Fifty Places to Bike Before You Die: Biking Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations by Chris Santella

267 Pages·2012·7.04 MB·English

by  Chris Santella

Chris Santella—along with top biking expedition leaders and journalists—
explores the world by bike. Every type of biker—from mountain enthusiasts to
road warriors and everyone in between—will be introduced to trips ranging from
the urban sprawl of New York City to trails along Texas Hill Country and
coastal paths in Spain. The truly adventurous will find challenges in the Tour de
Tuli, which begins in South Africa, and the Tour of Flanders, which winds
through Belgium, while those seeking something a little calmer will find
beautiful scenery in Vermont’s Champlain Valley and the Danish Isles.
Commentary and insider tips from biking experts make this a can’t-miss guide,
and Santella captures the special characteristics of these must-visit destinations.

This book is for my girls, Cassidy, Annabel, and Deidre.

I hope many more miles await us on our bikes.

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Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales:

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Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die:

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Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die:

Birding Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations

Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die:

Diving Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations

Fifty Places to Hike Before You Die:

Outdoor Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations

Once in a Lifetime Trips:

The World’s Fifty Most Extraordinary and Memorable Travel Experiences

Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die:

Golf Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

THE DESTINATIONS

1 Alberta: The Icefields Parkway

RECOMMENDED BY PETER WEILAND

2 Argentina: Seven Lakes District

RECOMMENDED BY ADAM BALLARD

3 Arizona: Grand Canyon—North Rim

RECOMMENDED BY JARED FISHER

4 Australia: Western Tasmania

RECOMMENDED BY RICHARD ODDY

5 Belgium: Flanders

RECOMMENDED BY JOE PARKIN

6 Botswana/Zimbabwe/South Africa: Tour de Tuli

RECOMMENDED BY JOE KURMASKIE

7 British Columbia: Okanagan Valley

RECOMMENDED BY DAVID BAKER

8 California: Eastern Sierras

RECOMMENDED BY ARLEN HALL

9 California: Wine Country

RECOMMENDED BY JONATHAN HERSHBERGER

10 Costa Rica: Arenal to Guanacaste

RECOMMENDED BY RONALD CALVO

11 Croatia: Dalmatian Coast

RECOMMENDED BY CHRIS MARK

12 Czech Republic/Austria: Prague to Vienna

RECOMMENDED BY ANGELA HORVATH BURKE

13 Denmark: Danish Isles

RECOMMENDED BY RON VAN DIJK

14 France: Burgundy

RECOMMENDED BY GEORGE BUTTERFIELD

15 France: Dordogne

RECOMMENDED BY RENÉE KRYSKO

16 France: Provence

RECOMMENDED BY JENEEN SUTHERLAND

17 Hawaii: Big Island

RECOMMENDED BY JULIE ROBINSON

18 Idaho: Sawtooth Mountains

RECOMMENDED BY ANNE ST. CLAIR

19 Indonesia: Bali

RECOMMENDED BY EMILE LEUSHUIS

20 Iowa: RAGBRAI®

RECOMMENDED BY T.J. JUSKIEWICZ

21 Ireland: Connemara

RECOMMENDED BY CATHERINE DOWLING

22 Italy: Piedmont

RECOMMENDED BY CRISTIANO BONINO

23 Italy: Sardinia

RECOMMENDED BY LAUREN HEFFERON

24 Italy: Tuscany

RECOMMENDED BY TANIA WORGULL

25 Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia: Baltic States

RECOMMENDED BY MARIUS MAURAGAS

26 Maine: Casco Bay Region

RECOMMENDED BY STEVE FULLER

27 Michigan: Leelanau Peninsula

RECOMMENDED BY TIM MEYER

28 Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee: Natchez Trace

RECOMMENDED BY PAUL WOOD

29 Montana/British Columbia: Glacier/Waterton Lakes National Parks

RECOMMENDED BY LINDEN BADER

30 The Netherlands: The North

RECOMMENDED BY DESIREE JANSSEN

31 New York: New York City

RECOMMENDED BY ANDREW J. BERNSTEIN

