Originally Posted by
trevorjfitz
My eight-year-old has set a lofty goal of riding a century--I plan to ride with him. Over the past year he's done a couple of 50 miler's and can't seem to get enough. Seems with a reasonable training plan and a little help from me it may actually be possible for him. He's a couple weeks into preparations and I'm struggling to plan a good route for him--I could use some help.
I'm hopeful someone can suggest a route with the following characteristics:
- start of ride is within a day's drive of southern CA (Orange County area) -- nor cal, AZ, NV, southern UT all seem reasonable
- minimal elevation gain, an average descent ideal
- safe--he has surprisingly mature road sense but I'm confident fatigue will challenge his mental acuity
- unlikely headwind mid-May
Route nice to have's:
- Interesting (i.e. not repeats on a boring section of road)
- Probable tail wind mid-May
- Occasional civilization
- Comfortable weather in Mid May - likely rules out Palm Springs/Phoenix corridor
Other relevant info:
- The route does not need to be a loop or an out and back
- The route does not need to be a known century ride
- The rest of the fam has offered to be a support crew
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Routes that match the criteria but are beyond the one-day drive would also be interesting to hear about.
I did my first (and so far only) century last summer in an area near Lake Tahoe called the Sierra Valley. The route was a loop approximately 54-56 miles around going through the towns of Loyalton and Sierraville where supplies can be found.
The route takes you on wide open, well maintained roads with little traffic until you reach Hwy70 where there is a fair amount of cars but a massive shoulder and virtually straight with no blind spots.
Altitude in this area is about 4500 but I couldn’t tell it affected me at all and I live at around 350.
This is of course a bit further than you asked for but the scenery is beautiful and it is one of the safest routes I’ve found regarding traffic and the mildest of hills.