Top Five (Part 1): Rides to Remember

Today I thought I’d share with you my top five favorite road bike rides of my short cycling career. I also wanted to share my top five rides dream rides. My hope is that this starts a conversation. I want to hear what your favorite rides have been – and what are your dream rides? Maybe, with your help, we can all add a few great ideas to our dream ride lists. I plan to write a similar post on runs.

I started road biking for the first time in 2007. I really got serious about it in 2008/2009. So this is all new to me. My husband has been cycling for 20+ years. He has been my mentor and teacher. He should win awards for his patience. He has dragged my novice butt across rural farm roads, through absolute collapses and up and over mountains in Colorado and France. I dedicate my entire list of accomplishments and dreams to him – because without his skill and passion for the bike, none of this would have even been imaginable.

Needless to say, I was hooked on two wheels. So let me take you on a journey of my favorite rides to date and on some of the adventures that I hope still stand ahead of me.

First Philadelphia Livestrong Challenge:

This ride was special for me. And it is the reason that I am still cycling today. I first climbed on a bicycle when my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. Dave had always been an avid cyclist and had been wearing a “yellow bracelet” for a few years. When my mom was diagnosed, Livestrong was the first place I thought to Google. I was desperate for a way to be involved in my mom’s fight. I remember coming across the webpage for the Philadelphia Livestrong Challenge – and thought, hey! here’s something I could do to raise money and be involved. I hadn’t ridden a bicycle in….let’s just say years…so I thought, 10 miles. I can do this. I started riding with Dave and was hooked. Pretty soon I upped my distance to 40 miles and started training. That year leading up to the Challenge, my mom and I raised $17,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. And we befriended tons of staff at their headquarters in Austin. They were an amazing support group and an amazing outlet for us during those tough days.

My mom, who was in a wheelchair and on oxygen by then, had planned to come to Philly to support the team. Less than a week before the Challenge, I coordinated with Livestrong staff to make arrangements to get her comfortably to the top fundraisers dinner the night before. She was so proud of what we had accomplished and so excited to make the trip. Then, three days before the Challenge, my mom died. We were devastated. There was no way we would go to Philadelphia now. We were exhausted and broken. But then, my friends began to e-mail each other and say “let’s make sure the team still rides in Nicole’s mom’s honor.” I saw those e-mails and was inspired. I e-mailed Livestrong and told them I was still coming. They wrote me back and told me that they had a staff meeting and decided to dedicate that year’s Challenge to my mom.

When we showed up at the fundraising dinner, Doug Ulman, CEO of Livestrong, asked me to stand at the start of his speech. And he told my mom’s story in front of the crowd, in front of Lance Armstrong. It was a small gesture but it had a huge impact on me. I only wished that my mom was there to hear it.

The next day – after barely sleeping for more than a week and not getting on a bike for two weeks – I rode those 40 miles. My longest ride ever at that point. My legs were Jell-O, my spirit soared and plummeted like a roller coaster. But I did it. With Dave on one side of me and my brother in law on the other – I crossed that line. And my mom was with me in my heart and in the cheers of the crowd all around me.

A month later at the Ride for the Roses in Austin I had the opportunity to meet Lance briefly.  We were allowed to bring one thing for him to sign and I brought a photo of us crossing the finish line. He asked me about it and I told him the story. Then he looked up at me and said “wait, you were the one Doug was talking about at Philly this year?” “Yep, that was me,” I said. My eyes teared up. He remembered my story. Even in death, my mom made an impact. I thanked him for being an inspiration and I turned and walked away before I blubbered something stupid through my tears. That autographed picture is now framed and hangs on my wall. It inspires me every day to keep getting back on my bike. We have returned to the Challenge every year since then and our team (Team Revolution) just keeps getting bigger (yes, I'll work on recruiting you later). Including that first year, we have raised nearly $65,000 for Livestrong. And each time I cross that line, I feel my mom in my heart.

The famous photo. Crossing the finish at my first Livestrong Challenge.
Husband Dave on the right. Brother-in-law Bob on the left.
Suffering Nicole in the middle.

Col du Tourmalet, Pyrenees, France:

The Col du Tourmalet is by far my greatest physical achievement on two wheels. It is a cycling Mecca (and I’m sure that many of you reading this now are nodding your head in agreement). I have already written a detailed account of my journey up to the summit. I hope you take a moment to click here and read it.  But what I didn’t detail in that account is the year of training that it took me to get there. Comfortably reaching the top of the Col du Tourmalet was a culmination of hundreds of hours on the bike and in the gym. Not only did I want to climb it last July, but I wanted to enjoy it. So yes, this ride is in my top five because it is the most famous and difficult climb of the Tour de France but it’s also in the top five because it represented an amazing personal victory for me. And that made the summit that much sweeter. Again, I’d love for you to read my account from my Tour de France travel blog. And click here for the Garmin ride data for Tourmalet (the first part is Dave coming down the mountain to get me).

