For Your Cycling Bucket List: One-Of-A-Kind Biking Destinations For Beginner, Intermediate, And Advanced Riders

One of the cool things about biking is it’s an activity for everyone. You can ride solo, in a big group, or with your family — and ride in different areas like in a city setting, on mountain trails, or on the road.

You don’t have to be a competitive cyclist to enjoy the freedom of being on two wheels!

To help you decide where to take your next adventure, I’ve compiled a sampling of my favorite cycling trips — including San Francisco, Moab, Park City, and Sedona — designed for every skill level of rider.

You might want to add these to your cycling bucket list…

 

Cycling Beginners: Take A Guided Tour

Exploring new territory by bicycle is a great way to familiarize yourself with your surroundings. Seeing sites by bike also gives you a unique perspective of the area and provides views you can’t see from a car.

If you don’t want to venture out on your own, most larger cities offer guided bike tours that take you to interesting or quirky places, as well as historical landmarks.

If you’ve ever been to San Francisco, you’ve probably seen people riding over the Golden Gate Bridge. Some of them are riding in a group with one of those narrated biking tours from the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito.

For novices, a tour is the easiest way to experience this iconic ride. Daily bike tours often begin at Fisherman’s Wharf, travel past Aquatic Park, Fort Mason, over the Golden Gate, along Marin Headlands, and into Sausalito.

If you’re comfortable heading over the bridge on your own, it’s a wonderful 7-mile ride with one-of-a-kind views!

If you have little ones, be sure to find out before booking if the guided bike tours you’re interested in are family-friendly and what the terrain entails. Family biking is a great way to spend time together, get exercise, learn the rules of the road, and see our amazing country.

Bike paths are another place to start the fun and get you to new places.

 

Intermediate Cyclists: Try Buff Singletrack

One of my favorite destinations in the Rocky Mountains is Park City, Utah — just 45 minutes from Salt Lake City.

There’s no shortage of things to do in the resort town of Park City. For starters, there’s more than 400 miles of easy-access mountain biking trails with flowy, cross-country singletrack mixed with technical downhill accessed via chairlift.

The Mid Mountain and Wasatch Crest trails are 2 classic bike rides:

• Mid Mountain trail, which hovers around 8,000 feet in elevation, stretches from Deer Valley Resort all the way to Park City’s Summit Park neighborhood. It’s especially beautiful in the fall with the turning of the aspens.
• The views from Wasatch Crest are unparalleled, as the trail sits atop the Park City ridgeline — giving you a 360-degree view of the Wasatch Mountain range, including the greater Park City area and Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Park City is one of just a few locations ranked as a Gold-level Ride Center by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA).

Resort towns across the country typically have access to popular mountain bike trails. Be sure to stop into the local bike shops to buy a map and get good feel before heading out on your own. You wouldn’t want to end up on a “black” trail when it’s a “blue” one you intended to ride.

 

Advanced Riders: Explore Slick Rock Trails

In the southern region of Utah, there’s another world of mountain biking terrain. Unlike the forested Park City, Moab is in a desert.

Moab is a famous biking mecca, known world-wide, especially for its slick rock trails.

The Slickrock Trail is a technical and aerobic ride. It will likely be the “most difficult 10.5 miles you’ll ever pedal in your life.” The red sandstone surface is nice and sticky for tires — but if you fall, it’s gonna hurt.

Scenic Sedona, Arizona is another technical playground for mountain bikers. There’s an extensive network of trails — including fast and smooth, short and punchy, and plenty of slick rock. Have your camera ready, there’s a photo opportunity around every corner!

Bell Rock Pathway is good for families and a nice introduction to Sedona bike riding.

Going on a great bike ride is hard to beat. Biking is fun on vacation, but it’s also an activity you can fit into your daily routine.

Cycling is a low-impact form of exercise that reduces stress and depression and helps protect you from serious conditions such as obesity, heart attack, and arthritis. The best part? Perma-grin.

So, what fun and adventurous cycling trips are on your cycling bucket list?…