What was your most challenging bike ride?

[Janice Pittenger]

Because of a recent illness I have not been able to ride. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to ride again.

[Rachel Mertz]

(09-01-2021, 05:58 PM)Nicholas Wrote:  Hello, bike riders!
This month, let's share our toughest and most challenging bike rides. Was it your first century ride or simply a ride back home in most unpleasant weather conditions?

My first bicycle tour, CANDISC, (Cycling Around North Dakota in Sakakawea Country) was my most difficult ride. I had trained for months in spin class, but nothing had me prepared for the headwinds and the extreme weather we biked through North Dakota for a week. Being it was also my first tour I had a lot to learn about myself, endurance and when my body is telling me to rest. I am a flatlander from the plains and not used to riding in hilly or mountainous areas. This tour was up and down all day - every day in heavy winds. I kept pushing through with terrible knee pain until it only got worse and worse. After a week on the bicycle (doing 475 miles ) I could barely walk anymore. I didn't want to cave in and take the SAG wagon to the campsite as I felt I had to prove to myself I could do it despite the pain. I learned that once that pain starts and isn't addressed it will only get worse and make your ride nearly unbearable.

It was my most difficult ride because it was my first tour and I had so much to learn.

[wdw2quad]

When I was a freshman in high school I squeezed out of my bedroom window one night around 1 A.M., got on my 10 speed and rode to my friends house about 16 miles away. I only stayed about 1 hour, we were meeting 2 hot girl's from school, ya I was so dumb, that late at night I could have been hit by a drunk driver of Bigfoot could have got me. I had to be home before Mom and Dad found out I was gone, to this day they still don't know..

[1froglegs]

I lived in the Pacific Northwest in a town where there were extensive trails that weaved through wooded areas. There was one 1/2 mile stretch of trail on a route i took regularly that looks flat but is actually a fairly challenging grade upwards. I usually power through it without standing on my bike, but occasionally you have to stand on the bike just to get to the crest of the grade. I was on a first date with a girl and decided a bike ride would be a fun way to get to know each other. Of course we get to that grade and she is struggling and my legs feel pretty spent. But I am not going to let her know that!!! So I reached over and grabbed her handlebars and towed her the entire way up that grade. I could feel my legs catching fire the entire time.

[micshapat]

The finger trails at Carver road park are gnarly! I've rode them before but no way now!

[rkcjaxx952]

My most challenging bike ride was when I went to ride some local roads in WV. I crashed and landed on my arm. It broke in half from the elbow. I didn't even feel it, until after I tried to get up. I just couldn't get up and I felt like I was spinning. I was trying to push myself up on the broken arm. Thankfully, there were some other people that came by and they helped me. I got so dizzy and couldn't walk so a nice person carried me. I went to the hospital and I had to have surgery and pins put in my arm. I still love to ride though! Ever since I was a child. That's what I did. I rode bikes. You just get right back on when you heal. Sorry it's graphic but that is truly my most challenging bike ride.

[jenrenh]

My most challenging bike ride was a hill that looked easier than it turned out to be.

[Papa Dom]

(09-09-2021, 07:53 PM)micshapat Wrote:  The finger trails at Carver road park are gnarly! I've rode them before but no way now!

this looks fun!

[fresh]

Going down Mt. Constitution on narrow trails and steep edges.

[TomC]

(09-03-2021, 12:55 AM)bluesbreaker Wrote:  My most challenging bike ride involved navigating traffic in NYC!

When I was a kid, living in Greenpoint (long before gentrification was even a word), my parents knew I rode by bike "around the neighborhood" -- one day I called my mom to say I wouldn't be home for lunch. She asked where I was calling from because she heard what sounded like traffic noise in the background. I had to tell her I was calling from a phone booth at Times Square.

I had ridden across the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan, then up Broadway to Times Square. I took the shorter route back -- via the Queensboro Bridge at 59th St.

The whole trip is only about 10-12 miles, maybe a bit longer since I did make a few detours, but I guess I was about 12 at the time so it was a grand adventure for me.

[Kimmy]

Wow! Sounds like some great rides. I hardly ride lately, just occasionally for fun around the neighborhood. I don't think I've ever been on a "challenging" ride like any of those described here. Before my great-grandma died I used to ride from my house over to hers, but that was less than a mile to the other side of our subdivision.

[Kevin Rogers]

(09-01-2021, 05:58 PM)Nicholas Wrote:  Hello, bike riders!
This month, let's share our toughest and most challenging bike rides. Was it your first century ride or simply a ride back home in most unpleasant weather conditions?

Show the first time I got a diamondback sync'r appointment going to be an amazing ride haha I started in Paris Texas starting on my way to Dallas I thought I was going to die. The weather was horrid. You ever been hit by marble sized hail at 18mph

[ellory]

And then my son fell and broke his wrist

[michaelgionta]

Ski lodge at mammoth mountain to tree line at summit back to ski lodge around the 11000 mark I think was very tired afterwards. Being in my 30s did not help.

[sambo59]

My most challenging ride is every day on the road I live on - busy road, hardly any room to navigate on the shoulder

[Nikko]

It has to be my first MTB marathon I did back when I was 24. Around 65-mile ride and I almost cracked in between miles 35-40 but somehow found power to have a strong final phase.

[Chris Giovagnoni]

My most challenging ride was June 17, 1993. It was day six of a trip across the U.S — 160 miles for the day after having logged 550 in the previous five days. I spent 14 hours in the saddle, and my body was feeling every mile and minute. If it wasn't for other riders on the trip encouraging me the final 30 miles my cross country trip would've ended that day in West Yellowstone.

[spikespoke]

My most challenging bike ride experience was about 3 years ago. It was the first bike ride I'd had in over 5 years after having stopped riding because I'd been hit from behind by a car that had drifted into the designated bike lane. It was not a hard hit, but I was pushed hard enough that I went up over the sidewalk curb and crashed into a tree. I was banged up and bruised quite a bit (thankfully no broken bones), and my bike was destroyed. It took me a lot to get up the nerve to ride again, but I'm glad I finally did!

[Al7]

My most challenging ride each year for the past four years has been the 719 ride in Colorado Springs. This ride is held around July 19th and is 71.9 miles long with well over 9000 feet of climbing if you complete 5 loops. It has challenging climbs with grades up 13%. You are your own aid station and so you can bring the exact things you need to replenish from your car at the starting point as you complete each 14 mile loop. The loop course also allows you to ride the course and stop early if your body says you’ve had enough. I promise that you will test your wind, legs and will! You can check out more details about the ride at 719ride.com.

[dh08]

(09-01-2021, 05:58 PM)Nicholas Wrote:  Hello, bike riders!
This month, let's share our toughest and most challenging bike rides. Was it your first century ride or simply a ride back home in most unpleasant weather conditions?

my most challenging bike ride was going uphill about a mile (I'm not very fit)