Tag: bike rides

My Favorite Rides – Update

Being stuck at home is no fun but it got me to thinking about my favorite rides ever. These could be event rides or parts of tours or whatever. Here are a few that come to mind.

  • Maui Downhill – On our honeymoon, my wife and I rode from the rim of Haleakala at 10,000 feet to the ocean at the town of Paia. A little over 30 miles. I pedaled only a few times to get started after a mid-ride break for breakfast. My hands and forearms were sore from braking as we followed countless switchbacks through the wasteland near the top of the mountain to the paradise of the lower slope of the north face of the volcano.
  • The Erie Canal – I rode from Niagara Falls to Albany back in 2004. I can still see in my mind’s eye the early mornings on the Erie Canal from Freeport to roughly Syracuse. Fog. Ducks and geese. Packet boats gliding in the waterway. Pleasant temperatures with blessedly low humidity. And not a hill in sight. (Okay, there were two but they were not very big.)
  • The GAP Trail – The Great Allegheny Passage connects Pittsburgh with the C & O Canal towpath at Cumberland Maryland. I’ve done the entire trail twice, and major portions of it several times. Trestles, tunnels, waterfalls, massive wind turbines, scenic vistas of mountains and farmland, dense forest. If you live anywhere near Pittsburgh or DC you really need to check this out.
  • Washington Pass – The Northern Cascades in Washington State are pretty darn spectacular. Heading west from near Winthrop, Highway 20 took me up a long, arduous climb that included an amazing switchback from which I could see waaay down there where I had been. (I climbed THAT?!!!) Once over the top it’s downhill for dozens of miles with absolutely amazing views. The turquoise water of the streams and the lakes and rivers behind Diablo Dam just bowled me over.
  • The Florida Keys – During my 2017 tour to Key West I rode from Key Largo to Key West in one go, 100 miles. The road is level except for a few bridges. My ride was right after hurricane Irma wiped out parts of the lower keys. Instead of dolphins and sea turtles I saw immense heaps of storm debris for miles and miles. And about a million iguanas. The Seven Mile bridge is quite a cool thing to ride over. You end up at the Lowest Point in America buoy for the perfect ride ending photo op. Half the paint on the buoy had been scoured off by Irma making my arrival even more memorable.
  • 136 Miles in a Day – From Morehead, Minnesota to Gackle, North Dakota is surely not on anyone else’s favorite ride list but for me it was an amazing adventure. When you are in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do and nobody to do it with, you might as well keep riding. And so I did, bypassing my planned destination at a campground on the Little Yellowstone River. I took my time at the start of the ride by touring Fargo and chatting with east-bound bicycle tourists. This meant that I spent the last two and a half hours in complete darkness but for the white circle of my head light. It was magical.
  • 50 States in a Day – Anybody who knows me knows that the Washington Area Bicyclists Association’s 50 States Ride is my jam. I’ve done it 13 times and it never gets old. 60 miles of hills and stop signs and traffic lights winding all through the District of Columbia so that riders cycle on the avenues named after each of the 50 states. You are guaranteed to meet people all day and every last one of them should have their heads examined for doing this loony ride. The cue sheet is about 10 pages long. If you use a GPS you’re cheating. Getting lost is part of the adventure.
  • Westcliffe to Salida – I rode across Colorado on my 2019 tour. The first massive climb from Wetmore to Westcliffe went from 6,000 feet to 9,000 feet in 13 miles. It totally wrecked me mentally and physically. The next day I rode north along the eastern base of the Santa Fe Mountains and then west on the Arkansas River to Salida. Scenery out the wazoo. An amazing mile-long descent in the middle of the ride was a welcome relief from the previous day’s brutal climb.
  • Monarch Pass – After a rest day in Salida, I took on Monarch Pass. This was my first and only time over 11,000 feet. The Pass is on the Continental Divide nearly twice as high as Rogers Pass in Montana where I crossed the divide in 2018. The ride down was insane, made better by seeing hundreds of riders slogging their way up the mountain as part of the Ride the Rockies event.
  • Caples Lake to Sacramento – Words fail when I try to describe the sheer glee of realizing that after riding hundreds of miles up and down across Colorado, Utah, and Nevada and climbing over Carson Pass in California that my climbing days were nearly over on my 2019 tour. Not to be cheated, I began the day by climbing a few hundred feet over each of three more passes but after that it was downhill for about 80 miles. An overdose of evergreens gave way to windy roads through wine country.
  • A Day in the City – Long ago I was an intern at a government agency in San Francisco. One Saturday I took my bike on BART into the city to explore. I rode all over the place, including a brutal climb up Russian Hill. I descended through the Presidio back when it was still a military base then over the Golden Gate Bridge and down to Sausalito. I took a ferry across the bay between the Gate and Alcatraz Island. Perfect.
  • Night Baseball – Nationals Park is a 15-mile ride from my house. There is a bike valet at the ballpark so no need to worry about bike security. Games typically end between 10 and 11 pm. The ride home in the dark involves about two miles of urban riding then eleven miles on the Mount Vernon Trail which has no lighting. On a cool night with a slight breeze, this ride is bliss.
  • McKenzie Pass – Before I rode the second two thirds of the TransAmerican Bicycle Route last year, a friend said that she thought the ride over McKenzie Pass in Oregon was the highlight of her entire cross-country tour. To be honest I doubted her. After all, what could be better than 11,500+ foot Hoosier Pass in Colorado, the ride up and over Lolo Pass and along the Lochsa River in Idaho, or the spectacular Oregon coast? Well, she was right. Even with a ten mile traffic-y start that featured my only flat of the trip, the ride over McKenzie was epic. The approach from the valley in the east features spectacular views of the Sisters mountains to the south and several other snowy peaks in the Oregon Cascades to the north. Trucks and other long vehicles are not allowed on the road over the pass, so the ride is low stress. There were several amazing landscapes on this route. First is a gradual climb through a pine forest. Next, you ride through a stark forest burn zone, and finally the intense black rocky terrain of a former lava field leading to the pass itself. After an hour of gawking at the rocks and the mountain peaks, the real fun begins. On the west side you get a 3,000 foot curvy joy ride downhill through the lava zone, another burn zone, and finally a Pacific northwest rain forest with dense vegetation under countless fir trees. The air is clean and refreshing, made more so by the fact that you’ve been riding at elevation for three weeks. Every 1,000 feet you pass a sign..5,000 feet, 4,000 feet,…Wow. Just wow.

