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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Ohhhh, fuck me, even my eyes hurt this morning. Frank warned me about day one and the pain. He wasn’t exaggerating. Now for the six hour train ride to Mont St. Michel.
@Fausto
Well done chap – upwards and onwards – you’ll be clocking them up like nobody’s business from now on!
@Buck Rogers
Welcome to the lunatic asylum – definitely one for the T-shirt collection
Talking of hell, I’m off to the Pyrenees in 9 days for a quick 750km jolly over 5 days – only 11,000m of climbing in 5 days…..I am so underprepared – you may never hear from me again
@Buck Rogers
My immediate feeling for you is pride, not envy (well, a little envy). This is going to sound dorky, but I’m so proud of you. You’ve told us about this trip for almost a year. You’ve been training hard. Your disciplined training and your lifetime of enthusiasm for P-R gave you the tools to seize this rarest of opportunities to ride the living shit out of the cobbles. And Mrs. Buck and the Buckettes got to see you finish in the velodrome. What an inspiring, epic experience.
At this moment, I’m imagining your bike-breaking, bone-powdering, vertigo-inducing ride, and it’s giving me so much motivation to move Heaven, Earth, some bank accounts, and my lazy ass so that I can go to next year’s Keepers Tour and do what you just did. I don’t want to ride the cobbles for the sake of riding them. I want to ride them the way you rode them–with the strength to wrench every ounce of pain and suffering and goodness and beauty that comes from the cobbles.
Chapeau, Buck. Chapeau.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Well said JiPM, but I am praying we don’t have to revisit the cobbles of France again in my lifetime!
Any more talk of the Giro 2013?
@Dr C
I’m off there in the second half of July – will get to watch Stage 15 of the tdf – a report on where’s good if you survive the experience would be great. Enjoy!
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Very well said and, if I may be so bold, I’d like to second the sentiments.
@Buck Rogers
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
@Buck Rogers
I’m thinking your face looks like your avatar. The second time you ride them is easier. I think to a rider, we all enjoyed the second day on the cobbles a little more. They felt better, if that’s possible.
@Buck Rogers
YEAH BABY!!! NICELY DONE!!
It should be a Rule, the strong ride the crest. Unbelievable, isn’t it? Reading about your first secteur, my mind raced back to my first, and I was just as panicked as you! You learn to stop worrying about what direction your wheels/bike is headed with relation to which direction you’re riding. All those questions about bar tape, chamois, etc etc etc just evaporate into “irrelevant” after about 500m on the Pavé. Its much more brutal than the Belgian Kassien, though there are certainly a few brutal bits in RVV as well.
Mons en Pavel is my favorite secteur. Brutal. You can forgive yourself being a Gutter Bitch for a few meters. As @Marko said, the second round is easier.
Excellent work, as JiPM said, I’m super proud of you. Hopefully someone got some pictures of you!
@Dr C
Not likely. We’re all too anxious to get back to the cobbles with the Pavé boys.
@Buck Rogers
Nice! Don’t know when its going to fit into my world, but that sounds like a critical experience not to be missed. Guess that’s one for the bucket list, although that term never really inspires me. JiPM said it best, methinks. Great write up too!
@Buck Rogers
Chapeau, Buck. Great story!
Buck and Fausto, outstanding job gents! And to Dr C, I am weak in all of your presence! On the May long weekend I managed to get nearly 400km, a few cat 4 & 3 climbs, the cat 2 climbs to Anarchist Pass and my namesake, Richter Pass. But Jebus on a hockey stick, you guys hammered!
Chapeau!
@buck, @frank
Nice one Buck, sounds like you had as much of a fun/brutal time as we did!
But…
Riding the crown all the time is just plain stupid… look at Boonen and ALL those guys, riding the smoothest, fastest line, sometimes the crown, sometimes the gutter. If you stay on the crown all the time, you deserve to be beaten to more of a pulp than by mixing it up.
Riding the crown exclusively isn’t smart or tough. Even Museeuw said this when asked to adjudicate when the ‘ride the crown’ topic was being debated.
@brett
Yeah, absolutely it depends – especially if you’re racing. The crown is (generally) safer, and the gutter is (generally) smoother but more likely to have debris that will cause a flat; If you’re racing, you pick between the balance of the two to manage your risk.
