I vote for British Columbia. Haven't been but large number of bike tour companies must mean something. Quicker flight than Europe & no language hassles. A day in Vancouver to see local sights & get some good Chinese food. Most Americans don't realize that large portion of film/tv/commercials are made in Vancouver area. Then a week of gorgeous mountains, lakes etc.

Alan, you could join me in September at Cycle Oregon. The route isn't epic but I think doing it fixed as I plan to do might make it so. Crater Lake from the north. 7 days, 490 miles and 30,000'. Only day three, Crater Lake has more than one climb making riding a fix gear and changing cogs feasible. (The loop around the lake is easy if you can quickly go from your highest to lowest gear. There is no flat in the loop around the rim. 5 years ago I left camp on a 17-23 flip-flop. Rode to the rim on the 23. At the rim I unscrewed the 17 and put on a 12. At lunch, part way down, I swapped the 23 back to the 17.) Only one day does not have a climb of at least 2000'.

To add to the challenge, 3 days have 15 miles each on gravel which I intend to ride. Each gravel stretch climbs or descends ~2000''. My plan is to set up a bike with 1/8" chain, three chainlines and a triple. Gears of roughly 90", 67" and 43-50". Tires will be 24/25c Open Vittorias but 35c for the gravel days. (I'll do 2 miles on those 24c's, done it in the past, but not 15. Too old for that.)

Actually I am hoping this doesn't become epic. I hope to arrive "hard as nails" and enjoy it.

Ben

The Oregon coast is a beautiful ride. North to south in the summer, for a tailwind. You could fly into and out of Portland.

Suggestions for next epic ride

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Originally Posted by alan s (Post 19386185)

Just to be clear, 9 days of riding with time on either end for travel, sightseeing, bike assembly/disassembly. 400-500 miles is probably the maximum distance. @Jim from Boston two summers ago I rode from Boston through Cape Cod, and my sister lives in the suburbs, so I've spent plenty of time riding in your area. It is very nice there, but not quite what I have in mind…

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FBinNY (Post 19386024)

let's face it.

It's a big world and there are more potentially epic rides than anyone can do in a single lifetime….

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When I first read the title of this thread, I too thought of larger-than-life tours such as a cross-country ride. It seems incongruous to do an epic ride in just nine days, and such an attempt at some of the rides suggested seems pretty stressful to me at least.

Might not a simple, easily accomplished “getaway” be memorable (epic) in its own right, like the famous travel song:

Let's take a boat to Bermuda
Let's take a plane to Saint Paul.
Let's take a kayak to Quincy or Nyack,
Let's get away from it all.

Let's take a trip in a trailer
No need to come back at all.
Let's take a powder to Boston for chowder,
Let's get away from it all.

FWIW, after decades I still have fond memories of my earliest cycle touring in my home state of Michigan. Tourism is, I believe Michigan’s second largest industry, and it’s largely a rural / forested state with a lengthy shoreline, an extensive road system, and numerous towns and facilities, including campgrounds, spaced at convenient cycling distances. IMO, an excellent, though perhaps mundane getaway. Just sayin’…FWIW (even as a cross-country cyclist).

BTW, over the years I have responded to several of these threads with open-ended requests for travel destinations. One thing they have in common is that the OP never informs us of the final destination, much less how was the trip, even when requested to do so. :innocent:

ADDENDUM: Actually @LindaB of California did graciously reply after she asked about a cycling trip from Boston to Rhode Island, Cape Cod, and the Islands, but that was a focused inquiry.

The Icefield Parkway is the bit between Jasper and Banff. I've lived most of my life in Alberta, quite close to this, and have done some cycling there. :)

I'd actually recommend a route that would take in some of British Columbia and some of the Rockies in Alberta, including the Icefield Parkway and Highway 11.


A collection of photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka...7619203595712/

Coming off the Icefield Parkway to the east, toward Rocky Mountain House, is Highway 11. The most beautiful highway on earth. :D

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3259/2...7300ea39_b.jpg

Who me? Biased? :D


We've been taking in more of Tasmania lately ... we've been to a two parts of Tasmania, in the last couple months, that we haven't visited since 2009. Figuring that while we're here, we might as well see some stuff. :)

But we're hoping to get to Canada in June/July ... and hoping to spend some of that time in the vicinity of the Icefield Parkway.

