Moving to Winchendon, Massachusetts? Riding and otherwise?

[parris]

I think that Ralph totally nailed it. I'm less and less a fan of our winters where we live due to a number of factors. Advantages are the other 3 seasons can be pretty nice with Autumn being FANTASTIC! Congrats on the new career and move. Best of luck and health.

[5oakterrace]

So much depends on what you are used to and what your expectations are. I lived in Gardner for 5 years in the 80s. Fairly economically depressed area with some commuters to Boston because housing is cheaper.
But prep schools are hermetically sealed worlds and very isolating. I taught at one, part time for 7 years. Very little time for much else. Takes a lot of will to carve out an outside life.

I think it comes down to the spirit in you more than anything else.
Cycling is terrific in area. Sparsely populated so ljttle traffic. Most roads, not all, have wide shoulders - have to put the snow someplace! Back roads are delightful.
Winter is the challenge - Dec.-Feb/March. I strongly recommend some kind if indoor training set up. I set a "can I do it?" goal/event for summer and that keeps me at it all winter.

Mt. Washington is a bucket list ride for many and a major endeavor for old slow fat guys like me. Keeps me at it all winter.
360 Cycles in Keene seems to be a hub for Mountain bikers and they are dialed into area cycling. Monadknock cycling club has group rides, not as much with covid. Friendly group but leisurely pace. They can connect you
with others. Contact me when you arrive. We can meet up if you would like. I live 40 minutes away.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

Well, we're official and all the i's are dotted and t's crossed.

We're headed to work for/at the Winchendon School in Winchendon, MA. I'll be teaching physics and math there, with a two-bedroom apartment in the dorms. That comes with its own drawbacks, but it's not a bad situation when combined with a 1-year old. And, hey -- zero commute!

I've been watching the thread on "Keene, NH rides" since that's the closest big town, but if anyone else wants to chip in with thoughts on riding or living in the area, I'd appreciate it.

Going to be different than the last ~30 years in the West, at any rate!

This sounds like the intro to a John Irving novel

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by 5oakterrace

So much depends on what you are used to and what your expectations are. I lived in Gardner for 5 years in the 80s. Fairly economically depressed area with some commuters to Boston because housing is cheaper.
But prep schools are hermetically sealed worlds and very isolating. I taught at one, part time for 7 years. Very little time for much else. Takes a lot of will to carve out an outside life.

I think it comes down to the spirit in you more than anything else.
Cycling is terrific in area. Sparsely populated so ljttle traffic. Most roads, not all, have wide shoulders - have to put the snow someplace! Back roads are delightful.
Winter is the challenge - Dec.-Feb/March. I strongly recommend some kind if indoor training set up. I set a "can I do it?" goal/event for summer and that keeps me at it all winter.

Mt. Washington is a bucket list ride for many and a major endeavor for old slow fat guys like me. Keeps me at it all winter.
360 Cycles in Keene seems to be a hub for Mountain bikers and they are dialed into area cycling. Monadknock cycling club has group rides, not as much with covid. Friendly group but leisurely pace. They can connect you
with others. Contact me when you arrive. We can meet up if you would like. I live 40 minutes away.

Thank you.

I've been teaching at boarding schools in the west for 19 years with about half of those living in the dorms. In that regard, I know a little bit of what I'm getting into. But I'm sure the school culture in the NE is different. How different, we'll see.

I'll switch to running, snowshoeing, and trainer/rollers in the winter. Maybe try to take up cross-country skiing again. I'm mostly worried about the hours of darkness in the winter, not snow, but I could be disabused of that the first time through it.

[redir]

I was gonna say on first impression you are in for a huge change coming from that part of CA but you already have Eastern blood in you and you have friends so I think you will be alright.

I grew up in New England and while I can't ever see going back there at the same time if a good opportunity knocked I just might. New England is beautiful all round. Whether it's cities like Boston or Providence or out in country.

[NHAero]

Riding at night on easy trails is one way to get through the dark winter in New England, and it's really fun with good lighting. Best case where you are going to be may be a fatbike, but I'd also think about a bike set up with studded tires. I had a MTB set up with studded tires to ride the ski and snow machine trails when they got too packed and icy for XC skiing.

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

Thank you.

