Favorite organized rides in your area?

[roguedog]

Wondering.. if you had to recommend one ride in your area/part of the country that best represents your area/part of the country, which one would it be and why?

For context, I could be an acquaintance from out of state that's coming to visit for a few days and happens to ask you what ride should I do? What would you suggest to this person?

(I thought this would be a cool thread for those of us who might actually consider traveling to events just to see the sights and enjoy the scenery .. er your scenery. I haven't done anything but the Cindy so I can't recommend any except the Cindy *was* quite fun, and was quite scenic.)

[maillotpois]

The Holstein:

http://www.wmss.org/holstein/

Less popular than the Marin Century, but a great ride, well supported, good cause and beautiful scenery.

[snapdragen]

I'll second the Holstein. I try not to miss it - no matter what shape I'm in!

[makbike]

I'd have to vote for the Old Kentucky Home Tour http://www.okht.org/. It is held the weekend following Labor Day. You have your choice of a 50, 72, or 100 mile ride on Saturday. This ride starts in Louisville and winds its way through some beautiful countryside as you make your way to historic Bardstown, Kentucky (home of Stephen Foster). Once you arrive in Bardstown you fill find plenty to do on the lawn of St. Catherine's College (free massages, yoga, food, bike fittings, etc). You can book a room at one of the local hotels/motels/B&B, camp out on the high school's baseball field or sleep in the high's school gym. A filling breakfast will be supplied Sunday morning as you prepare for the ride home. The best awaits you at the second SAG stop - simply known as the "Cookie Stop". You will be greated by more cookies than you could ever image eating so pace yourself. The return ride is 55 miles. Both days will challenge you but will also treat you to many, quiet rural roads. The scenery is out of this world (okay maybe I'm a little bias but it is beautiful). So, ladies pack your bikes, mark your calendars and join in the fun - you won't regret it.

[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

[makbike]

Thanks Silver. It looks like a lot of fun. It appears it is time to start planning for a weekend get away!

[Xrayted]

Well, I just moved to OR so I haven't any favs out here yet although the Cinderella in CA was very cool.
Back home in Lancaster, PA (Amish country) my former bike club has the covered bridges ride... http://www.lancasterbikeclub.org/cbm.php which is a century ride. They deliberately made the route not too hilly to encourage people to ride because that area is not known for liking biking. The other one I could suggest is the Bucks County Covered Bridges ride. http://www.cbbikeclub.org/?body=cove...04872fbdbec185 That one is very hilly and tough. Even the shorter routes are nasty. The scenery is gorgeous though. They were a little disorganized last year. The way it was setup, you could have actually ridden in it without registering and no one would have known. They had complaints about it so hopefully they will get it together at the start this year. The shirts are great though. They have a local artist do a painting of one of the bridges each year and feature it on the t-shirts. Like I said, you truly earn that shirt with every revolution of your pedals though.

[MomOnBike]

RAGBRAI.

Last week of July. Iowa. 10,000 of your closest drinken friends on bicycles. Heat. Humidity. Hills.

I've never ridden in a large organized ride before, preferring my rides to be small and disorganized, but the rolling party known as RAGRAI has been on my Life List since I first heard of it. DH & I are riding this year.