Best road trips

"Mathieu Peyréga" wrote in message
...
TSJ a écrit:
Cycle tourists:

What is the most enjoyable cycling trip you have ever done, where was
it, and why did you like it? And what the heck, long single day rides
count too. We're not charged by the word (are we?), so don't spare the
details if you've got the time....

THANKS!!

I guess it was in Scotland last summer...

full details at
http://matioupi.free.fr/Voyages/Ecos...se_07_2004.htm

comments are written in French, but if enough people ask fir it, I can
try and make a translation, witch could be good to exercise my English ;-)

Regards,

Mathieu

I've done the Bicycle Tour of Colorado (
http://www.bicycletourcolorado.com/ ) three times now. It's a different,
challenging, and beautiful route each year. Here are some photo galleries
I've posted:

2001 -
http://www.shastasoftware.com/CycliS.../BTC2001_1.htm
(or, http://tinyurl.com/3zfac )

2002 -
http://www.shastasoftware.com/CycliS.../BTC2002_1.htm
(or, http://tinyurl.com/6ljcw )

2003 -
http://www.shastasoftware.com/CycliS...03/BTC0017.htm (or,
http://tinyurl.com/5wn7n )

One of my favorite one-day rides is right in my own backyard. It's a
beautiful, self-supported, century ride around Mt. Lassen, in northern
California. Pictures and map he

http://www.shastasoftware.com/CycliS...4/RAML_001.htm
(or, http://tinyurl.com/4vyqs )

--
~_-*
....G/ \G
http://www.CycliStats.com
CycliStats - Software for Cyclists

In skiing and climbing, a "road trip" involves the use of a car, often for
multiple weeks, but sometimes only one week. You drive around to different
climbing or skiing areas, usually stay at each one for a few days, do some
great climbs or ski runs or ski tours, then drive a few hours to another
area.

The "road trip" idea works great for bicycling too. I think it's clearly the
way to get maximum proportion of great riding and freedom for the money.

Sharon and I have done several bicycling road trips -- the one that sticks
out for me is 12 days in France:
-- Dordogne + Lot (3 days riding)
-- Pyrenees (1 day rain showers + walk on beach at Biarritz in sun)
-- Sauterne wine region, Bordeaux (1 day ride)
-- Loire (2 days riding)
Alps (using Bourg d'Oisans as base)
-- Col du Galibier + climb to village near Croix de Fer.
-- l'Alpe d'Huez
-- Mont Ventoux
plus a couple of days to stay organized, rest, shop, etc.
photos: http://roberts-1.com/t/b02/france

I think that's a reasonable approximation of "the best riding in France
outside Provence and Corsica".

We rented a minivan (manual transmission), and we brought a car rear rack
with us on the airplane but didn't use it because we found out that by
removing wheel or handles or seats we could fit our bicycle inside the car.
On that trip we did not make any hotel reservations, and I slept in the car
at least a couple of nights. But often on other road trips we make advance
hotel reservations, usually three nights in each area.

Guided trip? For the (astounding) cost of a typical American-organized
guided trip for the two of us, we could have purchased a new bicycle in
addition to paying the car + hotel + maps + guidebooks + food costs for our
road trip.

Self-guided with no car? Would have taken us at least a month to ride all
those places -- and along the way we would have been required to ride lots
of roads that were less than the "best of France", with most of those roads
less good than our home riding in the Hudson valley in NY.

We use a car to support our bicycling in Europe for the same reasons as back
home: because we love great riding in good weather, so we drive our bike to
the start of the great riding, and on the bad-weather days we use the car to
find something else to do.

Ken

In skiing and climbing, a "road trip" involves the use of a car, often for
multiple weeks, but sometimes only one week. You drive around to different
climbing or skiing areas, usually stay at each one for a few days, do some
great climbs or ski runs or ski tours, then drive a few hours to another
area.

The "road trip" idea works great for bicycling too. I think it's clearly the
way to get maximum proportion of great riding and freedom for the money.

