Just got back from a trip to Blowing Rock NC this weekend to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway and it reminded me that this is still by far my favorite place to ride (climbing up and around the Linville Viaduct from the North side is absolutely awesome) with Tucson AZ (Gates Pass/Saguaro National Forest) a close second…looking for more places to add for some future road trips, where is your favorite place to ride?
Favorite place to ride:
Southern California because you can ride all year and varied types of rides, everything from mountains to flat areas. Maybe that is why so many pro athletes that win train here.
Utah, but for the mountain biking. Bryan Head, Moab, Bryce Canyon, Zion, White Rim. All awesome places to ride a bike.
Favorite place to ride:
Southern California because you can ride all year and varied types of rides, everything from mountains to flat areas. Maybe that is why so many pro athletes that win train here.
I live in Southern California and go to school in Boulder, CO. Boulder is by far a better place to train than SoCal. Endless roads and big climbs with little traffic. It is much more biker friendly here. Plus it’s not uncommon to see an "uber"athlete out training. For example, on my Friday long ride I saw Chrissie Wellington running and Matt Reed bike riding.
Yeah, I’ll agree with MrPoopyPants (first time I’ve ever said that in my life!) - I live in Boulder, and its fantastic in terms of overall riding. There are very few potholes, wide shoulders, and courteous drivers. When you want a flat ride, you can ride out to the east. When you want mountains, just go west. But, in keeping with the theme of this thread, I’ll mention some of my favorite places to hop on the bike:
- upstate NY, in the rural areas (esp. the Finger Lakes) - beautiful rural scenery, very few cars, tons of rolling hills, and plenty of lakes/rivers to jump in in case you need to cool down!
- Las Vegas - actually pretty awesome, once you get out of town and into the Red Rock Canyon area.
- NorCal has some great riding also, especially just north of San Francisco when you get up near the wine country. There are some nasty climbs in the Santa Rosa area.
- western Washington state. If you go in the summer, the rain isn’t too much of an issue. The Olympic peninsula is spectacular in terms of natural scenery, as are the Cascade mountains (in the Bellingham area).
- And last, but not least, there are some great roads for cycling in Yellowstone. Plus, you get to see some pretty sweet wildlife and natural scenery. Just be ready to climb up above 8500’ if you plan on biking the entire park. Not very much oxygen up there!
Laramie Wy.
Ride to Saratoga through the snowy range. Almost 11k haha then sit in the hotsprings.
Ft Collins to Laramie on 287 sucks a lot…
Start at the summit on 1-80(8500ft) and ride to cheyenne through happy jack forest.
Lots of hills, wind and never below 7200 ft.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/strataboy308/100_1202.jpg
It seems like half of this board is from Boulder, but this is the Peak to Peak Highway. Beautiful! During the summer, it’s about 5-10* cooler than Boulder. Wonderful for putting tens of thousands of vertical feet on your legs.
western,n.c by far from me…lots of options, not too many people…boulder seems like its over-run with triathlete’s…i like the hermit training 
jr
.
Nappa/Marin in NorCal. For the East Coast, it’s hard to beat BRP (I remember it fondly from the Tour DuPont days).
I have to agree with macleandougj with Yellowstone. My favorite ride in the world starts at Dornan’s at the entrance of Grand Teton National Park. You can bike through the park and up into Yellowstone. Incredible views the entire way. Even better if you can hit it early or late summer season so as not to be blown off the road by all the RVs that show up in the middle of the summer. Absolutely awe-inspiring views. Just be careful about bears - seriously! End back at Dornan’s for a margarita and some great pizza on the restuarant’s top deck and you will be seated directly below the Grand Teton’s themselves. Just amazing!
They have nice trails up there - ZAP is in Blowing Rock.
Your question. Either MDI, Maine, or Mt. Lemmon in AZ.
yes, kdw, those are actually the only two places I’ve ever really ridden 
I have to say Santa Barbara is one of the best areas… It has everything you could want. Also There are a crap ton of riders here…
Also i visited some family out in Oro Valley, AZ brought my bike and had a blast riding out there.
Not specifically a training thing, but my dad and I rode from Coos Bay, Oregon down to San Francisco along the PCH one year a while back. Best ride ever. And a lot of the mountain passes throughout Colorado are pretty spectacular as well.
John
Funny, ZAP is awesome and that is where we stayed this past weekend, I have stayed there a few times now over the last 5 years, great access to the Blue Ridge Pkwy, Moses Cone State park for running trails, the athletes/coaches are all very down to earth and you can’t beat the price for a clean place to sleep/shower…
I love MDI, but to be honest, in New England, I would go with northern Vermont (Northeast Kingdom). If I could be generous with my geography and include the Mad River Valley (more central VT), even better!
In Florida, the weather is nice there.
Witness. I’ve only lived here since December and haven’t taken the bike out yet (marathon training focus), but I can’t wait to get out on these roads I’ve been running. Traffic is sparse, air is thin and clean, terrain rolls.
Can’t get to Saratoga until mid-May, though. “Seasonal closure of WY 130 at Centennial,” per wyoroad.info, but you knew that.
In Florida, the weather is nice there.
Ha! Bux made a funny!
The weather here is nice like 3 months out of the year. And the scenery never changes. I hate riding in Florida. Moab is my personal pick, but I havent road ridden in as many places as I have MTB.
I’ve spent a fairly significant amount of time in Oregon, Northern California, and a few locations in New England….
Far and away #1: Marin & Sonoma, CA. On a clear day, the view of San Francisco from the top of Mt Tam is amazing. The road to Petaluma with the rolling green hills is also pretty cool.
#2: Upstate New York (Adirondacks). Some pretty fun climbs and not too much traffic.
#3: Western / Central Mass. Have to love riding in the fall around Concord. Learning to avoid pot holes helps improve bike handling skills.
did you meet a certain Mike Bunker?
a friend of mine. Very cool guy.