What is your cycling perfect moment?

pottssteve

6.00 am, Bride's Pool Rd, Hong Kong. Sun rising behind the mountains of Southern China, dozens of egrets stalking the shallow shoreline for fish. A light breeze, and empty road, smooth gear change and legs feeling good.

and...

Reaching the top of Route Twisk - 5.5km of climbing at an average of 9%, the Yuen Long floodplain far below...

grrram

Perfect moments:

1) Went back to visit friends in Marin County, California and was so stoked to be back and desperate to ride, that i borrowed their old clunker (complete with shopping basket) and rode it from sea level to the top of Mt. Tamalpais. Fresh air and redwoods - its not about the bike :-)

2) Finishing the TdF London to Canterbury sportive. At the time, this was the longest distance I'd ever done and it was a real accomplishment. Plus, I gained a greater appreciation of what the pros do for 2 weeks.

3) Spending a day on the trails in Stirlingshire on my stag do and finding the lure of the trails greater than spending the afternoon in a pub we stopped at in Sherrifmuir. Best part was weeks later, a non-cycling mate told me that he'd had so much fun that he bought a MTB and was hooked.

4) Early rides on a bright, crisp morning. Very still, no one's up yet, roads are clear and you just have that hunger to get out there and ride...tarmac, trails or whatever.

MadammeMarie

Too many to count!

The first time I climbed up Alexandra Palace Hill without stopping, or cycling through Richmond Park, iPod on shuffle mode and Sprintsteen's version of Shenandoah came on as I was watching the sunset. Awesome! Or, similar situation, but the Stone's Moonlight Mile comes on.

Or, cycling to work over London Bridge and seeing the sun come out behind Tower Bridge! Stopped (bus driver not happy), and took this photo.

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grrram

Great photo MadammeMarie, love the way you've framed the sun - I also commute over London Bridge and slow down whenever I catch that view.

grrram

Great photo MadammeMarie, love the way you've framed the sun - I also commute over London Bridge and slow down whenever I catch that view.

johnmclean

Two in particular...

The first time I managed the Buisson via the 'Hedge of Death'...

The second was pre-dawn riding in Brunei, through jungle mist, being swooped by fruit bats! :shock:

Looking forward to getting back to some seasonal riding next year.

carl_p

Well I've only been cycling since May last year so completing the Norwich 100 in June in absolutely foul conditions stands out.

Funnily enough this morning's ride had a mega feelgood factor. Cool, bright and hardly a breath of wind. Nothing special, nothing fancy, just a delightful ride in the countryside. For me that's what it's all about.

Giant Phil

The best two weeks of my life was cycling LEJOG, sooo many amazing memories. Over Dartmoor, the Penines, Fort William and John O'Groats being just a few of them! Finishing it was the most incredible feeling ever.

Phil

capilinconnemara

This is a great thread. Topping a Climb or Holding out on the Club Spin and completing a distance all ring a bell.

1) Getting a full police escort last 4 miles into Galway TOI 08 on a Saurday with traffic stopped like we were a Pro-Peleton. This was my home stage and I was living a dream leading out a bunch sprint.(It didn't matter that we were the 3rd group on the road)


2) Was watching a fellow Leisure Rider holding off the racing heads in a club league race. Every week they would close the handicap and ust sail by us but this week we rode to a plan.I got caught for 4th but my mate held on. The look on the racinghead faces said it all

geoff_ss

velocitizen wrote:

The descent from Crich to Lea Bridge and Cromford every time I ride there, and any silent, sunrise 'road to myself' moments.

Maybe, but it's bugger going the other way isn't it? We usually drop down to Bullbridge (as we did yesterday) which is quite satisfying too.

Another golden moment for me was finishing the 1990 CTC 400km Audax on the front of a line out at 23 mph because I wanted to get inside 20 hours. A guy I'd been riding with for 300km tried to sprint me for the Writtle sign but I held him off. No idea who he was and can't remember his name but it was a good alliance of mutual benefit.

It's doubly meaningful because 3 weeks later I was laying in a hospital bed paralysed after taking a header over a bolting cat on my way to work. I've never been fitter because we were also in training for a Himalayan trek in the Autumn. My wife went alone the following year.

