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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View Comments
@frank
Indeed..I woke to find it at it's peak this morning...read it, re-read it, reached for the keyboard and thought "Ah fuck it!" and went for a ride instead. Glad to see it had all subsided by the time I got back and life in the V-oSphere had returned to peace and harmony once more....
@strathlubnaig Firstly, are you not offshore yet?
Secondly, regarding VED (road tax)there's a great word involved. "Hypothecation" means that it is illegal for the government to collect taxes from one area and ONLY use those taxes in that area. Besides the fact that more is spent on our roads than is collected by road tax, the education system (Primary Schools and High Schools) generate pretty much nothing.
Of course roadside debates between cyclists and drivers isn't always the place to bring this stuff up.
@snoov
Is it illegal ? I thought it was just that they didn't do it. I don't see why it would be illegal - they added a tax to London residents for the Olympics.
As for the VED it's a thorny argument. I know we all pay it (and cyclists are on average more affluent and therefore more likely to pay more tax anyway). However if you add up all the money the governent collects in fuel excise it is vastly more than the amount spent on roads.
I don't think they do cyclists any favours by giving motorists excuses to feel oppressed.
@ChrisO Maybe it's just against some rules or something, don't hold me to it being illegal.
@snoov
In between reading this thread, earning a living and trying to write the the McCogal story I took a look at the Hitch Hikers Guide and it has this to say on VED - worth quoting in full because I think it was written by people who ride bikes and drive cars:
"
The terms "car tax", "road tax" and "vehicle tax" are commonly, but incorrectly, used when referring to "Vehicle Excise Duty".[21] Road tax has an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Some people, in particular cyclists, cycling organisations and cycling publications object to use of the term 'road tax' since roads are paid for from general taxation, arguing that there is no such thing as a "road tax". Peter Walker, a journalist at The Guardian explains "I've always felt the road tax argument supports a more general feeling of entitlement among too many drivers. Those who trot it out often seem to genuinely treat cyclists like we're interlopers who should be pushed aside".[22] The Cyclists' Touring Club argue 'most adult cyclists do pay for the roads, even though they impose minimal wear and tear on them'.[23] The Cambridge Cycle Campaign suggested that "Arguing that cyclists therefore have less right to use the roads is like arguing that smokers should take precedence for medical treatment, because non-smokers don't buy cigarettes and therefore 'don't pay hospital tax".[24]
The direct use of taxes collected from motorists to fund the road network was opposed by Winston Churchill, who predicted "It will be only a step from this for them to claim in a few years the moral ownership of the roads their contributions have created".[4]
A single issue campaign, 'I pay road tax' started by a cycling journalist in 2009 to challenge the use of the term 'road tax'.[25][26] The campaign has received support from Edmund King, President of The AA.[27]
In a BBC report on Look East in May 2010 about a cyclist who was knocked off his bike by a car the presenter read out a series of emails from viewers expressing the view that 'cyclists should pay road tax' if they wish to use the roads. After receiving a 'huge number' of complaints from viewers following publicity created by iPayRoadTax, the BBC broadcast a second piece which clarified the fact that roads are paid for out of general taxation.[28] The term "road tax" is often used when referring to "vehicle excise duty" in the UK media.[29][30]
When challenged by iPayRoadTax, Which?, the British consumer magazine, defended its continued use of the term on the basis that "road tax" was more commonly used than Vehicle Excise Duty. A spokesman also said that while they would not stop using the terms 'car tax' and 'road tax' online that they would endeavour to also make appropriate reference to the full name of the tax.[31]
One organisation that appears to be content with the current use of 'road tax' as the vernacular for VED is the Advertising Standards Authority. Complaints that advertisements using the term are incorrect are rejected with what appears to be a templated letter stating "although we acknowledge that the correct term is 'Vehicle Excise Duty', more commonly used phrases such as 'Road Tax' are often used by advertisers to convey a message in a way that will be understood by the widest audience."[32]"
@snoov
Well I DID get on a helo on Friday afternoon, but 30 mins in we turned back due to adverse weather and I went home. Saturday morning they called to say I was cancelled for the PM flight, so hi-ho ift was off with the back to Appin & Creran for a nice we 70km hilly ride. Managed out again this morning for a quick 50km locally, now allegedly going to work tomorrow, until the end of the week. 'Tis a hard life right enough saving oil fields.
@strathlubnaig that should have read "...off with the BIKE to Appin & Creran..."
@strathlubnaig Lucky dog.
@the Engine Thanks for that hehe, will have to research the legal part later.
@the Engine oh and what is Simon's strava id?
@snoov
Er...