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A Trail Across New Hampshire
Plus, Sam's new Europe Vlog and Stats for the Nerds
Sam Westby
January 08, 2026
Welcome to the Bike Bulletin. It’s like the invention of Bar Mitts, but for your email. Once you’ve tried it, you can’t understand how you’ve lived without all these years.
This newsletter is about a love for two-wheeled transit. From riding around town to riding across the country, the more time you spend on a bike, the better. You can look forward to a new edition every week.
Here’s what we have today.
🌍 RIDE: Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail
💡 TIP: Wash Your Bike
🎥 WATCH: The End of Our European Adventure
📰 NEWS: Increased ridership and new legislation
Written by Sam Westby, @samcwestby
ROUTE ON MY RADAR
Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail
Ride from one side of New Hampshire to the other on the XNHAT. Marianne Borowski created this route in 2019, connecting dirt roads, bike trails, and backroads.
Thanks, Arelhan, for sending this route!
Here’s what you’d be getting yourself into.
83 miles (134 km) with 3,100 feet (947 m) of elevation gain.
About 50% unpaved, from one side of NH to the other
Gravel bike recommended
Official website: https://www.xnhat.org/
Their website has a ton of helpful info, much more than the average trail website.
BIKE TIP
Cleaning Your Bike
I might as well call my bike a slug, because it does not mix well with all the salt on the roads here in Boston. If there’s one thing to avoid, it’s a salty bike. Salty bikes become rusty bikes, and rusty bikes don’t get ridden.
Here’s how to avoid that: WASH YOUR BIKE.
You have a bunch of options: bathtub, hose (if it’s not frozen), or a 1-gallon hand-pump garden sprayer that I bought at Home Depot for $11.
The last one is my favorite. I fill the sprayer up with warm water, spray down my bike, dry it off with a rag, and re-lubricate the chain.
That’s it. It takes 7 minutes.
WHAT I’M WATCHING
The End of Our European Adventure
After a lot of editing, here is the final vlog from our European adventure this summer. This is part 3 of a series where my dad and I ride our bikes all over Western Europe.
It’s 1 hour of us eating French pastries, stealth camping, and climbing mountains.
You can watch on YouTube.
WHAT I’M WATCHING (part 2)
Good Infrastructure versus Bad Drivers
This is a short 4-minute example of a classic issue in bike safety. Even though Portland has some of the best bike infrastructure in the United States, that doesn’t protect us from every bad driver.
Watch on YouTube
10%. The increase in Philadelphia’s bike traffic since 2024. (bicyclecoalition.org)
McGuinness Boulevard. This week, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdami announced a full redesign of McGuinness Boulevard to reduce vehicle traffic to a single lane and add a protected bike lane. This is a great sign for the rest of his term. (streetsblog.org)
The Omnibike Bill (AB 1909, 2022). This new California bill clarified some longstanding ambiguity in bike laws, one of which is that e-bikes are legal on bikeways unless cities rule otherwise. (calbike.org)
NJ Bill S4834/A6235. This proposed New Jersey bill would require registration and a license for ANY e-bike. Advocates are petitioning for this to be changed to e-bikes that go over 20 mph. (bicyclecoalition.org)
$7 million for 3 miles. The cost of the approved Chandler Bikeway extension in Los Angeles. Joe from BikinginLA explains why he is not a fan. (bikinginla.com)
$1.4 million. The amount awarded to the Kansas City metro area by the U.S. Department of Transportation for improvements to walking, biking, and public transit. (bikewalkkc.org)
A Note From Sam
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