rumrunn6

had a long hot ride this summer. went too far to ride back reliably. bailed & took a taxi. not a great achievement, but memorable!

_ForceD_

OldsCOOL

fietsbob

On bicycle tours, on the other side of 'the Pond' there were many,, pictures on film..

On my 50th birthday I was in Scotland..





....

zacster

Riding along the fjords of Norway from a town called Balestrand, absolutely gorgeous.
Riding Seattle to Portland in one day, at least 5 times.
Riding up Mt. Haleakala in Maui
Riding the NYC Century, at least 5 times now as well.
Riding the streets of Copenhagen as our (whole family on this one) only form of transportation. My wife and my 3 adult kids were all into it too. Same trip as Norway.
Riding the streets of Arcachon, France out to the Dune du Pilat

Doug64

Jim,
This will probably be one of my most memorable days on the bike. My wife at the Pacific ocean at the start of our cross country ride. While I have many great memories, this is one that ranks right up at the top.


Newport, Oregon where we started our ride to Boston.

The expression on my wife's face mirrors my own feelings when we reached Boston after riding 3700 miles in 74 days.

diphthong

anytime i'm on the precipice of a big descent and continuing onwards adds 20+ miles, a huge (3,000 ft+) climb and limited/zero food/drink availability.
i've pushed into the void every time and have gotten away with it-so far. happens about once a year.

deacon mark

I believe it was a 2011 or 2010 the local St Jude Century done in Central Illinois in July. That day in particular was exceptionally hot and humid we started at 7am the temp was in the 80's and humidity %100 percent. The course purposely found any and all the hills that could be found in the flatlands and it was not flat as we think. I believe by 9am it was over 90 degrees and just had fun trying to see how fast I could actually ride the 100 miles. Give the heat I manage it in 5:30 and beat tired by the end of the day. I road 6 miles to get to the start and 6 miles home so for me it was a good long day but I remember it.

Doug64

Thinking more about how difficult it is to pick one memorable day, I started the difficult task of shuffling through the many highlights of my cycling "career". Ninety-nine percent of my great times on a bike were with my wife or our kids.

My wife and I had just returned to Oregon from a 3-month bicycle tour in Europe, and were riding the last 120 miles of our trip from the Portland Airport to our home. However, we had one important stop to make on the way through Portland. My wife "insisted" that we stop at our son and daughter-in-law's place and see her first granddaughter who was born while we were in Europe. That was a pretty special day, and we were on our bikes

We have done many 2-week tours with our daughters, and were finally able to find a point in time when we could all get together for a "long" tour. Last summer we spent 7 weeks riding in Europe with our daughters. Every day was a special day.

This photo sticks out in my mind because this was the second time I rode through this part of France. I thought I could improve on my original photo. I did, our daughters were in the last one. My photography still sucks, but I like the 2018 picture much better.

2018:


2011:

jppe

Wow.....very special for sure. I can't thank you enough for recommending Route 20 as a cross country ride.....and especially the heads up about the detour on Rt 20 before Sisters the day before I started. The subsequent route you suggested was terrific. The climb up to Sisters via McKenzie Pass was a really good one. You were one of s few "angels" on that trip that just seemed to provide divine and unanticipated guidance when it was most needed. We made several adjustments on the fly the day before the start including the hotel, starting point etc. It's amazing how things just seem to work out sometimes.

jppe

Since I've started the thread I've thought a lot about different days that were "special". There is one in particular that just seems to keep coming back to top of mind. It was on Day 20 of my Cross Country ride and according to my log was on September 3, 2016. I was really struggling that day. I'd been riding for 2+ weeks straight with pretty large mileages every day. I was riding from Valentine to O'Neill, Nebraska that day. The winds were horrific. I had taken my time trial bike (in addition to my road bike) just to ride across the flat lands of Nebraska. However the winds were so bad I couldn't keep the TT bike stable so I switched back to the road bike.

I was supposed to ride 100+ miles that day and we'd already booked a hotel at O"Neill for that night. But after a while I was only averaging about 10 miles per hour and struggling to do that because of the wind. I was really bummed and both mentally and physically tired. Then out of nowhere I came across a monument on the side of the road. It was a tribute to P47 Thunderbolt pilots who had trained at an airport in Ainsworth in WWII. My Dad was a P47 pilot in WWII and had passed away several years before. His exploits in WWII were legendary to our family. After the war he made speeches to civic groups about his service and even showed film clips of his gun cameras. To run into a monument about P47's in the middle of nowhere was just diving intervention. It make me quite emotional and still does just thinking about it.

