The Lists, part 1

This turned out to be a lot of writing, so I'll break it up into multiple posts.

Rankings are in no particular order.

Favorite states:
Kansas
I still can't believe it. I was so afraid of Kansas when I saw how hot it gets and how far apart the towns are. But once I got there I found that the people were the nicest in the world. And I was magically immune to the heat. And while the towns were 25 miles apart, they were lovely - convenience stores, diners, community pools; everything a cyclist could ever need. The flat terrain led to days of huge mileage, and I lucked out on the wind - the dreaded Kansas headwind came at me mostly from the south while I was there.

Montana
Days and days of biking along wide river valleys. Short, enjoyable climbs over passes to get from one valley to the next. Nice people and more frequent towns than I had gotten used to in Wyoming and Colorado.

Virginia
There were three separate great stretches here - Shenandoah, the New River bike trail, and the Buena Vista area. Shenandoah was when I started to realize just how magnificent some parts of this trip were going to be.

Colorado
Eastern Colorado was similar to Kansas, so it gets credit there. All the routes through the Rockies were amazing. I got to make a snow angel in July and I didn't throw up at 12,183'. Took two days off to explore Denver and Boulder, both very nice towns. Even saw the Rockies come from behind to win in the bottom of the 9th.

Favorite Vista points:
Trail Ridge Road, Colorado
This one had views all the way up. Being along a ridge and so far above the tree line allowed for some amazing views of the surroundings in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Skyline Drive, Virginia
One great thing about Skyline is that there are overlooks around almost every turn. They were all slightly different and beautiful in their own way, but two stick out in my mind. One was where the ridge takes an unusually sharp turn, and you are able to look south along the length of the entire ridge. It was actually a but intimidating to be shown all the hills that remained in my way. The second was overlooking the valley to the west. I don't remember the name of the overlook or exactly where it was, but I remember being particularly awed by the 180-degree view of the valley and opposing range.

Togwotee Pass, Wyoming
This was an enormously difficult climb, but once on top you get that ridiculous view of the Grand Tetons. I may have sat at that vista point for longer than I did at any other.

Mount Mitchell, North Carolina
Unless I'm forgetting something, this is the only time I biked to the peak of a mountain. There were lots of passes and ridges, but for 360-degree, top-of-the-world views, I think this was it. One of my more glorious moments was when I finished this climb. I was also surprised by how high the surrounding mountains are. Mitchell is only the highest by a skim margin - the entire area is filled with 6000+ foot peaks.

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
I didn't even need to climb a mountain for this one. The entire thing is one big vista point, but there were a couple spots that stood out. The Rowena Crest lookout was something like 500 feet above the river and I could see far down the gorge both east and west. The top of a bike-only path looked down on Hood River, and I was there after sunset as all the lights were coming on.

Favorite cities:
Portland, Oregon
The famously bike-friendly city lived up to its reputation. There were well marked bike lanes all the way in to town, and many streets all over the city had separate bike lanes. Downtown was compact and fun and easy to get around. I found excellent food all over town, and they make some excellent beer here. You have to get pretty far out of town before you find a sketchy neighborhood. The occasional glimpse of Mt. Hood in the distance is a nice touch.

Missoula, Montana
A relatively small town, but it seemed pretty nice. Home to the University of Montana, so it's got that college-town vibe. A surprisingly large and hopping downtown for a town of only 66,000.

Louisville, Kentucky
I'm sort of split on this one. I got into town through a neighborhood on the east side of town. You come in through a lovely park with wide pedestrian and bike paths. This half of town is full of restaurants and bars and galleries and interesting stuff. However, I continued through town to get to Churchill Downs. From the track into downtown was pretty dull. Fourth Street Live is the pedestrian mall part of town, but it felt kind of forced and corporate. But, I was a big enough fan of that east-side neighborhood to put it up here.

St. Louis, Missouri
I had hosts and tour guides here, and that does skew things positively. I did, however, have a good time here. There's a bit of driving to be done to get from neighborhood to neighborhood, but within each area there's a lot you can walk to. I've always loved the Arch, and that view of the Arch, courthouse, and fountain is as postcard-ready a view as you'll find.

Lander, Wyoming
This one needs a little context. I arrived in Lander at 9:30 PM after a 100+ mile day that included murderous winds and a final 39-mile push that began at 6:00. But I found Lander to be very charming (in fact, I met a couple other cyclists who referred to the secret city of Lander). I had dinner and some drinks at a bar downtown that served beer from the Lander Brewing Company (it was next door). Finally, the town park in Lander not only allows camping, but has an actual bike-friendly campground. There's not much in Wyoming, but Lander was a nice find.