a pitch of almost 15 degrees.
There are literally no mellow or near-flat sections, so we were not able to start far above the curve...nor continue far after. The only way to make it was to slide...up go the sleeves to get down to business.
Not stop, drop, and roll but rather roll, drop, and (slide to) stop.
After a few tries myself, I kept eyeing the remaining slope. Following the hairpin is a steep but long right turn which empties out to a quick flat-ish section followed by another slope into a "T" with a bigger road. I debated whether or not it was makeable.
In my first attempt I started from above the hairpin, at the same spot as before. The amount of speed gained by the end of the turn forced me into a slide (from which I never recovered).
Not satisfied, I hiked back up and started right in the curve. I still picked up quite a lot of speed by the time I skated past Byron, but I was able to ride it out to the runout. 
No comments:
Post a Comment