Starting planning for the summer vacation. Usually 7 - 10 days in a rental/vacation house, with wife and friends; all ride and get along well. Love challenging and scenic rides. Done Colorado (RtR, solo efforts, miscellaneous vacations), Asheville NC (Blue Ridge Parkway, various routes), Wyoming, CA central coast. Gotta be drivable from the midwest. Desire a central site to venture out straight from the driveway/parking lot. Also in, or really close to, a town that has some sort of night life and dining choices--what's a vacation without good food and drink? Been thinking of Taos NM, Santa Fe, Montana, but can't find much to read about concerning road riding--bits and pieces here and there, but not as much previous locals. Thanks for any suggestions you can toss my way. Mark
Vacation advice
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I have done Cycle Oregon for the last 3 years and really enjoy it. One of the best organized rides available. You're not staged in a rental/vacation house, but you do have a new destination each day. More information at:
http://www.cycleoregon.com/ -
Maine, near Acadia National Park and Bar Harbour.
North Conway, NH if you like climbing.
Both of these would have to be in the heat of summer.
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Mount Horeb Wisconsin. 5 min out of town is literally zero traffic. The best secondary road system in the US. You can ride 100 miles a day for weeks and not cover half of the local roads. By far the best road biking anywhere - like nothing is even close. If SW WI is 10, Boulder CO is a 0.5 for road riding. Madison is 20 min away in a car.
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Not sure how Wisconsin is "By far the best road biking anywhere - like nothing is even close" when the highest point in the whole state is barely higher than my front door in SoCal, but that's another discussion. I vote for Oregon, have friends that have raced and ridden up there and come back raving. Was going to recommend Central Cal but you've been there. For a real brutal adventure you could check out the Eastern Sierra's. 5 of the 10 hardest road climbs in the US are right by each other. The beauty of the area is also amazing.
For all the good they've done me, I might as well have stuck them up my arse. - Mark Renton -
Yeah, yeah, you guys are on the right path. Oregon keeps going on and off the short list. Have friends who live on the east coast who also recommend Acadia. Cycle Oregon is something we'd think about--have done RtR x 3, and RAGBRAI x 3, and definitely prefer the RtR experience to the Iowa version of Mardi Gras with bikes and coveralls. Keep 'em coming. The plotting and planning on cold winter nights helps us fight off cabin fever. Mark
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I'd go back to Colorado or Asheville! Alternative: Vermont and NH, especially the western half of NH. PA is right that further east is more spectacular, but it's crowded in the summer.
Much of Vermont is simply heaven on a road bike, when it's not raining.
Thinline will add to this, but if you stay in Burlington you'll want to drive out of town to ride (too much traffic), but it's a fun, festive city with good restaurants and things to do and see. Sunsets on Lake Champlain can be sublime. A more rural base would be Hanover, NH - a college town, and the school stays in session in the summer so it has a fun vibe and there are lots of riders in town, too.
The best time of year to ride up there is the end of May and the first two weeks of June.
From this area you can head up to Quebec's beautiful eastern townships ("L'Estrie"), which is rider friendly and you can practice your French, Allez. -
mt horeb is nice i've ridden that area; waukesha area too kettle moraine nice country roads lots of rollers but no extended climbs to speak of (except for holy hill and that's pretty short few K as i remember). estes park co but you're smack in the mid of the mountains there; not sure if the family will appreciate the up & down.
some of the most beautiful and challenging roads are where the tour de georgia used to go; around dalton/rome/ ft. mountain state park/ ellijay. you can earn your stripes on brasstown bald while the family chills in chattanooga.
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Check out the Cycle Oregon and also the people coast ride. Tai has a lot of good info on that area.
Summer in Montana would be neat from a multi-sport perspective. Certainly some fine trout fishing to be had but you need to check the seasons. Hiking, kayaking, water skiing, etc. all excellent.
How about crossing over into Canada? Head up to the Lake Louise area and Banff. It is all there, plenty of action just rolling out of the driveway everyday!
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I'll toss in southern Okanagan, British Columbia.
Good riding on and off road (Kettle Valley and other), hiking, lakes for swimming. Don't know about night life, but it's wine country.
The wise man said follow me...and he walked behind. -
We usually go to Castine, ME for a week or two each summer. It's on the coast about an hour south of Bar Harbor. Road surfaces are good, rolling terrain, & very little traffic. Couple of excellent restaurants in town and several more in Blue Hill, about 20-miles away. Golf course and tennis courts in the middle of town plus a terrific library.
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Wow, thanks for all the great ideas. I'm meeting the gang tonight to grill up some steaks, and share a couple of bottles of wine for the New Year--we'll talk over the options. Funny that Oregon and the Northeast keep coming up in our conversations as well. Orange Crush mentions wine country, and that always peaks our interests. That road looks a bit like my wife's stomping grounds in southern Colorado. Cheers, and Happy New Year! Mark
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Since JP mentioned it...I am the director for The Amgen People's Coast Classic. We're the same week as Cycle Oregon, doing the Oregon coast in six-days. Website is in my sig below. My contact info is on the website or you can PM me if you have questions.
I'm also launching a new ride in Sun Valley, Idaho June 29-30. Two days of hard-packed forest service roads with a lot of beautiful scenery and great support. It is designed to also work as a vacation, where participants stay extra days to check out the bike festival and USA Cycling's national marathon mtb championships. Come ride for two days with us, stay for some fly-fishing, rafting, single-track, and race spectating. No need to bring bikes because rentals are available for cheaper that you could ship. Thanks to PikeHillRoad for helping me develop that event.
Tai
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Lake Tahoe. Great riding in every direction no matter where on the lake you choose to stay at. And just about any type of night life you want from gaming to fireside hideaways.
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I'll throw in a second for NH/VT/ME if you want to make the drive. For Maine, if you don't want to travel all the way north to Acadia and Mt Desert Island, you can stay south and hit the Long Lake/Sebago Lake area, then drive into Portland or head up to Bar Harbor.
It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong.
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