Which is why we never made it a Rule, of course. It’s even less defensible than the Aposle Rules.
I was amazed, though, to see in the pictures of the Carrefour secteur that Boonen was in the gutter when he came by us, but people taking photos of him even 20 meters farther down had him on the crown. Goes to show it really depends.
On the other hand, for those of us going after the fun of the experience and not racing them, the crown is definitely where you’ll fullfil that the most. And then you can call people who ride the side a “gutter bitch” and be all high and mighty, which is at least 73% of the goal – assuming my math is right.
@Buck Rogers
Outstanding! Now that’s a ride. We didn’t do that long a stretch in April and I was still toast at the end. No flats? Rode the crown? The same William? Our William, that fookin’ cobble eating koont? Sheeeit, that ride should be a good contrast to 200 on 100. Really nice work and report.
@frank
I’m guessing the reason Boonen was in the centre just a bit further down was the crowd got thicker and were encroaching on the cobbles as the sector narrowed as they rode past the Cafe… he was back on the smooth sides on the next sector too.
“Ditch Bitch”
@brett
For every picture I post of him on the crown, you’ll be able to post one of him in the gutter (…and GO!), but there were no big crowds in a lot of these pics.
My Merckx, that race was awesome. This was worth it just to even browse through all these shots of him. Animal.
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Every time one of us says “Ditch Bitch”, I think of the Guns n Roses song Pretty Tied Up. “Down in a gutter, dyin’ in a ditch, you better back off, back off bitch…”
At Cysoing it was definitely smoother on the dirt at the edge. Heaps of riders rode there. Boonen and the chase group rode the crown.
At one point I had the urge to clear a couple of sticks from the road ’cause they looked like puncture threats. And then I realised the futility – the whole fucken thing is a puncture threat!
I imagine there’s a couple of advantages to the crown. One is the crowds – its a miracle more riders don’t get tangled in flags and handbags. Two – its the best ‘default’ line – generally the smoothest as its not loosened by vehicles but also at any point its easy to move off if you want. Not the same if you want to move back up as you need to pick your time more.
@Fronk
I think this is the very essence of it – that said, sometimes the crown just told you to get the fuck off and don’t come back until you are worthy – biggest challenge was trying to get back up onto it once you had come off, as in the gutter, the handlebars seemed to become suddeny independant of the front forks
ps. what happened to the preview function…..?
And there was me thinking that Boonen was riding the crown because he’d heard there was a lanky flag waving Dutch American with previous for knocking down and injuring pro riders.
The crown generally hurt more but the gutter was much sketchier Рthe closest I came to coming off was hitting a deep patch of sand on Mons-en-P̩v̬le.
@Dr C
It’s auto-previewing in the box for me.
@Gianni
Thanks all, truly a mythical experience for me. I have ALWAYS dreamed of the pave’ and one day riding them. Just surpassed everything i could possibly imagine. The last sector, after 7.5 straight hours in the saddle was just pure pain cave. Nothing i have ever done in my sporting life compares, not ultras, not high altitude mountaineering, nothing.
Yes Gianni, same William. The guy is fucking insane and soooo awesome. Just the best dude ever.
Also Brett, William specifically said that you did not like the crest! Of course if I was racing for time, I would have been a gutter bitch the whole way, which most people did. There were sections where you could ride the gutter and it was smooth and easy but I was not there for that. I was not riding for time, I was riding to try to be in the shoes of RDV, Merckx, Kelly, Lemond, Museeuw, and, of course Boonen. I found their spirits purely on the crest, not hiding from the cobbles in the ditch. I have no doubt that I could have taken 30 plus minutes off my time in the ditch and soooo much pain away, but I was there FOR the pain and the pave’. I really wanted to ride every meter of the pave but broke down for a bit on Pevele. But, I had spectators cheering for me in Arenburg when EVERYONE was riding the gutter and shouting “courage” and “bravo” as i rode that fucking crest with a pure face of pain.
As for the next time, fuck that! It will take me at least a year to recover from this experience!
And JiPM, you are a poet and much too kind. I really look forward to riding with you at least one more time before I leave the great state of Texas. It was the fulfillment of a lot of training and dreaming for sure.
