Fifty Plus (50+) - Your Favorite Ride in 2011

So what was the bestest and greatest of your rides from the year? Maybe you have a top ten list of great rides from the year. Tell us!

For me it was the ride on day 6 of Cycle Oregon, from Powers to Riddle Oregon. The ride had it all from no traffic forest roads, waterfalls, an epic climb, amazing views from the top of the world and a crazy long descent. Here's the map.
http://www.cycleoregon.com/week-ride/route/day6/

My commute.

I liked it so much, I did it at least four times a week. :thumb:

My favorite ride every year is the first warm weather ride. No warmers, jackets, tights.

Today's ride. It was the first time back on a bike since I was hit in mid-October and broke my right clavicle. Only did 10 miles bit it felt really awesome to be back in the saddle. Rode to a lighthouse I'd never visited (though I've lived here my whole life) and had no issues mixing it up with traffic as needed (wasn't sure how I'd feel about that but it was a non-issue). It was a beautiful, sunny morning and the joy of riding came rushing back in spite of me being really out of shape. Looking forward to many happy miles in 2012.

The ride that was my first ride back since 2008 and all the surgeries. Now it is looked on by me and turning a corner in my life.

Bill

Today's ride for me, too. Glorious weather and a great 40 workout with only side winds.

My ride from San Luis Obispo up Old Creek Rd to Hwy 46 thru Morro Bay back SLO, 78 miles of bliss, pain and enlightment. Can't wait to share it with friends.
232604232603

Several mtn bike rides I did - I really enjoyed the single track.

http://www.ourwebs.info/hr5.jpg

and another place:

http://www.ourwebs.info/spruceospikespeak.jpg

Bike around the Bay. A two day ride around Galveston Bay, Texas. Oct. 8th and 9th if I remember correctly. Here is a pic of me at the start of the first day

http://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz349/Ambush_photos/th_BikeAroundtheBayDay1.jpg (http://s842.photobucket.com/albums/zz349/Ambush_photos/?action=view&current=BikeAroundtheBayDay1.jpg)And, no I'm not stareing at her derrier... :D

#1 son lives in NYC (upper east). I shipped him a single speed, flew out to NYC, rented a a bike for myself, and we did the 5 Boro Bike Tour together. Great time with my son but that ride is insanely crowded. Check that one off.

But the best was on our annual WI trip. The day we did Madison. Cruised in the AM and spent the PM on the UW Union patio drinking beer.

Our ride to Yosemite National Park from my home in the East Bay. This shows the ride route and pictures from the 3rd day when we rode from a campground outside of Groveland into the park:
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1064886

My first ride in many years after injury woo hoo

It's the "High Trestle" ride where my Avitar photo was taken.

It was 50 miles of social riding with billydonn, lunch at a trailside place that defies description, we picked up another 50+ qualifier along the way, and the trestle has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Also, I didn't break anything that day.

If the doctors clear my hip for rideing I'm going back this year.

I really liked the Greenville, MI "Tour de Dounut" race I rode in late September.

The weather turned out to be so much better than what had been forecast. We had a cool day with a bright blue fall sky and the course ran past woods, fields and a lake. Just a beautiful day and a fun ride.

I also enjoyed the day I set a personal record on my regular weekday training ride. It took me all summer but I finally made it.

So what was the bestest and greatest of your rides from the year? ]

Vienna to Budapest alongside the Danube, 5 days, August. Pretty hot, though

No major events for me but I did have a few "favorite" rides.
-- The Withlacoochee Clean Air Ride (http://cleanairride.com/) last March was great. Warm Florida sunshine rather than cold Atlanta temps and lots of friendly folks. :)
-- The first time I did 3 laps around Stone Mtn. Haven't done that since I was a kid back in 2004. I was 59 years old then. :rolleyes:
-- The first time I rode my new Felt. I'd been wanting a Felt for a few years. The ride was awesome. :love:
-- The first time I was able to wear my RoadBikeRider (http://www.roadbikerider.com/) jersey. I lost 22 pounds so it would fit. :beer:

My favorite ride of 2011 came in late October, with most of the cycling season behind me. It was my very first group ride, a 40 miler with the local cycling club.

The day was overcast, and the temperature may have topped 50 degrees for a bit. My feet didn't get warm until about 90 minutes into the ride. However…the people were great, the back-country roads were excellent for cycling, and the terrain and scenery were superb.

It was my favorite ride because it opened up a new aspecting of cycling for me. Before I tried the group thing I was skeptical that I would even like it. It turned out that I loved it.

I've gone on several group rides since. The rides continued into November and even December, even though the weather in upstate NY can be very questionable at that time of year.

Most of my riding is still solo, which is fine, but now I have the group rides to add to the mix. I did finish out 2011 with a relatively quick 12 mile jaunt yesterday, but I'm very much looking forward to warmer weather and more riding in 2012.

My favorite ride was the early-season "Ride for Nature" century in Door County: http://www.ridefornature.com

Perfect weather, the ladyslipper orchids were in full bloom along the roads, and I did it on my fixed gear.

