August 28, 2010, second one of the year (and of my life). Extended myself this time—the ride was 102.4 miles long. But first a brief bungee jumping story.

Jann and I spent 33 days touring New Zealand in 1998. I had a notion I would try bungee jumping. We checked out a few spots, but none passed inspection (read, courage was still lacking). Finally it was do or die (or perhaps both). From a platform high above a river I took the dive and afterwards received a “Certificate of Courage” with a 50%-off-your-next-jump coupon. Wanting to prove the first time wasn’t a fluke, and because I can’t resist a bargain, I jumped again—after pondering my decision overnight.

So when I finally did a Century Ride a month ago, I knew I needed to do another one soon. But visitors who helped us enjoy this wonderful summer delayed my plans until Saturday. I left Burkehaven Harbor just before 6 am (and before dawn). The day started cold, foggy, cloudy, and dark (I guess they all start dark). Next time I’ll bring full-fingered gloves and a windbreaker. Heading up Route 10 from Newport I took this photo.

In Croydon the sun rose above the hills, and I stopped briefly at Spectacle Pond and took a 5-shot panorama. Below are two of the images shot with my trusty LX3 and stitched with Photoshop CS5. As with the first century, the LX3 hung around my neck and one shoulder ready for action. I carried a tiny tripod in my “trunk” that is useful for taking photos to show that it was actually me doing the ride.

The low sun allowed me to make a “self-portrait” while riding. But I stopped to make a 4-shot pan of a sheep farm field in backlight on the northern edge of Croyden. Here are all four images merged.

For a while the sky was filled with clouds, then suddenly, almost magically they were gone and the rest of the day was a beautiful sunny blue-sky summer day. Two images that show the early clouds, also stitched from multiple captures, are below. Both were taken in Springfield, NH.

Further along beautiful, but underappreciated, Route 4A there is a very nice pond/wetland just short of Gile State Forest. Here are two photos of this spot.

I crossed I-89 for the second of four times and stopped for a brief rest at Gile Pond in Sutton. I was serenaded by three loon who were fishing together but seemed to have a bit of a disagreement. The LX3 has a great lens, but it is not a telephoto. So my shots of the loon have them very tiny in the frame. Even at the low resolution of web images they wouldn’t look that good. So please imagine a tight group of three. I did set up my camera on a tiny tripod on the ground to document my bike and its rider.

Leaving North Sutton I passed through Sutton Mills and South Sutton, skipping South Sutton. Roby Road took me into Warner, then along Rt. 103 back into Sutton then Warner again. Crossing I-89 I spotted an old cemetery in between the north and south lanes of the interstate! Beyond that was the buffalo place where I had been three day in a row: first on my bike, then back with DSLR camera and long lens to photograph and make some purchases, and finally to just photograph part of the sign along the road. The buffalo photo is the only one here not taken with the LX3.

Rides were being set up at the Hopkinton Fair grounds. I took a right just before the Contoocook River then climbed over the large flood control dam that creates a series of lakes and parks in Hopkinton.

I finally arrived in Henniker and picked up a long-anticipated “Everything” bagel with cream cheese at a favorite ride stop. I enjoyed one while sitting along the Contoocook River with 25 miles to go on my first century ride, picked up one to snack on along several shorter rides since, and savored one in a small park in town this trip. Since I was not moving I could sit and really look at my surroundings—something more conducive to photography than just shooting. Interesting patterns started to emerge as I sought to alternately avoid and use the strong mid-day sun and resulting high contrast. Here are three photos I took as I finished the bagel.

Henniker is home to New England College, and town was alive with students and visitors. A large home advertised “3BR apt, same price as dorms” and I rode back northwest along a wide and smooth section of Route 114. Earlier segments on Route 114 from Grantham to Springfield and then again through Sutton were quite bumpy with no real shoulder, but fortunately with very little traffic.

I took a side loop to a beach on Lake Massasecum where I took a quick 6-shot pan. CS5 is amazing for what it can do piecing together pans that would have been impossible to shoot so quickly and sloppily just a few years ago.

At the beach I found some interesting tree bark.

Leaving the beach a heard a loud roar from the main road (Route 114) above me to the south. I was surprised that the road seemed so close from the intensity of the noise. When the noise continued unabated I realized it was from a long line of motorcycles. I hurried to the intersection when the side loop met 114 and stopped to watch them go by. It seemed like the line of bikes travelling at 55 mph went on for over 5 minutes–must have been many hundreds of them.

The long climb into Newbury was ahead. As I started up the more gradual part I heard an “on your left” as another rider, whom I saw approaching in my mirror, drew alongside me. We chatted as I sped up and he slowed so we could pedal side-by-side. He was doing a quick 40 miles to train for a triathlon. Today he was doing power—pedaling only in high gear. Tomorrow he would pedal at as high a cadence as possible in very low gears. His turn-around point was the chicken farmer—the painted sign on a rock that had been there as long as he and I remembered, and he grew up nearby. “Chicken Farmer, I still love you.” This also roughly marked the spot where the road got steeper. Riding with him made those few miles just fly by. I enjoyed his company and I hope I didn’t slow his training pace too much.

I stopped half way up the steep part to visit one on my favorite spots along Andrew’s Brook. It has been a great summer, very warm and dry. But dry leads to little flowing water, and the light was very contrasty anyway so normal photos wouldn’t work well. I love to photograph moving water at slow shutter speeds (using a tripod, of course) on overcast days. What sometimes works when a scene has high contrast is to set your camera to as small an aperture and as low an ISO as possible and move the camera during the exposure. I tried some of these. Here is one, followed by the same scene without moving the camera.

Almost there. A cruse through Newbury Harbor, a few ups and downs to Sunapee Beach State Park, along Route 103 to Guild (I normally skip the narrow 103B), then back up route 11 to Sunapee. I took a side road to Dewey’s Beach, then along Garnet Street to Sunapee Harbor where I quickly snapped an old car as we passed each other heading in opposite directions. Keeping my camera around my neck is a slight annoyance while riding but one I readily put up with so I can get photos I would miss if it was in a bag.

The total time from start to finish was 8.5 hours with 7 hours spent moving and 1.5 hours for photography and a bagel.

I followed this one up with a third in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont that you can read about HERE. You can also read about the first one I did HERE.