Help X. pick a bike vacation!

[DeniseGoldberg]

First, some questions:

1. Do you prefer a series of day trips from a base, or will you be touring (that is, carrying your gear, and moving from place to place every day?
2. Is your only activity going to be cycling, or do you want to do some hiking or other activity too?
3. Is there an area of the country that really feeds your imagination?

Of course there aren't any right or wrong answers here, hopefully just a way to focus your dreams.

With a target date of April / May, you will need to consider the usual spring weather patterns. If you're looking for dry and relatively warm riding, I think that you'll need to rule out much of the northern part of the country. May can be a wonderful time to ride in places like Maine, but it can also be very wet and somewhat cold. One of my favorite places to visit to ride is Glacier National Park in Montana - but that's too early in the year to go there since Going to the Sun Highway isn't usually open by then. Another favorite for me is the Big Island of Hawaii (to help you dream, here's a link to my journal: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/Denise2003Hawaii. My trip was a tour, but you could easily pick a place to stay and ride from there.). Is there a reason why you've left Hawaii out of your possible destinations?

Let's see, if I were dreaming of a trip in the lower 48 in the April / May timeframe, where would I go? The states that immediately jump out at me are Arizona, New Mexico, and maybe California. Another option that might be interesting is Moab. Yes, you're right, that's a mountain bikers mecca - but I've done two trips there with a road bike, staying in Moab and doing day rides in the area. My journal for those trips is at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/denise2001moab.

What I think it most important is that you pick a location that jumps out and says to you "come visit and play". I'll be very interested in hearing your decision - but for now, happy dreaming!

--- Denise