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
I do hope you are proud, you at least made a conscious decision to burn all your matches first in aide of the team, rather than just wimper off the back to the van. I’m in awe of what you do, and as Buck says, you have some fucking great stories to tell (Yeah that day I towed Mancebo..).
FWIW I spoke to a sports physiologist re: low carb. Story short – good to induce better fat use when your tank is empty on endurance efforts, but they discovered the body needed to carb up for high intensity efforts. The athletes they studied exclusively on LCHF diets had performance losses overall, but gas exchange figures showed better fat use figures. So supplementation with carbs and ensuring glycogen stores are full before racing were shown to still be critical, and the efficient fat use assisted with the overall effort, sparing the carb/glycogen for when it was needed. They were Triathletes, so more consistent long hard efforts with less variation in effort than a road race, so if their performance flagged it may be more significant for a road rider.
Incidentally I met him for a cycling ERG 3min step test for overall evaluation, my fail wattage at about half hour and at V02 was the same as the average you described.. eek
@Beers Interesting on the LCHF – that was sort of the approach I was taking although I wasn’t following a programme, just things I had picked up, some of it from IronMan triathletes. I figured that the sort of stuff they were doing to get through a 12 hour event would be applicable to me over a 3-4 day stage race.
A few days before the race though I started to pick up the carbs again, without losing the protein, and then during the race stacked it up again with the usual rice, pasta, porridge etc.
I wasn’t going high fat though. I know some of them add butter to coffee and that sort of thing, but what would you expect of people who deliberately piss themselves on a bike.
I mainly concentrated on proteins but if you’re having kipper and eggs for breakfast, tuna salad with goat’s cheese for lunch and salmon+salad or steak+peas and yoghurt+fruit for dinner, then you’re inevitably taking in plenty of fat and I didn’t see the need to add to it.
On race nutrition it was interesting to have a pro soigneur with us. He works for Garmin-Sharp during the season and he was preparing all our race food, which was fantastic.
He gave us each a bag at the start of the stage with strict instructions to eat it all. Typically it was:
Half a banana
Two quarters of apple
Three or four pieces of dried fruit (apricot, prune, date)
Something sweet and carby – waffle sandwich with honey was my favourite, also cookie sandwich with jam.
A couple of firm energy blocks, like Gu Chomp.
ONE gel
He told us to be careful about the gels and save them to the end. He reckoned that once you started on them you had to keep going because they shot your energy up and you would crash if you didn’t keep taking them every 20 mins.
After the stages I had immediate recovery electrolyte drink and then some protein – a small bag of jerky was ideal for sticking in the change-bag in the car with a protein/carb bar. Then after lunch I snacked on things like pretzels, dried fruit and nuts and also miso soup. Dinner, and then a slow-release protein drink before bed.
ChrisO That is fascinating for a race diet. Thanks for the info!
What did you drink on the bike? A carb/electro, straight electro, and/or plain water?
He mentioned the ‘high fat’ was more increasing the healthy fats (avocado, olive, oily fish etc etc), and I’m guessing when you drop carbs, a greater portion of your calories will come from fat anyway by default. I do know of people that instruct others on a no-sugar lifestyle, and they suggest frying up your steaks, then pouring on the oils from the pan afterwards. Yuck.
There are new studies showing that consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol are not shown to increase the quantities in the blood stream, and so fat has become the new dietary battleground.
It scares the shit out of me. I know plenty of people on these types of diets, and they have lost weight and feel great, and spout all sorts of studies to support their POV. Particularly that obesity is increasing despite the food pyramids everyone knows. They just conveniently forget the behavioural and marketing studies showing how successful companies producing shitty food are at getting the public to buy and consume crappy processed foods outside of the food pyramid, also generally sighting the fact processed food contains a lot of carb, while ignoring it tends to also include poor quality proteins and fats also. It’s not just one aspect, it’s the whole caboodle.
I did studies on a research based subject at uni, and that made me a very cynical bastard when it comes to studies. Most people would say it made me cynical overall..
Will it be that weight loss leads to benefits outstripping the risks from increased fat consumption, if there are any risks? No one has the answer, and they are all pointing at each other and saying they are wrong.
I want to see longitudinal studies regarding the saturated fat issue first. It’s allround moderation for me, but I have a tendency to eat too much icecream and cake when I’ve been training hard haha.
What you are doing is the right way in my opinion (not that my opinion matters!), sticking to quality sources, the right types of fat, moderation, perhaps unfuelled training to switch to the efficient use of fats etc.
When I race, I race on carb/electro drinks and gels from the gun, so what your soigneur was saying is a revelation to me. It also scares the shit out of me about what it is doing to my body, and what will happen to my kidneys etc in the coming years. Unfortunately I end up with stomach upset on whole fruits. I can train on them though. The search continues.
