Scenic Railriders – Pedal The Rails With Mom

PHOTO: The northern terminus of the tour is the Hannah Duston Historic Site and Monument where the Merrimack and Contoocook Rivers meet. Riders are ready to pedal back to their station to complete our 6.2 mile tour. We were spread out about 300 yards between each other for a peaceful and lovely outing. Scenic RailRiders in Concord, NH (ScenicRailRiders.com) is open every day but Wednesday and offers five tours a day with the first beginning at 8:30 am and the last at 4:30 pm–tours last between 1.5 and 2 hours.

by Amy Patenaude
Outdoor/Ski Writer

My mother has wanted to pedal the rail-bikes on the tracks along the Merrimack River in Concord for quite some time. Scenic RailRiders opened in July of 2019. Shortly after they opened Mom must have read about pedaling along the tracks because she has been talking about it for nearly five years. She never made plans with any of her friends to go but every once in a while she would mention she’d like to try it.
Last Monday afternoon the threat of thunderstorms was low and it wasn’t too hot. I looked on-line to see what they had to offer and saw that they had openings available in two hours for their 12:30 outing. I called Mom and she was excited to go.
It’s easy to reserve a bike on-line at their website and there is a thorough FAQ section on their website where you can find all the answers to your questions. They do allow walk-ups if you arrive early and only if they’re not fully booked. They rent by the rail-bike, not per person. It is nice that they offer 2-seaters and 4-seater rail-bikes tours. I paid $90 for a 2-seater bike for us (4- seaters I think were $160).
Mom and I packed our lunches and we hopped in the car. Mom grew up in Penacook, a village in the north part of Concord. Fisherville Road, Route 3, leads to Penacook which makes sense since the original name was Fisherville and wasn’t Concord originally Penacook. Mom recalled riding a train from Penacook to Concord when she was a youngster. I remember seeing trains too. Passenger train service ceased in 1965 and freight trains ran until 1992. The track is now officially abandoned and fortunately the rails have not been removed.

Scenic RailRiders is located less than a mile past the Beaver Meadow Golf Course on Sewalls Falls Road on the west bank of the Merrimack River.
We arrived about 25 minutes before our tour started. We were greeted by a cheery employee and we checked in. No e-tickets, we just had to give our name. We were given a nice booklet that tells their story and the history of the rails and area surrounding the tracks. The last page was stamped with today’s date, a keepsake that my mother especially appreciated. Then we returned to our car and ate our sandwiches.
The outing wasn’t sold-out, with all the heat and thunderstorms it probably hasn’t encouraged riders. They are open rain or shine and will only close if conditions are dangerous.
Everyone gathered near the tracks and listened to a summary of the tour and the instructions on how to ride and brake. On the back of the rail-bike there was a basket and there was also an umbrella. Each rail-bike has a fun name. Ours was Juliette and yes Romeo was in front of us. I placed my backpack that had carried our rain jackets and water bottles in the basket.
On our 2-seater I sat in the right hand seat, the side that has the brake controls. The brakes are like a bicycle cycle hand brakes; squeeze to slow and stop.

Mom and I were last in the line of the ten or so rail-bikes. A guide went out first and then we set off one after another after the rail-bike in front reached the 300 foot marker. This was nice because it gave one of us time to hand our cell phones to one of the guides to take our photo before we set off.
We pedaled down the track and we seemed to easily maintain the distance to the one in front of us. We pedaled down the green tunnel and we had glimpses of the Merrimack River and ponds covered with lily pads. After just over a mile we stopped and dismounted our rail-bikes while our guides rolled them onto a turn-table to reverse direction. Now Mom and I were first in line behind the guide.
Remember to take everything out of your pants pockets because they will work their way out. It was good we got a mile warm-up and then a chance for Mom to take her jackknife out of her pocket and put it in our backpack.
Mom was happy we were now in the lead and she wanted to pedal fast since now we wouldn’t have a chance to run up on anyone. The guide took off and I realized they weren’t just pedaling, yes they had electric motor assist. It is pretty easy to pedal at a relaxing rate but we did work hard to see how fast we could go. We liked going fast, well maybe 10 or 15 mph.

Now past our starting point the next two plus miles we really enjoyed. We kept a steady relaxing pace as we went by places nearer the River and open farm land. The Morrill Dairy Farm’s cows were busy eating as we pedaled past. Mom pointed out to me the Rolfe Barn and the oldest house in Penacook, the Nathaniel Rolfe House built in 1774.
The only animals we saw besides the cows were plenty of crazy chipmunks and a gray squirrel that decided just in the nick of time to get off the tracks as we barreled down on him.
We slowed down as we crossed the railroad bridge over the Contoocook River to look at the river where it meets the Merrimack River. I told Mom this is where Becca and I started our kayak adventure a couple weeks ago. After crossing the bridge we were now on the island that is the Hannah Dustin Historic Site. This was the end of the line for us and we watched our guide push our rail-bike on the turntable and spin it around and then push it up the track to make room for the next one.

Everyone stretched their legs and walked around the statue of Hannah Dustin. My mother and
I told a family from Utah the gruesome story of her horrible kidnapping and the horrible deed.
The statue has Hannah missing a shoe and in one hand she holds a hatchet and in the other the scalps to prove she killed them.
Now again at the back of the pack for the return trip Mom and I took our time. We enjoyed the views and I enjoyed Mom’s stories about growing up in Penacook.
From start to finish the tour took a little more than an hour and a half and we pedaled 6.2 miles. It was so pleasant. I asked my 82 year old mother what did you like best, “All of it, I loved all of it.” she replied. I bet my mother will want to go again this summer.
Have fun.