Your best cycling memories ...

1speed

1speed

Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Another thread to help distract us all from the constant coverage of coronavirus everywhere you turn ...

What is/are your very best cycling memory/memories (to date)? Is it a race you did? A particularly great trip you took? An out of the blue perfect day JRA? What's the story behind it? Why is it such a great memory? Let's hear 'em!
 
First.

prolly the first few Bike New Yorks we did poached. Before bibs and checkpoints and lotteries. We just showed up with a bag-a-bones and did our thing. Never figured out how we all managed to survive stay together with all the wackiness going on.
 
I think the first time, about 12 years ago, when I ventured off the rail trail in KVSP and discovered all the great single track in there.

I was riding my 20yr old mtb and discovering those trails was so awesome and it really got me into mountain biking to an extent I hadn't had previously.

Couple years later I got a new mtb and two years after that I got a road bike and but for shoulder surgery two years ago, I have consistently biked 4-5 days a week for 9-10 months of the year.

Which helps me mentally, spiritually and physically...

I don't get into KVSP as much as I used to because of different work logistics, but when I do I re-live the days when I was in there 3 or 4 times a week.

Plus I've seen so many cool critters in there. The big black snakes in late May and June, the bears, the turtles, the owls and red tail hawks, the yellow biplane overhead, and I almost got hit by lightning coming down on yellow from the cell tower.

Lots of great memories in KVSP!
 
My first large OOS ride which was at 6 mile, I was so confused and out gunned by everyone. Had a lot of fun half the group crashed it was a holiday weekend and so many Europeans were there. I was also confused I thought it was an Asian only club when I got there.

Lot of biking buddies made met Pat Paul Walt Kevin and a few others that day, really set the bar for me regarding what mtbing is all about
 
The Governor of Slacktown said:
My first large OOS ride which was at 6 mile, I was so confused and out gunned by everyone. Had a lot of fun half the group crashed it was a holiday weekend and so many Europeans were there. I was also confused I thought it was an Asian only club when I got there.

Lot of biking buddies made met Pat Paul Walt Kevin and a few others that day, really set the bar for me regarding what mtbing is all about
Click to expand...
You met Pat1, Pat2 and Pat3
In Pat We Trust
 
there's been quite a few really good trips i've done... sedona, kingdom trails, raystown with friends and teammates...

but one of my favorite memories was finally working up the courage to go to mountain creek. i had ben from cognition show me around. i've worked with him before so he knew what i could do and how to push me... and by the end of the day, i was hooked. 😀

ETA:

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I did the Tour De Franklin in 2005 I think. I was doing a lot of road biking and stationary biking back then. It's how I lost a ton of weight. (well that and changing my diet). I signed up for the 40 mile leg, but somehow wound up on the 60 mile-r. I was using my Trek 4500 with road hybrid tires, dressed in jogging pants, hoodie, running sneakers and a huge bookbag on. I stuck out like a sore thumb amongst all the roadies with their carbon road bikes and full blown race kits but passed a lot of them because I was just in that good of shape back then. Felt good.
 
Not really a specific trip or ride. More like I left the sport for three years or so and came back a few years ago. All of a sudden it seemed like there were so many more trails made for MTBing and the manufacturers finally figured out the bike technology/geometry.
 
A rainy summer night ride in ringwood, maybe 2012. With a friend who doesn’t ride much anymore. It should have been as disaster, as it poured the whole time, but it was warm enough and ringwood still rides well wet. I was just starting to do real mtb riding, and that ride always stands out. For me the beginning of my riding was the best. But I guess that’s how things work, always more fun until you get jaded.
 
These are great! Even though I started this, I'm having trouble picking my own! I'd have to divide it into races vs other rides. For races, I'd have to say two equal days there, both in 2016: LBD and the 24 Hours Round the Clock. For both of those, I went in knowing I had good fitness and felt amazing all day. For non-race rides, that's a tough one - I've been riding for a very long time, and I've been lucky enough to ride a lot of places and with a lot of great people. But screw it, this is about making a choice, so I'll go with my gut: the first time I did my (now annual) brewery tour. Just something special and magical about spending 13+ hours on a bike on the longest day of the year ... and stopping in for a pint at every brewery along the way!
 
Sooooo, my first Fondo (an early edition of NJGF) was like my 3rd group ride...ever. Having just returned to cycling after years and years (ok, decades) off the the bike, this was a BIG deal as I had never ridden more than 60 miles before and THAT was only once (a few weeks before the Fondo) so 100+ was daunting. I had participated in few of the training rides so I was familiar with the first 20 miles of the ride and the last few, maybe 10?

Anyway, the first 30 or so go by without incident until I get a little overconfident on the first half of the Blackriver climb and go into the red on the second half of the climb. See, I’m not a climber...at all.... but I love, love, LOVE descending. The Blackriver climb HAS NO PAYOFF! FML!!!! I mutter some expletives under my breath and proceed.

The roads were great and the scenery was spectacular... so my head found it’s way out of my ass long enough to enjoy myself till about the top of the 3rd of the 4 timed climbs.

You know the movie Jaws? When the music starts with da-dum. Da-dum, da-dum.... it builds and builds? That’s exactly what my legs start to do. These little twitchs that build into flutter cramps.... if left unchecked... full leg cease ups. Time to dial down the intensity to a comical level.

I’m in full survival mode for what seems like forever especially since I’ve been alone for the last 30 miles or so. I’m on my million’th short punchy roller when I realize where I am. I’M ON Mt. PLEASANT ROAD!!!!!! And then I see it, the marker for Schoolhouse Lane. I almost burst into tears. Aside from being one of the longest descents of the Fondo (did I mention I LOVE to descend), it is the point that I know... I KNOW I am going to finish!!!!!
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There is nothing in the world that breathes life back into me like a descent. That road, seeing that beautiful road on that special day, was my most uplifting cycling memory.
 
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Couple of rides stand out -

MTBNJ groupie at WC, Jumped in with the faster group, since Bill claimed they would keep it casual.
I was feeling good that day, and with the added pressure, i was able to ride a bunch of stuff I was always hesitant to try.
Somewhere in there, I realized i was following Bill. Totally spent at the end of the ride, but it really changed my comfort level
with getting onto rock features, and to keep on pedaling. It was a great ride, as Stef was leading the other group, and they kept
coordinating so it seemed like we'd all meet every 20 minutes or so, just taking different routes.

There was a winter fight club at 6MR with @michael.su and @clarkenstein and a few others. It was cold, with snow on the ground.
But the air was still, and the moon was out. Could almost ride without lights!

I think Norm or Glenn May was leading a watchung wheelman road ride for the B group 2014? - had a nice size group and we were out in Pottersville.
Cranking down Black River Road, sitting in tight at close to 30mph. Thrilling! Awesome night, I was toast climbing back up from Bridgewater to Sterling.
 
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