@ChrisO
Man, great reading right there… to do what you did, awesome. Dragging along a top bunch, with Mancebo, how many of us will get to do that? None, I’d say.
You went out with a bang mate, the best way. Chapeau.
Chapeau to Christian Haettich who rides the Swiss 7-day Haute Route, with 1 arm and leg. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30295759
Pipe dream stuff but wold be kinda cool if we had a “follow the sun” team to do this http://www.racetheworldcycling.com
Any South UK Velominati interested in a ride in the Surrey Hills or similar between Christmas and the New Year?
@Teocalli
Yes, for sure – as long as the weather is not biblical.
It’s 15 C here and we’re riding in gloves, arm-warmers, baselayers, shoe covers and on a light ride a gilet as well. My blood has become reptilian.
@ChrisO
I’m just catching up now on your stage race exploits. Damn fine reading and once again a valuable insight into the demands of the racer who turns himself inside out for the greater good of the team. The nutritional information is extremely useful too, not for me as a rider I have to add but to pass onto some of the young riders I coach. They will be advised to read your diaries too.
15 degrees C and you are in gloves and warmers? That’s my cut off temperature for moving to shorts in Scotland. You’ve gotten soft, you need more than a long weekend up north!
Best wishes for the festive season to you and Sophie
JB
@ChrisO
Yup I’ve had to put on a long sleeve jersey the last couple of rides have been below 10 C.
Cunts!
sorry for the use of language but it was -3c here!
mind it keeps me cool as I am permanently in the red, just like the economy.
@the-farmer
Surprised you’ve not been blown away these last few days. Been a bit grim up North?
@Teocalli
Grim indeed. I’m on the east coast and missed the worst of the ‘weather bomb’ but the wind and rain were beyond Rule #9. 5 days consecutive of riding or running in close to zero temperatures and now I have the annual chest irritation/ infection as a result. I should emigrate to warmer climes to give my old asthmatic lungs a break.
I’ve negotiated babysitting on Sunday morning to take the VMH out for a road ride in the New Forest. I’m really happy about it.
However, she saw the kit list I’d prepared and felt the need to ask ‘what’s an EPMS? What’s YJA? Bidons?’
I answered fully and was told I was a complete gaylord. So she’s not a full Velominata yet but I took that as quite a positive.
@Teocalli
So, any other takers on this? Long range forecast is that only Saturday looks bad… so maybe Sunday Box Hill? Or Monday/Tuesday – all good.
New Years’ Day might be out of the running but only because I think Mrs ChrisO is inviting the family around.
Bless her Veloheart, she said she had been thinking about it but hadn’t organised anything because she assumed I would want to go to a race. How many ways can a woman remind you why you love her?
And she was right, I would have done, but for some reason there doesn’t seem to be a single race organiser putting on anything for New Years’ Day in the entire south east. In fact there’s nothing over the whole Christmas-New Year period, which is very unusual.
@JohnB Don’t bother emigrating – we get just as many lingering colds and chest-infections here. I’m suffering one now which has never made me really ill but kept me at 90-95% for two weeks. The dust in the air here is nasty.
But cheers, and have a guid Christmas and hogmanay to you and the Caledonian crew.
@ChrisO
No one else replied as yet, will try emailing “The epic crew”. Sunday/Monday/Tues would be fine with me. Would you drive out or want to use the train to Dorking and meet there. I’d drive over to there so you could leave stuff in my car if needed.
@Teocalli
Well Markb has an excuse I suppose…
My preference would be to ride out and meet somewhere, but if we want to go further south or do a bigger route then yes train to Crawley, Guildford or something like that is pretty easy. Anywhere that connects to Clapham Junction or East Croydon.
We could run down to Brighton, smash Ditchling, have fish and chips and get the train back…
@ChrisO
hmmm – OK a more serious ride. I’ll have a look at a route that hooks up with a line out of London. My mac died last night so can’t send personal emails at the moment if you have the email chain from The Epic could you mail the guys and see if any might be interested.
@Teocalli If you are going to partake of post ride rehydration of a beer nature, I can hobble along!
@Teocalli
Sure, will do.
Doesn’t have to be anything epic, in fact probably better if it isn’t.
I’ll be doing some hard training in the next couple of weeks for a race on Jan 16 so this will probably be an add-on which I won’t tell my coach about. Personal miles !
It’s only what 90km or something to Brighton – less if you start out of London. But I’m fine with a ride around Box Hill or even some laps of RP. What about Ashdown – I don’t know it very well but there’s some nice riding there.Or if you have a route around your way then that’s OK – trains will be easy.
