I took up running in part because bicycling took too much time.

The trouble with bicycling, especially road cycling, is that it’s so efficient. It’s easy to cruise along at a pretty good clip. To work up a sweat and get the heart and lungs pumping, you need to push a bit harder, but there's always the temptation to slack off and just enjoy the scenery.

The obvious solution is to drag an anchor, but that would be noisy. I prefer to ride uphill. There are lots of good hills around, especially to the west of Nashua.

When I lived in the north end, I used to ride out through Merrimack Baboosic Lake Road to Parkhurst to Stowell) to Joppa Hill Road, and up New Boston Road… that’s a nice long climb, and the twisty descent on the other side (Chestnut Hill Road) makes for an exciting recovery.

Another great loop circles around Federal Hill: head toward Brookline on Route 130, then veer to the right before the town center onto Old Milford Road for a long, mostly gentle climb to a steeper descent that drops you onto Route 13. Go north and take a right on Colburn, then a left onto Foster, then bomb down Federal Hill Road to Emerson. Take a right, peddle up Ponemah Hill Road, cruise down to Silver Lake Road, and back up to the four corners in Hollis. Naturally, it works just as well in the other direction.

Anyone who has any other favorite routes in the region, please post them here.