Today's Assignment, Class
 

Imagine that you are over 50 years-old and in reasonably good riding shape. Imagine, further, that you have a two to three week window coming available in July or August. Imagine further that you could get your hands on a few grand, if needed. Where would you go? And why? You can use any means of transportation to get to the beginning of your trip. The only "limitation" is that the main part of your trip has to be on a bike.

I don't have too much imagination,
but I would enjoy riding from Sacramento,
California up Highway 50 to Placerville
and South on Highway 49 through Plymouth,
Amador, Sutter Creek (First Calif. gold discovery 1849)
to Jackson, Angels Camp (once home to Mark Twain)
and down to Sonora, a completely restored Gold Rush
town. The elevation gain and loss on such a trip would
probably be pretty fierce. While it is described as the
Foothills of the Sierra's, it is nothing but huge rolling hills
for about 150 miles or more as I recall. Beautiful tho.

How I'd get home, I don't know. I probably wouldn't
wanna come home. I love the Gold Country in Northern
California, although I haven't been there in 25 years
and overdevelopment 'could' have trashed it.
The general area is seen here: http://tinyurl.com/hgcve

I would imagine that parts of New York
State would be nice too.

Would not be a problem as once I got to wherever I wanted to go- I would stay on the bike from around 9AM (Got to get that breakfast in and let it digest) To the end of the days ride. Choice of a couple of places- One would be the Rockies. Not many places interest me in America bu the rockies would fullfill my aspirations to learn to climb hills and My other passion for Alpine plants. Think it would have to be offroad to enable me to view the habitat.

The other would be a ride through France from north to South- On a road bike- I Know its blaspamy to say road bike but for this trip I would try one. In this way I would be taking in a few gentle hills- to completely flat lands- to the Full TDF Mountain stages. Plus the fact that France is the most Bike Friendly country I have ever been to and it would be a joy to ride where a bike is so well respected. Only problem is that they would have to sort out the breakfast. A cup of chocolate and a bit of bread and jam is not my idea of food. Mind you- the rest of the cuisine is perfect and if coupled with a bottle of wine- that would have to be my ride of choice.

Ohhhh, that's an easy one. I would grab a similarly-masochistic buddy, gear up, arrange for support stops at key trailheads and ride as much as I could of the Idaho Centennial Trail. And I don't mean the paved path that is the extension of the one from Washington. I mean the REAL Idaho Centennial trail - -the backcountry one that stretches 1,200 miles from the Canadian border down to Nevada. It is all bike-able (well, with some hike-a-biking), although there is a stretch that splits off from the main trail to skirt the Frank Church Wilderness Area. That's my idea of the ultimate epic mountain bike ride.

Northern Italy. Do all the climbs in the Alps and Dolomites. Get a hotel room in Bormio, then ride the Stelvio one day, the Gavia the next day, and the Mortirolo the next. And I'm not even a decent climber!

I've never been to Northern Italy, but I've done some of the Pyrenees (Tourmalet, Aspin, Aubisque) and some French Alps. I went up Alpe d'Huez one August day - you practically had to take a number, there were so many ciclistas in Le Bourg d'Oisans, but once on the road, there was nobody. And after you've done the 21 turns, there are three more in the village.

My girlfriend & I have just signed up for a 9-day bike tour from Vienna to Budapest in September. This lets us see a couple of operas in Vienna at the Staatsoper & Volksoper, two more houses to add to my lifetime list, then a couple more houses at the Budapest end. Now the problem will be transporting the tandem to Vienna.

Hmm, starting to get excited. - L.

I don't much ambition. I'd take a trip to the Netherlands for two reasons:

The cycling, which I'd do a lot of.

The tall leggy blondes. :D

Ok Three reasons: I understand they have some very nice brews over there.

I would like to take some time to ride skyline drive. Have you done that yet?

One word: Tuscany.

TdF.

I was there once for one of Greg Lemond's victories. Lot's of fun and you can ride a lot of the course.

Anywhere in Europe.

I did do a pretty big chunk of the skyline drive. It's a beautiful road with lots of scenic overlooks. The only problem is the occasional Winnebago with a mirror sticking out three feet. One of those things could lop your head off and the driver might not even know it.

1) US Pacific Coast

2) trans-Canada

Sounds good, Gary Diego, if that's you're real name. But tell, me....What did you do with Digital Gee?

Hey Gary I had a girlfriend that look almost exactly like that dutch girl. She is 6' tall.

And I don't HAVE to dream - next week I'll be in Ireland riding past Dingle, over the Ring of Kerry, up in Connemara, over to Dublin....... SUFFER YOU WORKING PIGS SUFFER.

Yeah, pray tell! :mad:

Europe, where the soul of cycling resides.

Umbria

Even though I have been clean and sober
for more than 25 yrs mind you, I can assure you that
if I went to Amsterdam I wouldn't ever leave
the coffee and 'smoke' houses. Maybe just
long enough to visit the Red Light district, and
back to the Expresso bar. I probably wouldn't
even to be able to identify a bicycle if it was
parked on the street.

My suggestion for an ideal domestic trip is in the Pacific Northwest. Late summer is the best weather, yet cooler than many parts of the US. It isn't likely you'll suffer from the heat.

Trip 1: Start in Bellingham, Washington, down Chuckanut Drive, over to the San Juan Islands for a week, then to Port Townsend and down US 101 on the west side of Hood Canal, then duck over to the coast, pick up 101 again and ride it south to Brookings, Oregon. The down side of this trip is that it does start and end away from major airports although you can rent and drop off cars or U-Hauls, or dog it (Greyhound). Bellingham is 90 minutes north of Seattle (Amtrak goes there too), Brookings is 2 hours from Medford which has a major airport, or even San Francisco.

Or start in Seattle: north to Mukliteo and cross over to Whidbey Island, go north to Anacortes and the San Juans--again for a week, then to Victoria and Vancouver Island, back across the Straits of Juan de Fuca to Port Angeles (Hurricane Ridge at Olympic Nat'l Park!), Sequim, Port Townsend, then to Kingston, then Seattle. It does a loop from a major city so transportation in and out isn't an issue.

Or mix it--Seattle, Bellingham, Victoria, San Juans, Seattle--the possibilites are numerous.

Whatever you do, keep us posted!

John in Oregon

+1 to that!

I've frequented the Mediterranean countries, so I'd go where I've never been in Europe. Germany, Austria, Switzerland.

As a second choice - Vancouver to San Diego. Coolish and generally dry along the coast in summer.

Yes you would- there are thousands of them. The red light district is quite spectacular and worth a trip but Too many drunken English about for my liking. Incidentally -Went into a cafe and I smoked a pipe- Ordered a beer and along with the drink came a little package- Didn't order it and when I realised what it was told them I didn't want it. It was an assumption that as I smoked tobacco- I would want the package that turned up. They were offereing it as a free sample so that I could buy if I enjoyed it.

By the way- Did not find one single beer that I liked. Had to stay on the schnapps and I can't remember much else