If you don't want bugs and bears that rules out a lot of places in the U.S., including New Jersey. ;)

That aside, spending time in Glacier N.P. could be nice. Fly into FCA and ship the bike to Whitefish Cyclery. They will hold you box for you. First do Marias Pass to E. Glacier than Looking Glass to the Two Medicine area of the park. Then to Many Glacier and then to Waterton Village in the Canadian side of the park via Chief Mountain. Head back to St. Mary and then ride Going to the Sun to W. Glacier then back to Whitefish. You'll have bugs and, if you are lucky, spot a bear, but they'd be worth it. And don't forget the evil Columbian ground squirrel. ;)

Personally, one day, I'd like to do something like this ... in one direction or the other, not sure which ...

Cycle from the Vancouver area, under Abbotsford (8th Avenue? ... the roads are more or less in a grid system so we can pick which one we want ... just not the TransCanada, bicycles aren't allowed on the TransCanada till Chilliwack).

At Chilliwack, I would join the TransCanada. We might do a side trip to Harrison Hotsprings, but we'd have to tackle the Agassiz bridge which is rather narrow and busy. If we did decide to do that, we could stay on the north side of the river and cycle Hwy 7 to Hope. Both the TransCanada or Hwy 7 are OK ... I've cycled both.

At Hope, get onto Hwy 5 and just keep travelling north. Hwy 5 is the Coquihalla Highway, and a person might prefer Highway 1, but Highway 1 can be narrow and busy at times, and for some reason cycling Hwy 5 (Coquihalla Highway) intrigues me. Go through Kamloops ... stay on Hwy 5 and keep travelling north.

Eventually we'd get to Tete Jaune Cache where we'd turn onto Hwy 16 over to Jasper.

Then south on the Icefield Parkway to Saskatchewan River Crossing. Here I'd do an out-and-back to Nordegg on Hwy 11 just because I really like Hwy 11.

Back onto the Icefield Parkway to Lake Louise and then Banff.

Then I'd backtrack slightly to Hwy 93 (use the old Bow Highway (1A) to get there), and head out Hwy 93 to Radium Hotsprings.

From there it's a bit of a toss-up whether we would want to go south and do Hwy 3 along the US border or whether we would want to go north and join onto Hwy 1. We'd probably want to check elevation profiles, because I prefer flatter routes. Also if we would, by then, prefer more population, Hwy 1 is the way to go. If we'd prefer a bit more remoteness, Hwy 3 would be the way to go.

And then, from Hope, retrace our steps back to Vancouver.

That sounds really nice. Are there plenty of camping options along that route?

I've done parts of that route. We kept close to the US border south of the TransCanada until close to Hope. Lots of quiet farm roads, good riding. We took the #3 from Hope to Princeton, over Alison Pass, which is a pretty big hill, and then the #5A from Princeton to Merritt, which is quiet and very beautiful, and not too many hills. Up the 5A through Kamloops, and then #5 to Tete Jaune, then Jasper and the Icefields Parkway. From Banff I would go east to Highway 40 then south over Highwood Pass, the highest paved road in Canada, a beautiful ride. From Longview go south on #22, through the ranching country of southwestern Alberta. Another great ride although it can be very windy. Then the #3 back west. Beware #3 in southern BC has a lot of big hills, although the mountains are lower. I think the TCH is easier but has too much traffic for me.

We did Brussels to Amsterdam last year in five days in a fairly straight shot. Nine days would give you a nice wandering path through Flanders, up the center or east of Holland, and into the city. Or, perhaps up the North Sea coast like we did, but continuing on to Texel, and then returning to Amsterdam via the east coast of the Ijsselmeer. Definitely ticks the "not roughing it" box, there are cafes and bars every dozen or so miles as you roll into the next village, excellent bicycle infrastructure, and a wonderful bicycle tourer accommodation network in anything from spare rooms to empty houseboats to full fledged B&Bs that costs a flat 19EUR a night. Schiphol is about as easy to get into or out of as anywhere, and has the added benefit of selling stout bike boxes at the airport so you don't have to save/beg/scavenge return packaging.

