Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - What are your ultimate riding trip goals?

I decided to map a ride that has been in my head for a long time. Considering most of us here are working to get in shape I thought I would post this question:

Is there a ride that has you saying "When I can do that I consider my self in top shape"? Something that you can point at and even those skinny roadie types might be afraid to try.

Maybe this won't catch on but I thought it would be cool to see what others are working towards. I like reading the success stories from others as they hit there goals.

Here is mine: I have drove this a lot. Its part of my camping and hunting grounds. Now I want to bike it. My end goal is to make it to the end with food and camping gear for one night then come back the next day.
It shouldn't be too hard right, after all, its only 36.46 miles (make sure to click the elevation button:eek:)

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/hiouchi/29890996

Well, I have done this ride 4 or 5 times, but it's still one of the rides I judge myself on. There is a climb that starts at about 5 miles in and goes about 10 miles. The day I complete it without using my small chainring (on my triple) is my current goal.

http://www.routeslip.com/routes/35555

http://www.ride4areason.org/images/npclassic_profile_700.jpg

The Native Planet Classic (http://www.ride4areason.org/npclassic/index.shtml) that I plan to ride with my father in June.

Tri Peaks Challenge. (http://www.tri-peaks.org/) Its a 4 day event somewhere around 300 miles, the third day is just time trials. I want to do this next year for my 40th B-day.

The North Sea Cycle Route:

http://www.northsea-cycle.com/default.asp?id=2&mnu=2&lang=1

Mid Summer I hope to do this ride-- The "Tour de Steamboat"

http://www.rockypeakproductions.com/Tour%20de%20Steamboat%20site/route.html

I decided to map a ride that has been in my head for a long time. Considering most of us here are working to get in shape I thought I would post this question:

Is there a ride that has you saying "When I can do that I consider my self in top shape"? Something that you can point at and even those skinny roadie types might be afraid to try.

Maybe this won't catch on but I thought it would be cool to see what others are working towards. I like reading the success stories from others as they hit there goals.

Here is mine: I have drove this a lot. Its part of my camping and hunting grounds. Now I want to bike it. My end goal is to make it to the end with food and camping gear for one night then come back the next day.
It shouldn't be too hard right, after all, its only 36.46 miles (make sure to click the elevation button:eek:)

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/hiouchi/29890996

Very nice. I bet you are looking forward to the downhills!

My goal is Chester County, PA, to Orange County, CA - about 3K miles.

As for impressing anyone, let alone "skinny roadie types", the only person I need to impress is myself.

I've already done it! This one last year and a similar ride 3 consecutive years prior. Don't worry about the downhill Trucker. As a rider developes, he finds the climbing is more rewarding and an accomplishment to one's self than the downhill. Anyone can do the downhill.:rolleyes:


http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/gulpxtreme/BAProfile.jpg

The North Sea Cycle Route:

http://www.northsea-cycle.com/default.asp?id=2&mnu=2&lang=1

close to my goal. I'll settle for Lands' End to John o'Groats and I will use lots of the A motorways.

Anyone can do the downhill.:rolleyes:

Except the guy that lost this years Paris-Nice when going downhill. :D

Except the guy that lost this years Paris-Nice when going downhill. :D


Yeah, but he was a skinny guy!:p

So true. If not for lightly tapping my brakes the other day, I would have ridden up the back of a women rider going down the bridge in front of me about 75 yards away after I crested the bridge. I could not believe I caught her and then could not pass her due to the cars. I swear she was riding her breaks on the way down, but she claims she wasn't.

LOng term, I want to do the STP (Seattle to Portland). Short term, I'm working on using progressively higher gears for the hills on my daily commute, and a higher cadence in general. I need to get my school bookbag on the scale so I know how much "resistance training" I've been using.

WOW!! I guess I'm not alone in having that 'dream' ride. Its really cool to see that some of you have already succeeded. My route starts about 15 miles away from my home. I'm thinking when the rain lets up I'm going to see just how far I can make it. I know I won't make it to the top, but I want to see where I stand for now and maybe give it another shot each month to track progress. And I know the down hills will be fun thats why I want to go camping that night then I can ride the easy miles while my legs feel like jello.

Keep it up everyone.

