The Rides
The Ride. It is the cathedral of our sport, where we worship at the altar of the Man with the Hammer. It is the end to our means. Indeed, The Bike may be the central tool to our sport, but to turn the pedals is to experience the sensation of freedom, of flight. It is all for The Ride.
The world is overflowing with small, twisty roads that capture our collective imagination as cyclists. We spend our lifetimes searching out the best routes and rides; we pore over maps, we share with our fellow disciples, we talk to non-cycling locals all in pursuit of the Perfect Ride.
The Rides is devoted entirely to the best routes and rides around the world. Some are races or cyclosportives, others feature in the Classics and stages of The Great Races, while others still are little-known gems, discovered through careful meditation on The V. Be warned: these rides are not your average Sunday Afternoon spin; these rides are the best and most difficult rides in the word – they represent the rites of passage into La Vie Velominatus. It is to be taken for granted that these rides require loads of Rule #5, many of them Rule #10, and all of them are best enjoyed in Rule #9 conditions. They have been shared by you, the community. The Rides also features articles devoted to the greatest rides and providess a forum for sharing other rides for discussion.
If you’d like to submit a ride or an article about your own favorite ride, please feel free to send it to us and we’ll do our best to work with you to include it.
[rideitem status=”public” title=”Haleakala” distance=”56km” category=”Grimpeur” url=”http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/50412514″ location=”Paia, Maui, Hawaii, USA”]
Haleakala is simultaneously the longest paved continuous climb in the world as well as the shortest ascent from sea level to 10,000 feet in the world. Though not terribly steep, this is a long, grinding climb that will reduce a strong rider to a whimpering lump.
To put the effort in perspective, this climb is 60km long a an average of 6% with two pitches as steep as 17%. That translates to somewhere between 3 or more hours of nonstop climbing, usually in Maui’s direct heat and often into a whipping headwind that spins around into a headwind no matter which direction the switchbacks take you.
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[rideitem statuc=public title=”Liege-Bastogne-Liege” distance=”265″ category=”Rouleur” url=”http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/58053308/” location=”Liege, Belgium”]
Liege-Bastogne-Liege is not only La Doyenne, the oldest of the Classics, but also represents perhaps the most demanding course in cycling. The 280 km, 3000m vertical route starts with an easy ride out from Liege to Bastogne which lulls riders into a false sense of security; the hills are frequent, but none of them terribly demanding. Into Bastogne, and the story changes on the way back to Liege with 9 categorized climbs in the second half, including the fearsome Côte de la Redoute and the Côte de Saint-Nicolas.
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[rideitem status=public title=”Paris-Roubaix” category=”Hardman” distance=”265″ url=”http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/58052610/” location=”Compiégne, France” guideurl=”http://www.cyclingpave.cc/” guide=”Pavé Cycling Classics”]
L’enfur du Nord. The Hell of The North. The Queen of the Classics. This isn’t a ride over the stones from your local brick-paved roads. You think climbs are what make a ride tough? We’ve got news for you: this is the hardest ride on the planet and it boasts a maximum elevation of 55 meters. These are vicious, brutal stones; the kind that will stretch each kilometer to their full length, the kind of stones that you will feel long after the rattling of the bars has stopped. These stones will change you. Forever.
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[rideitem status=public title=”Mortirolo/Gavia Loop” category=”Grimpeur” distance=”115km” url=”http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/59027020/” location=”Bormio, Italy” contributor=”Joe”]
The Mortirolo is perhaps the most feared pass in Western Europe, and the Gavia the most storied. Given their proximity to each other, its a wonder why this isn’t the most talked-about ride in Italy. Maybe it is; its impossible to say without being Italian. The loop nature of this ride makes it feasible as a solo escapade, but any ride with the kind of stats this one bears – 3200 meters ascended in 115 kilometers including the viscously steep Mortirolo – is best enjoyed with a riding partner or support car.