Good to stay out in the open at this time of year though – the lanes can sometimes have ice that just never melts. Came off on black ice around the back of Box Hill on Lodgebottom Road like that. My last words were “Careful Jules I think there’s some…”
@ChrisO It would be about 50 Km for me to around Box Hill and then 70 Km or so from there to Brighton, as a meet point for both of us to ride out the Dorking area is probablyt a decent target. Do I remember you are in Chiswick, if so you’d be a bit less to Box Hill.
Heather could pick us up in Brighton and we could drop you at a station on the way back if we wanted to do that. Though we’d likely to be a bit West of Ditchling in crossing the Downs.
It’s not been so cold (so far) that the lanes are frozen through the day more that with gravel etc they are a bit of a puncture fest depending on tyres so looping around the Surrey Hills is also an option from there. I finally gave in and put on some 4 Seasons on my #9 Bike.
@Teocalli
Ah, no I meant either/or, not Box Hill and Brighton (and Ditchling).
I’m in Tooting so trains anywhere down that way are easy if we want to start further out. Where are you – Petersfield was it?
In the distant past I did some audaxes around Midhurst – possibly the coldest I have ever been in my life, and I include the epic London cogal in that assessment. 200km of soaking rain and then riding to the station to wait for a train.
I rode on Sunday and it changed my mind. I rode, and I went from thinking that road cycling was something I wanted to dabble in, to do occasionally for exercise and for a change, to thinking that I want to cycle on the road more. A lot more. I want to be a cyclist, rather than someone who just rides a bike.
The ride was short by Velominati standards, but long by mine. A couple of hours in the saddle, covering 60kms across the New Forest at a good clip (15kms of which were with Mrs Sandy), but always with the feeling of control. I felt tranquillo, fluide, and most of all, when I caught a glimpse of myself in the window of a shop on my return to civilisation, I looked fucking fantastic. Smooth, regular pedal stroke and nice flat back.
Can’t wait for the next ride.
Rob – sounds like you are hooked! Glad you’ve bitten the bait of Looking Fantastic and Feeling Fantastic after a nice road ride.
I too rode on Sunday for a few hours. Haven’t had much time lately for more than commuting rides. Stamina wasn’t great, but the legs were still strong, bike felt tailor made and was silent, and nice to pull on your fantastic, functional kit. When riding daily, easy to overlook all the nice bits and functional gear. But, just one ride and I’m reminded, “Oh yeah, this is why I buy nice stuff. And this is why I love road cycling.”
Keep on rollin’, Rob!
@ChrisO I’m at Hindhead north of Petersfield. The only reason Box Hill comes into the Brighton route is that to meet you if you come out of London it’s a half reasonable intersection point for me to cycle over to.
@Chris must be away as he’s been quiet.
However, am I detecting that if we did something in the Hampshire lanes we might tempt @RobSandy out of the New Forest?
@RobSandy New Forest… don’t they shoot cyclists on sight there?
Now celebrate your survival by joining a mid-Christmas Cogal with me and Teocalli.
@ChrisO
I found the drivers to be perfectly courteous, although I had been warned. Probably helped that it was reasonably early on a Sunday morning, and also that I was going the same speed as the cars…
Thanks for the Cogal invite, and if I lived down there I’d probably accept. However, it’s just the in-laws who live there, we live in Cardiff. I don’t know if there are any other Wales-based Velominati. I’m trying to create some by inducting my mates, but they generally think the Rules are stupid.
The (non) ride. Set out on the track bike (Fuji Track classic, cheap but cheerful) for a try out at the OAP session at Herne Hill velodrome this morning. barely managed a couple of km, didn’t even make it to the venue. So jealous of you guys going out in the new forest, or planning a run down to Brighton, I so wish I could spend a few hours on the saddle. Very nervous at junctions but could cope with that, just my right leg wont work, no matter how much I tried to tell it to shut up, it just wont do what it’s should. I have told it that it’s going to have a spend an hour tomorrow morning after the turkey has gone into the oven on the turbo-trainer, whether it likes it or not.
@markb
Best wishes for a speedy recovery
@Ron
Yeah, the bug has bitten pretty hard. I rode a fair bit in the summer to train for a short sportive at the end of September. I had a shoulder operation last Jan, so have been unable to go rock climbing (my first obsession) very much at all this year.
Then, as fate would have it, the week before I was going to lay off the bike training and start going climbing to the indoor wall again I slipped on some rocks on a family walk and have sprained 2 of my fingers to badly they still hurt now (this was 3 months ago).
So climbing has been completely off the menu, but it has meant stepping up the riding. Got myself a road bike on my company’s bike-to-work scheme and had a turbo trainer as a birthday present. Doing a couple of longer sportives next summer (including a very exciting closed road event) and we’ll see where we go from there.
