Why Go: This feature-packed ride, which starts and ends downtown, highlights the sheer geographical diversity and scenic beauty that makes NorCal so special. From San Francisco’s touristy waterfront, it crosses the Golden Gate Bridge, heads over the rugged Marin Headlands, hugs the Pacific shoreline through Muir and Stinson Beaches and climbs past redwood forests and flowering manzanitas to 2,574-foot Mt. Tamalpais.
Why Go: Utah’s State Route 12 traverses 122 miles of otherworldly landscape — chockablock with slickrock canyons, cosmic pinnacles and monolithic buttes — between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks. We’ve carved out a more manageable (relatively, mind you) chunk between Bryce and Boulder that winds past petrified forests, stratified cliffs and ancient Puebloan granaries where you can peer into history.
Why Go: You probably wouldn’t believe us if we told you that there’s fantastic cycling to be had — quiet, leafy two-lane roads that hug the Hudson River — a 10-minute ride from the frenetic streets of Manhattan. But it’s true, and it’s the reason Gran Fondo New York (whose route we’ve followed) has become one of the nation’s premier cycling events.
Why Go: According to the local Klamath tribe, Crater Lake was formed when a battle between the sky god and the god of the underworld destroyed volcanic Mt. Mazama some 7,700 years ago. Today, it’s sacred to them and all Americans, one of the world’s deepest, purest and most picturesque lakes. And it happens that a 32-mile strip of near-perfect pavement circles the ancient caldera.
Why Go: The San Juans, with their quiet two-lane roads, artsy culture and incredible scenery, have long been considered a cycling paradise. Of the three largest islands, San Juan is the most populated (with fewer than 8,000 residents) and features a good mix of roller coaster hills and open country. Lopez is flatter and more relaxed, and Orcas offers challenges on Mt. Constitution and Turtleback Mountain.
Why Go: The parkway winds along the airy peaks of the Blue Ridge from from Shenandoah National Park to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, offering riders 469 miles of nearly uninterrupted scenic two-lane road through God’s country. Wildlife, waterfalls and panoramic vistas of rolling mountains are de rigueur.
Road Notes: The BRP has very few services located along its winding route, so we’ve routed you over 25 scenic miles between two of our favorite towns in western North Carolina, Asheville (great breweries) and Brevard (epic mountain biking).
Why Go: The Oregon Coast is one of the most democratic (not to mention gorgeous) shorelines in America. Its tide pools, old-growth forests, waterfalls, cliffside trails and sandy beaches are free and open for the public to explore. But the best of these can only be discovered at a slow, steady cycling pace. Plan on good coffee and clam chowder lunches in between long, dramatic views to lighthouses and wave-crashed sea stacks.
Why Go: This ride through rural Washington County follows the route of the Tour of the Battenkill, America’s largest one-day pro/am cycling race, and its own shorter, hillier version of Paris-Roubaix. It rumbles through upstate dairy farm country and over covered bridges, railroad crossings and no fewer than eight stretches of rugged dirt road totaling 15 of the ride’s 68 miles.
Why Go: The highest paved road in the US runs out on top of 14,271-foot Mt. Evans, where it overlooks wave after wave of Rockies in one direction and the seemingly endless Eastern Plains in the other. It’s a rare chance to climb for three straight hours, and what’s not to love about that?
Why Go: Whether you call it gravel-grinding, all-terrain riding or, our preference, adventure by bike, rattling over the rolling dirt roads of Kansas’ Flint Hills is no picnic. It is gorgeous, though, with sweeping views over the iconic grassy farmlands of our nation’s heartland. This is America.