Fifty Plus (50+) - Dream

I have a dream - to ride for miles and miles, unhindered by motor vehicles, along serene country roads; to enjoy the sights endowed by nature and the smells of clean air scented with the fragrance of natural flora washed with the morning dew; to share these experiences with my loved one (preferably on a tandem).
Is there anywhere on G'd's earth that this dream may be fulfilled?

Wyoming...

Windtrainer in the garage plus a lot of imagination. Not being flip...but I'm a CA cyclist and share the dream and have yet to find it....there are a few stretches of road that come close, but not mile after mile.

I have a dream - to ride for miles and miles, unhindered by motor vehicles, along serene country roads; to enjoy the sights endowed by nature and the smells of clean air scented with the fragrance of natural flora washed with the morning dew; to share these experiences with my loved one (preferably on a tandem).
Is there anywhere on G'd's earth that this dream may be fulfilled?

Sure. I have the exact same experience, minus loved one and tandem, whenever I ride to my office in Arlington, VA after dropping off one of my cars at our mechanic's shop in Falls Church. The WO&D and Custis trails do the job quite well. The setting is more suburban than rural, but the sensation is real.

Paul

Southern Wisconsin

Finger Lakes, upstate NY. When it's not raining...

Sure. I have the exact same experience, minus loved one and tandem, whenever I ride to my office in Arlington, VA after dropping off one of my cars at our mechanic's shop in Falls Church. The WO&D and Custis trails do the job quite well. The setting is more suburban than rural, but the sensation is real.

Paul

Pleasant enough ride for a metro area that sees code red ozone warnings all summer and the 3rd worst traffic in the country, and a bikepath along Rt 66 filled with joggers skaters and baby carriages...

Sure - on the Denver Trail System on a weekday morning. Right out my back door, can go for 30-100 miles and hardly see anyone, and lots of nature!

I have a dream - to ride for miles and miles, unhindered by motor vehicles, along serene country roads; to enjoy the sights endowed by nature and the smells of clean air scented with the fragrance of natural flora washed with the morning dew; to share these experiences with my loved one (preferably on a tandem).
Is there anywhere on G'd's earth that this dream may be fulfilled?

Sounds great, but make certain the loved one is strong enough for the tandem.

Forget the country road bit though, thats boring. Get off-road and you will see the rest of your dreams come to fruition.

Maybe I'm spoiled because I live in the West (near Reno, Nev, just across the border from California), but we can find hundreds of miles of that kind of riding nearly everywhere outside the major cities. I did a century a couple of weeks ago near Greenville, Calif (north-central, near Quincy) that was close to perfect, and there are others nearly every weekend.
Nevada itself is sort of sagebrushy and barren except near the Sierra Nevada (as is Wyoming, which somebody else mentioned), but if you want solitude, that's the place. Many, many times I've driven for three or four hours on paved roads in the middle of the state and seen from zero to half a dozen cars. If you're set up to go on gravel roads, you can easily spend a day without any human contact at all.
As crowded as California is, you can find pleasant and relatively untraveled roads throughout the state (I'm fudging a little on the area south of about Santa Barbara, because I haven't lived there for several years, but it's certainly true north of Interstate 80). And if you get set up for mountain biking, you're in really great shape, at least until the Bush administration gives the rest of the forests away.

Just rode this morning on a road thats silky smooth heading north out of the Reservation, sun was just coming up,no cars just jackrabbits, horses, cattle, and a coyote watching me like I'm a interloper on his turf which I guess I was. A few rollers,a couple of hills to remind me of how old I am and In the company of my beautiful wife.
But there's always a down side, the road is only paved for 10 miles then it turns to washboard dirt.Alas.

Here in New Zealand we are blessed with some of those things , but even here you have to search them out.I believe Tasmania is simular?

I have a dream - to ride for miles and miles, unhindered by motor vehicles, along serene country roads; to enjoy the sights endowed by nature and the smells of clean air scented with the fragrance of natural flora washed with the morning dew; to share these experiences with my loved one (preferably on a tandem). Is there anywhere on G'd's earth that this dream may be fulfilled?