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[rideitem status=public title=”200 on 100″ category=”Grimpeur” distance=”330km” url=”http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/58052808/” location=”Vernon, VT” contributor=”cdelinks” contributorurl=”http://cyclowhat.com”]
“Dumptruck of Awesome” has become the catch-phrase associated with this brutally hard, yet strikingly beautiful 330 kilometer (200 mile) ride down Vermont Route 100. This ride was made popular during the summer of 2011 when Ted King, Tim Johnson, and a local amateur cyclist, Ryan Kelly, documented this ride on film. The ride starts on the Canadian border and finishes on the Massachusetts border. With over 2500 meters of climbing on this 330 kilometer ride, you will need to pack a few lunches to get through this one. Do this ride in the Fall, and the foliage might be beautiful enough to distract you from the horrible pain you will most certainly suffer.
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[rideitem status=”public” title=”De Ronde Van West Portlandia” distance=”76km” category=”Grimpeur” url=”http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/15276210″ location=”Portland, Oregon, USA”]
A ride that officially “never happens” each spring, this 76 km route charts a course through Portland’s West Hills, paying homage to the European Spring Classics. Approximately 1,800 meters of paved and unpaved climbs are spread throughout the course, with several sections reaching grades of over 20%. More information can be found at Ronde PDX.
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[rideitem status=public title=”Seattle Master Urban Ride” category=”Rouleur” distance=”130km” url=http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/57732282 location=”Seattle, Washington, USA”]
This is perhaps the most challenging urban route in Seattle, hitting three of the big hills that define Seattle’s topography. The route starts and ends on Phinney Ridge, but hits the climbs of Interlaken and Alder Street/Lake Dell Drive on its way to Mercer Island, before coming back to hit Queen Anne and Magnolia, weaving its way up each of these hills as many times as possible via the steepest route available before the finale to the north via Golden Gardens, Blue Ridge Drive, and Carkeek Park. Panoramic views of the Cascades, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, The Olympic Penninsula and Puget Sound makes this a standout Urban ride.
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@ChrisO
? Bit extreme, surely?
@davidlhill
You have to remember that @ChrisO is an Aussie. They’re a bit bitter at the moment.
Spot the pre race safety check fail.
@chris
Hope it was tightened!
@chris
Mate I couldn’t care less about Union. Living in a country that makes Australia look not very racist on the other hand…
Seriously I’m really worried. I may be white and speak the language but I’m still an immigrant and when Britain no longer exists I don’t really want to be English. I’m no more English than I’m Scottish or Welsh.
There’s a really charged atmosphere out there at the moment. On a club ride on Sunday some guys had stopped for a piss and I was just waiting by the side of the road. Some old bloke was walking along the other side and I was just about to say good morning when he started having a go at me for not wearing a helmet. I told him, civil but angry, that I was a grown up and would he like me to start giving him advice on his own life choices? He said that was a ‘typically English response’. Of course I told him I was Australian, and if he wanted an Australian response he was welcome to it.
But it’s quite an eye opener when people are throwing racial or nationalistic terms around as abuse to strangers on the streets.
As for Froome… can you imagine him turning up at a club 10 in Liverpool, or coming down to watch track night at Herne Hill. Froome can win another 5 Tours in a row and he’ll never be liked.
@chris
Cheers for that. There’s something to be said for dragging the kiddo’s outa bed early to make it to the races on time and they get to watch you suffer as well. I suspect that my kids respect that even when I do get shelled in a competitive field. Good luck!
@ChrisO
Still… getting piss thrown on ya is so uncool…
@Randy C
Unless you’re a triathlete and then you piss on yourself on a regular basis.
@ChrisO
I wouldn’t have posted that had I not known that your true allegiance was to AFL.
I think we’re all concerned about the future here, not least that it’ll bring some racist cunts out of the woodwork. I hope it doesn’t come to that and any restrictions that might be placed on immigration and free movement of labour would just be to end the unchecked system we currently have. After all, we’ve got all the politicians, mobile phone salesmen, estate agents and bankers we need.
It sounds like the bloke from your club ride is merely representative of grumpy old people.
As for Froome, surely your not suggesting that its OK to douse him in piss whilst lamenting the potential rise in racist, nationalistic behavior in the UK?
@chris
Sadly, it already has:
@Steve Trice
We’ve always had a few and always will. My hope is that it doesn’t amount to much more than a few slogan carrying malcontents without meaningful leadership.
@chris
League for me… I’m from NSW. Although I do like to watch the AFL from time to time but I wasn’t brought up on it so I don’t instinctively appreciate the finer points.
