People ask me all the time which Climate Ride is my favorite. The honest answer: the ones that surprised me. I’ve ridden a lot of miles with this community, and the rides I can’t stop talking about aren’t always the ones with the biggest reputations. They’re the ones where I came around a bend and thought, wait — this is here? Here are a few of those, plus what’s coming next.
South Dakota: Badlands and Black Hills
This is the one that caught me most off guard. South Dakota wasn’t on my bucket list. Now I tell everyone to go. It’s five days and about 250 miles, a mix of pavement and gravel, starting and ending in Rapid City.
You start in Badlands National Park with a 59-mile loop on the scenic byway — rolling hills, short steep climbs, and layered spires and buttes in bands of pink, tan and gold. Keep an eye out for bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs. It looks like another planet, and you get to ride right through it.
Then the Black Hills. Day two starts in Spearfish Canyon under towering limestone cliffs, then picks up the George S. Mickelson Trail into the Old West town of Deadwood. The next day the Mickelson carries you 53 miles to Hill City — through old railroad tunnels, over high trestle bridges, up to the high point near Rochford, then a long, gentle descent through the pines. This is the rail-trail so beautiful you just giggle as you ride.
Next come two nights at Sylvan Lake Lodge in Custer State Park, surrounded by towering granite spires. Two nights means you actually get to settle in. The day in between is the Needles Highway — hairpin turns, single-lane rock tunnels, the famous Needle’s Eye — then the 18-mile Wildlife Loop, where bison roam right beside the road, with a stop at the Crazy Horse Memorial on the way back.
And then the grand finale: the pigtail bridges. On the last day you ride the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway to Mount Rushmore, then drop down Iron Mountain Road, where timber bridges spiral the road down the mountainside in corkscrew loops. The one-lane tunnels were built to frame Rushmore behind you. It’s more than 4,500 feet of descending on the day, and you’re grinning the whole way down. I biked this with my 14 year old daughter and she LOVED it.
Our next South Dakota ride is June 12–16, 2027.
The challenge rides: Trans-Pyrenees, then Trans-Picos
In 2026 we rode the Trans-Pyrenees: coast to coast from Girona to San Sebastián, 744 km (462 miles) over eight days, across the classic cols of the Tour de France — Bonaigua, Portillon, Peyresourde, Aspin, Tourmalet, Aubisque. The biggest day packed in 3,400 meters of climbing. It was worth every second.
I won’t pretend it was a casual week — I trained all summer for it. But here’s the thing I didn’t expect: having a reason to train was its own gift. Every early morning and every long weekend ride had a purpose. By the time we got to the mountains, I was ready, and the payoff was enormous.
Our next challenge ride is the Trans-Picos de Europa, September 6–14, 2027. It’s considered one of the great bike rides in the world, and it’s still a bit under the radar. That’s the bonus: big mountains, quiet roads, and no crowds.
The route covers 633 km with 12,500 meters of climbing through Cantabria and Asturias in northern Spain. You’ll ride over the Puerto de la Reina, up to the Lagos de Covadonga made famous by the Vuelta a España, and finish with the brutal slopes of El Angliru. Nights are in places like the medieval village of Santillana del Mar and a parador set in a Benedictine monastery outside Cangas de Onís, and the ride ends in Oviedo. E-bikes are available if you want a little help on the climbs.
If you’ve been looking for a reason to train next summer, this is it.
Desert Trifecta
Death Valley has always been one of my favorites. Quiet roads, salt flats, sand dunes, and colors that shift all day long. You climb Emigrant Canyon with views of 11,000-foot Telescope Peak, loop through the rainbow rock of Artist’s Palette, and ride down to Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level — the lowest point in North America. At night the sky is some of the darkest in the country.
Then I traveled through Valley of Fire. Red sandstone that practically glows, rock formations that don’t look real. Standing there, I knew we needed a new ride — one that didn’t stop at one otherworldly landscape, but strung together three. Go big or go home.
That ride is Desert Trifecta: Death Valley, Valley of Fire, and Red Rock Canyon, March 4–8, 2027, starting from Las Vegas. Three of the most striking desert landscapes in the West in one trip, in early spring when the riding weather is just right. It’s going to wow everyone who rides it.
Norway: the land of the midnight sun
Years ago we ran a few rides in Iceland, and ever since, I’ve wanted to go farther north — all the way to the Arctic Circle. Now it’s happening.
In July 2027 we’re riding Norway’s Arctic coast, 350+ km from Tromsø to Svolvær in the Lofoten Islands, under the midnight sun. Tromsø sits at almost 70 degrees north, and the daylight just doesn’t end.
The route island-hops by ferry. You cross onto Kvaløya and ride to the fishing village of Sommarøy, then ferry to Senja, Norway’s second-largest island, where the road twists along fjords past the jagged peaks known as the Devil’s Teeth. Another ferry takes you to Andøya and the 2.5 km sandy beach at Bleik. On the last day you can ride the whole way to Svolvær, or hop on the coastal ship through the narrow Trollfjord, where thousand-meter walls nearly brush the sides of the boat.
There are two departures, July 17–24 and July 26–August 2. One is already sold out, and the other is filling fast. If this one’s calling you, don’t wait.
Come find your surprise
Every one of these rides gave me a moment I didn’t see coming. That’s what I love about this work — and about riding with this community. Pick the one that pulls at you, and come see for yourself.