robow

Are there any tours you have done where even if money and time were no object, you would not likely want to repeat for whatever reason? I know I have enjoyed certain trails or routes that I would be more than happy to ride again (and have) and other tours where once was enough, maybe the scenery didn't resonate with me or something just didn't click. For me, the Erie Canal Trail was one such tour, how about yourself.

Tourist in MSN

Florida in February, 2017, I enjoyed it but would not go for a repeat. Rode it with a friend and former co-worker. Started at Marco Island, went across the state through Big Cyprus, then down into Everglades, then Florida Keys. Finished with a ferry ride back to Marco Island. (GPS was left on for the ferry ride, thus plotted on the map.)

Too hot and humid. Florida Keys state parks were quite full and hard to schedule. The private campground we stayed at in Key West cost about $100 for a site that was half used for a big dumpster. I was happy to see it once. Once was enough.

PedalingWalrus

Bold Coast Trail in my home state of Maine that we did during Covid year.

Too familiar (we trip our state every weekend)

vacation is for away

saddlesores

Yes, two tours.

1. west coast of australia. 1200 miles of nothing from broom to geraldton. the only road is a km or so from the coast in most places, it's all flat, with nothing but sagebrush and mesquite to look at. your only company is the eternal headwind and the rv'ers who insist on blowing airhorns as they drive past. there was ONE sight - stromatolites visible at low tide in one bay. hooray! 3.5 billion year old bacteria! locals say you're crazy to bike from broome to perth just to see some old germs. you respond by saying, oh there's more, geraldton has a pizza hut!

2. mekong river in laos. it sounds cool and romantic to ride along the mekong on the laotian side to cambodia, but the reality is 500+ km of boredom. the highway is mostly set back away from the river, so you rarely get any views. the vegetation is mostly brush and scrub. there are some short sections of road that run closer to the river thru small villages, but many have no outlet, so you must backtrack to the main road anyway. much better option to ride in the interior or closer to the vietnam border if going north-south. there are better riverside runs in cambodia, or closer to vientienne.

cyccommute 

Natchez Trace. Far too many trees for this high plains boy. Just one long boring straight road. Even the Seney Stretch wasn’t as boring.

One of the biggest grips I had was the “this is the site of the 1842 Johnson homestead” signs everywhere but all you see is an empty field. Not even a foundation.

Thulsadoom

Until you've been everywhere, why tour anywhere more than once?

BobG

Well my bad tour will surely raise controversy. The Pacific Coast. In 1993 I rode the TransAm with a group concluding with a northbound trip up the coast from Florence OR to Astoria OR. (yes I know, the wrong direction against the wind with views on the opposite side). After a relatively bucolic back roadsy trip across VA, KY, IL, MO, KS, CO, WY, MT, ID and OR I found the noise and traffic of the coast to be mind numbing.

A subsequent TransAm we took the traditional route hitting the coast further north at Neskowin to minimize the coastal mayhem. A third TransAm we stopped while we were ahead at Florence OR.

Another time I rode solo from San Francisco up to Eugene OR. I took every opportunity to escape the coast (Napa and Sonoma wine country, then inland to Crater Lake).

mev

In general, I like going to new places hence some trips I wouldn't do again mostly because I would go somewhere new instead I did them at a younger age and they might be much tougher now. There are also parts of longer tours where I would gladly do parts of them but not others again. Some examples:

- Africa north of the equator; a lot tougher so if I went again I would go from Kenya southbound but not from Egypt to Kenya mostly on difficulty - though past few years Egypt/Ethiopia and Sudan have all had period of instability.
- Russian steppes are nice to have done once and crossed off the list, but I wouldn't do the main road as it is more the same for long parts. I would be open to going slightly further south via Kazakhstan. Mostly a non-issue because I won't support the Russian economy right now and also would no longer be able to get a visa for over three months in the country.
- South America I would do most of it again, but Guyana to Suriname was hot/humid and I'd look for someplace different. I would be open to Venezuela if the country becomes stable in my lifetime (parts of which would also be hot and humid)
- Australia, I would do it again, one of my favorite long distance trips.
- US and Canada, I would do areas I've visited again (with a bias towards new places).
-

robow

Stuart, interesting that you mention the Trace. I have only ridden a small portion of it, but I have 4 close friends that I frequently tour with that have ridden the entire route and they all said that once was enough for the same reason you mention. They also didn't like having to leave the Trace for several miles in order to obtain food or other needed items. And finally they commented on the constant RV traffic whizzing by with little shoulder.

jamawani 

US 90 on the Southern Tier in Texas.
I thought I was trapped in a time warp.
Pedal, pedal, pedal. Same, same, same.
Flat, flat, flat. Mesquite, mesquite, mesquite.