32 New Zealand: South Island

RECOMMENDED BY PAUL SMITH

33 North Carolina: Blue Ridge Parkway & Beyond

RECOMMENDED BY REBECCA FALLS

34 Nova Scotia: Cape Breton

RECOMMENDED BY GARY CONROD

35 Oregon: Crater Lake

RECOMMENDED BY JERRY NORQUIST

36 Oregon: Chief Joseph Country

RECOMMENDED BY JONATHAN NICHOLAS

37 Oregon: Greater Portland

RECOMMENDED BY MIA BIRK

38 South Africa: Cape Town

RECOMMENDED BY DAN AUSTIN

39 South Dakota: Black Hills

RECOMMENDED BY ART BROWN

40 Spain: La Rioja

RECOMMENDED BY ANDY LEVINE

41 Spain: Majorca

RECOMMENDED BY DANIELLA SOEDER

42 Switzerland: Cross-Country Traverse

RECOMMENDED BY JOHN KLEMME

43 Taiwan: Taroko Gorge

RECOMMENDED BY PAUL McKENZIE

44 Texas: Hill Country

RECOMMENDED BY STEVE COYLE & TAMMY SCHURR

45 Thailand: The Golden Triangle

RECOMMENDED BY STRUAN ROBERTSON

46 Utah: White Rim Trail

RECOMMENDED BY KIRSTIN PETERSON

47 Vermont: Champlain Valley

RECOMMENDED BY GERRY SLAGER

48 Vietnam/Cambodia: Hanoi to Angkor Wat

RECOMMENDED BY CHRISTIAN CHUMBLEY

49 Washington: San Juan Islands

RECOMMENDED BY JOHANNES KRIEGER

50 Washington: Washington State Challenge

RECOMMENDED BY JAN HEINE

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book would not have been possible without the generous assistance of the
expert cyclists who shared their time and experience to help bring these fifty
great bicycling venues to life. To these men and women, I offer the most
heartfelt thanks. I also wish to acknowledge the fine efforts of my agent,
Stephanie Kip Rostan; my editors, Wesley Royce and Jennifer Levesque;
designer Anna Christian; and copyeditor Ashley Benning, who all helped bring
the book into being. Finally, I want to extend a special thanks to my wife,
Deidre, and my daughters Cassidy and Annabel, who’ve humored my absence
during seemingly endless deadlines, and to my parents, Tina and Andy Santella,
who are not cyclists, but always encouraged me to pursue my passions.

FOREWORD

There’s a revolutionary living under your roof. It doesn’t chant slogans or
engage in armed resistance, but it’s a power to be reckoned with all the same. It
bunks down in the garage, hangs from the rafters, or waits patiently by the door.
To some it’s disguised as a child’s toy, a deceptively simple device for
recreating on the weekends. In truth, bikes are lightning strikes in a top tube; a
rebel with a cause just waiting to invigorate your life; Gandhi, Malcolm X, and
The Clash in motion rolling down the road on some madcap adventure of
freedom and discovery. They’re Teddy Roosevelt and all of his damn Rough
Riders running roughshod over sloth, the ordinary, and sedentary living. They’re
a symphony one day and an all-night rave the next. Pedal a bike and you’ll have
all the proof you need of a balanced universe. The bicycle has saved drunks,
junkies, and quietly discontented accountants alike. It’s defibbed couch potatoes
out of the coma of the mushy twilight of a TV’s glow, and it’s turned back time
for retirees who thought their best days were done. Quite simply, the bicycle is a
time machine taking everyone who climbs on back to a ten-year-old self who
believed in speed and the gorgeous savage inside. But like all time machines, it’s
not just the when of the matter that’s important, but also the where. You’ll have
an “experience” no matter where you roll, since the bicycle makes you a traveler
rather than a tourist, but there’s something to be said for hedging your bets.
That’s where Fifty Places to Bike Before You Die takes over as a road map to
peak experiences in the saddle. From pedaling wine country to rolling up to the
largest baobab in the African bush, why to go where and when have been
distilled for you. All that’s left is to point your wheels, find your rhythm, and go
as long and far as your desire will take you.

—JOE “METAL COWBOY” KURMASKIE