Sharon and I have done several bicycling road trips -- the one that sticks
out for me is 12 days in France:
-- Dordogne + Lot (3 days riding)
-- Pyrenees (1 day rain showers + walk on beach at Biarritz in sun)
-- Sauterne wine region, Bordeaux (1 day ride)
-- Loire (2 days riding)
Alps (using Bourg d'Oisans as base)
-- Col du Galibier + climb to village near Croix de Fer.
-- l'Alpe d'Huez
-- Mont Ventoux
plus a couple of days to stay organized, rest, shop, etc.
photos: http://roberts-1.com/t/b02/france

I think that's a reasonable approximation of "the best riding in France
outside Provence and Corsica".

We rented a minivan (manual transmission), and we brought a car rear rack
with us on the airplane but didn't use it because we found out that by
removing wheel or handles or seats we could fit our bicycle inside the car.
On that trip we did not make any hotel reservations, and I slept in the car
at least a couple of nights. But often on other road trips we make advance
hotel reservations, usually three nights in each area.

Guided trip? For the (astounding) cost of a typical American-organized
guided trip for the two of us, we could have purchased a new bicycle in
addition to paying the car + hotel + maps + guidebooks + food costs for our
road trip.

Self-guided with no car? Would have taken us at least a month to ride all
those places -- and along the way we would have been required to ride lots
of roads that were less than the "best of France", with most of those roads
less good than our home riding in the Hudson valley in NY.

We use a car to support our bicycling in Europe for the same reasons as back
home: because we love great riding in good weather, so we drive our bike to
the start of the great riding, and on the bad-weather days we use the car to
find something else to do.

Ken

Here is my list of favorite places to do a tour:

- California Sierra Nevada
- Colorado Rockies
- French Alps
- Baja

I've been on tours in both France and Colorado this year, and plan to
go back to Baja at the end of December. More info on these trips can
be found at:

http://supertour.home.att.net

Jeff Orum

Here is my list of favorite places to do a tour:

- California Sierra Nevada
- Colorado Rockies
- French Alps
- Baja

I've been on tours in both France and Colorado this year, and plan to
go back to Baja at the end of December. More info on these trips can
be found at:

http://supertour.home.att.net

Jeff Orum

On 10 Nov 2004, TSJ wrote:

Cycle tourists:

What is the most enjoyable cycling trip you have ever done, where was
it, and why did you like it?

Hmm, there have been a lot of enjoyable trips over the last 30 years.

2 which stand out:
My 1991 trip across BC and the Alberta Rockies. I had excellent weather
for most of the 2 weeks and the scenery was stunning. When I continued
the trip across the rest of Canada in 1995, the rest of the trip was an
anticlimax. Trip report:
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dermott/xcan/rocky91.html

For a totally mind-expanding adventure, there was my first tour in
Scandinavia in 1994. Strange that I felt so "at home" in these foreign
countries. The weather however, was mostly horrible! Trip report at:
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dermott/norden/intro.html

--

David Dermott , Wolfville Ridge, Nova Scotia, Canada
email:
WWW pages: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dermott/

On 10 Nov 2004, TSJ wrote:

Cycle tourists:

What is the most enjoyable cycling trip you have ever done, where was
it, and why did you like it?

Hmm, there have been a lot of enjoyable trips over the last 30 years.

2 which stand out:
My 1991 trip across BC and the Alberta Rockies. I had excellent weather
for most of the 2 weeks and the scenery was stunning. When I continued
the trip across the rest of Canada in 1995, the rest of the trip was an
anticlimax. Trip report:
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dermott/xcan/rocky91.html

For a totally mind-expanding adventure, there was my first tour in
Scandinavia in 1994. Strange that I felt so "at home" in these foreign
countries. The weather however, was mostly horrible! Trip report at:
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dermott/norden/intro.html

--

David Dermott , Wolfville Ridge, Nova Scotia, Canada
email:
WWW pages: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dermott/

What is the most enjoyable cycling trip you have ever done, where was
it, and why did you like it?

