Favourite Training Rides

[Alpe d'Huez]

Too much time on my hands...

Tell me about it. 500 posts. Whoowhee!

Really nice route there Ben.

Several years ago, Tommy D set the record here - how much he beat me by is worse than embarrasing...

Yeah, but you have way more panache than he does.

 

[franciep10]

first to 500 nice i'm just a rook with 165

 

[davidw]

I
Too many other favorites to list though in the Western US. Everett Memorial Highway up Mt. Shasta. Lassen Peak climb - both sides but mostly from the south. Mt. Ashland, McKenzie Pass, Crater Lake, Newberry Crater, Ripplebrook to Timothy Lake, Larch Mountain, Timberline West Leg. Windy Ridge on Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier from any direction. White Salmon River. Many hidden climbs on the Oregon Coast. Too many more to list! Many in the easter Sierras I've ridden that are just spectacular, and extremely challenging.

The Oregon coast range is full of lots of twisty, single lane roads, with lots of rollers and some decent, if not big, climbs. Of course, it can be pretty damp out there - you have to watch out for moss on some of the roads! The 'Wolf Creek' loop out of Eugene is a pretty good example of that type of terrain.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...264,-123.293381&spn=0.154649,0.44632&t=p&z=12

 

[davidw]

Colli Berici

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...420624,11.654778&spn=0.15061,0.44632&t=p&z=12

The Colli Berici, south of Vicenza, are my favorite place to ride around here. The Colli Euganei, just west of Padova, are more convenient if you don't have much time, but since they're not that big in terms of the area they cover, you end up riding in the same places a lot. The Berici are a little bit larger, and being farther away, I haven't explored them quite so thoroughly.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Outside of a few races 20 years ago, I never rode much in the Eugene area, though it is quite popular.

Langlois Mountain Road a beautiful coastal climb though only 8 miles long, it ascends a very large ridge with impressive views, and very little traffic.

Sixes River Road and Elk River Road in the area also are great rides with ocean views. But both are short, with pavement ending in a couple of miles. Super low traffic. Like, 2 cars per day on Elk River Road.

 

[Anonymous]

used to be..

anything on the cornish coast road from newquay round the west tip to par.. you can barely go a mile without the road going up or down stupidly steep short hills around the bays, blind curving short steep descents, completely useless for any sort of training, but great fun, and hard work to ride..

 

[biker jk]

Did this 100km hilly ride in late April (there are no mountains in Sydney but lots of hills). The route covers five climbs of around 4km each at 5%-6% gradient. I've done two of the climbs in any single ride before but never all five. It was certainly a challenge.

Here's a link to the route.

http://bikenorth.org.au/calendar/rideseditor.php?number=234&submit=view

And a link to the profile.

http://bikenorth.org.au/calendar/rideseditor.php?number=234&submit=view

 

[franciep10]

One of my friends in the tourism sector has a sick picture of me and 6 other riders going up blue Mountain Peak Jamaica to those that don't know the ride to the blue mountain peak but it's a 13 km climb that hits up to 22% grade but averages 15% it's only 2250 meters but it's nasty as you basically come to a stand still, I remember this neo-pro from gerolsteiner was riding it in 2004 and he was running of his mouth saying that the climbs in germany are much harder than this but when he saw the wall all that came out of his mouth Ach mein Gott and then we left him behind. hint he finished 15th in the tour in 2006, yeah he was on something. When I lived in spain I lived close to the border of Andorra so there were a lot options there.

 

[Leopejo]

Chianti hills here, South of Florence, Italy, are the usual training ground, with the occasional foray into the Apennines mountains (North and East of Florence).

 

[BroDeal]

When I get down to Utah County, my favorite is a variation of the Alpine Loop. The regular loop has 3500 feet of climbing, but I like to add a lot more by taking two side roads. At the top I will drop down to Cascade Springs, which is like dropping into a hole because there is no paved way out; you have to climb back up to the top of the loop. Then on the way out of Provo Canyon, I'll take the side road and climb five miles up to the Squaw Peak Lookout. Overall it is about twenty miles of climbing, twenty miles of descending, and twenty miles of rolling terrain.

 

[flyor64]

When I get down to Utah County, my favorite is a variation of the Alpine Loop. The regular loop has 3500 feet of climbing, but I like to add a lot more by taking two side roads. At the top I will drop down to Cascade Springs, which is like dropping into a hole because there is no paved way out; you have to climb back up to the top of the loop. Then on the way out of Provo Canyon, I'll take the side road and climb five miles up to the Squaw Peak Lookout. Overall it is about twenty miles of climbing, twenty miles of descending, and twenty miles of rolling terrain.

Fantastic!

Question - I did mountain bike ride in Utah about 20 yrs ago that went up and up and up to a peak, at which point you could look down into 4 or 5 of the major canyons...Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood, etc. I think is a bit north of where you're talking about, but do know the route? For the life of me, I can't remember the specifics of that ride.

 

[BroDeal]

Fantastic!

Question - I did mountain bike ride in Utah about 20 yrs ago that went up and up and up to a peak, at which point you could look down into 4 or 5 of the major canyons...Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood, etc. I think is a bit north of where you're talking about, but do know the route? For the life of me, I can't remember the specifics of that ride.

It could be the Wasatch Crest, which is a fairly famous mountain bike ride.

 

[flyor64]

That sounds right...thanks.

 

[elapid]

When I get down to Utah County, my favorite is a variation of the Alpine Loop. The regular loop has 3500 feet of climbing, but I like to add a lot more by taking two side roads. At the top I will drop down to Cascade Springs, which is like dropping into a hole because there is no paved way out; you have to climb back up to the top of the loop. Then on the way out of Provo Canyon, I'll take the side road and climb five miles up to the Squaw Peak Lookout. Overall it is about twenty miles of climbing, twenty miles of descending, and twenty miles of rolling terrain.

Hard not to get out on your bike and enjoy the ride with views like that. Awesome.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Beartooth Pass out of Red Lodge, MT – 12 mi (20 km) and 5406 ft. (1648 m) of climbing. The summit is at at 10,974 ft. (3,345 m). We used to caravan out here for altitude training.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I drove that once and did some backpacking around there. I don't recall it being very steep, but it is very long and very high up and I would imagine great for training.

I'm envious of BroDeal's territory.

 

[Zoncolan]

Wow, some of you guys have such great training grounds near your home.
Some great posts on here, I'm green with envy

 

[quadsRme]

BroDeal, Wow what a spectacular view, that sounds like a fun ride and beautiful scenery as well. Us flatlanders are in awe of your riding areas out west. Most riders around here are gassed on a short 300ft. incline, of course age has a bit to do with it too. And sitting at a desk for 8+ hours doesn't help either