Levi's King Ridge Gran Fondo? Nope. Axel Merckx Gran Fondo? Nah.
Cino Herioca surpassed all others.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/767937-Cino-Herioca-ride-report?highlight=

I have two favorites:
1) First ride after my broke arm healed and it was through Central Park on a beautiful day with my son and my sister. It was like a victory lap.
2) MS 80 mile City to Shore Ride. Great weather, fun ride, my first metric century and longest distance ridden so far, not to mention the cheers from those in wheelchairs on the sides of the street.

My urban century ride: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/773960-My-105-mile-urban-solo-summertime-Century-in-October-(pic-heavy)?highlight=urban+century

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/OctoberCenturybikeride031.jpg

But my gravel path rides were great fun also: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/781780-Share-your-gravel-travel-pictures-amp-stories.?highlight=gravel

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll210/wildcat-bucket/012.jpg

One of my very favorite ride of any year--although I rode it a week ago is Tunitas Creek Road South of San Francisco climbing over the coastal hills in a forest of redwood trees--it feels like being in a cathedral--so incredibly majestic and the climb is rather steep for a good 4 miles, but the pain is no problem because of such a beautiful area.

http://www.chainreaction.com/images/steep53.jpg

The 5 Boro's Tour, a ride through all five boroughs of NYC. It was a fun ride, with about 30k people.
The most memorable moment; Upper Manhattan, I hear some woman say "I think we're in Queens, this must be Queens". A guys standing on the side walk as we go buy "QUEENS? Your on Manhattan, this is HARLEM!"

My favorite was our fall ride along the Mulberry River. It wasn't a long ride, but the area is absolutely beautiful. It is in the middle of nowhere. See below (upper left portion of screen on phone).
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z90/gearloose_2007/IMG_1071.jpg

It's so quiet that one can hear the water rushing over the rocks from f - a - r away. See below.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z90/gearloose_2007/IMG_1079.jpg

The end of the ride was as good or better than the ride itself. See real food and yeast rolls below.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z90/gearloose_2007/IMG_1112.jpg

I agree Dr. J.

http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd444/arkansasgal/215.jpg


The Mulberry River ride is on Scenic Byway 215 along the Mulberry River near Oark, Arkansas.

Paris Brest Paris was pretty phenominal - everything it was hyped to be and more. I would call it a once in a lifetime experience, but I plan to do it again.

But the nod has to go to a half-day tour of Soweto South Africa. While it was cool to have a French kid high-five me as I rode through his village, it was humbling and inspiring to get the same from a kid in Soweto.

It was day three of Cycle Montana- Dillon to Wise River

Two passes: Badger and Grasshopper. The descent from Grasshopper was awesome. Wise River was very cool with cowboy poet in the evening.
Top of Badger Pass
http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/46632/2095928740102275918S500x500Q85.jpg
View from The Grasshopper Inn
http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/48646/2076401900102275918S500x500Q85.jpg
Top of Grasshopper Pass
http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/46990/2969772900102275918S500x500Q85.jpg
Going Into Wise River
http://inlinethumb59.webshots.com/23738/2429885010102275918S500x500Q85.jpg
Wise River Club
http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/46195/2186007900102275918S500x500Q85.jpg

It's the "High Trestle" ride where my Avitar photo was taken.

It was 50 miles of social riding with billydonn, lunch at a trailside place that defies description, we picked up another 50+ qualifier along the way, and the trestle has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Also, I didn't break anything that day.

If the doctors clear my hip for rideing I'm going back this year.

Social???? I thought we were racing! :D
http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/48094/2057801410102275918S500x500Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb55.webshots.com/46006/2133476740102275918S500x500Q85.jpg
http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/48676/2593821760102275918S500x500Q85.jpg

Tour Deschutes 72 mile route. My first century, my first organized ride, first ride over 45 miles, first ride in memory of dear friends and family claimed by cancer and in honor of those fighting it. So looking forward to the 2012 ride, that one with my wife!

My favorite ride this year was riding the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park on my loaded touring bike.

Paris-Brest-Paris is high on the list. But a couple of my recent rides in Northern California rank higher probably because they're more recent. It's a tossup between my Mt. Tamalpais ride (from Fairfax, along Fairfax-Bolinas Rd, Ridgecrest, Mt. Tam, Pan Toll, Panoramic, Hwy 1 to Pt. Reyes Stn, back to Fairfax) and the Mt. Hamilton Loop (San Jose, Mt. Hamilton, Livermore, Calaveras Rd to Milpitas in the dark, Piedmont to San Jose).

L.

I took a tour on the Great Divide. I rode for 11 days, from Eureka to Helena, until my knee pain convinced me to quit. It was the hardest ride I've ever done, but the most beautiful and most satisfying in terms of my sense of accomplishment. It was amazing!
http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp53997%3Enu%3D3385%3E584%3E435%3EWSNRCG%3D33%3A3673536345nu0mrj

We don't have that type of beautiful scenery here in the flatlands of Florida. However, I have done a lot of charity rides throughout the state and the best one I've done is the MS-150 that goes from Lake Wales to the Orlando resort area. I'm waiting for the wife to retire this June so we can load the bikes and start riding around the US. Maybe this time next year, I'll have some nice scenic photos to post.