Still feel like shit all over, 48 hours later. Currently worshipping at the alter of vitamin I, aka ibuprofin!
Dr C, your ride sounds killer, esp with all that climbing! Hope you’ve climbed every hill in England at least twice or man, it will be a killer!!!
@frank
Sorry, just saw this. 73%? Fuck that, more like 93%!!!
I think of the crown vs. gutter as a grinta vs. finesse thing. The crown is more painful and requires straight up more power to ride at speed but is less risky. The gutter is smoother but requires a lot of concentration and subtle bike handling to keep from going in the 5 meter deep ditches, huge holes, or mud on the sides. The crown is more predictable/consistent. Just when I’d had enough of the crown I’d hit the gutter and just when I’d had enough of the gutter I’d hit the crown. Such a beautiful contrast. I preferred the crown – riding nice crown like that of the Carrefour or Mons A Pavele secteurs is great fun but man did I ever appreciate the ditch in Hem – Hem is fucked. And there’s no hiding in the trouee – that’s just batshit nuts anywhere you ride it.
@Buck Rogers – what shape is your steed in?
@Buck Rogers
Beautifully put, particularly the bit about riding in the shows of RDV and co. When it’s going well, it’s easy to picture yourself thundering over the pavé surrounded by the greats rather than your fellow journeymen.
There’s got to be a next time, though, I don’t think any of us mortals could have really envisaged what it would take and trained accordingly. I know I’ve got to go back and do it more faster.
@marko
I never hated anything as much as I hated Hem. Why? That secteur was just so incredibly brutal. It almost seemed like it was supposed to be an easy secteur but it fucked with my head. And it was long. And Bretto and I were off the front and trying to drill it.
@Chris
Yes, it should be auto-previewing. All should work as usual with quotes and replies, except the comment box shows the content, not the raw HTML.
If something seems wonky: clear the browser cache as sometimes your browsers can be awfully stubborn about not downloading the latest copies.
If you’ve done that and it still doesn’t work right, let me know what’s happening and I’ll (try to) sort it out.
As usual, change hurts, but the goal is to make it easier on everyone, not harder.
@Buck Rogers
There’s this section of cobbles in Westouter (the town near where we stayed) which we hit on a casual ride out around to loosen up. Those cobbles, 24 hours after our second Roubaix ride, hurt more than Roubaix, despite being very mellow stones. Your body is do banged up.
On the other hand, now you’ll know how you can really hurt yourself, and you’ll crave the cobbles again. Its impossible to hurt yourself like this on tarmac. Provided you stay upright.
It’s not the Pave and it’s only 10 miles but tonight is my first competitive cycling since I raced and did Freestyle BMX competitions in my youth. It’s raining and my senseis have both pulled out so as long as I can get under 30 minutes I’ll be happy. (As it’s a British Cycling event I haven’t bothered to convert from imperial measurement to metric MK?)
The thing about Hem for me was there was no rhythm anyplace to be had. It was curvy, the ditch was interspersed with shitty patches of tarmac, potholes, loose gravel and the crown seemed to be rougher than usual. Those factors plus William said after the Carefour we only had one minor secteur left, there was car traffic, and we were all cooked made Hem the worst of the day.
Gaddammit, I take my hat off to all of you who want to do the pave again – I don’t think my bike will let me – Glad I did it for sure, but I am only saying that 10 weeks later
Defo love to go watch one of the classics again – that was a belter of a day ay the RVV, doesn’t get much better than that
@Buck – I wish I could say I have trained enough for 11k vert in 5 days, but I haven’t – not possible with 2 young kids and a stupid job, but as it is mostly a mental challenge, I’m just going to start pedalling and hope for the best – my cousin asked me today if I was tapering, and it dawned on me you have to have trained properly to taper……
When you have this to play with, best to just free the mind
@snoov
Good luck! Which course is it tonight?
@the Engine
It’s the Meigle course tonight. I know where Meigle is, that’s about it.
Thanks Mr Engine, how is your back feeling? I hope to meet you sometime this year but the 17th is the day after my brother’s smoker and I’m his best man so if I make it out on my bike that day it will be an easy spin in honour of Merckx. If my head is splitting I’m just have to imagine I’m out cycling from my bed or couch.