This year's goals:
- StP as a double century
- Complete the Chelan Century Challenge
- Mt. Baker Hill Climb

Next year:
- High Pass Challenge
- maybe RAMROD

Someday:
- Death Ride

I decided to map a ride that has been in my head for a long time. Considering most of us here are working to get in shape I thought I would post this question:

Is there a ride that has you saying "When I can do that I consider my self in top shape"? Something that you can point at and even those skinny roadie types might be afraid to try.

Maybe this won't catch on but I thought it would be cool to see what others are working towards. I like reading the success stories from others as they hit there goals.

Here is mine: I have drove this a lot. Its part of my camping and hunting grounds. Now I want to bike it. My end goal is to make it to the end with food and camping gear for one night then come back the next day.
It shouldn't be too hard right, after all, its only 36.46 miles (make sure to click the elevation button:eek:)

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/hiouchi/29890996

The ultimate Clyde friendly ride, from La Pas to Chapare in Bolivia, it's only about 200 miles, however La Pas is at an altitude of about 14,000 feet, Chapare is at about 100', yup it's 200 miles, all down hill. The ride that would show that you are in ultimate cycling shape, do it in reverse:eek:

The North Sea Cycle Route:

http://www.northsea-cycle.com/default.asp?id=2&mnu=2&lang=1

Who said this doesn't involve swimming? You could do the channel... it is "only" about 20 miles. Seriously I was watching a science program the other day where a guy swam the English channel they mentioned that more people have climbed Everest than completed the channel crossing. They also mentioned that the guy was burning up to 9000 calories per hour. The man put on an additional 15 Lbs of Fat just to have enough energy to get accross (he lost about 14 of those Lbs during the 12 hour event). Either way that is one serious bike ride!

My goals are much more modest. I sure am ready for Spring. We keep getting snow and sleet in the forecast. I know I live in the "frozen North," or the "Rust Belt," but Winter is getting a little long in the tooth. So here are my goal once the snow is all gone from the bike paths. I can ride along real roads, but it just isn't as nice as a scenic ride through the country side without having to hear or smell cars:

1. Add 15 miles to my commute at least once per week. Right now each direction is only 5 miles. The route takes me along some very descent roads that are pretty cycle friendly. There is a great bike path that was just extended last year and it gets used mostly by cyclists and a few runners. It will allow me to add an extra 15 miles along a scenic part of the Erie Canal. That should add some stamana to my riding capability.

2. Ride from my house in Amherst NY to my parents house in Orchard Park and back in one day. That should be about 66 miles total. I can follow a very nice scenic route that follows the Erie canal down to the Niagara River. There is only a short streach of path that gets bussy with pedestrians, but in total that represents less than 2 miles out of the route. This path will take me all the way along the River to where lake Erie Ends. I then have to find a cycle friendly route through the old industrial part of the town down through Lackawanna and over to Orchard Park. The upside of this route is that it will be scenic, the down-side is the noise from the I-190 highway next to the river (thank you Mr. Robert Moses for putting a highway next to such a beautiful river:mad:). Wind can be fun along this route, which is why there are now 8 giant windmills along the water front, but it will be flat. You do pass along some of the not so good neighborhoods in town, but during day-light that should not be a problem.

3. Ride from my house in Amherst NY to my sisters' house in Pittford NY. Both of us live within a few miles of the Erie canal. That should be a fun scenic ride as well. The path is mostly on crushed stone so I definitely have to make this a later Spring or Summer ride. Don't want to go that route after a good rain storm.

These are modest goals compared to many on this list, but you have to start somewhere. Last year my first long ride was the 33 miles Ride for Roswell. Sadly I'll be leaving town the day before the ride so I won't be able to participare this year. It was lots of fun and collecting money for Cancer is certainly a good goal.

Happy riding,
André

Coast to coast across Canada in under 90 days!

The North Sea Cycle Route:

http://www.northsea-cycle.com/default.asp?id=2&mnu=2&lang=1

This looks awesome. My wife is from Europe (right on the North Sea actually) and this would be a sweet ride...although we're nowhere near ready for something like that. But it's a good long term goal to set. Thanks for this link.

This looks awesome. My wife is from Europe (right on the North Sea actually) and this would be a sweet ride...although we're nowhere near ready for something like that. But it's a good long term goal to set. Thanks for this link.