For any south-east UK lurkers…
A very mini-cogal consisting so far of Teocalli, one of his mates and me, will be riding from Haslemere station on Monday about 1015.
Won’t be a smashfest. Nice and steady with a cake or lunch stop somewhere.
The weather forecast is beautiful – it would be criminal not to make the most of what should be a glorious winter day, inshallah.
@ChrisO
Cool, should be a good ride, I did the Wiggle south downs 100 that way in October, lovely scenery and quite country roads.
Rats, damn and bugger. Sorry to report @ChrisO broke his femur this afternoon. We hit a huge patch of ice and Chris went down hard. He’s having surgery probably this evening to have it pinned. The lady and her daughter at the house nearby were amazing bringing out blankets and tea to keep Chris warm(ish) while we waited for the ambulance. I’ve just spoken to Sophie and apparently at the moment he is pretty high on morphine and gas as he was in a lot of pain (that being something of the British understatement). We were a little short of the coffee and cake stop too, so apparently now I also owe him a whole cake (at least).
@Teocalli
Fuck. Not good at all. If you speak to him or Sophie, let him know our thoughts are with them.
Did you come off as well or did you manage to stay on or avoid it?
@Chris Somehow I managed to stay upright. Planning to go over an see him tomorrow (Basingstoke hospital) and deliver Cake (for Chris) and some wine to the lady and her daughter.
@Teocalli
Glad to hear you survived it. Say hi to Chris and wish him the best from me. The weather never seems to be kind to him when he rides with you.
Do you think it would be poor form to suggest that it was a good thing that he didn’t bang his unhelmeted head while he was at it?
@Chris
+1.
I’ve heard of quite a few offs on the ice over the last day or two, take it easy out there fellas.
Well that fucking blows. Very sorry to hear it. Glad you stayed up and hope he heals quickly.
@Chris
You should have seen the face of the paramedic who asked if whether he was wearing a helmet when he said no…………..
Yeah I’m starting to get a complex.
There was a gentle bend and must have been at least 10 yards of ice right across the road. We’d overtaken a couple of other guys a bit before and so they stopped before the ice as at that point we were waiting for Chris to get over the initial shock before seeing whether he could move so he was still in the road. One of them nearly fell over just trying to walk down the road to us.
Will say hi from all if I can get in to see him tomorrow.
@Teocalli
Crap – sorry to hear that – pass my best wishes from Scotland. When he’s coming round, let him know the bullet he dodged on the Belach has finally caught up with him – he’ll know what you mean.
I may be down south over the next couple of weeks and I’ll be sure to look in if I can….
Hi all – thanks for the good wishes.
Currently in the ward waiting for surgery slot – should be today.
It’s the neck of the femur – needs to be pinned. The A&E doctor said the good news was it was clean and not at the top so “I can keep my own hip”.
Bloody painful – being picked up, the ambulance, x-Rays and everything was a blur of pain and ketamine up to just after they put a femoral block in A&E. My wife arrived about 6 and the accident was at 1 – I have very little idea in between.
I do recall having a couple of helmet arguments though.
@ChrisO
Oh my, bad news, especially with the planned race on the 16th. Still, on the plus side (if there is one), it’s a clean break that usually can be mended easily with a few pins. You’ll be setting off alarms at airports for the rest of your life so try and time it so it’s a pretty security person who pats you down.
@ChrisO
A busted thighbone. The longest and strongest bone in the body. Must have been one heckuva spill. I can’t imagine the pain. Best wishes for speedy successful recovery and being back on the bike asap.
Let us know how the op goes. Hope it heals up quick.
I was out after 10am yesterday morning and there was still enough ice around to make me pretty nervous. It would have been lethal any earlier.
Having slid 2 cars on black ice, going off my bike like that is one of my biggest fears.
Get well soon, ChrisO!
@ChrisO
Best Wishes Chris – hope surgery goes well and that you Get Well soon.
Best wishes ChrisO – never met, and hope to one day on a Cogal.
heal soon, get even stronger, and write more of your stage race exploits.
David
@ChrisO
I am so sorry to hear this; I’m glad your family is with you now and hopefully with the pins you’ll be back on your feet before very long.
All the best, maybe we’ll even have the casquettes online by the time you climb back on a bike.
@ChrisO So sorry to hear of this!! Hope the pain if brief and you’re back in the saddle soon!!
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, @ChrisO
As @Wilburrox observed, it takes a lot of force to snap a femur – that must have been one helluva spill. Yikes. Bike simply disappeared from under you, I imagine? Anyway, good to hear your family is with you.
@Teocalli Fine move with the bottle of wine for the considerate lady and her daughter.
@ChrisO
Damn, that sounds nasty. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.