Geoff

robmurr2000

In september when my dad and i rode the 'cycle for life' charity event in chelmsford. No idyllic setting,just the two of us peddling along on a cold and windy sunday morning.He used to ride with his brother for kennoway road club in fife back in the 60's and seeing the joy on his face as we crossed the start/finish line was something i will remember all my life.Even though it was only a 50k charity ride,the old man still did ok for a 60yr old!!

cougie

One of my all time faves is when I was 18 - built my own custom made 531 frame up, and on its first test ride, i overtook an opentop Ferrari on a descent. Same model that was in Magnum ?

(ok the ferrari was stuck behind a caravan - but we were still doing 40 or so).

Happy days !

CiB

Blimey - this has picked up.

I'd further nominate:

Stopping at a (the?) pub in Caerwys at the top of a short but sweet climb for a well-earnt pint back in June (remember June? Summer and all that?), and having a local spy the bike and gawp at the route on the handlebars (Day 2, Rugely to Prestatyn) in awe - that was enough tbh, and then saying to him 'go on then' when he asked if he could pick my bike up. Smug Factor 12. And then two miles up the road, having a MK 1 Lotus Cortina hare past me, squat in the road, all white & green flashes. Oooh. Just ooooh.. Bikes are great, but a proper Lotus Cortina...? It 'd be a case of 'cheers lads, but I'm off now. Thanks but...'

Rolling up at the Would-have-been in-laws in Skipton some years ago from well south of Nottingham, and on arrival being asked by would-be Father-in-law 'Would yyou like a drink?', and saying 'I've just had a couple of pints with your son up the road actually'. His jaw did actually hit his well-polished floor; then GF was standing smiling beningly behind him at me. Priceless. Improves with age, and beligerence...

What else? Beating the hour to work (21 miles) with a 59:58 blast last September, then smashing that with a 56:31 earlier this year.

Riding home from work on Friday this week just gone, in a persistent drizzle. Can't put me finger on it, but it was just awesome - rooster tails of water front & back, being in completely dark lanes witn zero traffic, noticing how Autumn has almost morphed into Winter - bare trees, chill in the air, bare brown fields, no squirrels or deer, rabbits or farm cats disappearing from the line of sight as you round a bend in a quiet country lane - it's all gone quiet, and dark, spookily dark but gorgeously dark with it. England is deeply fabulous a lot of the time, most of the time indeed. Around now is one of those times. We live in a special place. We should appreciate it more than we do.

What else? Collecting the new bike this week, thinking after two short rides that it might as well go back but then knocking off 63 miles on it yesterday and realisng how great it is. Pa still can't grasp why I want to ride 46 miles to his farm rather than drive up there to see them.

The Blenheim 100 mile Sportiv this year. No single special moment, just the whole thing. Superb.

And being on the bike. Whenever, anywhere, anytime. It's what roads & legs are made for.

macondo01

Summers day, smell of grass at Dunham Massey, launching my son on his bike and watching him for the first time cycle and cycle. That look on his face was priceless!

Pross

Getting off the bike after a 100 mile TT. Getting to the top of a big hill, enjoying the view for a few minutes and plummetting down the other side. Being in the bunch with 200m to the finish line

pneumatic

Macondo01 wrote:

These are brilliant - they'd make a book

In that case, I recommend you read "Need for the Bike" by Paul Fournel. (If you are able, read it in the original French "Besoin de Velo".) It is a series of short essays on all aspects of enjoying cycling. I read it in one sitting last weekend (confined to the fireside with a bad cold) and by the end my cleats were so itchy, I was practically pedalling in mid air.

As for a favourite moment: reaching turn 11 on the Alpe d'Huez and realising that I was going to be able to climb the whole thing without putting a foot down once. Oh, the adrenalin rush!

fizz

Tour of Wessex 2008, Saturday ride, headwind all the way across the levels back towards Glastonbury, I hit the wall quite badly, was tired, hungry, legs felt like lead, turned out onto the man A39 at the bottom of the Tor, past Edgarley Hall school and just wanted to throw my bike into the hedge and I'd have quite happily never seen it again. There was a few people in their back garden watching the riders go past. The little shouts of encouragement and claps they gave me as I plodded my way past really spurred me on. I was completely shattered at this point, both physically and mentally. I was on the verge of tears and hearing those people cheer me on really turned around that last bit of the ride and within a couple of miles I felt fresh as a daisy again. I cant describe how those few words of encouragement made me feel at that precise moment.

macondo01

Thanks pneumatic. I'll look the book up.