Let’s Ride Two: Dead Man Biking

Backroads 2013

After Saturday’s grueling (but fun) 50 States Ride, I woke up at 5 a. m., just rarin’ to go. Not. My legs felt like lead but I managed to get myself downstairs and planted my face in a bowl of Cheerios. Feeling my oats, I plunked Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent, on the bike rack on the back of my car and headed off to DC.

The plan was to do the Backroads Metric Century in the northern Shenandoah Valley with Kristen. I volunteered to pick up Kristen’s friend Elizabeth (@ymax) in DC on my way to Berryville. I arrived at her place at 6 on the dot.

The drive took about 90 minutes, including a good 10 minutes waiting in the long line to park. We were somewhat concerned that it would be hard to find Kristen who had already transported Elizabeth’s bike. Just before pulling into our parking space we spotted Kristen and her husband standing a few feet away. We took this to be a good omen.

We lingered for just a moment at the start. A recumbent trike rider offered to sell me a lightly used fairing for Big Nellie. I just might take him up on the offer.

And we’re off, me on a recumbent, Kristen on her hybrid, and Elizabeth on her carbon fiber road bike. In addition to having a rocket ship for a bike, Elizabeth is the perfect body type for hilly cycling: thin, fit, and small. Once she warmed up, she was gone!

Kristin, as it turns out, is a mom on a mission and a hill climbing machine. Her technique is to ride down hills in a tuck and then power up the next rise. I spun my ass off on Big Nellie but there was no power at all in my legs. This was going to be a long day.

We rode more or less together for the first leg of our journey, through farmers’ fields with views of the fog rising from the crops with the Blue Ridge to the east. The first rest stop was at an old mill. It was a food fest. The highlight was the baked potatoes with salt and butter. There was also a trio of musicians including banjo and harp for our musical enjoyment. As much as we wanted to stay, we had play to do.

On the road to the next stop, I found myself lagging behind my posse. Along comes Jeff  who I saw at the start of the 50 States. Jeff has a talent for sneaking up on me. He once spotted me in a crowd in the rain on Bike DC. Jeff crashed on the 50 States Ride and hurt his right arm which he said was quite painful. Even one armed, Jeff can bury me on a bike. He was gone in short order.

Up, up, up. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Into a headwind.

The next rest stop came at the top of a hill at around 11 a.m.. We had expected to see Kristen’s husband and kids, but he was out boozing again. Just kidding. There was a little interspousal miscommunication.

After a few minutes we were spinning back down the way we came with the wind at our backs. Fields of hay and corn and soy, cows and sheep and alpacas and horses, stone walls and white fences. Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.

The course is entirely on backroads. Duh. We crossed a couple of busy highways but never rode along them. I learned after the ride that there is about 10 percent more climbing on this ride than on the 50 States. It felt like it.

Many miles and hills later we came to our next stop at the town of White Post, so cleverly named after the white post at the center of town where two roads meet. (It would suck if they replaced the post with a big trash can.) While munching some tomato and mayo sammiches, Kristen spotted an amazing sight. About a month ago on the 2013 Hoppy 100 ride, our band of merry beer hounds helped a guy get medical help after he crashed his bike in the rain on a bridge in DC. He was a bloody mess and was clearly going into shock. So it was pleasant surprise to see him in one piece out on his first bike ride since the crash. Except from a couple of gnarly looking fingernails, he looked quite well. While talking to him, Mike, a regular at Friday Coffee Club appeared. Mike was doing the full century so he was soon off on a mileage quest of his own.

After chatting we headed out under threatening skies. Thankfully, the rain stayed away but we rode the next ten miles under cloudy skies. More hills made my legs achy, but spin we must. I could feel my quadriceps spasming from time to time. How it would suck if they seized up, but, at the last rest stop after eating some mango gelato, it was Kristen who  started having leg cramps. Fortunately they went away with some stretching.

As we were leaving somebody said that there was a 16 percent incline in the last few miles. I couldn’t recall one and I was right. The last big hill was 6 percent and plenty long but nothing we couldn’t handle. A few times on this ride we rode passed roadies in Lycra doing the walk of shame, waddling up the steep hills in their cleated bike shoes. The three of us are proud to report that we rode every single blessed uphill without dismounting.

At the finish there was food and hugs all around. Despite the dead legs, I had a great time.

50 States Postscript: When I got home, I changed the flat on The Mule. The tire must have had 20 small cuts in the casing. Time for a fresh tire. I could use some fresh legs too.

Thanks to Kristen for getting me to sign up. It was great to ride with Elizabeth too. You may see her around these parts on a bike. She’ll be that little black dot receding into the distance in front of you.

Here are a few pix of our Backroads adventure.