Cruise through french vineyards or power up mountains and across countries.
We show pedal-pushers where to set their own pace. From Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2009 - 850 trends, destinations, journeys & experiences for the year ahead.
Coast-to-coast, USA.
The TransAmerica trail is a cycle-touring classic. Try all or parts of the 6835km from Astoria, Oregon, on the Pacific Ocean, to Yorktown, Virginia, on the Atlantic. It spans the continent - its mountains, its prairies, its greatest river and the forests of its national parks.
European vineyards.
Most of Europe's peerless vineyards are accessible via public roads. In France, plunge into the fields of Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux. In Italy, Tuscany's hills help burn off culinary dalliances. You won't lose your way in Germany's steep-sided Mosel River valley
Tour D'Afrique.
Start in northern Egypt with your handlebars pointed south; the Cape of Good Hope is only 12,000km and 10 countries away. Join the Tour d'Afrique, the world's longest (120 days) and most gruelling bicycle event. Go self-propelled from Cairo to Cape Town.
Tour D'Afrique.
Bike like a local through Egypt as part of the Tour D'Afrique
European Alps.
Europe's spine of snow-capped Alpine peaks draws the national borders of Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. Human engineering has defiantly incised zigzag surfaced roads up and over dividing mountain passes, dozens thrusting up above 2000m. Here, dedicated cyclists test their mettle
America's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.
Declared the longest off-pavement route on the planet, the full Great Divide Mountain Bike Route criss-crosses the continental divide for 4363km from Banff, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, on the Mexican-American border
Pan-American Highway, Central and South America.
It's epic - about 14,000km through 12 countries. Although it begins in Alaska, the Pan-American Highway from Mexico City claws through every kind of geography and climate imaginable on its way to Ushuaia at the Tierra del Fuegan tip of South America
Northwest Vietnam.
From Hanoi, Route 6 slides 490km through gorges, over mountains and past fruit and tea plantations to historical Dien Bien Phu. Then tough, unpaved roads launch another 316km, up and over Tram Tom Pass (1900m) on Vietnam's highest and most breathtaking road, before the descent, via the hill station at Sapa, to Lao Cai.
Tasmania, Australia.
The 1000km Giro Tasmania covers the state's highlights, man-made as well as natural, on well-graded sealed roads. Experienced backcountry mountain bikers will love the Tasmania Trail, a 477km traverse from Devonport to Dover via fi re trails and forestry roads
Danube Bike Trail, Europe.
Europe's second-longest river, the Danube, begins in Donaueschingen in Germany's Black Forest and flows 2850km to the Black Sea. Tracing its banks much of the way is the continent's best-beloved bike path: the Donauradweg. Its first 550km to Passau take in Bavaria, but the 320km to Vienna and 330km more to Budapest are the most famous.
Maui, Hawaii.
The 100km West Maui Loop follows a coastal road skirting a phenomenal forest reserve. The full century East Maui Loop is an even more challenging littoral route of rolling hills around the base of Mt Haleakala. Cycle to the Sun is the annual mid-August 56.5km race from near sea level to the 3048m summit of Haleakala.
This is an edited extract from Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2009.
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