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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@Barracuda
@Beers
Was a little spoiled by the fact that the VMH took the little one to Sydney for her cousin’s wedding, so had the whole weekend at my disposal.
@Mikael Liddy
Gotcha, that answers a couple of questions, still, strong work regardless !
Slip over to the Fleurieu Cogal page, got a couple of questions there for you !
Heya i am for the first time here. I found this board and I find It really helpful & it helped me
out a lot. I am hoping to give one thing again and help others like you helped me.
Photo of half the London Cogal team going up Box Hill in the rain (Teocalli, Norm, Chris) ……..
@roger – Great pic at Kaarsarge! I used to live over your shoulder in Grantham. Great riding in NH/VT, especially this time of year. Season is coming to a close – best get your Kanc ride in before the snow flies!
@Teocalli
Brilliant Pic!!! Tons of Rule V and IX here. Loving it!
And another from the London Cogal… might get this one printed. Even my teenage son said it looked ‘badass’.
There was a sportive happening at the same time and the guy was taking photos on the hairpin at Box Hill.
I hadn’t thought to look through them – as we didn’t have numbers or anything I didn’t think they would put them on the site. Chapeau to Chris for trawling through.
@ChrisO fucking hell that is a badass picture!
@Mikael Liddy That is a strong, strong day my friend.
@frank It would be pretty rad to show up next time with a paceline of V-kits.
Two stellar photos right there!
ChrisO – we gotta figure out how to feed just your legs more, those warmers are too loose! (I kid, after a lifetime of sport my calves are fuckin’ pencils)
Get it printed! Seems a bit narcissistic, but when you are old, and still rad, it’ll be a wonderful photo to have in your shop. Plus, instead of passing on a photo of Ol’ Grandad sitting in front of a fireplace with a hound off to yer right, it’ll be you giving it the beans in some proper V weather.
That is the type of photo that should hang above the fireplace in any house which had a Follower in their lineage.
@Ron I thought that was Froome.
@EricW Yes more of these out there next year:
@Ron
Yes the leg warmers were a problem all ride. I have some nice Rapha ones but forgot to bring them from Dubai so I grabbed those the day before – note to self, cheap leg warmers are not worth it.
They kept falling down the whole ride once they got wet. Thank heavens I’m not showing a gap or I would have had to pay to have the photo destroyed.
@ChrisO
It was a bit strange as @ChrisO seemed to be adjusting suspenders or something similar every time we stopped! The Sportive guy got some great shots of us all on that corner and the ones of the guys in V-Gear look great.
@Nate
You can tell it’s not Froome because he’s not looking at his stem.
Quick run down from yesterday’s Rapha Gent’s Race in Adelaide. 150k’s, of which about 15 was gravel, in near perfect conditions made for an awesome day’s riding. A few beers & some good food mingled with a fair bit of shit talking capped of a very enjoyable day. If you ever get the chance to take part in one of these, jump at it.
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@Mikael Liddy
Yeah, yeah.. rub it in with great photos and a comment that made it sound awesome!
Seriously though, good job.
Hopefully I get another invite next year, because as you said, looked great and weather was great.
Should of probably driven up for it in the end as Rule #5 had kicked in in the last couple of weeks.
Fiasco out in force I see.
messing with the panoramic feature on my phone during todays mtb ride.
@RedRanger
Very pretty. A bit sunnier (and pricklier) than where I ride. Is there any single track up in those hills yonder?
@PeakInTwoYears
Probably. On the the west side of town there are a lot of trails that link together. http://www.sdmb.org/trails/
Lost and lots of sharp pointy decomposed granite out here. the stuff sticks out of the ground like sharp teeth. My skills arent the greatest but Im working one it.
Personally my favorite trail is a 12 mile segment on the AZ trail, but its a good drive east to get there.
@RedRanger
Innerestin’. My sister just moved to Phoenix, so the VMH and I will likely make a road trip down that way at some point. And if the VMH is on a road trip, there’ll be MTBs involved.
@PeakInTwoYears this site kinda shows how they are all linked http://www.rocksnclocks.com/course.php?courseName=TMP+RnR
@RedRanger
Holy shit. A 58-mile loop around the mountain west of Tucksawn? Sign me the fuck up. Not to win or even to place, just to be able to say I’d done it.
