Once the world has opened up again, if it ever does, I’d like to do a few cycling holidays, a month at a time. Road bike and a credit card, prefer mountains over plains, but mostly for scenery than any kind of personal fitness achievement, so let’s say a casual 60-100km a day.
This could be Taiwan… or anywhere, ideally not Liverpool or Rome.
Any suggestions?
Ever read this website?
Got some great short, long, and really really long bike holidays (like across continents).
Link here is for Taiwan diaries:
Norway, France, Belgium and Italy have been my favourites. The Ardennes and the Dolomites are lovely places to cycle. Pyrenees are awesome, but hard. I cycled from Trondheim to Oslo and the scenery was incredible, but it can be tough weatherise.
Was supposed to be cycling SF to LA last week but Covid put paid to that.
Sounds good, France is definitely on the list soon, as well as Switzerland. The Dolomites look great, how were the roads though on a bike? I’ve had some scary experiences as a road user in that part of the world.
If I’m to do long term touring, somewhere with a lot of convenience stores is ideal as I go through so much food and drink it works out a lot cheaper to drive. I was thinking of spanning Japan - Naha, Okinawa to Wakkanai, Hokkaido.
Roads in the Dolomites were generally fine. Some gravelly rough bits here and there. Mountain roads were usually very quiet. Lower roads and towns were a bit busier, but if you’re used to Taiwan then it’s fine.
US trip took some convincing but Japan is on the list. Would be a hell of a fun trip.
This ride is pretty great… maybe not as long as you’d like. We did it north to south though, climbing Mt. Mitchell at the end.
https://cycleoflifeadventures.com/the-appalachian-trail
You could easily spend that amount of time in Colorado, which would be my first choice in the States.
Closer to here, Vietnam is on the list for me.
EDIT to add we did not use the linked outfitter, just posted because the route details they provide there are pretty good…the pictures are my own. 
Vietnam: Hanoi to Hoi An.
Japan: Hokkaido (did 2 weeks in July there, awesome!).
also around Shikoku: some steep little roads, great temples and mountains and seafood. Also did 2 weeks there… October is just beginning to cool off, with autumn leaves. Nice!
NZ north and/or south east of Auckland. or Queenstown to Christchurch
Also high on my list…
I am not ready for anywhere without a convenient store within 10-15km of riding, I know, I’m a wimp, Hokkaido is on my list. I was maybe hoping to go there this year, but yeah, same story as everyone else.
I also want to try London, the heart and soul of MAMILs.
Colombia? I watch many YouTube travel shows and it seems the infrastructure is similar to Taiwan with lots of tour groups.
Thanks for the great suggestions! Feel even more confident about Hokkaido. Never even considered NZ or Colorado
Switzerland is also on my list, hopefully there are plenty bakeries in the little towns to keep me stocked.
Re:Mamils, London’s not too far away and I know many of that particular species (i don’t wear lycra, just a t shirt and joggers for me) - in the past I have entered into some sportives, destroyed most of my passion for fast long distance cycling due to being stuck with some fat guy on a carbon Look bike with a Kelloggs Corn Flakes jersey in a 50km/h headwind for 30km.
Ha, yes sportives are where the mamils are at, the horror of corn flake, Wallace and grommit, marmite jerseys. Triathlons have gone a similar way - the ultimate dad sport.
London ride I would recommend would be a spin around town in the middle of the night when the streets are deserted. Richmond park is ok for a few early morning laps too.
Vietnam suggestion has got me thinking though.
LOL. if you’re stuck in a 50km/h headwind for an hour oir two of fast cycling, the ABSOLUTE BEST place to be is right behind some very fat guy on a carbon bike.
Just so long as you don’t have to pull turns…
… or have to look at his ass too closely.
It was more like struggling to stay upright at that speed, I remember his fat ass coming into view in the distance, and it took me about 20 minutes or so to eventually catch up and pass him. Obviously by the time I got there he was friendly and cheerful enough, probably also was relieved to see another cyclist at this point as it was several hours in, this was in the Cambridgeshire Fens by the way, I struggled to remain as cheerful as I had spent the last 15 minutes blaming him for my misery.
The fastest speed I can maintain for hours is around 22km/h so I don’t really consider myself a cyclist, more of a guy on a bike type thing. It’s a joyful platform for adventure for me. I threw away my bike computer because it was just getting me down lol
Also, his ass could only be described as thicc
According to Cambridge, you’re a cyclist. Welcome to the club!
I worked in Cambridge for three years, therefore disproving that anything with ‘Cambridge’ in the name is a sign of quality.
It doesn’t fit the bill in terms of mountains, but Malawi is on my list, and Zimbabwe maybe. Just for smug factor pub points I guess. Call myself “a seasoned traveller” on my LinkedIn profile, please endorse me thnx
If you like that part of the world, like I do, I recommend Malawi and Botswana over Zimbabwe any day (for political and safety reasons). and for actual cycling, although i have not been there, the topography and culture of Mozambique look awesome.
(unidentified people, allegedly border bandits, shot at my car near the border crossing from Malawi to Mozambique, trying to cross to Zambia, in 1995 so i chose not to enter then. i think it may have changed a lot since then.)
Anyone have cycling experiences in the followinh places?
Indonesia
Phillipines
Thailand (north)
Edit: that’s only been 10 days?! Life is slow at the moment!
I think top of my list is now Hokkaido… But starting from Kagoshima, all the way up the west coast of Honshu via shikoku and kyoto.
Guy’s sitting here dreaming
You need to start from Okinawa and take ferries to each island up the chain First
Do the Australian 環島