And thanks to everyone else. I am really enjoying the richness and variety of your experiences.

Lakesman

some great posts folks. tis what it's all about :

Gav888

Doing 35mph for 1 mile keeping up with the traffic.... felt great to do those speeds on a road bike. It was a nice flat road with a strong tail wind and drafting helped alot!!! :shock:

stfc1

Coming out of the forest at Chalet Reynard on the Ventoux this summer and realising that unless I blew up I was on for an even better than hoped for time. Those final kilometres were a dream come true, like playing tennis on the centre court of Wimbledon or football at Wembley. Looking down and seeing how high I'd come, it was like the view from an aeroplane. I'd never ridden a climb outside of the UK before.

Apart from that, any crisp, dry winter Sunday morning club run (as long as it's not painfully cold!), wrapped up against the elements and riding with friends while the rest of the world sleeps off its hangover.

And, ultimately, just every time I get on a bike. Even riding to work in the rain this morning.

skinarelli

Not much comes close to the feeling you get descending a mountain in the Alps!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vBmRvDJppU

8)

macondo01

Lordy!! And blimey !! :shock:

iain_j

What an excellent thread

Off the top of me head...

Climbing the Horseshoe Pass back in 2003 on my "new" Giant, and reeling in all the spots at the side of the road where I'd stopped and slumped over the handlebars a few months before, today realising I've cracked the art of climbing big hills.

A short time later, my first brakeless descent of the same road. Taking the racing line through the corners and all that. Unfortunately my nerve has gone again since then

Completing a 110-mile slog from Liverpool to Pen-y-Pass on my heavy old clunker made even heavier with panniers stuffed full of stuff I didn't need, thinking that because I'd completed a similar distance a few weeks earlier (without all the luggage) it would be just as straightforward. I had my first taste of riding in torrential rain (nearly crashed 10 miles into the ride because of it), my first long-distance headwind (yes about 90 miles into a headwind), my first experience of the bonk (struggled up a hill near Colwyn Bay, got to the top, put my foot down for a rest and collapsed in a quivering heap), and my first experience of the Sustrans cycle routes (Conwy to Bangor - avoid!!). But after over 12 hours on the road, I found myself rolling slowly up to the top of the Llanberis Pass into a glowing sunset, all the pain magically disappearing from my legs in that final mile.

More recently, conquering Holme Moss for the first time (climbed from Holmfirth), after fully expecting to walk most of it after having dead legs on the approach after 60-odd miles around the nearby hills. I'd done it once before and died several times on the way up. As soon as the climb got going good and proper I felt like I was ready for battle. Game on. Round the first couple of hairpins, it's a brute but I'm managing. Out of the initial hairpins, I'm starting to get the shakes, please don't bonk here, and my hamstrings are protesting - oww. The long haul up before the gradual left bend to the summit, I'm shouting all sorts of expletives at the tarmac. Into that final bend, are they the cars at the summit carpark I can see? My legs are really trembling now, I feel like if I get out of the saddle I'll just crumple. Argh it's painful. Up past the cars, the gradient eases, the lactic acid starts to fade, heck I can even click up a couple of gears. I can't control the triumphant smile as I push it all the way to the summit sign. Woohoo!

