Last week I shared Outside magazine’s list of the 25 best hikes in the world, which featured everything from great day hikes to weeks-long epics designed with trekkers and backpackers in mind. But if you prefer to travel on two wheels rather than two feet, Outside has you covered as well. Just days after revealing its picks for the top hiking trails in the world it also revealed the 25 best bike rides too, with some great suggestions for road cyclists and mountain bikers alike.
The list offers suggestions on each continent except Australia, although there is ride in New Zealand for those looking to travel to that part of the world. It is once again fairly North American-centric, but unsurprisingly Europe is shown a lot of love too. There is also a good mix of road and mountain bike trails depending on your preferred style. The routes also range from fairly casual to extremely technical and challenging, so whether you’re a beginner or seasoned veteran, chances are you’ll find something to your liking.
A few of the top suggestions include the 403 to 401 route in Crested Butte, Colorado, which is an 18 mile (29 km) single track route through some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable. Staying off-road and on trails, the Swiss Epic gets the nod as well thanks to its 155 mile (249 km) route through the Alps. Road riders aren’t neglected though, as both the Tour of Flanders route in Belgium and the Vermont Gran Fondo make the cut.
Obviously these types of lists always incite plenty of debate over which rides are the best and why our favorite route deserves to make the cut. That said, there are some truly classic trails and roads on Outside‘s top 25 that will entice you to want to get on a bike soon. Pretty much all of them over some great scenery and solid riding challenges, with routes ranging in length from as little as two miles to more than 200. The shorter ones tend to involve lots of climbing however, so don’t let the length fool you.
So? What do you think of this list? Are there some great rides that got left off? Alp d’Huez perhaps? What would you add? Check out the complete rundown here then leave a comment below.
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