It’s that time of year where I’m normally thinking about putting my tri schedule together for the year. Since I’m still waiting on some schedules to come out I decided to think about something completely different, my dream bike vacations. So far I’ve come up with four but feel free to comment and give me more ideas. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
- Scotland
In 2011 I traveled to Europe for the first time. I took a train from London to Edinburgh and rented a car. I drove (on the left side of the road) from castle to castle, through the mountains and by lochs. It was beautiful, unfortunately while driving you can’t take in all the scenery as much as you’d like, I stopped plenty for photos but had I been on a bike I could have really taken it all in. I’d love to go back and ride the route I drove. Check out my map and some of the things I did capture on film in my gallery below.
- The Mediterranean Coast from Barcelona to Pisa
I’ve been to many of the cities along the Mediterranean coastline (French Riviera and Italian Riviera) but I’ve only traveled by train. In every city there were plenty of riders out on this very route, making me quite jealous.
- Coastline of the Hawaiian Islands
I’ve been to Hawaii a few times; I think it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. Two of the trips were training trips for swimming in college so most of the time was spent at the pool or sleeping on the beach (no complaints). The other trip was more leisurely and I actually rented a bike for a day and was able to ride along the coast, which was probably the best part of the trip. I’d love to go back and do this on a road bike and ride the coastline of Hawai’i, O’ahu, Kaua’i and Maui (the other 4 islands are mostly inaccessible).
- New Zealand
Finally, New Zealand, a place I’ve never been but have you seen The Lord of the Rings? I assume visiting a place like this would be similar to Scotland where you miss out on a lot of scenery if you just drive around. Not exactly sure what my route would be here but it’s on my list.
Check out a few of my photos from Scotland and the Mediterranean:
Heather Lendway 
I can vouch for New Zealand. South Island. Incredible. http://monikasattler.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-backpack-and-bike-and-horizon-as.html
One of my old classmates just toured Iceland by fat bike. http://www.outdoorresearch.com/blog/stories/photo-gallery-mountain-biking-iceland
His photos on facebook were even better.
Wow that looks pretty awesome, maybe Iceland will make the cut. I remember seeing photos of your New Zealand adventure definitely looked amazing and encouraged me to add it to my list.
How about the American West? You can ride the old Milwaukee road railroad grade (gravel) on a cross bike all the way from Wisconsin to Washington I think (a friend told me about it). I have another friend who is from Chile and he recommends riding the length of that country. And I personally recommend southern Spain in Malaga and Granada (best cycling I’ve done). Have fun!
Derek thanks for the ideas!! I’ll keep that in mind 🙂