At the top of the famous Col de Tourmalet.

Port de Bales, Pyrenees, France:

Climbing Port de Bales, also in the Pyrenees, was just fun. It was also a crazy hard climb. Dave and I were staying in the small spa town of Luchon, France. The stage of the Tour de France was finishing in town that day. We were able to roll out through the barriers and under the 1km banner and head up the mountain to the summit. Again, I have detailed this amazing climb in my Tour de France blog – and I recommend you visit it and read it when you have a moment. Being at the summit of the climb to see the cyclists arrive was amazing. But knowing that we had cycled up the side of the mountain to get there just made it cool. The narrow, snakelike road, rose through alpine meadows with craggy peaks in the distance. We wound through countless tiny mountain villages along the way up. The scene was so typically French and the mountains made it spectacular. It was just an incredible experience. Again, click here to read details. Click HERE for our Garmin ride data (if you're into geeky stats.)

Climbing up Port de Bales. Check out those views.

Lefthand Canyon, Boulder, Colorado:

This ride was tough. And it was early in the year for me, so it was a good indicator of how my training was coming along for our big trip to France. It was a 60-mile loop starting outside of Boulder, Colorado. You head out of town and up the famous Lefthand Canyon. Once you start climbing up through the canyon it is about a 15-mile climb with a 9-10% average. I had driven that way a few times over the years, but had always wanted to conquer it by bike. At the top, you are rewarded with the tiny town of Ward, Colorado – a mix of hippies and good ol’ boys. The town is a collection of broken houses, rusted cars, more rusted cards and a tiny coffee shop for cyclists – all strewn across both sides of the narrow, climbing road into the side of the mountain. Seeing the first giant peace sign sprayed onto a piece of plywood on the side of the road is like a breath of fresh air because you know that the most difficult part of the climb is now behind you. After passing through Ward, we coasted across part of the Peak to Peak Highway on the outskirts of Rocky Mountain National Park. Then you turn to head down hill through St. Vrain's Canyon – which was like coasting down a giant slide at 30-40 mph through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. Then we chugged another 15 miles back to the car. I was exhausted, but tested. Tourmalet was only six weeks away!

Here are the Garmin ride stats.

Heading down St. Vrain's Canyon.

Lac de Serre-Pocon, outside Gap, France (Alps):
Cycling around Serre-Pocon Lake in the Alps was probably the prettiest ride I’ve ever experienced. Again, I have a detailed description on my Tour de France Blog. But it was just beautiful. The lake was enormous and turquoise blue, the day was beautiful, the mountains reached for the sky all around us. We cycled along the shore line, across causeways, up steep mountain passes with massive drop-offs on the side. The end of the 50-mile ride was absolutely brutal. But what’s better than being able to stop along the way to drink out of a hose and buy fresh fruit from a tiny French roadside market? The ride was somewhat of a surprise. We planned it on a whim, to be close to the finish of the stage in Gap that day – and it ended up being one of the most beautiful rides I’ve ever taken.



View of Lac de Serre-Poncon from the ride.



Top 5 Rides I Want to Do (and plan to, someday)

Leadville Loop (80-miles)

This is my goal for next June when we head out to Colorado. Last year, we cycled the Vail Pass and more than anything I wanted to try this loop that heads through the highest-altitude town in the United States. But I wasn’t in good enough shape. This year, it’s my goal to be able to tackle it in June. I look forward to taking you on that journey with me.

Livestrong Challenge Century

Team Revolution will be returning to Philly for the Livestrong Challenge next August – and this year I plan to complete my first century ride. Fingers crossed!

West Side of Tourmalet on a sunny day

I climbed up one side of Tourmalet, and one day, I’d like to climb up the other. This time, I want it to be a sunny day so I can actually see the amazing views as a reward for the intense climb.

Driving down the other side of Tourmalet. The side I'd like to climb next.

Mt. Evans, Colorado

I read that this is the highest road in the United States. So, of course, I’d like to climb it one day. It’s on the list!

Wintergreen Mountain (again)

Last year on my birthday, I asked to go out to the Blue Ridge parkway to ride for the weekend (isn’t that what every girl wants for her birthday?). That weekend we tackled the Wintergreen Mountain Climb – which tops out at 15%+. It was in the middle of a 50-mile ride. I had to get off my bike and walk up the very end of the climb. Thinking about it now still makes me angry. This year I want to ride up that entire climb no matter how much it hurts. Hey Dave, birthday, hint, hint?

Tiny Nicole struggling up Wintergreen Mountain last year.
Yep, this is what I wanted for my birthday.

Thanks for reading through my list. I hope it inspired you to add a few rides to your dream list. I’d love for you to fill the comments section with some of your favorite accomplishments or your dream rides (or both!). Let’s grow this list! I need some more ideas!