Trail Ridge Road, Colorado
As the name implies, it was along a ridge, rather then up and over a pass. That means that you have sweeping views of distant valleys and snow-capped mountains the entire ride up. Add in the snowballs and the wildflowers and the pride of biking the highest continuous highway in the continental U.S....a top climb for sure.
Leggett Hill, California
When you turn off 101 to Highway 1 in Leggett, you're greeted with a steep, twisting 1000-foot climb up through the woods. It's my favorite kind of climbing, up around switchbacks and hairpin turns, never forced to stare at a mile-long hill in front of you. Keep those turns coming and I'll climb forever.
Willow Creek Canyon, Colorado
This was the day after Trail Ridge, and my first time really climbing up and over a pass. The road winds up a narrow canyon, following a small creek. You get to a point where you're staring at a mountain, wondering where the road goes. Sometimes you get closer and realize there's a small gap you slip through, other times you take a 90-degree turn, and the canyon continues in the that direction. The final climb up to the pass (it's always most difficult between where you leave the river and the pass) wasn't too steep, either.
Mount Mitchell, North Carolina
To be honest, this climb was long and steep and high and miserable. The road from Marion up to the Blue Ridge Parkway was so steep and winding and miserable that people told me that didn't like driving on it. There were a few nice views on the way up but nothing spectacular. But I WANTED this mountain so badly. I made it into my personal enemy and gave it a personality and told it how I would defeat it. I'd say I got as much of a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from finishing this climb as I did from any other one thing on this trip.
Yellowstone Park, Wyoming
In particular, the road from Grant Village to Old Faithful, which crosses the continental divide twice. Some required backstory: when Alicia and I drove to California, we camped here, and I rode my mountain bike along this same route. I was out of shape, had never really climbed before, and never been anywhere near that elevation (8000 feet). It destroyed me. This time, however, the advantage was mine - I was in shape, accustomed to climbing, and had been at elevation for weeks. I was almost embarrassed how easily I made it over both passes.
Favorite descents:
Route 9, California
Lolo Pass, Idaho
This pretty much covers the entire time I was in Idaho. The top of the pass is at 5000', and Lewiston is at 900', without a single uphill between them. The road winds through the Sawtooth Mountains, following the Lochsa River. A couple miles of this would have been amazing, but 100 miles across the majority of northern Idaho? Epic.
Bitterroot Valley, Montana
This starts with the descent from the top of Chief Joseph pass, and continues through a narrow gorge along the Bitterroot River. From the top of the pass, the road wound down the edge of a canyon for several miles. Along the way I was able to outrun a logging truck for a couple miles - I was going that fast and the curves were sharp enough to keep the truck at bay. Once the steep descent ran out at Sula, I was joined by the Bitterroot River and continued on a downward slope through a narrow gorge for another 10 miles.
Madison Canyon, Montana
This was not a steep descent, but was my first taste of what awaited me in Montana. The Madison River flows from Yellowstone Lake into Hebgen Lake, then through a narrow, twisting canyon until it settles into a wide valley and flows towards Ennis. But for a few miles after Hebgen Lake, the road tilts downward and the mountains rise up. After a week of Wyoming void and National Park overload, a simple, winding canyon was the perfect ride.
Leggett Hill, California
This one made the list for the climb, but the descent was just as great. Similar to the way up, the road was narrow and twisting as it dropped towards the sea. The first descent was long and fast. The second descent was shorter but seemed more fun. I was singing to myself as I came around a corner and saw the ocean - I broke into outright joyous laughter than probably worried any cars passing the other way.
Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
The main descent from the summit was long and fast and fun, but what I really liked was following the Little River from Gatlinburg to Townsend. It was a gentle slope, but the river and woods were beautiful. You could play a game by watching the river - your speed was tightly correlated to how strong the rapids were in the river. When you saw them coming ahead, you knew the road was about to tilt down a bit and you were going to speed up.
Favorite breakfasts:
Marionberry French Toast at Fishtails, Oregon
Perhaps the greatest thing I've ever eaten. Delicious French toast stuffed with marionberries and cream cheese.
Hashbrowns at Deb's, Darby, Montana
A revolution in hashbrown design. A standard breakfast comes with eggs, hasbrowns and toast, each on their own section of plate. At Deb's, they start with a layer of hashbrowns, then serve the eggs and toast on top of that. They were good enough by themselves, but once they soak up all the cheese and veggies and other goo that comes out of the eggs, they're amazing.
Pancakes in Lexington, Kentucky
Technically these were terrible pancakes, but they earned their place here because a single order was as big as a good-sized birthday cake. The owner said he loves to see the look on peoples' faces when they see them for the first time. But they were dry and tasteless! And an honest waste of food - if a touring cyclist can't finish a meal, trust me, no one can. My brother put it best - there's a fine line between giving someone something they don't expect and something they don't want. Sadly, I think the owner has spent years misunderstanding the reaction of customers getting something they don't want.
Favorite Beer States:
Montana
Big Sky does Moose Drool, a regional favorite. Missoula had several of their own breweries, and I had some great stuff from Bozeman, Butte and others, including tiny Hamilton.
Oregon
I'm not a big fan of Rogue, but Ninkasi and Hopworks were great. Hopworks also had a location called "Bike Bar". It wasn't quite as bike-centric as I had hoped, but they did have frames from local bike makers hanging above the bar. Kinda cool. But the beer WAS terrific.
California
This was also the part of my trip where I began to pick up a 24 oz. bottle of something every night before getting to camp. I was particularly a fan of anything from Lagunitas. Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam are always great (and available!).
Colorado
Fat Tire's the big one, but there's tons out of Denver, Boulder, and others.
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