Anyway, it was a great boost to the spirit as I could sense my Dad encouraging me like he always did. After spending some time at the monument and getting refreshments from my wife I was back on the road. We just went from town to town and would up doing the 100+ miles as planned that day. That is one day and experience that really stands out among a lot of great days on the bike.




Below is what I had posted on 50+ for those that were following along on my cross country trip for that day.


Oh man. What a day. Back to back centuries. 112 miles total but today was really flat. BUT, the wind was still a total menace. I really can't adequately explain how tough today was. I've ridden centuries with 10,000' of climbing faster than what I rode today.

I rode the first 25 miles today in a little over 2 hours and was proud of it!!!! At times I was doing 8-9 mph on the flats into howling winds. I had hoped to do 92 miles to Atkinson but after 25 miles that just didn't seem realistic. Plus I got a later start than normal. I was pretty whipped last night so I intentionally avoided doing all the prep needed for today's ride. Plus I needed to clean my bike, lube everything, retape my bars and some other odds and ends.

What worked really well today was there were "communities" (names on a map) about every 10-15 miles apart. So, we just set a goal of getting to the next little town. The other thing that helped was a huge dose of Coca Cola at mile 45 plus a Mountain Dew at mile 60. I have to watch my caffeine intake but I was feeling pretty irritable and thirsty at mile 45 so I rolled the dice. Wow, the caffeine and sugar kicked in and that was a huge boost. In fact at mile 80 I knew I'd blow past my original target and just keep going. Anyway, I've done a lot of long rides but with having to dig deep, fight the mental challenges I feel really pumped about today's ride. Now I'll probably be awake all night with all the caffeine!!

The other thing that helped was a slight saddle adjustment. I was having "tooth ache" type of pain in one sit bone. I was having to stand about every half mile just to get relief. I thought about what might be causing it for several days. I've ridden this setup for several years and have done lots of 6 hour rides without issues. I just chalked it up to 20 days on the bike. At about 60 miles I moved the saddle back a couple millimeters and also dropped the nose a couple MM's. When I got back on the saddle it was amazing. It was extremely comfortable. I'm amazed at how such a slight change could make that much difference. Boy am I lucky on that one.

I asked locals about the winds and they said it's normally really calm around here. I've been in it for 3 days. I've learned a lot about riding in the wind. The biggest thing is to just take what it gives you. Use easier gears and spin and do not wear yourself out. Just ride at a pace you can sustain for a long time. Heck, that sounds an awful lot like climbing hills!!!

Folks have been extremely friendly and curious about my trip. I've had lots of friendly folks ask lots of questions. I've had a lot of people tell me my tail lights are very visible and I'm smart to use those even during the day.

I probably had the best tasting meal tonight of the whole trip (except for Lucci's in Boise). Tender Prime Rib, salad, loaded baked potato, spaghetti and Moose Drool!!!

If I do the full route to Sioux City it will be 129 miles!! That's a LOT OF caffeine!! Stay tuned.

My wife has been tracking our progress on the map. A great visual!! Just follow the orange line. This was as of Friday.

Biker395 

^ Hey … that is awesome! I do believe all of us have angels on our shoulders … we only need to stop and listen.

I'm still trying to think of what my most memorable day on a bike was … I've had so many. 99.9% good and a few bad.

Descending down to Ouray. Riding through Monument Valley on the RAW and later the RAAM. Through Zion. Across Yosemite with the roads closed. Though the dust bowl thunderstorms last year. Meeting awesome people I remain friends with to this day. But there is also seeing the result of a drunk driver hitting a cyclist and his son on a triple century and my 24 MPH blowout and resulting crash.

On the Mammoth Gran Fondo last year, we rode 100 miles that had me incredibly knockered, got threatened with a pistol that evening at the hot pools, and later had to do a human ladder thing to break into our cabin at the end of the day. Now that is a full day.

As a friend told me: "Weird stuff happens to you."

99.9% good and a little bad. I'll take it. Even the bad stuff was especially so … I think in life that is all we can ask for.

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug64

Jim,
This will probably be one of my most memorable days on the bike. My wife at the Pacific ocean at the start of our cross country ride. While I have many great memories, this is one that ranks right up at the top.

Hi @Doug64,

I recognize you and your wife as seasoned cycle-tourists and if I recall correctly. you also cycle with two daughters.

