Favorite organized rides in your area?

[li10up]

Hotter n Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, TX. I haven't ridden this one myself yet but I hope to do so this year. But, according to the number of riders who take to the streets on this one it must be pretty good. I believe they had over 10,000 participants for last years ride.

[Veronica]

10,000 participants sounds like no fun to me.

That's the real reason I like double centuries, so few people - no lines for food or bathrooms, not so much poor behavior...

Stop Signs - mean stop
Riding Two Abreast - should not take up the whole lane
Music Players - Don't belong on an organized ride
Big Groups - Don't stop in the middle of the road to wait for your stragglers

But I'm a grinch.

V.

[li10up]

10,000 participants sounds like no fun to me.

That's the real reason I like double centuries, so few people - no lines for food or bathrooms, not so much poor behavior...

Stop Signs - mean stop
Riding Two Abreast - should not take up the whole lane
Music Players - Don't belong on an organized ride
Big Groups - Don't stop in the middle of the road to wait for your stragglers

But I'm a grinch.

V.

Yeah, you have a point. But I think it would be really cool to see that many people on bikes all riding at once. It would be a huge wave of color. I just think the atmosphere would be great - especially the night before the ride when everyone is just hangin' out chillin'. I gotta do it at least once.

[AllezGirl]

I gotta put a plug in for my club's event on May 12...the Quad County Metric
http://www.suburbancyclists.org/quadcounty.asp It's a great ride & the best stocked rest stops in the mid-atlantic!

But, I have to admit, my favorite ride in the area is the Lancaster Covered Bridge Ride in August http://www.lancasterbikeclub.org/cbm.php

here are some pictures from last year that I found when I googled it
http://groth2005.princeton.edu/~grot...CBR_2006.shtml

[silver]

Nice idea!

For Mr.'s general area....the Hilly Hundred near Bloomington IN. It's 50 miles each day of the weekend. It's pretty popular and has maybe 5,000. But it didn't seem too congested. Nothing compared to running the Chicago Marathon.

http://www.hillyhundred.org/GenInfo.html


However the Kentucky ride that Mak mentions look great and actually it's about the same distance from me. Maybe we can do BOTH.

[makbike]

Silver and Mr. Silver - please if you decide to participate in the OKHT let me know by all means. I'd love to meet you guys and hopeful pedal a few miles if not more with y'all.

Silver - do you by chance have any information on a fund raiser for the Indy Zoo? A friend told me in passing of this ride and said it ends on the INDY 500 track. I'd love to treat my BF to this ride.

[makbike]

I've never riden this ride, The Horsey Hundred, but am going to sign up this year (the joys of quitting my job I now have Saturdays off to ride!). It takes place Memorial weekend in Georgetown, Kentucky. It takes in the horse country in the Lexington, Kentucky area. There are several routes to choose from both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday they have available a 29, 50, 75 or 100 mile courses. You can select from a 37, 52 or 70 mile loop on Sunday. I've filled out my registation form and hope to mail it this weekend. It looks like fun and I know the countryside will be out of this world not to mention all the pretty horses to look at along the way.

I plan on riding the century on Saturday and am not sure about Sunday at this point. I will be commuting from home so that I can avoid putting my dogs in the kennel for the weekend (cuts into my fun funds). There is lodging available at the local college as well as some campgrounds, hotels, etc in the local area.

Check it out at: www.bgcycling.org/horsey

[silver]

not quite.....http://www.cibaride.org/niteride/best.html

Ohhhhh.....here it is.!!!!!looks like fun!!!!

http://www.indyzoo.com/content.aspx?cid=724

[Mr. Bloom]

Silver and Mr. Silver - please if you decide to participate in the OKHT let me know by all means. I'd love to meet you guys and hopeful pedal a few miles if not more with y'all.
.

I could go for that. Bardstown is a neat place...(but I don't sleep in gyms...)

Come join us at the Hilly Hundred...we have a condo in Bloomington...no camping necessary

[Starfish]

RAW (Ride Around Washington) every August. Don't have the URL, but you can Google Cascade Bicycle Club (of Seattle) for ride info. They do it every year, it is a week of touring through a different area of Washington state every year. REALLY well organized and supported, and limited to 200 riders.

And, the Olympic Cycling Classic (May 19 this year) in Port Angeles WA. I am doing the organized version this year for the first time, but I have done the whole route in my own bits and pieces...amazing scenery, from salt water beaches to glacial lakes to rivers to mountains... This is a one-day century with metric and shorter options, stuff for kids, etc.

[Kathi]

I could go for that. Bardstown is a neat place...(but I don't sleep in gyms...)

Come join us at the Hilly Hundred...we have a condo in Bloomington...no camping necessary

Mr. Silver, no one sleeps in the gym at OKH, unless you want to sleep with your bike!

Since the event takes place a week after the tourist season (Labor Day)motel rooms are inexpensive and transportation is provided to all the motels.

And, yes, OKT is a great ride.

Another ride that is my all time favorite and hope to come back to do some day is the Horsey Hundred on Memorial Day weekend in Georgetown Ky. http://www.bgcycling.org/horsey.htm

The routes tour the horse farms and you will see barns worth more than your house. You will also see the foals racing around with their mothers.

Accomodations are at Georgetown College or motel rooms.

Everyone we recommended this ride to has fallen in love with it.

There are rides from 25 miles to 100.

[Daydrummer]

Hotter n Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, TX. I haven't ridden this one myself yet but I hope to do so this year. But, according to the number of riders who take to the streets on this one it must be pretty good. I believe they had over 10,000 participants for last years ride.

I'm from there, and have done it twice in the past...it is truly exhilarating