With stories of 50 amazing bike rides in North and South America, from Alaska to Patagonia, EPIC BIKE plus a further 150 route suggestions, Lonely EPIC BIKE RIDES Planet’s Epic Bike Rides of the Americas will inspire a lifetime of cycling adventures. RIDES From easy one-day trips and family-friendly of the rail trails to backcountry bikepacking expeditions, gravel races, road routes, and mountain biking challenges, each ride shares AMERICAS one defining feature: being truly epic. of the AMERICAS 1st edition US $35.00 UK £24.99 - lonelyplanet.com Explore the Americas’ most thrilling cycling routes on road, gravel, and trails EPIC BIKE RIDES of the AMERICAS Explore the Americas’ most thrilling cycling routes on road, gravel and trails - EPIC BIKE RIDES OF THE AMERICAS - Easy Harder Epic CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 04 USA Denali Park Road (AK) 114 ARGENTINA The Sky Islands Odyssey (AZ) 120 A Wine Ride in Mendoza 08 Blast Bentonville’s Trails (AR) 126 Buenos Aires’ Bike Paths 14 Socal Desert Ramble (CA) 132 To the Tip of Patagonia 20 Sausalito to Point Reyes Loop (CA) 138 Tour of the Unknown Coast (CA) 144 BOLIVIA Ride to the Sunset in Malibu (CA) 150 Salar de Uyuni 26 The Downieville Downhill (CA) 156 The Pacific Coast (CA, OR) 162 CANADA The Colorado Trail (CO) 168 The Whitehorse Trails (YT) 34 Colorado Brewery Tour (CO) 174 The Cabot Trail (NS) 40 The Alpine Loop (CO) 180 Vancouver’s North Shore (BC) 46 The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Whitefish to Banff (AB) 52 Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) 186 Whistler Bike Park (BC) 58 Maine’s East Coast Greenway (ME) 192 Great Allegheny Passage (MD) 198 COLOMBIA The Minuteman Bikeway (MA) 204 Nairo’s Neighborhood 64 The Natchez Trace Parkway (MS, AL, TN) 210 The Katy Trail (MO) 216 CUBA Glacier National Park Loop (MT) 222 Cuba’s Southern Roller Coaster 70 New Mexico Off-Road Runner (NM) 228 Hudson Valley Escape (NY) 234 ECUADOR A Manhattan Circumnavigation (NY) 240 An Uphill Pursuit of Ecuadorian Black Gold 76 Smoky Mountains Climb (NC) 248 The Trans-Ecuador Mountain Bike Route 82 The Nestucca River Scenic Byway (OR) 254 Family Bikepacking in Ecuador 90 The Central Oregon Backcountry Explorer (OR) 260 The Lu Lacka Wyco Hundo (PA) 266 Ronaldo “Ronnie” Romance; © Firespire Photography © Firespire Romance; “Ronnie” Ronaldo © MEXICO Mountain Biking in Moab (UT) 274 Baja California’s Cape Loop 96 The Trans-America Trail (USA) 280 Oaxaca City to Playa Zipolite 102 Coast to Coast via The Southern Tier (USA) 286 The Covered Bridges of Vermont (VT) 292 PERU Shenandoah’s Skyline Drive (VA) 298 The Peru Divide 108 The Virginia Creeper Trail (VA) 304 A Circuit of San Juan Island (WA) 310 Clockwise from top: © John Watson, © John Watson, © John Watson, Clockwise from top: © John Watson, INDEX 316 3 - EPIC BIKE RIDES OF THE AMERICAS - Clockwise from left: bikepacking across Ecuador; alpacas in Bolivia; the Golden Gate Bridge from Marin County, California. Previous page, clockwise from top: riding the Grinduro gravel race; mountain biking Downieville; exploring Oregon; a pitstop in Pennsylvania INTRODUCTION esert, forest, mountain, or urban jungle: the landscapes of ‘epic’ – is that an extraordinary range of cycling experiences of the Americas are unparalleled in their diversity. So it is available in the Americas. You can have an epic adventure followed that in order to create this book we approached straight from your front door and be back before sundown. Or D a similarly motley crew of writers to contribute tales you can follow in the tire tracks of Sarah Swallow or Caitlin of their epic bike rides on these two continents. We asked hardy Giddings and pedal from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. bike-packing adventurers such as Cass Gilbert, Lael Wilcox, Mark We can’t all take a sabbatical for cycling so this book also Beaumont and Sarah Swallow; road racers Keir Plaice, Andrew reflects varying levels of commitment. Some of these rides take Bernstein and Riley Missel; the all-star editors and writers of just a couple of hours, others a day or two, a week, or several © Cass Gilbert © Cass Gilbert Bicycling magazine Gloria Liu and Caitlin Giddings; and, of course, months. We’ve given a general indication of whether a ride is Lonely Planet’s own group of globe-trotters. easy (in terms of terrain, distance, conditions or climate) or more That immense range of terrain means that whatever form of challenging (steeper hills, longer distances, fewer snack stops). cycling you’re into, it’s not difficult to indulge it, or to try something The goal of these stories is to inspire you to get your bike out totally new. For some of our contributors, biking was