I did go to a Rugby Union-playing school, a very good one (at Rugby that is) but I just don’t enjoy it as a game.
As for the racism/nationalism yes he might be a grumpy old bloke but there are a lot of incidents being reported in the last few days – there’s a triumphalism from that section of society, which I fear will turn very nasty when they realise they’ve been properly conned.
And no, obviously dousing Froome in urine is beyond the pale, but I was just making the point he’s not and never will be a popular rider, even in the country he represents. He’s Michael Gove to Wiggo’s Boris Johnson.
@ChrisO
Where did you go to school?
@ChrisO
It’s kinda interesting re Froome. I think he comes across as a thoroughly decent bloke, honest but his persona is a bit bland.
Trouble is that’s just not the profile to get you in the popularity stakes with the media.
@chris
Joeys… St Joseph’s, Hunters Hill. Rugby was the only winter sport on offer and it was compulsory. The entire school had to play on Saturday morning then go and watch the 1st and 2nd XV in the afternoon, home and away.
Haven’t followed it much since then but when I was there we’d had more Australian Schoolboy representatives than anyone else, by like double the next on the ladder. For the last three years I was there our 1stXV didn’t lose a single match, friendly or competitive.
@Teocalli
It’s not just the meeja though is it… I mean Wiggo is actually part of cycling in the UK.
He turns up to club time trials, he comes down to watch midweek track league. Apart from 15kg and the ability to put out 400 watts for an hour he’s like anyone else on our Sunday club runs.
You get the impression Wiggins and even Cavendish really like Cycling as an entire thing, whereas Froome is a bloke whose job is to be a Cyclist.
@ChrisO
OK point taken. Though I have to say he came over very well when he rang GT while GT was being interviewed at the Dunkerque Roubaix ride I did last year. The presenter saw Froome’s name on GT’s phone and had him answer then proceeded to ask Froome a bunch of questions. He must have wondered what on earth was going on as he only rang GT to find out whether he was up for a ride the following day (when GT was riding as host with our mob).
Apparently Froome’s favourite snack while riding is Nougat.
@sthilzy
Er no. I wasn’t there but it sounds like it was dangling. He stopped and tightened it but couldn’t make it back into the group he had been in probably the difference between sixth to eighth and the twelfth he ended up with.
Back from L’eroica Limburg. These things seem to becoming a challenge for which country can set the most manic route. Quite a lot of the 160 Km route would have been bad enough on a mountain bike. A bit mental really on a vintage road bike not really suited to steep, rubble strewn, off road climbs and descents. Oh well, survived it and had fun but every bearing race on the bike needs stripping out and cleaning now.
They have something called the Amstel Gold experience in Valkenburg with 3 marked routes to follow which would make a great long weekend and Valkenburg is a stunning cafe culture. I’d certainly be up for going back with a modern bike to do the routes. Anyone interested in a long weekend there?
See http:/www.amstelgoldracexp.nl/Xperience.aspx?Xperience=AGR_Fietsroutes
Our route was interesting in starting by going through the local caves to exit at the bottom of the Cauberg. After that most of the first 50 Km was off road on various interpretations of Strade Bianche. For the rest it was pretty constant on an off road with the off being pretty muddy. Looked suitably like one of the old hard guys by the finish. Weird thing was that along with the two Dutch guys I road the last part of the ride with we were catching up folk on one of the shorter routes that started later and they were all spotlessly clean. True to form the feed stations were in very smart places with waited service!
Hmm captions did not post plus a double post.
1. Bottom of the Cauberg
2. Valkenburg – not busy there at 7:00 when I started.
3. Repeat
4. The Butler at feed #3 served soup in a bowl with bread.
5. What it says – basically a bar with some memorabilia and the start for 3 marked routes.
The spirit of L’eroica Limburg. Spot the celebrities….
OFFICIAL AFTERMOVIE EROICA LIMBURG 2016 from Connect Limburg on Vimeo.
@Teocalli
Thanks for posting and for the explanation. Sounds like one the shorter routes may be the way to go, in the future.
@Bespoke
Yeah, the spirit of these things is really to take your time and enjoy the stops. I’m not very good at that and still tend to “splash and dash” which is a shame with so much good food available!