My wife is from Poland, and she loves the idea of biking around Europe. She discovered this website just a few days ago, linked from here: http://www.ecf.com/83_1

We're definitely a long way from attempting anything as ambitious as this, but as you say it's a great long-term goal. Our own "personal Mount Everest", if you will.

Our ultimate ride. Hope to do this on our Santana Triplet beginning May 2009. 90 + or - a couple of days.

Our ultimate ride. Hope to do this on our Santana Triplet beginning May 2009. 90 + or - a couple of days.

Is that the TransAmerica trail? Looks like fun!

My goals are pretty lofty this year. I fugure that I should just go for it.

I want to finish my favorite century ride, the Buffalo Bicycle Classic (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106412931864288195098.00000113160577dad3515&z=9&om=1), in under 5 hours and 15 minutes. My dream goal is to finish it in under 5 hours total, but I don't think that I can realistically pull that off. Unlike some guys you see on the long distance forum, there is no way that I can eat and drink enough the day before and on ride-day to ride that hard, without also having to use the bathroom every 1-2 hours. Time waiting in line at the portable potty center adds up quickly.

My second major goal is to just FINISH the Horsetooth Double Dip (http://horsetoothdoubledip.com/docs/map100print.pdf) ride here in town. I suck at hills, have bonked doing just 60 miles of this 105 mile course before.

My smaller goals include losing enough weight to be able to maintain better speed on longer and steeper rides, and making sure to do more intervals this year that target BOTH my weak and my strong points (last year I only worked on my weaknesses - hills, and was slower on the flats than I could have been). And I would like to talk my wife into going on an unsupported, multi-day bike trip this summer or fall.

Have fun out there!

RAAM! That's my ultimate goal. In the next 5 years before I turn 40. I'm going to try to qualify for it this year on August 30 during a 24h time trial which is an official qualifying event for RAAM.
http://www.ultramidwest.net/um/UM24/24Home.aspx

Still lots of training to do but I have hopes as I was able to do a century in 5:45 riding time last year.

I'd love to ride the London-Edinburgh-London route.

There's also a great, hilly ride where I go camping. I could make it into about a 300km ride and I'd want to do it in the fall when the leaves change colour. MMmmm....

Still lots of training to do but I have hopes as I was able to do a century in 5:45 riding time last year.

I've done 5:45 on a flat solo century before, a few times. No drafting, just me and the road. Was your century also solo or paceline. I've had several rides say I could do a 5 hour if I used a paceline, but just not my thing.

I rode that same ride he's referring to and it's flat to slightly rolling, and was in nasty rainy weather. It went from miserably hot to clammy wet. He also did it with no draft.


I've done 5:45 on a flat solo century before, a few times. No drafting, just me and the road. Was your century also solo or paceline. I've had several rides say I could do a 5 hour if I used a paceline, but just not my thing.

He also did it with no draft.

Cool, my kinda guy!:D

2008: Ride from East to West across Iowa to meet with RAGBRAI then complete RAGBRAI all self contained. Then follow the AC northern Tier Route from Iowa to Minot N.D.

2009: Coast to Coast (TransAmerican Trail) solo self contained.

Yeah, scummer is a pretty hard core rider. :D
Cool, my kinda guy!:D

Actually I need to make one correction. I did latch on to a group of riders which I still cannot explain how I caught up to them because they were way stronger than me.
So I latched on to them at about milemarker 52 to 62, but they dropped me 3 times at the hills, which took a big effort to reel them back in that the whole ordeal hurt me more than help me. After I let them go at milemarker 62 because I was out of gas, I had stomach cramps and I really wanted to give up. I was done, toast, gassed, wrecked and everything in between. The ride from 62 to 70 miles was pure hell but I made it to the SAG stop where I just dropped into the grass, gasping for rest like a fish out of water.

Moral of the story: Don't think you're a hotshot during a century and latch to a far stronger group of riders. It might look like a great idea at first....
Keep it nice and steady into the headwind and rain. And let the other riders go at their own, faster pace.