And finally - my first experience of international track racing at the Manchester World Cup earlier this month. Vicky Pendleton's fight against Olga Panarina and Shuang Guo to win the sprint, Geraint's record breaking qualifying ride in the pursuit, Wendy, Lizzie & Jo's record breaking team pursuit, and highlight of the weekend for me, Geraint, Steve, Ed and Andy's win in the team pursuit final. One second off the world record. That was epic. Never been at an event with an atmosphere like that.

friso

My best moment so far was realising i had 3 miles to go to finish the 98 mile Autumn Epic this year and knowing it was all down hill

The sense of achievment was overwhelming

This was my first proper ride after a 20 year complete lay off the bike

Why oh why did i wait so long?

iain_j

Oh and riding the Wild Wales Challenge 2006. Riding up the 20-25% brutes early in the day and rather than feeling pain, feeling power. Realising it's going to be a Good Day. Some hours later, topping out the final climb and starting the long descent back to Bala, completing the ride. That was a good feeling

iain_j

Crikey I'm addicted now. Can I have one more?

Last spring, doing a 116-mile circuit in Shropshire. Suffering like a b*stard on what I was expecting, hoping to be one of the easier sections of the ride, 20 miles long, into a block headwind. 10mph on the flats, speed negligible on any slight inclines. Oh I suffered. And the horror when I got to the town I was aiming to have lunch at, and thought there was no café. However I pushed on, never one to give up. And I was rightly rewarded. Did the last 40 miles from Ironbridge to Oswestry with that brute of a wind directly behind me, barrelling along at >20mph all the way. Flew along like something possessed. Man it felt good!

macondo01

One than one is allowed!

Nice one

chriskempton

Riding up Le Bettex to watch a TDF stage finish (1989/1990?) for my first ride in the Alps. Racing up it against other fans from all over Europe and elsewhere on a perfect summer's day.

London Embankment with the wind behind you.

The feeling of commitment when you're on a 90 mile solo ride in the Dales and it's further home if you turn back than if you carry on.

Daybreak when you've started a ride before first light in spring.

A local time trial on a humid windless summer's evening.

A ride I did with some friends on mountain bikes, from Hertford up to London Docklands and back, along the canal. Stopped at about 5 pubs on the way home and got gradually battered.

Beer garden of New Inn, Church Knowle, Dorset, after a long ride roundthe Purbeck Hills.

I'll stop there, but could go on for some time.

+1 Great thread.

rdt

My best moment is also one I harbour a tiny regret over: In the Alps a few years back, descending the Galibier and hammering it back to Bourg d'Oisans....

:arrow:
A pal and I ride from Bourg, over the Glandon / Croix de Fer then up the Telegraphe / Galibier - amazing climb. He's faster than me but we ride together.

Although baking hot in the valleys, it's chilly at the top of the Galibier, and on the few preceding days there's been afternoon thunderstorms with torrential rain, and clouds are building. So for the descent to the Lauteret I put on every bit of clothing I have on me, and it's every man for himself until we reach the valley floor. I'm descending like a demon, only to be caught by a bunch of Italians. So I tag behind them and we fly, passing bikes, drafting lorries through the tunnels, overtaking cars, fantastic madness.

On reaching La Grave (?) I realise going through town that pedestrians, wearing skimpy summer clothing, are looking at me rather oddly. With the adrenaline from the descent I've not realized it's now baking hot again, so I quickly whip off the coat, hat, arm & knee warmers, thinking I'll wait for my pal to catch up. But immediately thunder rumbles and a rain-spot or two appears. B0110cks to that, I'm offsky, don't want a soaking.

So I'm off alone on the drag back to Bourg, absolutely hammering it to beat the threatening thunderstorm. Nobody told me there's a climb approaching the barrage (Lac du Chambon?), I'm tiring badly now, and some guys are closing on me - I can hear their voices - German. What I should do is wait for them and ride with them. But I think my sugar levels have plummeted or something and I'm not thinking straight. I don't want to be overtaken by anyone, I'm on a mission, so I down a gel, dig deeper and stay ahead of them. Past the barrage, and eventually I'm descending fast again, flying now, through a tunnel where I can hardly see a thing, but nor can I see the Germans who I've somehow now dropped. So it's back to out-riding the impending downpour, flat out, till I hit the outskirts of Bourg.

Thankfully, it's not the Marmotte, so no final Alpe purgatory - job done. Exhilarated after the maddest hour+ of riding I've ever experienced, but tinged with guilt at not waiting for my pal (who'd waited for me all day), and who rides in later bone dry...

Bar those few spots at la Grave, it never did rain that day. :oops: