Missouri

I headed to Missouri in March, 2010 for a solo ride. My route took me through the Mark Twain National Forest, which is southwest of St. Louis.

Here's my route map in Mark Twain National Forest. Compared to national forests out west, this doesn't seem like a national forest at all. Most of it just seemed like any old country road you'd expect to see in rural MO. Nevertheless, it was a very nice route.

Tons of rolling hills + twisting & turning roads = never a dull moment. The time was flying and I was having fun.

Looking ugly before the ride.

Mark Twain National Forest.

Just a taste of some of the rolling hills you can expect if you come ride here.

This part actually looked like a national forest.

The countryside.

Up...

...and down.

The roads were in good shape for the whole route.

California

California is home to the favorite century I've ever done, the Alta Alpina Challenge, which I did in June of 2009 while I was living in Reno, NV. The stats say it all- 8 climbs, 198 miles, and 20,000 feet of climbing. On top of that, the scenery is absolutely beautiful. What more could you ask for in a ride?

The Alta Alpina Challenge map. Some of it took place in Nevada, but more than 100 straight miles were in California.

By far the hardest ride I've ever done. 198 miles, 20,000 feet of climbing.

Climb #1: Kingsbury Grade, AKA Daggett Summit.

Kingsbury Grade was definitely the easiest climb of the day. I was fresh, the climb is relatively short, and the grade is nice and steady without any steep spots. I played it very safe and went a lot slower than I normally would, hoping that I could save some energy for the next 7 climbs.

Climb #2: Luther Pass. I don't remember much about the climb, so it must not have been too bad.


Climb #3: Carson Pass.

It's hard to see the sign in this picture, but the elevation is 8574 feet. This was the toughest of the first 3 climbs so far. I'm not sure what it was about Carson Pass. The elevation profile doesn't look all that bad, but for some reason this climb seemed to take forever to finish. The climb is absolutely worth the effort, though. The view of Red Lake near the top is stunning, and the descent is fast and not technical at all.

Here I am ascending Carson Pass. So far, so good.

A view from the Carson Pass descent.


Red Lake, as seen from the Carson Pass descent.


Blue Lakes Road is well known in the area as a wonderful place to ride. I couldn't agree more. I was too busy enjoying the ride to take pictures. Here is the only one I took. Blue Lakes counts as climb #4, but it's not a pure climb like the others. There was more up-and-down involved.

After finishing Blue Lakes we headed back to Turtle Rock Park, where it all began, for the lunch stop. Let me tell you, it's never a good thing to be right next to your car after you've already ridden 100 miles with ~10,000 feet of climbing. The weather wasn't great and I felt like I was going to bonk soon, if I wasn't bonking already. Here I am eating some turkey on a bagel and drinking a Pepsi (a performance-enhancing drug, if you ask me). At this point I was considering quitting.

Then a funny thing happened. I heard people talking about Ebbetts Pass and how difficult it is. I began to feel both curious and challenged at the same time. Is it as bad as they say? If so, I wanted to conquer it. I decided I'd just try one side of Ebbetts Pass, come back to the start, and call it a day.

The view on the way to Ebbetts.


This is the sign you see as you get closer to Ebbetts Pass. This is an intimidating sign, but the road actually remains flat for a while after this until you hit a cattle grade and the road shoots skyward. Until that time you're just riding along waiting and waiting, wondering when the pain will finally come.


Climbs 5 & 6: Ebbetts Pass (both sides).

The first side of Ebbetts was tricky. I rode along anticipating the climb, and when it finally hit I was ready for it. The turkey bagel and the Pepsi were kicking in and I was feeling good. The climb has some steep portions, but those portions are mainly around switchbacks and they don't last all that long. It turns out to be a steady climb with steep sections and not-so-steep sections, so it's almost like riding rolling hills without any downhills. Think of the not-so-steep sections as the downhills.

It started to rain towards the top of Ebbetts Pass. I was feeling good at the top and quitting was suddenly out of the question, so I headed down the other side. Both sides of Ebbetts are similar, but the back side (at least with the route we were using) was shorter. I made it down and back to the top without much of a problem, but by this time the rain and the cold were taking a toll and I was not looking forward to the descent back towards the final two climbs of the day.

