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
well done mate.
@ChrisO
Nice! Rule #9 temps for sure.
Not sure if you’re kidding about the IV drip, but I have a paramedic buddy who used to stick himself with an IV after partying too hard. Said it would rehydrate him and make him feel better pretty quickly.
I’m doing 160k tomorrow myself, but not nearly that quickly (fuck you’re fast). I’m shooting for an average of 26 over the whole thing, but hope to cruse at 30-35 over much of the flat parts of the route, if there are no headwinds…
First imperial century today – 167km in just over 6 hrs, including 1923m climbing over the Mendips. The hills over here aren’t the endless switchback Alpine grind variety, more sharp and feckin’ steep. The worst one had a pitch at 24%. Post-ride rehydration was accomplished with Leffe, if only because the Duvel in the cupboard would have put my worn out body to sleep immediately. Tomorrow’s commute is probably going to be hard work…
@mcsqueak
I would SO do that if I could. Seriously. Although I couldn’t stick myself – I’d have to have a shunt (?) installed somewhere.
On that day, I drank around 5 litres on the ride, then when I got home I downed another litre almost immediately, had a large glass (300ml) of juice, a beer with lunch, several cups of tea and probably another litre of various cordials or water.
Didn’t piss until 5pm and even then it was a dark-yellow trickle.
@Fausto
@ChrisO
Strong work both!
Unrelated, and not sure where to put this, but I’ve been messing around on tumblr lately and found
this: coverage of the “Tour of Azarbaijan” which evidently means Iran
Lots of pics, but no podium girls… go figure.
What a world…
@RedRanger
That looks incredible. Never wanted to go to Arizona until I saw those pictures. Nice!
@sgt
Words betray me.
@ChrisO
Ugh, rough. I guess you acclimatize to wherever you live, but I still don’t think I could handle those temps. My 165km ride on Saturday was probably between 12-16 C the whole day. I kept stripping off the arm warmers during climbs, only to later put them back on because the temperature never crept up like I thought it would throughout the ride.
I probably only drank 3 full bidons throughout the ride, which was nice as I hate having to stop to piss during a ride, and I find that the longer the ride and the more I eat/drink the less my stomach likes me, so if I can consume less and get away with it, the better I feel at the end.
@sgt
Nice shorts…
@sgt
Lots of great photos in that blog post. Somehow, though, I can’t imagine that there’d be a whole lot of Americans riding in this race… It’s a shame, too – some of that scenery is quite beautiful.
@sgt
Check out the starter’s pistol. Dude means business.
Crap. Not sure why that didn’t work. CIA probably.
@ChrisO
Good job, mate! My last century wasn’t nearly that awesome, I don’t think:
162.13km, 821m elevation
6h05m moving time, avg moving speed 26.7km/h
Temps: min 20C, max 40C.
I did hit 80km/h on the nice big downhill. That was exciting!
My previous long ride was a little better, but still slow:
171.4km, 2305m elevation
7h45m moving time, avg moving speed 22km/h
Temps: min: 18c, max 28C
I’m looking forward to my next Imperial Century – the Sequoia Century. It’ll be my most difficult yet…
@mcsqueak
Yep, I’m pretty sure the local Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice had a talk with our young friend after the podium ceremony… and is that Khomeini checking out his ass?
@sgt
I think there is a girl among the kids on the left side. Glad to see the Persian peleton got our memo about wearing cycling caps instead of baseball caps on the podium.
@frank
It is incredible. I wont deny that I cant wait till school is over so I can get out of this town, but it really is a cycling mecca. No only is the weather great when its cold as shit up north, but we got Mt Lemmon right in our back yard. We have the Shoot Out. Carmichael has one of his training centers here. We get pro teams who do winter training camps here, Competitive Cyclist this past winter was here.
Mapmyride profile of Mount Lemmon
@sgt
Yeah, Tabriz is in the Iran’s East Azerbaijan province in northern Iran. Interesting they spell it Azarbaijan, and that the web site is mostly in the English language. Couldn’t discern what the race rating was, but it looks like mostly continental or regional teams competing.
Love these hours of daylight. Ride started 6:45 and finished 8:30. Began moderate and pushed up to a pressing finish. Sun going down always makes you find a good effort.