I've toured on every continent except Antarctica. The absolute
best trip was a tour in southwestern France with a friend about 7
years ago, mostly in the Dordogne & Lot river valleys, then south to
Albi. In fact, to celebrate a milestone birthday this year, I decided
to return to that region on my bike and visited some places I missed
on previous visits. The reasons I love it so much a

1) Gorgeous landscape combining limestone gorges, lush valleys, a
huge number of castles, & ancient villages.
2) Great variety of things to see & visit, including caves, medieval
villages, castles, gardens, and more.
3) Superb network of near-deserted roads.
4) Some of the best food in France--and that is saying something.

Runners up include northern Thailand, Corsica, & first trip to New
Zealand.


The best one-day rides I've ever done:

1) Riding up the Grosse Scheidegg pass in Switzerland. I biked up to
the top the first day the road was open that season, and it was a
glorious sunny & warm day, but the last few kilometers were through a
high gorge of snow which had just been plowed. All the while, the
north face of the Eiger is looming above.
2) Riding up Going-to-the-Sun Road (Logan Pass) in Glacier National
Park in Montana, USA. A perfect warm, sunny day. It is astounding
how the scenery changes each second as you gradually gain elevation
climbing up the west side.
(BTW, I've biked on much higher roads than passes #1 & #2 above, but
the overall experience couldn't match what I felt on those two roads.
Perfect weather helped.)
3) Ride from Kota Tinggi to Mersing, Malaysia. Almost no traffic on
a fairly flat road straight thru a rainforest. All day, troupes of
macaque monkeys were running across the road, oblivious to us until we
got close. Then they would then hide in a tree and peer out at us.
(The next day, we were forced to ride after dark. The noises coming
out of the rainforest after sunset were unforgettable.)
4) Riding from Puerto Montt, Chile, to Peulla. Breathtaking scenery
of Osorno volcano and Lake Todos los Santos, some of it seen from a
boat. The next day from Peulla, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina, was
also superb.
5) Day #4 the year I rode RAGBRAI, Iowa, USA (you had to be there).
Blissful insanity amidst 10,000 cyclists.

What is the most enjoyable cycling trip you have ever done, where was
it, and why did you like it?

I've toured on every continent except Antarctica. The absolute
best trip was a tour in southwestern France with a friend about 7
years ago, mostly in the Dordogne & Lot river valleys, then south to
Albi. In fact, to celebrate a milestone birthday this year, I decided
to return to that region on my bike and visited some places I missed
on previous visits. The reasons I love it so much a

1) Gorgeous landscape combining limestone gorges, lush valleys, a
huge number of castles, & ancient villages.
2) Great variety of things to see & visit, including caves, medieval
villages, castles, gardens, and more.
3) Superb network of near-deserted roads.
4) Some of the best food in France--and that is saying something.

Runners up include northern Thailand, Corsica, & first trip to New
Zealand.


The best one-day rides I've ever done:

1) Riding up the Grosse Scheidegg pass in Switzerland. I biked up to
the top the first day the road was open that season, and it was a
glorious sunny & warm day, but the last few kilometers were through a
high gorge of snow which had just been plowed. All the while, the
north face of the Eiger is looming above.
2) Riding up Going-to-the-Sun Road (Logan Pass) in Glacier National
Park in Montana, USA. A perfect warm, sunny day. It is astounding
how the scenery changes each second as you gradually gain elevation
climbing up the west side.
(BTW, I've biked on much higher roads than passes #1 & #2 above, but
the overall experience couldn't match what I felt on those two roads.
Perfect weather helped.)
3) Ride from Kota Tinggi to Mersing, Malaysia. Almost no traffic on
a fairly flat road straight thru a rainforest. All day, troupes of
macaque monkeys were running across the road, oblivious to us until we
got close. Then they would then hide in a tree and peer out at us.
(The next day, we were forced to ride after dark. The noises coming
out of the rainforest after sunset were unforgettable.)
4) Riding from Puerto Montt, Chile, to Peulla. Breathtaking scenery
of Osorno volcano and Lake Todos los Santos, some of it seen from a
boat. The next day from Peulla, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina, was
also superb.
5) Day #4 the year I rode RAGBRAI, Iowa, USA (you had to be there).
Blissful insanity amidst 10,000 cyclists.