sorry

westgate run, wakefield……..14 pints and a big donner. 8)

Woods behind Nationwide in Swindon.

cool story bro

Similar sports to your list:

MTB – Torridon Loop. Or the TMB if you prefer.
Rock Climbing – Quite a few candidates but go for Serenity Crack / Sons of Yesterday.
Ice – 0.5 the Ben has an international reputation out of all proportion to its size.
Skiing – Vallee Blanche by the Grande Envers.
Road Biking – To pick just one – The Tourmalet.

Why did you delete your post? Everyone loves a list.

I upset sumafunk.

I upset sumafunk.

Is this a new list ?
Try harder man – everybody’s upset that old git ! 😀

I upset sumafunk.

Clearly a sensitive soul.

The idea of world classics is a good un. Put it back up.

I upset sumafunk.

tough shit for him, put it back up.

Oi, less of the old….i’m only 42 fer chrissakes…jeez…..any phone numbers for those Swiss clinics?.

It was a forum joke….btw

The rules for something to be a world classic:

If someone has done that sport for a few years and hasn’t heard of it then it ain’t a world classic.

Discuss.

Please put the list back.

Is this off- or on-road classics? Really not sure if I’ve done anything that would count. A few UK classics though.

I’ve walked across the athletics track where Banister broke the 4 min mile record.

Is this off- or on-road classics?

It was all sports, hence my list.

Oh, I see.

Hmm.

World classic is hard to define…

So what MTB routes in the UK would be world class?

What could you turn to a Frenchman or an American and say hand on heart “If you do this you’ll not think your airfare was wasted”?

Obviously we’ll need to make allowances for style and preference.

Torridon for sure.
One of the high level routes on Cairngorm / MacDui
The Skye ridge 😉

Well.. hard to say. If I were that traveller, anything good with local character that’s different to what I’d get at home would make me happy.

Snowdon/Ranger path
Fforest Fawr
Cwmcarn..!

Barry Knows Best

Barry Knows Best

That’s new money, the classic is Golden Birdies.

get with the times Grandad. you’ll be harping on about the halcyon days of Telegraph Road next.

Right sorry. Where were we? New thread or resurrect this one? My original post was basically enthusing (willy waving?) about some of the fantastic days out I’ve had. I was trying to differentiate between great days which were just generally great due to a number of factors and great days when you did something that was truly a classic on the world stage. As subsequent posters picked up on, a world classic really needs to be something that you’d get on a plane for, or at least something you’d add to your itinerary if you were on a trip to the area.

And to try to broaden the conversation away from just biking, I was suggesting limiting the list to the best item in each individual sport. So rather than just listing the great MTB trails that you’ve done, list the sports that you’ve done a world classic in and see how many you’ve got.

So for example Spin has listed Point 5 gully on the Ben. Which is probably a Solar System Classic to be fair, not just a World Classic.

Someone else listed CwnCarn on their list, which I’m sceptical about. But then I’ve never done it, so what would I know.

Anyway, mine were:
MTB – West Highland Way
Rock – Supercrack of the Desert at Indian Creek.
Ice – Aonach Eagach (looks weak alongside Spin’s offering, but I’m just a punter)
Road – Fred Whitton
Kayak – River Styx in New Zealand.
Mountains – Barre Des Ecrins
Ski – Val de Mesdi at Sella Ronda
Board – Some couloir in Cortina the name of which escapes me.

I’ve done these (to my mind) world classics:
3 Peaks Cyclo-cross race
la Marmotte
Maratona dles Dolomites
Paris-Roubaix
Ronde van Vlaanderen

Maybe not world classics, but I’ve done these as well:
Dunwich Dynamo
Hell of the North Downs
Hell of the North Cotswolds
Polaris (on a mtb tandem…)
Gran Fondo Stelvio Santini
Combe Bottom on a 66″ fixed (down and then back up)

To do:
Iron Cross
Leadville 100
Quebrantahuesos
Milan San Remo
Tour Divide

westgate run, wakefield

shudders….

I’ve ridden “Telonics” at Lauguna Hills – has a tyre named after it 🙄 but I’d not travel more than a few miles to ride it again (mostly because of the ride back up 😯 )

MTB

Trail 401 and Pearl Pass in the Rockies
Slick Rock trail and Pocupine Rim, Moab

road

Tourmalet (not from the bottom but carried on to the Observatory)

Ice (snowy rock)

North East Buttress on Ben Nevis (does this count?)

Rock Climbing (again do these count they are all UK)

Cloggy

The Boldest

Tremadog

Silly Arete

Slate

Comes The Dervish

Gogarth

Big Groove

Top Pitch of Citadel (rising tide big waves and spray meant we had aid climbed the first pitch of Mammoth (I think) and my mate reconed that this would be the most entertaining lead out for me)

Walking

Enerdale round

Cyle Touring

Length of the South Island of New Zealand

Driving

Sahara

golf to many to remember/name but a good one was 78 @St Andrews and a not so good 140+ @ Carnousti

Just road stuff in Europe. Ventoux (x3) booked for next June.

The possible “classics” out of my list. Some open to discussion/dispute/debate.

Madeleine
Glandon
Alpe D’Huez
Izoard
Cime de la Bonette
Tourmalet
Aubisque
Hautacam
Muro di Sormano
Ghisallo
Stelvio
Giau
GrossGlockner (Hochtor)
Monte Grappa

Oh, and the Greenham Common MTB loop. Kicks the woods behind Nationwide into a half-cocked hat.

Road:
Done Lands end to john I groats in 9 days – 1000 hilly miles
Also done ventoux x3 this summer

Nothing dramatic on mtb -just Alps holidays- la varda etc with trailaddiction
I remember it as golden birdies 🙂 and I remember whitejam 🙂

Other than that I’m not interesting!

beej

How you getting to Ventoux? Any room in the car?

Aeroplane. We’ve booked with Velo Ventoux, first weekend in June. 2-3 days of riding, one of those will be the 3 routes in a day.

cool, sounds like a good trip. I’ve wanted to do it for a while now. Thought I had a chance when I went there on a climbing trip this March. Fool that I am. the Malaucenne side was a thoroughly decent looking green run!
Even the Bedouin side had a fair bit of snow near the top, which made even a single ascent hard work, never mind a cingle ascent.

It was supposed to be a rest day, but knackered me out for the rest of the week (climbing).

Enty (from VV) was most helpful with advice.

Although I wasn’t convinced about the bike shop he recommended. They seem to size very small in France.

Rock Climbing (again do these count they are all UK)

There’s probably not that many UK rock routes that would qualify as world classics on their own. What we do have is variety, history, character and commitment.

I reckon every climber in the world should solo Lorraine at Bowden Doors at some point in their career…

Just cycling, its all I have time for:
Malverns classic 5 times
Grundig world cup
Mountain mayhem 10 times
Over the Himalayas – Lhasa to Kathmandu via North base camp