@PeakInTwoYears sounds brutal.
This is what I did today – a new climb called Jebel Jais which is now the highest road point in the UAE. They’ve literally just built a new three lane road up it, and still have another 4-5 km to go to reach the very top.
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It’s a killer in Alpine style… absolutely constant 5-6% even on the switchbacks, but it goes on for 18km and just short of 1000m ascent. There are so many curves and inroads they can be very deceptive – you think there must be one more hairpin before you go the other way but it wiggles along the side and takes you through another couple of corners. The end is particularly cruel in the sense that you can see what you think is the last curve for a long time but it just goes around and carries on for another couple of km.
On the other hand the descent is cracking. Only a couple of the hairpins need brakes. Because they’ve tried so hard to keep the gradient constant most of the corners are wide and sweeping, and with three lane width and good sight lines you can take a good line.
It is a constant source of wonder to me, to live in a place where a bloody great climb can just appear from nowhere.
Today’s ride up to Mt Bold Dam, no wind and perfect weather, throwing the Rapha in amongst the shop kit, photo courtesy of Hugh.
Not my video, but looks pretty awesome with the sun trying to break the cloud cover.
http://vimeo.com/76566178
@ChrisO
Now that’s my kind of climb, and descent! Amazing. I was planning on a lowland ride today, but I believe you’ve just persuaded me to take an uphill route instead.
@ChrisO That’s seriously cool – well I guess it wasn’t but you know what I mean. Here was a wet slog on the mtb.
@ChrisO
Ah, its fucking fantastic to see something like that. What a beauty! Man, that looks fucking desolate out there, though.
@ChrisO
I Just rode the Alpine Loop (American Fork Canyon, Utah County, Utah) for probably the last time this season. Soon enough it will be impassable with snow until Spring. Thanks for the inspiration!
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@Optimiste Ah trees, I miss them sometimes… nice route.
@Frank There’s a whole range like that going along the east coast down into Oman, the Hajar mountains. The climb they do in the Tour of Oman is part of it, Jebel Akhdar (Green Mountain) but the last part of that is so steep even the pros don’t do it.
At this time of year through to March it’s OK but once you get into the warmer months those rocks just soak up the heat and radiate it back at you. The sun is usually so high that there’s no shade. It’s like riding next to an open oven door.
This is the race:
http://www.milkandhoneyrace.com
This is the up:
http://app.strava.com/activities/91536167
2/3’s the way up, feelin it!
This is the down
http://app.strava.com/activities/91536164
Time to rock ‘n’ roll!
And the local hero turns out on his holiday to hand out spot prizes…
This is the hill he trained on as a nipper, he ended up in Wellington working as a cycle courier before he turned pro, used to deliver to the VMH who took the shot, top man Jack Bauer.
The stuff of dreams for 2014…….(I have no connection with them, other than dreaming)……
http://www.rapha.cc/travel/
@Optimiste I work remotely for a company in Salt Lake City. I’d love to bring a bike sometime and do that ride.
@Teocalli
Great link! Talk about dreams! Just a shame that dreams cost so much…… I’m sure 2500 gbp ain’t alot considering the level of support on these rides over 5-9 days. But it makes me realize how lucky I am to have so many classic sportives here in belgium for 15-20 eurs a pop.
@piwakawaka that’s the kind of dual discipline race the velominati could get behind, no Rule #42 violations there!
Evening rides are a bit darker and cooler now – out with one of my cycling buddies yesterday evening (that’s him in the photo)………..
A few tumbleweeds blowing through today, where is everyone…
In case anyone is looking for some mildly diverting news for a few seconds, I will try to fill the vacuum.
Regular readers may recall the Tour of Sharjah from last year. We think we have an invite again this year – they like to leave this things to be as confusing as possible – and I will be in the team if we do. But the big news is they have upgraded it to a UCI 2.2 race… so lil’ ol me is going to be riding in the World Tour.
No doubt I will still get my arse kicked but at least I feel a bit better prepared for it this year – leaner, fitter and less frightened.
In other news, I met Nelson Oliveira on Saturday. Nice guy – he’s out here staying with our team manager, a Portuguese ex-pro. Didn’t bring his bike though.
