Your best ride of 2024

[Cathryn]

I’m torn between two and cannot choose!

The first was the joy of accompanying my son on his first 100 miler from home to Big Ben! It was just a glorious day out and it meant so much to me too.

The second was a day of our big trip this summer! We rode from Nantes to the gorgeous Ile de Noirmoutier. We had to leave Nantes in the dark so we could get to the coast by 11am and ride the causeway road Le Passage de Gois at low tide as it is only rideable for a few hours each low tide! We made it and cycling over the seabed was so much fun! And then we rode onto this gorgeous little island that smelled of seaweed and salty air. It was magical!

🧙‍♂️

 

[ColinJ]

Looking back over the year I can see that I did far fewer rides with company than I normally do, and most of the others were quick local rides just to the kms/miles in.

I did do some nice rides with other riders though. Two with my niece were good (one in Devon and one in Scotland). I did a fun mountain bike ride with my cousin in Scotland. The one that I have chosen for social ride of the year though is my Mirfield forum ride - good company, fantastic scenery, and many roads which were new to me.

As for best solo ride... There were some good rides in Yorkshire and Lancashire but I will opt for one of the ones I did in Scotland from Benderloch to Castle Stalker and Appin, back via Loch Etive...

 

[Donger]

I've been very lucky this year. Some great weeks away from home in nice weather and very quiet traffic. Three real highlights:
(1) My first ever visit to Moray. Did a great ride along the Moray Firth coast from Cullen to Garmouth and back. Loved it.

(2) Then a week in Malmedy in the Belgian Ardennes. Made use of a combination of quiet roads and the magnificent RAVeL network of off-road former railway cycle paths. Did a brilliant ride out to Trois Ponts, where I picked up a section of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege route before returning via Stavelot and the Spa-Francorchamps racing circuit.

(3) Back in Scotland. Inverinate on Loch Duich this time. Three fantastic rides, but I think my favourite was the only one that I had already ridden in the past .... around Loch Duich and back, taking in the wildlife and the views.

Ask me again tomorrow and I might come up with three different rides, it has been such a good year. But those three would all make the highlight reel for the last five years.

 

[Cathryn]

I love this thread. There's so much joy and such beautiful photos.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

And our best ride on the tandem: The crossing of the Accursed Mountains from Kosovo to Montenegro over the Čakor Pass.

We checked out of our guesthouse at 6am, waving goodbye to our host, Osman Shala, who led the local resistance to Serbian forces in the Kosovo war. Hard to imagine him now as a guerilla fighter, but his published diary of the conflict is really hair-raising.

The reason for the early checkout was to avoid the forecast thunderstorms over the pass (~1850m), predicted late morning. Our road along the bottom of the Rugova canyon rapidly turned to a dirt track across the border, and whilst pushing the first claps of thunder rolled around the cliffs above. By 7am it was throwing it down, freezing cold and we were sheltering under a tree in no-mans land, a little spooked by the very loud storm, and also somewhat worried if it could be snowing at the summit nearly 1000m higher up.

Given that our police permits for the border crossing were only valid for the day, and our natural tendency to give things a go, once our teeth started chattering we bit the bullet and set off in the downpour. Over the border the road turned back to tarmac, and we had a wonderfully smooth, totally deserted road for the long ascent of the pass. If only it was sunny... ...then, miraculously, half way up the climb the clouds broke and alpine scenery revealed itself all around.

There was a profusion of wildflowers on the verges, and an occasional hayrick in the meadows.

The summit arrived in beautiful sunshine and we enjoyed a snack surrounded by the Peaks of the Balkans.

A long very and slow descent down the narrow road into beautiful Montenegro followed, with a welcome morning coffee at the bottom – it must have been no more than about 10.30am at this point. We rolled on to our destination for lunch and a relax.

Only 57km but 1000m climbing and 1300m descent.

 

[derrick]

Rescent ride in Spain,not done to many miles in the UK this year, But a week in Spain in the sun was great, 5 days of riding, drinking, eating. https://www.strava.com/activities/13002577524

 

[Dogtrousers]

My trip the the Grand Colombier.

The culmination of several years pondering and at least a year's planning. I'd never ridden up a continental sized climb before and I'm not getting any younger. Travelled out by train stayed in Aix-les-Bains, which is the nearest town big enough to have a bike hire place. Some friends arrived by van and camped at the foot of the Colombier.

There's an organised challenge for the Colombier for multiple ascents (of which there are four possible). The nice thing about the "Fêlés du Grand Colombier" is that you can join with a mere two ascents. The local municipality organise "journées cyclo" cycling days when they close the road for the main ascent. No registration or anything, just a closed road. All very convivial and relaxed.

The ride itself was a big success with fantastic views, and I succeeded in my two ascents to become a member of the Fêlés

 

[tyred]

It's been a strange year and mileage is down due to a combination of back problems, working long hours and mental health issues with a lack of enthusiasm. I did have a few very nice tours, I enjoyed Dumfries and Galloway, especially around the Isle of Whithorn and I enjoyed Islay despite horrible weather. However, I will go with the 170 odd miles I covered over two days around Connemara in August. It reminded me why I like cycle touring in the first place. A fixed base at the Ben Lettery hostel and no plans, I just got on the bike each morning with a packed lunch and see where I ended up.

 

[geocycle]

Nothing very exotic for me this year and all my cycling was local. But had a nice few rides in the Lake District and environs.

 

[Spartak]

Mine was a ride of 3 parts from Bristol to Belgium ...

Pt. 1 - Home to Bristol Parkway for the train to Paddington.
Pt. 2 - Across London, from Paddington to St. Pancras.
Pt. 3 - Brussel Zuid to Mechelen.

The Belgian leg involved cycling approx. 25 Kms to my hotel via The Atomium, before dropping off my bags at hotel then heading north to meet a mate for a beer in Leest.

Cycling in Belgium 🇧🇪 is great, lots of cycleways and lots of courteous car drivers ... 👍

 

[HLaB]

No spectacular scenery from me this year but I quite enjoyed the ride up to Screveton

The off road section with at circa 100miles still (2 miles at 11.5mph) and the rush to get back on schedule saw me blow up with over 30 miles to go. Thankfully it was close to the scheduled shop stop.

I also liked this ride with another group at a much more sedate pace in mostly flat land which had some interesting buildings.