@Teocalli
If I were closer to your part of the world, I would love to join you for the Valkenburg long weekend.
@Teocalli
Further pics of the Eroica Valkenburg/Limburg
At the start around 0900
At the food station at 30kms
At the food station at 60kms
Mine wasn’t the only 1982 Koga Miyata Roadspeed (against the door) although I prefer my alternative!
@KogaLover
Why is that guy on the left wearing hotpants?!
@kogalover
Nice. There were far fewer people around at 7:00 am. Just started in ones and twos. Similarly at the food stops. I wonder how many did the 160 Km. Could not have been many – unless they all started later. I suspect some would also have peeled off onto the 100 Km route at the split – I was very sorely tempted to do so.
@robsandy
Shorts were shorter back in the day.
@chris
Hey Chris, what was the event you rode last week? Berkhampstead Revolutions?
Racing? How did you get on?
@RobSandy
Yes, it was the Berkhampstead Revolutions. It was a great day out. The boys raced in the morning, Angus in the U14s along with the U16s and Ed in the U12s along with the U10s and U8s. It didn’t rain during their races but the roads were pretty wet and two of the corners had to be taken pretty carefully with a number of riders coming off in the last corner.
Angus held on to the U16s for a lap or so but the pace was a bit hot and he ended racing with two others for 2nd, 3rd and 4th (one lad stayed with the U16s). He tried to escape but never quite managed to pull away.
Watching from the penultimate corner I could see him go into the last corner last of the three but brake late and go round the outside of the lad in front of him. The rest was obscured by spectators but I heard someone hitting the barriers. Before I got there I saw him getting up and riding off towards the line. Apparently, the other lad lost it and took Angus’ back wheel out. Angus was fine with a small graze on his knee; he’d been on top when they hit the barrier. The other lad took a bit longer to get up was fine.
Angus’ Garmin, has him at 52kph before braking into the corner and about 40 kph roughly when it happened. It didn’t seem to phase him at all apart from being a bit pissed off that he lost a place to a chaser whilst he was getting up.
Ed’s race was also fairly eventful but thankfully Ed completed the course without incident. I think he was roughly mid table. He’s spent a lot less time riding this summer (his love is running at the moment) and you could tell that he was being more cautious through the corners. His big moment was beating his big brother by a tenth of a second on the Rollapaluza stand.
By the time the Cat 4s got onto the track it had dried and the temperature and humidity was up. I was dropped on the hill on the second lap (the course profile didn’t look too bad but there was a nasty kick onto the second straight that knocked speed off before a more gentle climb up to a corner that turned back on itself a bit). My lack of fitness had nowhere to hide.
I spent the next 30 minutes racing a two or three others, generally losing ground on the up but making it back up on the run into and through the last corner which could be taken without braking in the dry.
I didn’t come last and the boys didn’t seem to embarrassed by my performance so a good result. More importantly, my fastest lap was faster than Angus’ so I’m still top dog. I’m not sure if he’s being polite by not mentioning that it wasn’t that much quicker given that his was on a wet track. There’s a lot of work to be done before we race again in September.
That second photo didn’t quite come out as planned. This was the run into the last corner.
Damn. The published results have me down as last! Strava flybys show me as finishing ahead of the chap one above me in the standings. Oh well Rule #5 and suck it up.
Rode my first TT of the year (and 4th ever). Head wind on the way back in which hurts a lot as the last bit is done twice. It was 2 1/2 minutes down on my PB from last season.
Angus was my minute man so I had someone to chase. Strong motivation. His time was 20 seconds slower than mine (also well short of his PB)
Rule #72 and Rule #74 violation alert: On the upside – I put out 259 watts for the 29:50 it took me to complete the route (I did feel particularly odd afterwards). That’s the same number as my best 20 minute FTP test. On the downside the fact that it didn’t translate into speed and a fast time suggests that I’m fucking ginormous at the moment. I’m scared to weigh myself now.