I've been teaching at boarding schools in the west for 19 years with about half of those living in the dorms. In that regard, I know a little bit of what I'm getting into. But I'm sure the school culture in the NE is different. How different, we'll see.

I'll switch to running, snowshoeing, and trainer/rollers in the winter. Maybe try to take up cross-country skiing again. I'm mostly worried about the hours of darkness in the winter, not snow, but I could be disabused of that the first time through it.

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

This sounds like the intro to a John Irving novel

I'd rather it were a few chapters in a Wallace Stegner novel.

Seriously, I'm kind of excited, if for no other reason that the geography and physical geography will be so different. It'll be fun to explore a new area and learn some of its ins and outs.


Just not at all looking forwards to the ticks, though.

[mhespenheide]

Dispersed camping / boondocking?

.

While this thread is active, are there any options for dispersed camping / boondocking in the region?

One of the things I love about the West is the BLM and National Forest land where you can go out with no development, no reservations, and just go camp for a night or two. (Bringing all your own water, food, etc.)

Is there anything like that in the NE? Angry's thread on the area north of the Adirondacks implies that there might be. If so, what do I look for?

[benb]

Honestly if you're really used to that kind of western experience it's hard to imagine you could possibly be happy with what's available here.

There's just a huge difference in the Northeast. Our society has been here for hundreds of years longer, it's more densely populated.

Even our wild lands were once farms and weren't wild, we've let them be reclaimed with forest to a huge extent but people are never very far away.

I remember my cousin & his friend blowing my mind 15 years ago when I was visiting him out in Washington state. His friend was relating his experience doing a 100 mile point to point (no laps) dirt bike race through wild lands. That's pretty much impossible here.. there's just not enough wild land left, at least in MA. Maybe you could do it in upstate Maine.

There's lots of other stuff on offer though like 4 truly distinct seasons with different outdoor experiences. You will end up doing different things..

There are plenty of places to camp and hike & hunt & fish and all that other stuff.. you just won't be 50 miles from civilization.

I think the advantages on the east coast are more around closer proximity to more cities you can visit with a shorter trip, more cultural events & such in closer proximity due to more development, etc..

[nighthawk]

White Mountain National Forest will be a few hours north of you.

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

Dispersed camping / boondocking?

.

While this thread is active, are there any options for dispersed camping / boondocking in the region?

One of the things I love about the West is the BLM and National Forest land where you can go out with no development, no reservations, and just go camp for a night or two. (Bringing all your own water, food, etc.)

Is there anything like that in the NE? Angry's thread on the area north of the Adirondacks implies that there might be. If so, what do I look for?

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by benb

I think the advantages on the east coast are more around closer proximity to more cities you can visit with a shorter trip, more cultural events & such in closer proximity due to more development, etc..

At least until you get out to 495. Then it's the wild wild west.

[benb]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

At least until you get out to 495. Then it's the wild wild west.

I was just getting at the scale of the Western US compared to everything here.

Western MA is still super populated compared to regions of the west.

Heck Yellowstone NP is 30% the size of Massachusetts.

The Death Valley wilderness zone is larger than MA. Yosemite wilderness zone is about 1/3 the size of MA. All that just in CA.

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by benb

Honestly if you're really used to that kind of western experience it's hard to imagine you could possibly be happy with what's available here.

..

I know some of that, having grown up in NY state before moving out here for college (and then staying). But are there any options for dispersed camping? State parks, state forests, etc.?

I’m curious about the new national monument in Maine just outside Baxter State Park: “Katahdin Woods and Waters”? But that’s a six hour drive, so too far for shorter trips.

[blindwilly]

the only true dispersed camping i know of in New England is located in White Mountain National forest-about 3 hours north of Winchendon. Good base camps for Mt. Washington area.

Check out
-Gale River Loop
-Cherry Mountain Rd.
-Haystack rd.

I believe there are some in southern Vermont as well but i have not tried camping there.

[benb]

It's been a long time but I did backpacking camping years ago in NE (can't even remember where) that involved basically camping in the middle of nowhere.

There are places where you can camp where you're not in a big dump of a campground full of people who pulled up with the truck and RV and 500lbs of food and 200 beers and a big screen TV to get them through the weekend with a golf cart to drive to the bathroom.

Heck you could hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail or the Long Trail and camp on the way.