Lazy-ish Sunday Road Rides are relaxed road rides that may include some challenges now and again. See the ride page HERE.
(To see other Lazy-ish ride reports, click on the link above.)
Reports by Dave (unless otherwise noted)
07/19/2026
The Lazy-ish Sunday Road Ride group was just about to get started this morning when the group on the Sunday Brunch Ride stopped by for a nice impromptu gathering of bicyclists and a pleasant chat. After that we set off for an easy ride out Murphy Dome Road. Our paceline (see photo) on the way back was a thing of beauty on a beautiful day.
07/12/2026
Today the four riders at the lazy-ish road ride decided to ride the familiar roughly 32 mile Goldstream loop counterclockwise by going up McGrath Road and back west through Goldstream Valley. No flat tires or broken derailleur hangers or rain or anything. Just a beautiful ride on a beautiful day. I was remembering the first lazy-ish road ride of the season back in April when we (or at least I) struggled to go ten miles while dodging snow puddles and dealing with mechanical problems. Today was not that. Maybe we (or at least I) have finally got this bicycling thing sort of figured out.
06/28/2026
For the lazy-ish Sunday Road Ride this week, the group of four riders was feeling relatively ambitious and ended up doing our longest ride so far this season, completing the 33-mile loop out to Goldstream Road and back along Farmers Loop. It was a cool, overcast day with shifting winds, no rain, and no mechanical failures, so it was a good day for going as far and as fast as your legs would carry you.
06/21/2026
The lazy-ish Sunday group of four riders this week decided to check out the new pavement on Chena Pump Road by riding out past Ester to Cripple Creek Road and back along Chena Ridge and Chena Pump Road. Although part of our route included the first mile of the Midnight Sun Run, which I had done only twelve hours earlier, I barely recognized it. The road looks different without 4000 runners on it. After working pretty hard in the Midnight Sun Run I was tempted to use my running the night before as an excuse to sit on the couch all day Sunday and eat bon-bons, and was glad that the scheduled ride motivated me to join a healthier activity.
06/14/2026
For the Lazy-ish ride this week we weren't feeling especially adventurous so the five of us decided to do a familiar loop up Ballaine Road and back along Sheep Creek Road. I have a minor personal challenge for myself of making it up the northbound hill on Ballaine Road at least once a year without using my lowest gear or standing up to pedal, and I made it again this year.
06/07/2026
Report by Eric
The Lazy-ish riders enjoyed a nice day in the sun on this ride. They did a nice loop of the Parks Highway and Chena Pump roads via Cripple Creek, Potter Road, and Rosie Creek Road.
It often pays to get out earlier in the summer before the thunderstorms roll in. Unless, of course, you like that kind of excitement with your riding.
Pics by Ken
05/31/2026
There were three of us for the Lazy-ish Sunday Ride this week. We decided that the forecast rain was likely to miss us and set out on the route to Cripple Creek Road and back along Chena Ridge that we had attempted last week. All went well until the ride leader (me) broke a derailleur hanger and got a car ride back to Fairbanks. The other two in the group were experienced riders so I expect they made it back to Fairbanks just fine without further incident. I may start carrying a spare derailleur hanger, although since this is the first time in about 50 years of bicycling that I have broken one, it may be a while before I need it.
05/24/2026
For the lazy-ish ride this week three of us set out with grand plans to ride up Chena Ridge, but then it started to rain and we decided that doing a long climb in the rain was not our idea of "lazy-ish", so we made a U-turn and went back down the hill and had a perfectly excellent adventure getting coffee and scones at the coffee shop in Ester. "Malum consilium est quod mutari non potest" (It is a bad plan that cannot be changed) - Publilius Syrus
05/16/2026
For the lazy-ish Sunday ride this week two of us rode out Sheep Creek Road and back over Ballaine Hill. It was a beautiful day for road riding and we saw lots of other bicyclists. I was glad to make it over Ballaine Hill without getting off to walk.
05/10/2026
For the Lazy-ish Sunday ride this week three of us did a lazy ride out to Ester and back. We had sort of planned on stopping at the coffee shop in Ester, which was sort of open according to various sources, but, well, maybe it will be actually open the next time we visit.
We had nice weather with a pleasant five mile per hour tailwind on the way out, and the corresponding five mile per hour headwind on the way back was barely noticeable.
The Breakup Duathlon was happening that same morning, so the instruction to "look for bicycles" didn't narrow things down very much, since there were people with bicycles all over the parking lot. My apologies if we didn't locate everyone who showed up hoping to find this ride.
04-26-2026
We had beautiful spring weather today for our first Lazyish Sunday Road Ride of the season. We did a 10-mile loop at an average speed of about 9 miles per hour, out the Parks Highway bike path and back along Goldhill Road. Good pace and distance for a start-of-the-season shakedown ride.
Eight riders set out on the ride, but one bailed out after about a hundred yards due to a mechanical problem. Usually on start-of-the-season shakedown rides I am the rider who discovers a problem and has to turn back, but today I guess it was someone else’s turn to do that. In a few months I’m sure we’ll have all the bugs worked out and our bodies will be tuned up and we will effortlessly roll along at top speed for hours on bicycles that function flawlessly.