The descent was cold and the roads were wet. I wasn't much of a descender at the time (I got better and better as my year in Nevada went on), so I was taking it extra slowly. I felt a little cheated that I did all that work to get to the top and I wasn't even going to enjoy the descent. Things started to clear up towards the bottom, which was good news for the last two climbs of the day.

Climbs 7 & 8: Monitor Pass (both sides).

Ebbetts took a lot out of me, and Monitor is no slouch. Its grade is mostly steady, but steep. It seemed steep to me after a long day in the saddle, at least. The turkey bagel and Pepsi had long since worn off and I went really slow up the first side, which made me worry about not having enough time to do the second side and get back before dark.

I was supposed to descend the other side of Monitor and be back at the summit by 8:00, but I figured 8:00 would be pushing my luck. I really wanted to get back by 7:30, but that would only leave 1.5 hours for a 9.9 mile descent and a 9.9 mile climb. Sounds reasonable, but my legs felt dead up the first side. I decided to try my luck. I had made it this far, so why stop now?

I did what for me was a very fast descent. I'm not sure if it was adrenaline from the descent, if I could sense that the end was near, or if I was just getting a second breath (or 3rd or 4th), or if the climb itself was easier, but I felt better on the ascent. I ended up making it back by 7:30. I must have put in a pretty hard effort, because one of the guys at the rest stop seemed really worried about me.

Here you can see the last rest stop straight ahead.

In my mind it was all downhill back to Turtle Rock Park from here, but if you look closely at the elevation profile you'll see that there is actually a little climb just before the finish. It seemed like an appropriate way to finish the day.

Again, the difficulty of the ride must have been showing on my face, because one of the guys at the finish seemed very worried about me. He was doing all he could to get me something to eat and I felt like he was genuinely concerned about me. I can't thank the people at the Alta Alpina Cycling Club enough for their great support. They picked the perfect route and all of the volunteers were very nice.

Like I said before, this was by far my favorite ride I have ever done. The scenery was beautiful, the climbs were challenging, and I felt like I overcame a lot of mental hurdles. To me, that's what cycling is all about- pushing yourself to the limit and doing things that you weren't sure were possible.

EDITS

Since I moved to Reno I've done quite a bit more riding in California. The California Triple Crown became my favorite event, and I have done the following doubles:

Devil Mountain Double (2011)

Terrible Two (2011)

Mt. Tam Double (2011)

Mulholland Double (2012)

Central Coast Double (2012)

Borrego Double (2012)

I have also returned to Monitor Pass and Everested the east side: Everesting Monitor Pass. 

If you're looking for a route across California, here are links to the first few days of my ride across America from 2015: 1, 2, 3. It's a solid route. I highly recommend it.

Utah

I spent a few weeks working in southern Utah during the summer of 2008 but, sadly, never got a chance to ride there. When I was living in Las Vegas in early 2009 I got a chance to go back and ride the Zion Early Spring Century, which takes place at the end of February.

The route goes from St. George to the entrance of Zion and back.

The elevation profile is pretty tame.

Smooth roads. (I don't know these guys.)

I've seen more of southern Utah from an automobile window than from the saddle, which is a real shame. I would love to ride through Monument Valley some day.

Edit: I rode across Utah as part of my 2015 ride across the country. Here are the relevant days: 5, 6, 7. You can find more pictures, plus Strava route links.

Nevada

I spent 2009 living, working, and traveling in Nevada and I can tell you that it is a state that has much more to offer than most people think. It is a surprisingly good place to ride a bike and the following photographs are only a small taste of what Nevada is all about.

Las Vegas

Cycling probably isn't one of the first things that comes to mind when you think of Las Vegas, but that will change if you do some riding in the area. I lived in Vegas for the first third of 2009 and it is actually a relatively bicycle-friendly place. The roads are smooth, there is a decent bike lane network, and the weather is fantastic. My number one complaint would be that the air quality could use a little help.

If you don't feel like riding in the city, Las Vegas is surrounded by 3 great places to ride. From left to right on the map below they are: Mt. Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, and Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

L-R: Mr. Charleston, Red Rock Canyon, Lake Mead

Red Rock Canyon

Let's start with Red Rock Canyon. If you ask any local where you should ride if you come to Las Vegas, he will tell you to head to Red Rock Canyon, home of a ~15 mile scenic loop where you will see red rocks like this:

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

If you want to add on some extra miles, Highway 159 has a very wide shoulder and is popular with cyclists. For my first Nevada century, I went from Las Vegas to Red Rock Canyon and added on extra miles on 159 and 160. Here are some scenes from that ride:

Smooth road, plenty of shoulder, and great views. I love it.