@chris
Chris, good stories, thank for sharing. If you’ve never come dead last in a crit you’ve never lived. In fact, I think I’ve finished dead last in the two most recent crits I’ve ridden; the first because I spent most of the race attacking viciously off the front and went pop as the bunch came past me for the last time, couldn’t get back in the wheels. Second time I was out the front again and the bunch came past, and I still had the legs so was going to get on the gas and try and get in for the sprint, but some eejit from NFTO came swerving down the track and I escaped out of the way by riding off the track on the inside.
I’m 3 points of Cat 3 but all the races I’ve been in have been extremely dull – the bunch lets any breaks go a bit, but no-one joins, so you end up with one or two guys out front slowly dying, before they are hauled back in. Then everybody sprints. I’m in principle a sprinter, but don’t fancy trying to win a sprint out of a bunch of 30 new cat 3’s and 4’s – it’s dangerous. I’m going to talk to my team mates before next Wednesdays race and see if we can come up with a plan – lead out possibly. I’ll report back.
Do you have a power meter then Chris? I wish I could afford one, it’d be really useful.
@chris
>>> I didn’t come last and the boys didn’t seem embarrassed by my performance so a good result <<<
That’s gold my friend. Racing with the kiddos makes for great weekends and you have to know they respect the old man for competing during the day along with them. I’ve spent a race or two off the back and my kiddos cheering for me just the same as if I were on front. Great fun. Cheers
@RobSandy
>>> If you’ve never come dead last in a crit you’ve never lived <<<
Nor raced ! I’ll gladly post a DFL instead of a DNF. Cheers
@Randy C
First crit I did I got dropped on the 2nd lap, on a motor racing circuit. So the next 35 minutes of racing were basically me TTing on my own. Soul destroying.
@Randy C
I’ve not been riding as much as I would have liked for much of this year.
Work has been too busy.
We’ve moving house.
Kids sporting events.
Rather than continue to tell myself that I’d race and TT when I got fit. I decided to ditch the excuses and just get on with it.
It may have been the first race I entered this season but there are too many that, in my mind, have DNS against them.
DNF would only have been a possibility if it involved crashing out, being pulled in the last lap by the organizers or not being able to squeeze my girth through one of the narrower points on the course.
DFL is a bonus. Having the boys cheering me on, I could definitely hear them, was awesome. You’re right, they don’t care where you are in the standings as long as you’re giving it all. After all, you could be that fat bloke with egg on his vest muttering about the inconvenience of a bike race closing down a couple of streets.
RIP Carol Boardman. Chris Boardman’s mum died after being in collision with a pickup truck in North Wales.
May the wind be ever at your back.
Condolences to the Boardman family.
Very sad news. RIP
I was very sad to hear this news and very touched by Chris’s tribute to her at the end of the TDF highlights last night.
We’re all brothers and sisters out on the road.
@Teocalli
@RobSandy
Tragic news. Terrible.
Especially sad as he’s now one of the biggest road safety campaigners in the UK.
Decided that as I’m at the end of my annual training block, and am heading into the transitional/prep phase before next season, I can celebrate by having a month of no-numbers riding.
Took the garmin off the stem for my 50km ride into work this morning. Was nice.
@RobSandy
I removed the “average speed” counter from the front of my Garmin for the winter a couple of years back and really enjoyed not having it. Too often I’d look down and see that I was at, for instance, 27.5 kph average and would then hammer to get it over 28. Although I’ve never put it back I do find myself calculating ave speed occasionally.
Just a thought, is there an official Velominati club on Strava?
@Steve Trice
Admitting one uses Strava is near heresy actually setting up a club could cause ruptures in Mount Velomis.
@Steve Trice
I’m always very interested in average speed – think it’s the time triallist in me – so taking the Garmin off the bars means I get a break from the constant mental arithmatic of calculating it.
Why on earth would the Velominati need a Strava club?
https://www.strava.com/clubs/velominati
@Teocalli
You mean you’re not a member?
@RobSandy
Didn’t know there was one!
@Teocalli
I’ll whisper this very quietly; two of the keepers are members including @frank (neither of them are particularly active on Strava though)
@chris
Crikey there’s some folk doing mental mileage in there! Chapeau to those folk.
@RobSandy
Thanks Rob, I’ve been careful not to join that non-existent club :-)
Has there ever been a confessional thread on here, where the penitent can confess to the rules that he or she has broken (or breaks routinely)?