Good story Scummer. That is one of the reasons I ride organized rides alone, 98% of the time. The other 2% is that maybe I ran into a friend or two. I do much better holding my own pace rather than latching onto the really fast guys. Most of the time you'll find you're only a minute or two back anyways.:D

Good story Scummer. That is one of the reasons I ride organized rides alone, 98% of the time. The other 2% is that maybe I ran into a friend or two. I do much better holding my own pace rather than latching onto the really fast guys. Most of the time you'll find you're only a minute or two back anyways.:D

Yeah... I made that mistake only once. I will never forget that experience of suffering. But then, it was only my first or second century after I had picked up cycling again in early summer of last year after I had stopped cycling for the last 10 years :( I couldn't believe it how much I missed it... but I was just too afraid to ride my bike in the US.

Some of the climbs that have been posted here are down right amazing. The Death Ride seems about imposable to me now but in a couple years who knows. Of course most of my time has been spent on flat and rolling hill areas. I just can't wait for the rain to end, I want to give the one I posted a good try and see what where I get to so I have something to base my progress on.

My goal last year was a half century, and I did it. This year I plan on two half centuries with a backpacking trip in between--down to the woods and back a few days later. It would be great if I could swing a full century in a circuit of all the main bike routes, but I'm not sure what the point would be.

Some of the climbs that have been posted here are down right amazing. The Death Ride seems about imposable to me now but in a couple years who knows. Of course most of my time has been spent on flat and rolling hill areas. I just can't wait for the rain to end, I want to give the one I posted a good try and see what where I get to so I have something to base my progress on.

Well I'm a 'You can do it ' person and I say you can!:D...Before I did a century with 10,000 ft of climbing, I rode strictly flats. I had no idea climbing rides even existed before I joined a bike forum. I did 3,000 miles a year on the trail. A friend talked me into the ride so I was uncertain of my abilities.

I trained for about 4 months on long climbing rides, once a week. First time almost killed me but if you're in decent shape, you quickly adapt. Seems more like the muscles adapt to the angles of the road and stress on the legs. Training rides were 40 miles with 5k of climbing. Oh it was tough but after 3 or 4 times, actually got much better. I was actually surprised on the ride itself. It was much easier than decribed by the vets. So easy that I figured I could remove an hour from my official time the next year.


That year I was 230 and did 3,000 miles. The next year I did 4,000 but watched my diet very closely and added in some mtb during the week for climbing. I went down to 218 and smoked the ride! Did it again the next 2 years and did about the same eventhough I rode 7,000 miles. Just not as aggressively. Maybe 10lbs heavier too.

Last year I did a ride that was 12,000 ft of climbing. Didn't diet or train very hard (235 lbs). Still doable just not as fast. All you need too do is go out and start climbing. Start out easy, the speed and ease will come in time. And rather quickly if you're in half decent shape right now!:D

I know a guy that did 3 passes on the Death Ride and didn't train at all. He did not complete the ride but he was not a strong/fast rider at all. I think mostly people are intimidated to do these rides when they can be done.

I say go for it. But then again, I'm one of those that thinks if it's humanly possible, I can do it!

Is that the TransAmerica trail? Looks like fun!

Yes it is. We have all the maps and are ready to get started. Very recent events have cleared our way to go. Nothing stands in our way now, all we have to do is commit to a start date. My better half is maintaining a start in 2009. So it looks to be firming up mighty quickly. Good deal because I have been wanting to go since I retired eight short years ago!!

...2009: Coast to Coast (TransAmerican Trail) solo self contained.

We're going East to West. Yorktown to Florence. Start should be right after school lets out toward the end of May. What are your plans, we may run into you somewhere along the route.

I would love to do a vacation biking event. I know there are plenty out there. I would love for my wife to commit to doing one herself as well.

I would love to do a vacation biking event. I know there are plenty out there. I would love for my wife to commit to doing one herself as well.

So start planning one. You could tackle a trail and not worry about traffic. Camp or stay in lodgings as you wish. Travel at your own speed.

Two widely recommended trails for bike touring vacations are the Katy Trail in MO (250 miles), and the Great Allegheny Passage/C & O Canal towpath in PA and MD (335 miles.)

LOL, I already have I just have to get my wife up to par on riding as well.

However, I have planned on getting together with some of the members on my site who I just found out are big riders and maybe trying to plan something out with them.