"Begin Scenic Route" indeed!

If you look closely you can see the Las Vegas in the distance.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Lake Mead is another fantastic place to ride. I was living on the east side of Las Vegas, so it was an easy ride over there when I wanted to get away from the traffic and ride in peace. This is about the easiest century you can do. Just hop on 167 and enjoy.

LMNRA: Smooth roads, low traffic, good shoulder.

Lake Mead in the distance.

Mt. Charleston

When you feel like climbing, head to Mt. Charleston. There are two ways to do the climb, so you shouldn't get bored. If you start at the green arrow pictured below, it is a 21-mile climb, but not as steep. If you climb it the opposite way, it's shorter at 17 miles, but steeper. One of the centuries I did was from Vegas out to Mt. Charleston and back.

Here's the meat of the Mt. Charleston century I did.

The elevation profile. It's a long climb, but stars off fairly easily.

Mt. Charleston in the distance.


Getting closer.


Not your typical Las Vegas scenery.


This is a wonderful sign to see!

Reno

After winter was over I landed in Reno, which ended up being a perfect situation. Reno is a relatively small city that is very bicycle friendly. There are plenty of bike lanes and its small size allows you to find a good route with light traffic to pretty much anywhere you want to go. The best thing about Reno is its proximity to some of the best riding in the country. (If you stay for the winter I hear the skiing is pretty good in Tahoe, too.) On the map below working clockwise you'll see Pyramid Lake to the North, Geiger Grade to the east, and Mt. Rose to the west. All of these are easy to reach by bike from Reno. Northern California, which is my favorite place I've ridden so far (see my entry on California), is a short drive away.

Clockwise from top: Pyramid Lake, Geiger Grade, Mt. Rose.

Geiger Grade

Geiger Grade is a 7.8-mile climb with about 2,000 feet of elevation gain. This became my favorite training ride in Reno, a place where I could test my fitness on a regular basis. It can also be a gateway to some longer riding by going through Virginia City to US 50, the "Loneliest Road in America". It can also be added to Mt. Rose and 6 Mile Canyon Rd. for a nice day of climbing.

Geiger Grade's elevation profile.

Geiger Summit. The elevation is easy to remember: 6,789.

Mt. Rose

Mt. Rose (from Reno) is a longer, more scenic climb of 16.3 miles and ~4,200 feet. This climb is the gateway to the beauty of Lake Tahoe. After you reach Mt. Rose Summit, you can descend the other side of Mt. Rose highway and catch your first glimpses of Lake Tahoe. What could be better? Once you reach the bottom, you can continue either direction on 28, which will take you around the perimeter of Lake Tahoe. Traffic can be busy here, but the views are worth it!

Mt. Rose Summit is also home to a hiking trail that goes to the top of Mt. Rose, which tops out at 10,776 feet. The hike is about 10.5 miles as a round trip and gains almost 1,900 feet. One day I decided to "conquer" Mt. Rose under human power, so I rode to the Mt. Rose Summit and hiked to the top from there. All together I climbed ~6,000 feet and had a wonderful time. The views of Lake Tahoe from the top are spectacular.

Elevation profile for Mt. Rose. Never too steep, but long.

My bike and the summit. Straight ahead is a nice descent with views of Lake Tahoe.

Descending Mt. Rose Hwy.

A look at Mt. Rose from 395 as I was about to ride/hike to the top.

A look at me and Reno from my Mt. Rose hike.

Lake Tahoe from the top of Mt. Rose (10,776 feet).

Pyramid Lake

Pyramid Lake was my century of choice when I didn't feel like doing much climbing. The route is a simple out-and-back, mostly along 445, that has more of a high desert feel to it. The roads are nice and quiet, giving you a chance to just relax, take in the scenery, and enjoy the ride.

The route is a simple out-and-back.

A glimpse of Pyramid Lake.

A few trees changing color in the fall.

Why did the snake cross the road?

(Edit: This is the original post as I wrote it in early 2010 while living back in Indiana for what I thought was going to be a while. As of late 2010 I live in Reno for good. I couldn't be happier.)