Machka 

Taiwan and Japan are two others ...

We based ourselves in Hualien City for a few days and that was lovely.

And in Japan we stayed around the Chitose/Tomakomi area of Hokkaido. Lake Shikotsu is beautiful. If we were there longer, we would have travelled further afield.

Bob Ross

Only places outside the USA that I've cycled are Sardegna (aka Sardinia) and Mallorca...but I would highly recommend both. Italy was with ABCycles and Mallorca was with Stephen Roach Cycling. We have S&S coupled bikes so we brought our own for both trips, but Stephen Roach offers some very nice rental Treks. [edit: sorry, not Treks, but Pinarellos]

Inside the US I'll second the recommendation of Tucson AZ, and add Keystone CO, Kona HI, and western NC near Bryson City/Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Lake Tahoe CA ain't too shabby either. All of those were just cycling vacations undertaken independently, no organized tours or anything commercial.

Nachoman

The three factors I generally look for in a good cycling vacation are (1) good climbing, (2) remote roads with little traffic, and (3) wide shoulders (when not on the remote roads).
My favorite spots over the years have been the Santa Barbara mountains and the Santa Ynez Valley.

Seattle Forrest

I like to have a plan ahead of time, too. I don't want to get somewhere and find out it won't work for some reason, and this is a depressing time of year, it's nice to have something to look forward to.

My favorite place hands down is the Rivers Edge Resort, it's also the most expensive. You get a full kitchen so you can offset some of the expensive if you choose. You also get a private hot tub with your cabin. It's the only place with private hot tubs in the whole valley. Methow River Lodge and Cabins is more reasonably priced, it's very nice, I really like staying there. Both of these are walking distance to everything in town. Next place I'd recommend is Central Reservations, they have dozens of properties. The Badger House is really nice. Edelweiss is fantastic, but out of the way.

I've got to run in a moment but I'll send you more info later.

canamdad

If you are up for a trip to the French Pyrenees, I can heartily recommend this place: Cycle lodge Les Deux Vélos - Hotel in the French Pyrenees I've been there a couple of times, in 2005 and in 2017. Mark and Elma are great hosts and the food is excellent! They've made a lot of improvements in the lodge since I was first there in '05. Lots of passes to ride right out of the lodge on T de F routes. Easiest access is through Toulouse and rent a car or train to Tarrascon sur Ariege or St Girons and make arrangements for them to pick you up. A vehicle will give you the opportunity to ride some passes a little further away but it's not necessary. I didn't have a car the first time and did have one the second. Obviously costs more to have a rental vehicle. The nearest town to the lodge is Massat ( a couple of kms away at the most). There's a T d F stage going through Massat in 2019 so take a look.

NoWhammies

Thanks! That would be fantastic. I like the idea of a) having a hot tub to relax in at the end of the day and b) having a kitchen so we can make our own meals. What kind of distances were you averaging each day? And how long of a holiday did you make out it? Was there enough variety to keep you entertained over a week or more?

Agreed! This is the kind of riding we like to do too.

@Bob Ross What time of day are you riding in Tucson AZ? Doesn't the heat get to you?

love2pedal.com

This post has me inspired for more bike touring!

My personal favorite was the south island of New Zealand.



Between Nelson Lakes and Murchison




Akaroa peninsula near Christchurch

Bob Ross

I'm usually riding there between 8:30AM and 2:00 or 3:00PM. No, the heat doesn't get to me ("It's a dry heat!") ...but since I only go there two or three times a year for 4 or 5 days at a time, and never during the summer months, that sort of heat still feels like a luxury to this north-easterner. I suppose if I lived there year-round I might eventually get tired of the >100°F days. Maybe.

NoWhammies

@Bob Ross ah, there you go. Not in the summer months. If we went, it would be in August. High heat time, dry heat or not. Which might not be all THAT bad, assuming of course we could regularly fill up our water bottles, get food/fuel, etc.

@love2pedal.com Is that shot of the cyclist and sheep from your trip? Looks kinda fun, I must say.

avole

Seattle Forrest

I've stayed at almost every hotel in Winthrop. I really love the place. I would stay as long as I can; I'm saving to buy a house there. I usually go for a week in the winter (my birthday is December 21) and ski cross country. It's a much shorter drive in the summer, so I go out for long weekends.

If you want to give me more parameters of what you're looking for, I can probably come up with better suggestions, but here are a few obvious ones.