Up and over McKenzie Pass from Sisters Oregon to Eugene. Went up and over the pass on day one and then the rest of the way to Eugene day 2.

That McKenzie pass is a real hoot going that direction. It's a climb, but very do-able and almost any cyclist can make it up as long as you just rest when you need to. I didn't need to, but I didn't go fast either. My wife had never done anything like it and made it up fine with good low gearing and 2-3 breaks.

Now, the ride down, going westward was a stone cold gas. No problems going as fast or faster than cars, so you never feel you're impeding traffic, pretty good sight lines, nice fast twisty turns. Really fun.

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j343/Hillbasher/IMG_2325.jpg

The ride I did the most often for the year, just not often enough. :50:

It's a tough choice between some of my solo rides while in Upstate NY in June/July and one of my favorite rides in SE Fla.

This is my "Signature ride" when in the Albany Area. For a Fla flatlander the climbs and vistas are the featured elements
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/301646
(wish I had photos, but my phone takes lousy ones.)


This ride I did solo while visiting the Jensen Beach area. I liked it so much I later Joined the TCCA club for their 7AM club ride, with the B+ group. I later organized the ride with some of my club members. We drove up early one morning, did the ride, had lunch, and headed home, about 1.5 hr drive.
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/223071
Got a few photos on this one.

Quite a few really good rides last year. My favorite would have to be the Wednesday club ride that started this summer. A half dozen to a dozen of us would meet up every Wednesday after work for a 25 to 35 mile ride that I led starting about a half mile from my house. The most successful regular ride the club has had for a few years and it helped a few new riders develop into strong and dedicated riders. Several of us became good riding friends who gently pushed each other into longer, faster and smoother riding than we had been doing alone. Some of us teamed up for other local weekend rides and some organized events around the state. I was especially proud to join four of those riders on their first century rides this fall.

Many great rides. But the most impressive was in October. Badwater to Shoshone.

My first Death Ride. Finished all 5 passes...It was a BLAST!

My ride from San Luis Obispo up Old Creek Rd to Hwy 46 thru Morro Bay back SLO, 78 miles of bliss, pain and enlightment. Can't wait to share it with friends.

That's a big chunk of the SLOBC Lighthouse Century. The descent down 46 to the coast is amazing.

I don't have a particular ride that stands out, I just remember a few that started out as just a ride and then about a quarter of the way through, realizing I was having a really good time and adding some unplanned miles just to make the feeling last longer.

My favorite ride in 2011 probably was the Saturday ride at the Rans Rally. Mainly for the fact of meeting new people and seeing all the different types of recumbents, both bikes and trikes.

This is my "Signature ride" when in the Albany Area. For a Fla flatlander the climbs and vistas are the featured elementshttp://ridewithgps.com/trips/301646

I'm right outside of Albany. I've ridden some of those roads, but for most of my longer rides I head north. That hill heading out of Clarksville is a good one...

Three month, 2900 mile fully loaded tour on a route that took us through portions of Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands. The best part of the ride is that my wife and I did it together!

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy112/Doug64_photos/IMG_4981-1.jpg

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy112/Doug64_photos/DSCN8224-1.jpg

It did not rain all of the time!
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy112/Doug64_photos/Europe%202011/Copy_4381-1.jpg

Three month, 2900 mile fully loaded tour on a route that took us through portions of Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands. The best part of the ride is that my wife and I did it together!


Now that sounds like ride heaven! What a trip!

There were two:

1.) The Ride of Silence this year was 2x the turnout of years before, and police escorted; granted, this is a serious ride for a cause, but to see the attendance, the support, well, the whole experience ramped up a BIG notch. For the first time, there was actually some vocal support from people not involved in the ride!

2.) Every year, I make it a point to do all (or anymore, majority) of our local Greenway MUP system; it's up over 60 miles now! The out-and-back I did this year covered 52 miles, and I saw parts of the system that were new, and others connected to it that I'd never seen before. REFRESHING! (As always, I came home exhausted AND fulfilled....)

Shifty, It took awhile to search the old memory cells for a short list of the best rides and then to choose one. It boiled down to a spur of the moment mountain bike ride with my SiL. We only had a couple of hours for the ride and put everything we had into exploring some new and exciting technical single track paths and I only crashed once. :D

On the way back to the parking lot I climbed a grass hill with the front tire about 18 inches off the ground for much of the way while seated. It was like a victory salute, even if unplanned.

Brad

Can't pick any 1 ride as a favorite but getting the chance to meet and ride with John_V and his wife from these forums was a good thing. :thumb:

Every ride I get to do with my regular riding group. It is a laugh fest from start to finish. A great stress-reliever! I love the group we have. It's a mix of men and women and a few young girls. The youngest girl us just now "coming out of her shell" and it's a great thing to witness. I make it a point to give her a hard time and she takes it very well. Actually she seems to look forward to the attention.

Best organized ride: Seagull Century. I had a blast doing it and it proved to me I CAN ride a century.
Best butt kicker ride: Garrett County Maryland Gran Fondo. Words cannot describe how hard this ride is. It proved to me I can't ride a Metric Century :)