This is probably a "who cares?" post, but if anyone is in my local area, here's a ride I like. I do it after I've been training for something for awhile, to see if I'm really in shape. If I can complete this without too much suffering, I'm good to go. (That's for what I consider to be "in shape" for myself. You gnarly people might find this too easy.)

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Los-Osos-Atascadero-Cayucos-Loop

This is a loop so you can start and finish anywhere along it. I start in Los Osos. I ride into San Luis Obispo on Los Osos Valley Road. I turn left on Foothill and ride to Santa Rosa (Highway 1). I take it into town and turn left on Monterey. Get on Highway 101 at the end of Monterey and ride until you reach the junction with Stagecoach Road. Take Stagecoach over the grade. At the top get back onto 101 heading north until the Santa Margarita exit. Get off the highway and follow El Camino Real through Atascadero to Home Depot. Get back on 101 for a couple of miles and take the Templeton exit. Take Vineyard Drive west and turn left on Santa Rita Road. Follow Santa Rita Road over the top of the pass and down the other side until it ends at Old Creek Road. Take a left on Old Creek and head to Cayucos. At Cayucos, turn left on Highway 1. At San Jacinto you can turn right, then left again and get on the bike path that will take you a couple of miles. Cross 41 by Morro Bay High School and pick up the bike path again just before the highway onramp - it turns off to the right. When the bike path ends, turn left on Quintana. Follow it up the hill. Turn left on Morro Bay Blvd. and quickly right back onto Quintana. At the bottom of the hill turn right on South Bay Blvd. This will take you back to Los Osos.

The total miles is 67. The route takes you on all sorts of roads and scenery, from busy highway shoulders (unavoidable but brief) to dirt roads through the country. Since a couple of the stretches involve dirt, I wouldn't recommend this route to someone with really skinny tires on a fragile racing bike, but on a touring bike with 28m tires or wider, this is easily doable. There are some long climbs that will test your fitness - Stagecoach Road, Santa Rita Road, and the climb up from Whale Rock Reservoir on Old Creek Road after you're pretty exhausted - but also some nice flat stretches - Los Osos Valley Road, El Camino Real, and Highway 1 from Cayucos through Morro Bay.

The North Sea Cycle Route:

http://www.northsea-cycle.com/default.asp?id=2&mnu=2&lang=1

What a great route! This is now officially my target...well part of it anyway.

I've been aiming at being able to get from London to Cambridge and back in the same day. My normal ride takes me half way there and back so I could do the one way but certainly not the return journey. Hopefully by June I'll do it.

1. Finish the middle of the Lewis and Clark Trail (the scary bit:eek:) from Great Falls MT to Pierre SD. Already done both ends.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/images/lewis_clark_img1.jpg

2. Break the 160 day barrier for riding to work (got to 156 days a couple of years ago.) Then break the 190 day barrier.

3. Ride in all 50 states...I've got 27.

4. Do my brussels sprout tour that was called off last year...after spending 6 weeks training for it. So called because I have to do it before I can enjoy my dessert. (Start in Texarkanna and ride in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi)

5. Someday figure out how to do the TranAm trail and still be able to pay the bills.

6. Either plan and do a "Sherman's March to the Sea Tour" in the south or (and?) do the Underground Railroad Trail.

Cool thread. Hard to answer the OP question because as I get more fit my sites keep setting higher. I don't know what the ultimate is at this point.

Here is one I have planned for this summer. Not monumental compared to some rides I've seen posted here and pretty flat, but it will be a fun day out on the bike back in my old stompin' grounds...

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tn/franklin/395388343

After that, a double century would be the target. Maybe this fall or next year?

Plus I would like to do a flat century ride that I did last fall (my first and only century) in just under 7 hours saddle time in under 6 this year. I know that's not blazing fast, but it would be a nice improvement over last year. Since I'm in A LOT better shape now than I was last September and I probably really didn't train adequately last year for my first century (I really didn't ride anything over 35 miles except twice before I tried the century) I'm thinking that is within reach :D.

my ultimate riding goals are to complete a century this year. i cant ride at all now due to a freshly shattered collar bone. i suppose i can meet my goal if i train like a demon once i'm healed. furthest i've done in a day so far is like 15 miles... i could have gone further...i just didnt have the time that day for much more.