You mean like the 20 miles I rode on this trail this morning?

http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/DREAMRIDE1.JPG

http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/DREAMRIDE2.JPG

dnvrfox - that's a real perty trail. I gather, Denver area has some nice country roads to ride. Hope to make it some day and experience for a few days what you have as a usual diet. Out here (southern israel) we have some nice roads but the weather is really hot and the drivers are crazy. Several riders get knocked off every year.

main thing is to keep well and keep on pedaling.

dnvrfox - that's a real perty trail. I gather, Denver area has some nice country roads to ride. Hope to make it some day and experience for a few days what you have as a usual diet. Out here (southern israel) we have some nice roads but the weather is really hot and the drivers are crazy. Several riders get knocked off every year.

main thing is to keep well and keep on pedaling.

You need to take your bike to northern Italy, that's what you are looking for, and closer than Denver.

Just rode this morning on a road thats silky smooth heading north out of the Reservation, sun was just coming up,no cars just jackrabbits, horses, cattle, and a coyote watching me like I'm a interloper on his turf which I guess I was. A few rollers,a couple of hills to remind me of how old I am and In the company of my beautiful wife.
But there's always a down side, the road is only paved for 10 miles then it turns to washboard dirt.Alas.

One of my favorite all-time rides is just to the West of the Navajo reservation. I take a 50-mile loop from the Sunset crater visitor center down to Wupatki National Mounment and up to the interstate and back to the visitor center. I have done this ride maybe 5 times since my sister moved out to that area (off the grid). If you do the loop early mornings you can do eveything but the last stretch of interstate without seeing a single car. The serenity is overwhelming and the countryside awe-inspiring, with views of the painted desert stretched out before you, punctuated with rock formations and ancient ruins. Few stretched of road have ever cleared my mind like this one.

I have always done it in reverse of this suggested route: http://www.swcp.com/~nmts/rides/wupatkiSunsetCrater.htm

Plus if you take the dirt road from Wupatki onto the res., you could literally bike for days with only the intermittent passing of a truck on the reservation. beautiuful country.

shifty - northern italy is beautiful - in fact i cycled through it once in 1972 going from rome to luxembourg via the san gottardo pass in the alps - a 1,200 km ride in 10 days. I visited it again without the bike in 1998, however the roads were loaded with traffic on both ocassions. One good reason to go off road. I might eventually come around to mtb but meanwhile i'm addicted to the road.

[QUOTE=Mr_Super_Socks]One of my favorite all-time rides is just to the West of the Navajo reservation. I take a 50-mile loop from the Sunset crater visitor center down to Wupatki National Mounment and up to the interstate and back to the visitor center. I have done this ride maybe 5 times since my sister moved out to that area (off the grid). If you do the loop early mornings you can do eveything but the last stretch of interstate without seeing a single car. The serenity is overwhelming and the countryside awe-inspiring, with views of the painted desert stretched out before you, punctuated with rock formations and ancient ruins. Few stretched of road have ever cleared my mind like this one.

that ride is definitely going into my to-do list.
thanks

[QUOTE=Mr_Super_Socks]One of my favorite all-time rides is just to the West of the Navajo reservation. I take a 50-mile loop from the Sunset crater visitor center down to Wupatki National Mounment and up to the interstate and back to the visitor center. I have done this ride maybe 5 times since my sister moved out to that area (off the grid). If you do the loop early mornings you can do eveything but the last stretch of interstate without seeing a single car. The serenity is overwhelming and the countryside awe-inspiring, with views of the painted desert stretched out before you, punctuated with rock formations and ancient ruins. Few stretched of road have ever cleared my mind like this one.

that ride is definitely going into my to-do list.
thanks
He certainly paints a good "word picture" sounds a great ride !

You mean like the 20 miles I rode on this trail this morning?

http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/DREAMRIDE1.JPG

http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox/DREAMRIDE2.JPG



That quite a nice trail.....I would ride that every day.

