Best cycling adventure

Newcastle to London with Ride24 last year, 312 miles in 24hrs and I still get a buzz now when I think about it..

Mine are all rides I've done with one or more of my kids (late teens). Alpe d'Huez and Sarenne with the eldest son. Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders (not the sportives) with the middle son. But probably the best was the Circle of Death (Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, Soulor and Aubisque) over two days with my middle son. Beautiful weather, stunning scenery steeped in cycling history, just fabulous. And riding with my boys makes it so much more enjoyable. 

For me, it was attempt #2 at the Blockhaus climb in central Italy.  I wrote it up on Pistonheads - 

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1457483

Every now and again I get the urge to cycle to work and then continue on somewhere after work, bivi and ride the next day. One recent such ride saw me commute the 12 miles to work on a Friday morning, leave work at 17.00 and ride about 30 miles to the Black Mountains, eat at Llanthony Abbey, bivi in the hills, then ride home about 40 miles on the Saturday. Not epic but thoroughly enjoyable and something anyone can do in their own area 

I rode 220 miles from Marondera to Moana Pools in Zimbabwe in one day on a MTB with slicks. I nearly died from heat exhaustion at one point, but after a couple hours snoozing in the shade of a tree I managed to complete. I finished by riding down the (v.long) driveway of the farm I was staying at being encouraged by the workers going home. It was a magical day on the bike, and remains my longest ride.

Another that comes to mind was an epic day on the bike on a newly tarsealed piece of road in NZ called the Gentle Annie from Taihape to Napier. It has a total of about 9000 ft of climbing in a 105 mile ride. We (myself and a dozen friends) did it in mid winter which could have turned out really badly, but we started out in sub-zero conditions on a sparkling day and as we headed westward over some spectacular countryside through roads banked with snow and no traffic. the day just got clearer and brighter and better, and the tail wind got stronger. We ended at some hot pools in Napier. It was a fantastic day. Beyond fantastic.

There have been many other epic rides, often in the 150 - 200  mile region, some in great weather, some in not so great conditions. They've all been memorable, and enjoyed, after the event in some cases

En route to the Etape last year, me and 4 mates stopped overnight in Clermont. Riding up Puy de Dome was banned when they installed a tourist train on health and safety grounds, but it was suggested on a blog that if you got up and down early enough you could avoid the authorities and enjoy an iconic climb without too much aggro.

We set off from our city centre hotel around 5am and arrived at the no entry signs at the foot of the climb just as the sun came up. Hopped over the barrier and wound our way to the summit, feeling like Kings and naughty schoolboys all at the same time.

The 90kph descent was a rush and we never saw another human on the way up or down. Made the whole trip for me. Magic.