Thanks for that nice personalized reply,with pictures. I certainly recognize that photo of the Boston skyline from Cambridge. I’m curious what you did in Boston at the end.

On @jppe ‘s last day, after reaching Boston Harbor,At the end of our ride to Washington DC, we stayed for a few days with a friend in Arlington and toured DC. We spent one day looking for the obscure Medical Museum I had visited as a teen ager, back then dragging my younger brother along. Now I dragged my new bride, only to discover it was was shut down for renovations. We then took a train with our bikes and packed panniers only, to start a new life in Boston.

(About 15 years later, on a train trip and visit to Philadelphia and DC, I dragged my then-about 12 year old son to find the new site, way out at Walter Reed Hospital. )

I consider a cross-country ride to be a bona fide credential as a “real cyclist.” See this thread on the Touring Forum, “question on coast to coast”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Machka

Here's a question, for anyone here ...

What is the fascination with cycling from coast to coast in a country?

I've thought about cycling from coast to coast in Canada and Australia, but I think the only way I'd want to do that is:
1) if it were part of something quick, like the RAAM or a PacTour crossing in the US.
2) if I had heaps of time so I could meander here and there as the whim took me, and actually see lots of the country.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

I consider it a defineable "credential," like a Century compared to a 96 mile ride.

Here's an even more exotic fascination--perimeter bicycling. See this web page of the Perimeter Bicycling Association of America:

https://www1.perimeterbicycling.com/p...world-records/

I have done only one cross-country ride, LA to Washington, DC, and it was a life-changing experience, partly because of other life changes at that time, so it was a good fit. My dream ride is a perimeter tour of the US.

A synopsis (link) of our cross-country trip is on that thread, and I note that you posted to it as well.

I presume your wife’s Oceanside photo, facing East, is after dipping her wheel in the Pacific. Our “baptism” at the beginning of our ride was to collect a vial of Pacific Ocean and carry it cross country. I don’t recall spilling it even yet into the Atlantic.

Nachoman

Saturday June 2, 2007 me and an old high school buddy met in Santa Barbara, California for a weekend of eating, drinking and cycling. @DannoXYZ was nice enough to be our tour guide and took us up Gibraltar Road, down Painted Cave, and through Hope Ranch. And after about 5500 vertical feet, we ended up drinking cocktails at the beach.
Good times!

Cougrrcj

Hmmm... After only getting my first 'serious bike' in October '76, I guess attending and completing my first TOSRV in May '77 ranks up there (105 miles Sat from downtown Columbus OH to Portsmouth OH, and 105 miles returning on Sunday) PLUS riding the additional several miles from the OSU campus to the start! Oh, and our club 'Hero Ride' of crossing the Ohio River at the end of the first 105+mile day and climbing the steep 4/10ths of a mile hill with almost 300 feet of elevation gain... ( Let's see what you have left in the tank! ) I completed TOSRVs in '77, 78, 79, and '81. In '80 I rode only one way from Portsmouth to Columbus due to a work schedule conflict.

In Aug '80, I was between my summer job and college starting again in the Fall when I decided on a whim to visit family in Wisconsin - 500 miles away! Five hard days of riding from Cleveland to Milwaukee, visit a couple of days, then ride 80 miles to Madison to visit a couple more, then six days home... I left home with just two changes of clothes, 'stealth camping' with no tent (sleeping under bridges/overpasses), and $100 in cash...

John E

Summer of 1971: my first century (metric double) with a college pal and my cousin, from Los Altos CA over the hill to Santa Cruz, then 40 miles along the coast in low gear against a headwind, then back over the hill through Palo Alto. The ride took about 12 hours, and I slept for 12 hours thereafter.

June 1972: Los Angeles Wheelmen Double Century, midland (coastal) route -- I was proud of my 12:18 time, my one big athletic achievement in life. I set off with my 50-year-old cycling mentor and two college pals, including Paul from the earlier adventure. Tragedy struck when our leader/mentor took a fall at the 160-mile mark, got up and kept riding. I quit at 200 miles, but he and one of my friends lit off to make it a triple century. At about the 220-mile mark, he took a second spill, again striking his unhelmeted head, and went into a coma and died 3 weeks later. I lost not only a cherished friend, but someone who had inspired me, someone of below-average athletic ability, to attempt the double. I had met him four months earlier while out cycling with a couple of other 20-somethings. When this guy with a white goatee riding a white Mercier breezed past us, and I heard the challenge, "Are you going to let an old guy like that pass you?" I took off after him and caught up. When he remarked, "You keep up a good pace," I replied, "That's my line."

Biker395 

That is an awesome route! Did you make it to the Cold Springs Tavern?

srode1

There's a few for me

1. Dirty Kanza 200 - Epic, painful, scenic and rewarding - it's my favorite ride for sure, 3x under my belt and in for this year as well.
2. Clingmans Dome Climb and decent - both sides
3. RAIN (ride across Indiana) - pushing it to the limits hanging on a train for 8 hours taking my turn pulling
4 RAW (ride across Wisconsin) - by far the best supported ride I have ever been on

Coming up this year - Epic Climbs in the Alps - can't wait!

Machka 

The rides mentioned in this thread are probably my MOST memorable.

https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plu...niversary.html

Nachoman

Not that trip. But have eaten there. Not ideal for vegitarians.

delbiker1 

I have a very distinct memory of a ride when I was a child. It is also one of my earliest memories. I was 4 or 5 and had just learned how to ride a bike, but only by being held up by someone or something to get started. I was on the next street over from where we lived.,very narrow streets. A car was coming down the street and I stopped at the side and got off the bike to get off the street, as I was taught to do. After the car went by I tried to get started on my own and successfully did that on the third or fourth try. I was so excited to have done that. I rode back to our home and told my siblings and Dad what I had done. Never had to have help to get started again. I still also remember the bike, not the name, just the bike. It was one of the little kids bikes with hard rubber tires that was given to us by either my granddad or an uncle. I still fondly think of that quite often.

leob1

The one day I'll never forget?;
Between my first and second year of college, I had a summer job in the meat department of a supermarket. I was only 'part time' but they had no issues with letting me work full shifts. One day, I spent about 6 hours in the meat locker, doing the crap that I did. I got off work, cold and tired, and it was a beautiful June afternoon. I needed a ride bad, to get my mind back to thinking about the important things in life. I get on my bike, a department store bike my parents bought me a few years ago, and hit the road. My route started with a screaming downhill with a gentle curve. And a 90 degree turn at the bottom. During the turn I noticed some sudden stiffness in the headset. "hmmm, I better stop and check this out" I squeezed the front brake to stop, which caused the fork crown to break off from the steerer tube. Suddenly, I had no front wheel, and gravity did it's thing. They say location is everything, and in this case that was true. This happened right in front of a walk up Dairy Queen. And being a warm summer evening there was a long line of folks waiting to get ice cream. They didn't expect to have the side show of me slamming my face in to the concrete pavement. I got up, cursing a blue streak because now I had no bike, to see the line of people staring at me, mouths agape. One guy comes up to me, and asks if I'm OK, yes just bleeding. I walk past the people in line to the window and ask if I could have a few napkins to wipe my face. The guy working there, takes a look at the face(mine) bleeding in his window, shouts "OH MY GOD!" and turns and runs out the back door. I wondering 'what the hell, I just need a napkin'. He comes out front and drags me into the building, sits me down and give me a damp towel. I wipe my face, and then he gives me another one to replace the now dirt and blood soaked one. He called my Dad, who came and picked me up and took me to the hospital to get checked out. Xrays, and a good cleaning and then home with my now broken bike, and a face full of road rash, two black eyes, and sore shoulders.
Yep, that was a memorable day on the bike.

Kabuki12

My first long ride . After high school , somewhere around 1974. I rode with a friend up the coast to Santa Barbara from Oxnard California . Not a major accomplishment except I did it on a Varsity. That was the last long ride I ever did on that bike . I gave it to a friend who was getting into cycling and bought my first racer. That ride was memorable , but for the wrong reason!

Jim from Boston

Similarly for me, my first long ride was a weekend to-and-back of about 50 miles one way in college, from Ann Arbor, MI, on a 5-speed Schwinn Suburban with wire baskets.

I was hooked and.did a few more,on the Suburban, with my girlfriend on a beach cruiser. Eventually she and I rode cross country on our honeymoon, on French Merciers, with then state-of-the-art Bellweather panniers.

jimmybikes

Just the beginning of March, it was my first time riding my bike because I just bought it. It was my first every bike, I never had one growing up and I rode it to try it out before I purchased it and just fell in love with it. I didn't bother trying to bargain with the guy so I just handed over the money and kept riding the bike. On the drive home I felt like I was dreaming, I was so happy.