Thats more like a Motorway!! you want to get off road and take in a few hills.Both pictures are taken on our local hills, but the one with the pylons has the track showing as a white line meandering across the hill, and the one of the Tandem shows how uncomfortable a saddle can be after 20 miles

Thats more like a Motorway!! you want to get off road and take in a few hills.Both pictures are taken on our local hills, but the one with the pylons has the track showing as a white line meandering across the hill, and the one of the Tandem shows how uncomfortable a saddle can be after 20 miles

You don't knock my trails and I won't knock yours.

Agreed! :D

You don't knock my trails and I won't knock yours.

Agreed! :D

Not knocking your trails and in fact, seeing some of the rides you have done, I can understand why you want a smoother flatter ride occasionally. I am still in the fitness level that means that I want a more exhilorating and challenging ride, so that is the type of trail that I ride each week. Mind you, the pilot on the Tandem would have enjoyed a flatter smoother ride on that day, as he really was in trouble by the 20 mile mark.
For those dream rides, just get away from the normal roads and signs of habitation and listen to the Pigeons coughing away with the pollution coming from the Farmers tractors, which is about the only sound we get on the hills nowadays.

(Edit) Not going to be that cruel but you should see the picture of the pilot at the finish. He was completely finished.

Eastern Washington. From the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse, rivers and mountains, high plains desert all within 25 miles of old Spokane.

Mackinac Island, Michigan. The most sacred spot in the Great Lakes for the Native Americans. Settled by French voyageurs, captured by the British, then the American rebels, the British again, and finally American tourists took over. An 18th century fort, Victorian "cottages", the Grand Hotel, wierd rock formations. Best of all--no cars allowed, and they never have been. There are bikes for rent everywhere, including tandems.

Yeah... Mackinac Island is nice to ride but in the summer ONLY before the tourists come over by ferry at 9 am and after they leave around 7pm... otherwise, thje nine mile trail around the island is so crowded with wobbly tourists that it's like driving an obstacle course. There are some nice and empty dirt trails that crisscross the interior, though.
Better yet, if you want solitude, try Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It's wild and remote and gorgeous.
I'm heading in early August for the annual five day Tour da UP ride.

my bike page http://ej.typepad.com/ride

Have to agree with Super Socks,with the exception of Mar. and April winds New Mexico is the place to ride. Plenty of terrain changes,mountains,hills,flats deserts,pine forests etc. My wife and I can leave Magdalena NM (Hwy 60W)and travel 70 miles(if we were able) with two abreast shoulders to Quemado NM. Most cars ever noticed on this stretch maybe 2 dozen.and you get to pass over the continental divide(elev. 7200ft.). We ride from Datil NM thru Datil Mountains to Pie Town NM distance 43mi round trip. Wildlife mostly seen,pronghorn,elk,whitetail,mule deer and just once a bear.

I live (on weekends anyway) in Delaware County, NY. This is central New York and has the most beautiful little-traveled back roads. I couldn't go anywhere in the world and find more beautiful scenery. I love France and Island but this is as beautiful or better. It is mostly undiscovered NY state, especially toward the Western part of the county and in the counties to the west. I go out my door and cycle 20 or 30 miles and depending on my route, see maybe 10 cars all together on my entire ride. Lots of hills but a scenery soaker-upper's paradise. Detailed maps are plentiful in gas stations and convenience stores. Nearest airport is Binghamton (50 minutes by car). Also 1 and half hours drive from Albany.

I set off on a solo ride a few months ago during our summer, at about 4am .

I had a ride much like you describe....no traffic, no noise, no wind, new smells, sounds and sights (yes, even by starlight there are things to see), and best of all, it was just me, alone and loving it.

I cycled for about 2 hours at an easy pace. Was passed by 3 or 4 cars on the road during that time, and chose to stop and dismount till they went by...just in case they were slightly, or severely impaired.

My destination was a beach where I arrived just as the sun was rising and I could feel the warmth of its' first rays as I sat at a picnic table near where a few early holiday makers were just beginning to appear, and satisfied my hearty appetite on the simple breakfast I'd brought with me.

It strikes me that this early morning experience could be repeated practically anywhere, except of course very large metropolitan areas.

I've done these early rides a number of times now, and they're magical.... and I'll be doing them again next summer.

Brig
New Zealand

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=126833&highlight=MORNING+QUICKIE