@Dr C
You might not be fit now but by the time you’ve recreated Wiggo’s last training camp to the moon, you’ll be tearing your local club runs apart.
@Buck Rogers
See, that is freakin’ awesome right there. You powered over the crown like a hardman when everyone else was whimpering in the gutter.
Who cares if it wasn’t the smartest thing to do? You lived your cycling fantasy right there. Simply awesome.
@Buck Rogers
Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the crown isn’t where it’s at, but there are definitely times when the ditch is the best option. All those heroes you and I emulated, they rode the ditch too. And William, well he knows what he can do! Irish koont.
@frank
Hem was definitely a bad time. I think the fact we were going balls out at the end of a long day didn’t help, but it seemed there was no place to hide and get rhythm, like Marko said.
It doesn’t need to be said but wow those Pros are awesome. 30 minutes 7 seconds was my time tonight in my first 10 mile TT. I was hurting and breathing heavy after about 30 seconds. Wiggins would probably have done it in half that, I’ve got work to do, should stop smoking for a start.
I should say, all of the guys that turned up were pretty awesome too, Then next guy in front of me was 3 minutes up and the fastest took 22:09.
When I got to the meeting point no-one was there so I thought I’d got it wrong or it had been cancelled due to the rain. I decided to ride to the village 16km away hoping that I’d see cyclists or stewards who’d point me in the right direction. After about 5km a space wagon beeped as it passed me and pulled over in a lay-by. It was Dave the club chairman or something and he opened up the back and asked me if I wanted a lift. I smiled, it was raining and Rule #9 was whispering in my ears, “This is my warm up, but thanks. See you there.” Then when I arrived at the muster point, loads of cars and TT bikes on turbos, riders getting ready. I just hadn’t expected to see so much dedication and V, enjoyed myself tremendously and am looking forward to the next one.
Nice one, @snoov.
I need to get down to my local TT course.
@brett
Ha! I thought that would get a rise out of you! William put me p to it. I totally understand what you are saying, but for me, there was no place but the crest. And as for Hem, oh my God that was awful! No rhythm to be found there anywhere. Crazy ass for sure.
@the Engine
I rented a Cyfac from William. It was an awesome ride but it was making a few noises by the end that she did not start out making, for sure. But, no flats and no George Hincapie’s either.
@snoov
Haven’t knowingly done the course although I’ve cycled through a few times.
Obviously the true sign of a pro is a Velominatus who drinks his own weight in Belgian lager of an evening and makes a creditable showing on a pave classic the following day.
Obviously, if you make the mistake of drinking your own weight in Tennent’s Lager your performance will suffer.
@snoov
Well done – hope you had midges too otherwise the experience wasn’t complete.
@Buck Rogers
My Damocles was made specifically for the pave but I’m not sure if it was made to handle a fat bastard riding it over the pave – I’m wondering if I should consider hiring a machine if I can persuade the VMH that I need to go Belgium next spring to celebrate 50 years of being alive.
@the Engine
Nah no midges, this is the East Coast. A client of mine recently told me that one thing he was really loving since moving over from the West is sitting out in his garden in the evening and not even seeing a midge. It’s a good thing too as anything that likes to suck blood usually loves to suck my blood.
Good fortune to all and their efforts tomorrow. Enjoy the ride.
OK, guess this goes here under the Rides. Tonight, over 25 years since I last pinned on a number, I raced my bike. My daughter did too, for the first time. So fun. So stoked. Thanks to the Velominati community for the inspiration. VLVV.
So did the Coast to Coast on Saturday – 236.53 kms Seascale to Whitby – etc etc. Anyway – here’s the problem. When I hit a 30% grade on a wet road even with a 34 – 29 powertrain, my 100kg carcass just makes the back end lose traction and I crash inelegantly into the nearest piece of grass.
Is the only solution to lose around 30% of my body weight or does anyone have a more cunning idea?
You should know that not only did I meet the man with the hammer but I also met a number of his friends too. Probably the longest and slowest day I’ve ever had in the saddle (12hrs 57mins) – I’d like to compare it with Liege – Bastogne – Liege (yeah I know, compared to LBL it’s crap but I’d just like to try and see how much harder it could actually be).