Versio Veflection: while waiting for today’s ride to roll out, I thought (hey versio) how much healthier these posts read when they become mixed with a lot of good daily miles on the bike.
Crit this morning in Dubai… Didn’t crash + didn’t get dropped = Result
Amazing what a difference a couple of km/h makes.
We did the A race at 40.8 km/h average and it was tough – average HR 150 and there were times I was struggling to stay on.
Then a few of us did the B race for the miles (not racing it) and the speed was 38.6km/h so still respectable. HR average was down to 135, and at one point I accidentally made a break without even putting in an effort.
Took a while to feel comfortable in the bunch around corners. When most of your riding is in a fairly well-drilled paceline it is quite a change to be in the middle of a pack.
@ChrisO
Good stuff. Nice smooth tarmac on a race track?
I did a local crit style race just before the KT but did get dropped. Had a similar average speed but much higher on the HR. Ridding in a bunch was hairy at time but great for the adrenaline. Work has been a bit of a bitch since so I’ve not been back (weekday evenings). Is yours a regular thing?
Yes it was on the Dubai Autodrome racetrack – a 5km circuit.
We get just a handful of races out here unfortunately, so even though crits are not really my thing I feel obliged to do them in the hope there will be different events.
The problem is the local cycling federation. There are actually quite a few races but they exist exclusively for the locals and their clubs. And actually, the way they ride, it’s probably best.
Apart from a couple of crits there is a race in Dubai in November, but it’s 92km around Dubai (i.e. totally flat) so it’s hardly even a race, just a ride with a sprint finish.
There’s a couple of events in Dec-Jan with a 225km ride from Dubai to Fujairah which goes over the mountains on the east coast – that’s more like a race, although it isn’t officially. The ‘event’ stops at different points but of course people compete up the climbs and you have to have something left for the finish. I quite like that one – that’s my sort of thing.
Oh, there are TTs but that isn’t racing is it ?
@ChrisO
Go on, embrace your inner tritard!
TT != tri
Anyone of you Seattle velominati up for a 200km ride this Sunday (May 27)?
@sgt
Of course Khomeini is checking him out. It was a Thursday.
A few years ago, some of the Edmonton clubs donated odds and ends kit leftovers to the Kabul cycling club and Afghan national team. It was cool but surreal to see that kit in Bicycling mag a few months later.
Today’s road race included pain, suffering, and agony(PSA). I didn’t stay long enough to see where I finished. But as I pulled a schleckanical 8km in and watched the peloton surge away, I will have to be happy with the PSA.
Oh. And the door prize I walked away with – a 2012 Romin EVO saddle…
KASK TriLAB (photoshoot) you don’t want to miss.
@RedRanger Is this what you meant? If so, ouch.
@Mikael Liddy
The Old Mt Lemmon Rd Climb looks like a beautiful thing.
Ok we need someone from the Swiss chapter of the Velominati to weigh in on this aptly named piece of Climbone.
St Gotthard Pass
So if you attack this from the southern side pictured above, you have a traffic free 12k climb at 7.6% covered thusly.
I’m beginning to wonder, have I stumbled across the much fabled, Mt Velomis?
Everyone’s gotta check out my new KOM on Strava!
http://app.strava.com/segments/1445215
@The Oracle
Wacky profile!
Are any Velominati doing the Elephant Rock Ride in Castle Rock, CO this coming Sunday (03JUN12)?? The VMH and I plan to SP at 0600.
@Mikael Liddy
Mikael, I know you are recovering and trying to build base back and all – but a wheel reflector? really?
BTW – Here is a Very large, good quality photo:
@Tartan1749
Touche, but not me I’m afraid. When I was looking it up I had to rely on this guy’s website for the photos.
As it happens I do have a shot of my steed from this evening…was given an early hour or so from work & it happened to be a perfectly sunny, Winter day. That there is a perfect recipe for a ride.
@Mikael Liddy
Looking at your Strava rides, I’m jealous of the amount of climbing you can get in. I presume most of those are from or pretty close to home. It’s hard for me to get in 500ft in a 20 mile ride from home.
