I have good news everybody. The presidential election is coming up, and whoever wins is probably gonna cure Covid-19, because that’s what presidents do. Am I right?!?!
No. Sadly no. I’m not. And despite the world careening down the Highway to Hell in a car with three wheels and no A/C, it looks like we’re gonna need to get ready for a few more months of, let’s call it, “limited mobility.” You can ride your bike. You can ride your bike far. You just can’t ride your bike far away, unless you’re comfortable getting in a massive flying lipstick tube with all the other hearty souls who want to “get away from it all.”
A little double entendre there. Thank you very much.
I had plans to be in Wales in August, visiting my family deep in the dark hills where gravel paths snake away up hidden valleys criss-crossed with babbling brooks amid the steady of bleat of the sheep population. The roads are all one lane there, and the forests are all straight up Gnarnia.
People wax on and on about France and Italy. Sure. Those are nice places. Each offers a few spots you might want to point your front wheel and take a stroke or two at the pedals. Fair enough.
And ok, fine. The food is probably better, but I think you should get your priorities straight. This isn’t about the food! Or coffee.
I had so much planned for my time in Wales. This bike park. That bike park. Not to mention a tilt at this mountain. And that one.
And I had work travel planned. To see my friends in Colorado, sell them stuff, and ride mountain bikes up where there’s not enough air for an East Coast dirt bag like me. Also the Pacific Northwest, where I have customers and also friends who will take me places that look like Wales but have dangerous wild animals in them.
In case it wasn’t entirely obvious, this week’s TCIF is wondering, when we can travel again without taking our lives, and the lives of our grandparents, in our hands, where would you most like to go ride your bike?
I would like to fly to Colorado and meet up with my group of friends that ski/bike/drink together and do all of those things together. I’m willing to take multiple trips just to ahve good condtions for each!!
Given The Bug is outa control in New Mexico, I’m just going to hide out today on the Rail Trail.
http://labikes.blogspot.com/2020/09/litespeed-gravel-first-offroad.html
I’d like to just ride in my new home town and find new friends. Riding solo is great but I don’t know the great roads or trails or even coffee shop
But just and fyi, you’re probably safer flying than just about anywhere else referring to virus transmissions. The air is recirculated every 3 minutes through hepa filters and 75% of the air comes from outside and is directed down towards the ground. There’s been over 1Bil plane travellers and less than 50 Covid cases. I work on these flying tylenols so I’m always researching the safety.
Where would I go? Gravel Riding in der Fraenkischen Schweiz, Road riding in the Dolomites, oh, and tackle St. Gotthard (the old cobblestone route) while I’m nearby. That would be a fun, doable trip. maybe 8-9 days.
Road, gravel, and MTB riding in and around Granada Spain.
Tuscany would be nice. Uphill from Boulder would make for a fine day. Heading into the Pyrenees from the south of France would be grand. But give me a medium-sized group ride on my every-weekend route with my cycling friends, instead of alone like most of the 2020 season, and I would be complete.
The Rift, Iceland.
In the redwoods. If they’re not on fire.