• On a skinny tire road bike, ride from the Mazama Store over Washington Pass and to the Overlook.
• Shorter and easier on skinny tires, do a loop between Winthrop and Twisp. Or Twisp/Carleton if you want to see a burn scar (they're eerie but beautiful).
• For a longer ride, Mazama to Diablo Lake can't be beat. It's about 50 miles one way. All paved.
• If you're willing to drive a few hours one day, go west to Mount Baker. It's a beautiful drive. I would make a second trip of it.
• If you can do hard packed dirt, this is a slightly longer but beautiful loop between Winthrop and Twisp.
• If you want to spend a day on a mountain bike, Cutthroat Pass has excellent scenery.
• If you want a tough gravel climb to the top of a mountain where you'll be surrounded by a sea of peaks, old burn scars, and distant glaciers, ride to Harts Pass.

Here's a photo of one of the hot tubs at Rivers Edge Resort. You really can't see anything on any of the other decks, it doesn't look very private in the photo but it is. Somebody will come through your cabin every morning and treat the water. The river is to the left, you can see and hear it from the hot tubs.

Seattle Forrest

Here's the view from Slate Peak, at Harts Pass. You can see the road in this picture. It's rough gravel. You can rent a bike at Methow Cycle and Sport. If gravel isn't your thing, you should drive up one day and do a hike, the Pacific Crest Trail runs through here, the scenery is as good as anything on Earth.





This is a bad picture of Washington Pass. Can you say 45 minute descent?



This is right behind the Abby Creek Inn, but it's basically what a lot of the valley looks like. Away from the river there are a lot of open fields.

rousseau

I totally get this. I like my bike. I don't feel comfortable on other people's bikes.

fishgirlcycles

Well, I know where I'm going for a localish cycling vacation next year Beautiful photos, Forrest!

zacster

Here's where I was cycling in Norway, it was breathtakingly beautiful.

indyfabz

Back in 2013 I spent 2 weeks at the Italian Cycling Center.

Bicycle Tours in Italy

Not expensive for what you get, including lodging, three great meals/day and wine with lunch and dinner. Beautiful riding. Lots of WWI history. And you can take a bus into town and hop a train to Venice for a day if you want.

Prosecco vineyards outside of Valdobbiadene:

NoWhammies

@Seattle Forrest awesome photos and an awesome description. I'll get back to you with some more information/details after I have a chat with the wife. After all, if I'm dragging her along with me, she's gonna need to be on board too!

Seattle Forrest

You probably already said this and I missed it, but what time of year are you going? I think it's summer, right? If you know when exactly I can probably help with which roads will be passable and which won't. It's usually around the first week of July that you can drive to Slate Peak, or ride on anything but a fat bike.

ogmtb

It's even more breathtakingly beautiful if you get away from the roads...


Sundal



Blåhø

*

love2pedal.com

The cyclist and sheep photo was from my own trip to NZ. I took the photo while trying to avoid sheep **** on the road.

Another great thing about New Zealand......it is summer there in Dec, Jan and Feb so north americans can go there to escape our winter.

Abu Mahendra

I credit-card toured South Korea from one end to the other along its renowned Four Rivers national bike path, and also did a similar thing along Taiwan"s scenic east coast. I had a great time, glimpsed into the culture and country, and faced no hassles or hustles. At the end of the tour i put the bike in the bullet train back to the capital.. Both places are highly recommended.

goenrdoug

My favorite is Hawaii. I've done two trips to the Big Island and Maui and rented a bike there both times. Both were breath-taking cycling destinations with more options for beautiful riding that one could possibly take advantage of.

Once you decide on a destination, you might want to look at Veloguide, which is sort of like AirBNB for cycling. It takes the hassle out of figuring out where to rent a bike, where to ride, etc. Basically you find a local cyclist who can arrange a local rental, figure out an appropriate route for you, take you out for a ride, etc. Like Uber or AirBNB, anyone can sign-up to be a guide (here's my own page if you're looking at the LA area: https://www.veloguide.com/guide/doug-315) so it's worth looking at the guide's profile and/or e-mailing with the VeloGuide people directly to pair-up with a guide appropriate for your needs. They have every sort of rider available from beach-cruiser to pro-level riders.

bensonthetiger

Has anyone heard about the Rwanda pro tour coming up in February? It's been upgraded to UCI 2.1. I have a VIP pass for the tour where you can ride each leg before the race as well as mingle with some of the professional cyclers throughout the week. All proceeds for this experience go directly toward Team Type 1 Foundation fighting Type 1 Diabetes and helping diabetes athletes achieve their dreams.

trekmogul 

Sri Lanka here for the next 5 months of cycling in the awesome sun and heat..!

nomadmax 

The French/Swiss Alps during the Tour. Riding Alpe d'Huez and some of the other HC climbs was a dream come true. We flew over and I had a friend in Bern who brought me a bike to ride and did follow car/leap frog duty; then we would watch the race stages and move on to the next one.