@seemunkee
One of the things I love about living in the SF bay area. I live 8 miles (straight line) from some freakin’ awesome climbs. Too bad I still suck at them.
@Mikael Liddy
Okay, I’ve now got a new summertime trip idea. I need to do to make this happen next summer…
@The Oracle
Looks like someone stole it from you. Get it back!
@mcsqueak
It’s a tie! Quite a profile there, by the way. I hope you are not putting your climbing gear in an EPMS.
For us Yanks, a wind map.
@seemunkee yup, our place is basically at the foot of the hills to the east of Adelaide. If I were to reverse the ride I did yesterday I’d have a 12k climb with a gain of over 500m pretty much straight out the door.
We don’t have any big climbs here in SA (that one above is probably the longest) but outside that we’re massively spoilt for choice in terms of great riding within spitting distance of the city.
Paris-Roubaix Cyclo 2012.
Just standing around after returning from finishing my cyclo ride, well actually laying down, on my stomach, my ass feels like it just woke up after spending it’s first night in San Quentin Prison.
Have you ever watched something and think that you have some idea of what it is like? I have. I own every WCP DVD on P-R except two and have watched them all multiple times. I thought i had an idea, however small, of what it was like to ride the pave’. I had NO idea. It is unbelievablely brutal beyound anything I thought possible. I made sure to hit the first section, Pave’ Stablinsky, 2200 meters long, at full speed on the crown (for as William said last night, “it’s a rule, or it is going to be one, or it should be one, anyways, that you HAVE to ride the pave on the crest in the center.” No nancy side shit, which TONS of people did. By the way, William is one cool ass dude) and i thought i knew what would happen. I was not even close. It was like a mortar explosion, pure fucking brutal destruction. At one point both of my wheels were off the pave and I was still killing the cranks with all my power and i remember looking down and seeing the bike torque to one side, land and bounce straight back up off the pave. People were going everywhere and bottles were flying in the air. It was FUCKING unreal. I had this crazy smile on my face and i thought it was beautiful. Well, that disappeared after about six hours. I made sure to ride EVERY meter of pave on the whole course. Over 50 k’s total, but i must admit that i hit a low point around hour 5.5 on the Mons en Pevele section, 3000 meters long, and actually rode about 400 meters of the side. But besides that, i was on the crest the whole fuckin time. The beating you take is just psycho.
I always respected Boonen and the pros but i had no where near enough respect for what they do. I only rode 214 km’s today, not the 256 the pros do, and while we hit every section of pave, i cannot even begin to think what i would have done if i had to do another 40 k’s.
My numbers via the evil cyclocomputer were as follows: rode a total of 214.26kms in 8:18:34 for a final average of 25.8 kph. First four hours was avaging over 28 kph but by the end I was CRAWLING over the pave’ crests. Burned 4631 calories and had an average heart rate of 154 with a max of 188. I will try to post this to strava when i get back to the states.
A few closing thoughts before I bore you all too much: The pave’ de Quievy, 3700 meters, pave’ de Querenaing, 2500 meters, Pave de Haveluy, 2500, Arenberg, 2400 meters, pave’ de Homaing, 3700, Mons en Pevele, 3000 meters, Carrefour de l’Arbre, 2120 and pave’ de Hem (the center crest, of course) were laid by Satan himself. Fuckin brutal and unworldly. The velodrome and riding two laps with my VMH and kiddos cheering my on was a HUGE high point of the day. The showers were pure hallowed ground.
The final perfect moment was when i was stopped at the train crossing wuth 10 k to go. Just perfect.
Excuse the bit of stream of conscience writing, just so overwhelmed. Thanks for reading.
@Buck Rogers
Well done and congrats. I hope we will get some pictures. Also It sounds like your on track for the 200 on 100.
@Buck Rogers
Sound’s like you had a great time in Hell!
@Buck Rogers
What Buck said.
Decided to keep it to 3 hrs in the saddle Saturday morning and checked out from the group of 18. Intercepted Heinz from Colombia to finish with an exceptional conversation and ride.
@Buck Rogers
Buck, so cool and the great thing is you will have 14 hours to tell me about it on the 28th (yes I am jealous, Mai non?)!
@Buck Rogers
Brilliant! Strong work, amigo.