We were with a group of largely punters who ride on Saturday mornings and nobody really knew who he was, not that he seemed too bothered. I didn’t know he was coming but when I was introduced “And this is Nelson” I asked “Nelson Oliveira ?” . But then one of the girls in the group started teasing Vitor that she’d been hoping Rui Costa would come and clearly had no idea this guy was even a pro let alone a top team rider, so I felt a bit sorry for him.
Oh and Cipo is coming out too. I could have had a small group ride and lunch with him as he is doing a promotion for the shop that backs our team (and sells Cipollini bikes). Sadly it’s on the first day of the Tour of Sharjah so I can’t come. Gutted.
@ChrisO Out getting a mud bath here. A tad wet under tread.
@ChrisO
Sounds pretty sweet, all of it. It is probably quiet because it is cold over here. All of my riding is solo now.
@ChrisO
Uh, coz we’re punters compared to a chap on the World Tour such as yourself! Well done ChrisO, will look forward to your reports mate, you always do nice write ups..
And to reflect on punterism, hence why I don’t post often on the rides, did my longest training ride in my campaign for my one big ride of the year in 3 weeks. 140k+ and feel like utter shit, 80k getting dropped and chasing back, 60k solo and crawling once group ride over, post recovery/recovering from lung and sinus infection. No excuse, must get 4kph higher average here on out, was feeling strong and capable and near target average pre-illness, feeling quite despirited now… so there! Ha
@ChrisO
That’s awesome, will it be on Eurosport? It’s a good thing it’ll be hot and sunny otherwise we’d have to club together to get leg warmers that didn’t end up round your ankles every five minutes to replace your grannies tights!
@Beers there’s only one thing that will make you feel better, a fuckin good ride.
@piwakawaka
Amerckx Piwaka. Another this weekend, forecast awesome, awesome location, lets hope the legs play ball…
Some pics from my weekend race – second in the Masters and 10th overall up the Jebel Jais climb. 19km long and bang on 1000m climbing.
Couldn’t stay with the front group but I guarantee everyone else on the podium was at least 10kg lighter than me. And there were plenty of young legs further down the hill than mine. The guy who won the Elites was 7 mins faster (my time was about 55 mins) but he is the UAE national champion and current silver medallist in the Pan-Arab championships
Call me a Skybot but there was no way I could maintain the 360-380W needed to keep up with them so I backed off, did my pace and sure enough reeled in about six guys who’d blown up, as well as dropping a few from the group I was with until it was just me and one other guy. He came around at the end after sitting on my wheel for the last 10 minutes but we were in different categories so it didn’t worry me and my leg was cramping as we sprinted.
Ready for the Tour of Sharjah starting this Friday. We’re hearing there are some proper pro teams coming out for it. 570km over four days and the final stage is 190km with a couple of climbs in the middle.
It’s going to be a painful affair but I’m feeling much better equipped and prepared this year. Hard to make predictions until we see what the field is – I’m not expecting to be measured up for a leader’s jersey but if there are say 80-90
riders I would hope to be in the top 30.
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@ChrisO
nice photos and finish. There are some wee lads on that podium with you. And 3rd place looks to be 25, so the HGH must have kicked in. the new bike did its job?
Ronde van VVellington, 1 Velomihottie, 4 Velominottie, and 1 keeper headed out to ride the nastiest pitches around town, think pedestrian paths, driveways, zig zags and tracks we rolled over 17 summits of varying ridiculousness there was blood, mud, sweat and lot’s of low gears finished up with a couple of pints of Croucher I.P.A @ 8.5%, that final climb home was somewhat hazy…
Here’s the evidence http://app.strava.com/activities/95508802
Hey BD how those photo’s comin’ along?
Picture posted above is how I felt for the 71km ride I did on Sunday.
Road was flat as a pancake with a slight headwind, BUT, the road was also coarse bitumen which felt like it was sucking the life out of every pedal stroke !
For those South Aussies, I think @Daccordi has done part of the course before, its the loop from Goolwa to Clayton Bay and back.
Everything I tried be it cadence/gearing/seated/standing didn’t seem to make one bit of difference to ave speed.
Has anyone else experienced a road that just sucks the life out of you?
Or, dare I say it, was it just the man with the hammer sitting on my coat tails ?
Im blaming the road !!!!!