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Photo: Epic Road Rides, Riverside Adventures Waikato/Instagram
Biking, like virtual travelling and attending Zoom meetings in your PJs, saw a massive boom amid the pandemic. After all, it’s hard to find a means of exercise more pandemic-friendly than going on bike trails. Nothing can beat the feeling of strapping on your clip-ins and burning rubber along West Coast Highway in the early mornings (provided you were doing it alone, of course).
But all those dreary-eyed mornings clocking miles and subsequent nursing of aching thighs come with a benefit now that travel is back on. There’s no better way to explore a country’s natural beauty and epic scenery than on two wheels. Everything from iconic coastal highways to off-road trails are accessible, since bikes are made to go where tour buses can’t.
(You may like: Road Trippin’ Around Australia)
Here’s our pick of six of the best bike trails in the world for great cycling and even better vistas.
1. Ha Giang Loop, Vietnam
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Spectacular forested hills, rice paddy terraces and hidden mountain passes await tourists who attempt the Ha Giang Loop in northern Vietnam. The course is challenging – full of hairpin bends aside plunging cliffs – but rewarding too. Apart from the sheer beauty of Hanoi’s countryside, expect to pass through any number of small villages and quiet towns where classic Northern Vietnamese fare and a great caphe sua da (Vietnamese iced coffee) await.
Just remember to book your trip between October to April to catch the dry season – your socks (and riding companions) will thank you for it.
2. Hauraki Rail Trail, New Zealand
Historic gold mining towns? Check. Picturesque farmlands, flinty gorges and verdant plains? Double check. Flat and easy is the name of the game for the Hauraki Rail Trail, the easiest – but by no means the plainest – route of New Zealand’s Great Rides. Expect to complete the 173km, five-section route in three to five days, depending on whether you’re hurrying. Highlights on the trip include a kilometre-long joyride through an eerie (but breathtaking) railway tunnel, and a relatively new leg to Matamata – where Hobbiton of Lord of The Rings fame awaits.
3. Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, Canada & the US
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This ain’t a ride for weekend warriors. 4,409km and a six-to-ten-week sojourn is what you’re signing up for should you choose to tackle the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, widely recognised as one of the continent’s greatest rides. It starts in Banff, Canada before hugging the Continental Divide (the massive continent-spanning mountainous ridgeline also called the Great Divide, hence the trail’s name) all the way to New Mexico, passing through arboreal forests, open grasslands and deserts. Expect over 60,960 metres of elevation gain and loss, on a mix of gravel, dirt and completely unmaintained wilderness. Oh, lest we forget – grizzlies, moose and the occasional mountain lion too.
4. Trollstigen, Norway
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Quite possibly one of the most iconic rides on our list is Trollstigen, or Troll’s Ladder, in western Norway. Just feast your eyes on the eleven dramatic hairpin bends wending their way up the mountain, dodging fjords, lush greenery and beautiful waterfalls. It’s a relatively short 12.2km of riding at a seven per cent gain, so you might want to consider squeezing the next ride into the same trip.
5. The Atlantic Road, Norway
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6. Cabot Trail, Canada
More coastal views on this 298km route in Nova Scotia, one of the best ways to experience the natural beauty of the Cape Breton Highlands. We’ve got three reasons why it’s worth spending the three to five days completing this loop. One, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, with its bucolic greenery and majestic plateaus along the top half of the loop. Two, fall – as in the season – turning said greenery into a vivid tapestry of oranges and reds. Three, lobsters, crabs, oysters and other shellfish, all raised or caught locally, which you’ll be tucking into after locking up your bike at every pitstop.