about escapism (dusting it off and pumping up the tires first if need be) and and involved nothing more complicated than packing some food, explore somewhere new with the wind in your hair. filling a water bottle, and meandering into the distance with the Cycling is the perfect mode of transport for the travel-lover, we wind at their backs to explore industrial history or rural bliss. One cover more ground than if we were on foot, but without the barriers or two went a lot further and, GPS unit in hand, ventured deep into that a car imposes. We are immersed in our surroundings, self- the Andes of South America on laden bikes, powered by nothing powered, independent, and forever pondering the question ‘I wonder more than their legs and a hunger to explore local cultures (and what’s over there?’. The bike rider is free to follow a whim, discover snacks). We’ve included several routes in the fast-growing field of the limits of their endurance, or stop and settle for a while. Hopefully, bikepacking (like backpacking but on a bicycle!) that will hopefully this book will prove that there’s no better way of experiencing a place, inspire readers and riders to try something new. a culture and its people than by bicycle. And as some of these tales Writers with families in tow recommended accessible rides along tell, arriving on a bicycle opens doors, literally and figuratively. such rail trails as the Great Allegheny Passage and the Katy Trail. Other contributors pulled on skin-tight Spandex and sought out HOW TO USE THIS BOOK challenging climbs on vertiginous roads, whether in Colombia This book is organized by country in alphabetical order. Each story or California. Mountain bikers often preferred the descents, features a first-hand account of a fantastic bike ride plus a toolkit making pilgrimages to places like Whistler and Downieville to to aid the planning of a trip – when is the best time of year, how to find their thrills and spills on rugged trails. Competitive types get there, where to stay. But beyond that, these stories should spark enjoyed the unique camaraderie of the new breed of gravel races. other ideas. We’ve started that process with the ‘more like this’ Our contributors crossed states (Iowa, Maine) and even entire section following each story, which offers other ideas along a similar countries (Ecuador, the USA two ways). And more than a few theme, not necessarily in the same country. Many of these ideas authors agreed that a good ride wasn’t complete without a beer or are well established routes or trails and we’ve suggested sources of two afterwards with old friends or new. detailed information. The index collects different types of ride for a But what became indisputable – whatever your interpretation variety of interests and locations. | Lonely Planet © Matt Munro 4 5 - EPIC BIKE RIDES OF THE AMERICAS - A WINE RIDE IN MENDOZA Paved bike lanes lead from one vineyard to the next in Argentina’s renowned Mendoza Valley, where you can swirl, sniff, sip and then spin onwards. don’t normally drink wine for breakfast. Perhaps that’s why I was grinning like a naughty kid when I found myself, just a few MAIPÚ minutes after 10am one Wednesday morning, swirling a glass of START FINISH CORAZON malbec in Argentina’s Mendoza Valley. DE JESUS IThe enabler pouring me vino at Bodegas Lopez told me not to be ashamed: ‘The morning is actually the best time to try wine because your palate is clean and alert,’ she assured, before offering a second glass. It was a sweet wine this time with ‘hints of pear and quince’ – BARRIO VIEJO TONEL a healthy start, I supposed, for what was gearing up to be a full day LAS TORCACITAS of cycling through Argentina’s preeminent wine region, which lies to the south of its namesake city along the country’s western border. Joining me at the saddle was Mendoza native Leo Garcia, an avid cyclist who was as eager as I was to pedal the sleepy, vine- BARRIO lined roads. Before we set off on our journey, however, we opted MALCAYAES for a quick tour of Bodegas Lopez to set the mood. Opened in 1898, this was one of the first wineries built in the Mendoza Valley. It’s now one of the largest in the country, producing mostly the regional specialty of malbec. The winery lies in a dusty satellite city of Mendoza called Maipú, which is prime real estate for the nation’s top vineyards. With a new circuit of ciclovias (bike lanes), it’s also a fantastic destination for hedonistic bike trips. If there were no wines, there’d be no Maipú. Pedaling south from Bodegas Lopez on Ozamis St, in the direction of Maipú’s main plaza, we saw dozens of historic buildings that had sprung up here in the late 19th century around a handful of brick-built bodegas (wineries).