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28 Miles Of Hell

Cosmo's version of the Ride:

"New Hampshire's version of Monte Zoncolan. Head out down East Wheelock Street and up Trescott Hill. Refrain from complaining about how steep it is. Continue on Trescott until it comes to a T-junction in the sleepy village of Etna. Make a left and continue on that road until reaching King Hill, a right-right hand turn just after the local general store. Observe the "Trucks Use Low Gear" sign. After a few minutes of grinding, take a right onto Laramie road. Enjoy a long, somewhat bumpy downhill that rolls out to flat after a while, and take a left over the covered bridge after going under the interstate. Continue along this road, under the insterstate again, until it hits U.S. Route 4. Take a left and up a gradual climb on Dartmouth College's own highway. After the hill crests, keep your eyes peeled for a right-hand turn onto Eastman Hill Road. Climb it. Then follow the downhill across I-89 (don't pass up the opportunity to lead oxygen-deprived first-time riders down the on-ramp) and make a right, down a slight incline onto Methodist Hill Road. This is the your last chance for polka-dot jersey points on the day, so make it count. take it easy on the first section of the downhill, as about half-a-mile down it hits a 4-way stop. Bang a right and let it rip, keeping your eyes peeled for driveways and dirt in the road. My speed record here is 54.7 mph, but people have gone faster. Make a right onto N.H. Route 120. If you're not a sprinter, take advantage of fried legs and grab some town lines on the way back into Lebanon. Mind yourself in the traffic circle and follow the signs for U.S. 4 West. In West Leb, peel off onto NH Route 10 and drag yourself over the last climb and go all out for the Hanover town line (right before the blinking light.)"

My (Pech) notes of the Ride:

• I consider this ride to be "Old School," in the sense that not many people ride it anymore. I used to enjoy doing parts of this ride, until I was bitten by a dog on Eastman Hill.
• There are many different versions of this ride, though the way described by Cosmo is the classic way to do this ride. I would recommend going up Ruddsborough instead of King, because the Ruddsborough ascent and descent are so much more pleasant. After descending Ruddsborough, one takes a right along Mascoma. One can follow this road till the Eastman turnoff (on your left), but the better thing to do is to take a right onto Stevens (this right is before the bridge), and go up and over Stevens. This will eventually T into Laramie Road, and thus eventually take you to the covered bridge.
• After descending Eastman Hill, if one takes a left right before I-89, to get onto a derelict old bike path. It's kind of fun to take, at least once, so as to impress the ladies.

Pretty awesome view from the top of Methodist Hill. The vestiges of winter are still on the road.