RCMoeur 

I've ridden several parts of M-28 in the western Yoo Pee (my wife grew up on M-28), but not da Seney Stretch yet, hey.

But I've also done many a mile on long straight highways elsewhere, mostly in western Arizona. At least there are mountains off in the distance...

cyccommute 

We found that once you get off the Trace, things get a lot more interesting.

saddlesores

jinkies! that looks like the old homestead!
i had a house in a small town out near marfa just off hwy 90 before moving to asia.
didn't do much riding on the highway itself, lotsa dirt ranch tracks that go off into the dessert.
only thing i miss is real mexican food, and of course chicken fried steak.

GamblerGORD53

I can say just about every mile was a joy to see. Only exception was stubble wheat fields in east central WA. I didn't actually ride it. LOL. I had a leaky rear tire and my pump was dying too. A lady in a delivery truck stopped and offered a ride, that was about 30 miles in high heat avoided.

After watching a Trans-Am video of one guy, I can safely say I have ZERO inclination to do the same. The barren plains and corn fields for 1000 miles, nah. And somehow he had to wear a bug hat for days and days. LOL. I had ZERO bugs on either trips, Vietnam/ China then NW Can/Am.
I don't camp, so I have no want of avoiding big cities.

Tourist in MSN

This day was rather boring but I would happily go back here again. Interior of Iceland is not a once and done trip in my opinion, but I have backpacked, kayaked and canoed in the wilderness quite often, so I am perfectly content to bike tour in the middle of nowhere.

First photo is where I came from, second photo is where I am going.





I think this was the day I left Hveravellir and rode north on F35. Late June.

staehpj1

Yeah, most boring scenery I have experienced on a tour. I still would consider doing it again some day though. Why? There aren't many choices for long rides in the lower 48 in the winter. The people were interesting (mostly misfits from somewhere else, but interesting none the less). There was a wide variety of local food to sample. Also sometimes it is okay to just crank out long monotonous miles.

GhostRider62

nsw australia and Transam from about Pueblo until crossing the Mississippi. I'd do Astoria to Breckenridge again. I thought Australia was boring, drivers awful, and too many crawly things trying to kill you and it was too desolate and lousy camping but that was decades ago.

robow

Come touring with me this April down south and we can get you that chicken fried steak. Just a smaller lunch portion shown below. I still can't figure out why this particular state always ranks as one of the most obese in the US, ha

cyccommute 

That’s partly because Adventure Cycle picked the most god awful route across eastern Colorado there is. It would be hard to find a less interesting part of Colorado than Colorado 96 from Boone to the state line. US50 (just slightly to the south) at least passes through some towns. The towns aren’t much but they have things to see and do. Amache, outside of Granada, is going to be added to the National Park System in the near future.

jamawani 

>>> Oh, honey chile - - and you wonder why Southerners live about 10 years less than other Americans? <<<

Yan 

Xinjiang. 24hr police tailing got tiresome.

bktourer1

Bon Ton Roulet around the Finger Lakes.

Doug64

I would not hesitate to repeat any route my wife and I have done. This includes areas that a lot of folks find boring, like the Canadian and U.S Prairies. Both of us are interested in photography, and places like the prairies and deserts are great places for pictures. Some of our routes in the last 15 years included some type 2 fun, and those are the ones we remember the best.

Having said all that, there are still many places we want to see, and we probably will not ride many of our previous routes. However, having ridden segments of a few of our previous routes was a completely different experience than our earlier rides.

We seldom ride established routes, and seldom cherry pick the "best" parts of a route. We plan our own routes, and feel that if we have the time, we should ride the "good, bad, and ugly" to get a real feel for a place. If it is a short tour, we are a little more picky about where we ride.

Saskatchewan--Land of the Living Sky

M1T

Almost the opposite... There is only one tour I'd do again, the Carretera Austral in Chile. I've only done one tour I didn't like when doing it, an abbreviated chunk of the Western Wildlands route between Missoula and Sun Valley (way too much burnt timber, not that interesting scenery, etc.) ... felt kind of like a forced route. But I went right by the Dutton Ranch which was cool. All the others have been excellent, but the thought of doing them twice is not appealing for some reason. I've ridden some of them the opposite way (all 7 day type backroads trips in Utah). But its Utah!

Utah east going west: https://www.flickr.com/photos/642939...57717464544947

Utah west going east: https://www.flickr.com/photos/642939...77720298070345

Chile ... would do it again: https://www.flickr.com/photos/642939...57717460587616 What a cool country.