Cross the Erie Canal off of your list. I rode it from Buffalo to Rochester and it is anything but "epic". In fact it is down right boring. The only plus sides for me would be the quaint little towns and the inlet crossing on a private motor boat at Irondequoit Bay. But then we were off of the trail by then.
It really does not get much better after Rochester from my understanding in fact it gets worse as you have less and less trail and more road.

If you do it consider an organized ride. Then you would get a history on the area and that might be interesting.


Consider often overlooked northern Italy. The lake region is awesome.

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1487627942

This photo was taken on a trail system in North East Italy / Southern Austria. My suggestion would be to fly into Venice, train to some place like Verona or Trento then ride the Brenner to Innsbruck. My mistake was to train to the top of the pass. I imagine I missed a lot because the ride down the other side was wonderful.



http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1487629071



If you have the cajones you can ride the Stilveo Pass which is in the same area as the photo above.

http://www.classictravelling.com/wp-...elvio-pass.jpg

Stateside consider the Slekirk loop north of Spokane. Plenty of amenities along the way but you still have the sense you are away from it all. If there was any less traffic on the road it would be a bike path. About the only thing unnerving is the occasional logging truck.

And the loop has the Galena Trail. Short but very cool trail.

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1487628270

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1487628266

The loop can be done in 9 days depending on your route. I did not notice camping as I was not looking for it but I am sure it can be had. There are a couple of warmshower and BF members along the way.

Danube and Rhine headwaters are very close to each other, German - Swiss border
there is even a canal connecting the 2 via a Rhine tributary,

so you can follow the 2 great rivers, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea.

Now that would be an epic trip! Up the Rhine and down the Danube. Would take a few days, I would expect.

Actually, I've often thought about taking one of those river cruises on either of those. Sleep on the boat at night as it moves, then do a day ride loop every day. Kind of a floating hotel that allows me to do a week long trip without carrying anything.

It's also provides for a shared vacation with a spouse who doesn't ride.

Can probably book a cruise to get you back to your starting point.

I Think Viking has one doing that run..

There is a lot of camping on the loop. It is a good ride, but not as spectacular as the Canadian Rockies. It does go into Canada, so bring your passport.

My wife and I rode it with our daughters. The weather was "epic" at times:)
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...Lori_Ferry.jpg

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...0Lori_sign.jpg

Totally agree. But it has its own beauty, it is a fairly easy ride (except that darn hill out of Kaslo and the other one right before you get to New Denver ;) ) and plenty (but not too plentiful) places to stay along the way and or grab something to eat.

Did you ride the Galena Trail? That is the best highlight of the trip IMHO.

You want to put a cherry on top, to finish that trip from Banff? Go to Williams lake, and then to Bella Coola and take the ferry to Vancouver Island... :thumb:

OP has only 9 days not 9 weeks. :)

Well then he'd better start training NOW!!!

This summer I am planning to do the Columbia Parkway in late June for 2 weeks from Calgary, probably as an out and back. I'm debating two routes:

The first takes the 1 and 93 up to Jasper, a trip out to Maligne Lake and back down to Cowtown on the 93a and 1a. Maybe with a trip out to Lake O Hara if there is time.

The second does the same up to Jasper and captures the Maligne Lake and 93a portions but on the return breaks off at Saskatchewan Crossing for the David Thompson to Rocky Mt. House and 22x back to Calgary.

Anything to avoid the Jasper, Valemont, Kamloops run :)

No, It's beautiful all throughout that area. :thumb:

I know.. but I just drove it 2 summers ago so it's a little too fresh in my mind.

Yes! :)

I've driven it (as a passenger) a few times, but didn't remember much of it. Then in 2002, I cycled that route through the night on the Rocky Mountain 1200. But you don't really get to see much when you cycle through the night. So finally in 2008, Rowan and I drove that way, and it is lovely. :)