Lazy-ish Sunday Road Rides are relaxed road rides that may include some challenges now and again. See the ride page HERE.
10-05-2025 - A Season Wrap Ending on a High Note - No Flats!
I think the lazy-ish Sunday road rides may be done for the season. I was the only one on the ride today. It was dry and sunny. Temperature around 50F. Excellent conditions for a road ride. Better conditions than last week when Dean and I rode out to Ester. I had a pleasant ride, also out to Ester. Unlike last week, I did not get any flat tires, and I did have a tire pump with me. so I also rode back.
09-28-2025 - There's Still Riding Despite the Snow!
Report by Dave
Conditions were pretty marginal for road riding this week, with light snow and temperatures just above freezing, but Dean and I decided to do a Lazy-ish Sunday Road Ride out to Ester anyway.
The ride reminded me of the first lazy-ish Sunday ride of this year back in April, when we also rode out to Ester, and walked through patches of melting snow in the bike path along the way. This time the ride ended early for me when I hit a rock and got a pinch flat on my rear tire. I then remembered that I had moved my tire pump to a different bicycle, and hadn't gotten around to moving it back. So I got a car ride home and fixed the tire in the comfort of my living room.
Maybe a miracle will happen and we will have road-rideable weather next Sunday. Apparently some people go to great lengths to stretch road riding season by a few weeks. I will also try to remember to bring a tire pump.
09-14-2025 - Riding into the Clouds!
Report by Dave
Four tenacious riders did the Lazy-ish Sunday Road Ride today in reasonable fall conditions, with temperatures in the 40s, low clouds, and damp roads, but no rain. Well, actually we did encounter a little bit of very light rain when we rode up Spinach Creek Road a few miles and learned that the change in elevation was enough to get us up into the low clouds, which contained a little bit of rain-like mist. It was fun to think that we had bicycled up into the clouds, even though the gain in elevation was probably no more than a few hundred feet. Other than that this was a truly lazy ride in not-too-bad conditions for mid-September.
Next Sunday (September 21) I plan to join the Equinox Marathon Cleanup Ride instead of the regular Lazyish Sunday Road Ride. After that, I will keep road riding until the roads are icy or the temperature is below freezing. So maybe there will be one more Lazyish Sunday Road Ride on the September 28.
Pics by Dave and Byron
09-07-2025 - Lazy with One Oomph!
Report by Dave
We had a truly spectacular fall day for the Lazy-ish Sunday ride out into Goldstream Valley this week, with perfect temperatures, partly cloudy skies, light breezes, and gorgeous fall colors. Six of us joined in on this glorious ride.
The ride was mostly lazy with one short but notable exception: for an extra challenge we opted to ride up Skyridge Drive, which is probably the steepest paved road in Fairbanks, and down Summit Drive, which is probably the second steepest paved road in Fairbanks.
Everyone made it to the top without getting off the bicycle to walk. The photo shows a few of the riders working their way up Skyridge Drive. It's tough to show steepness in a photo without getting one of those "steep descent" signs in the picture, but this is definitely a rewarding climb.
08-31-2025 - There's Still Riding to be Had!
Six of us bundled up for an almost-end-of summer road ride through Goldstream Valley. The roads were wet from morning rain but it turned out to be a calm sunny day with temperatures in the 50s.
Colder weather is on the way of course, but we're hoping to squeeze another ride or two out of summer. So yes, weather permitting, there will be another Sunday ride next weekend.
08-03-2025 - Of Favorite Road Rides and Why There Aren't More
Report by Dave
Riders did a 30-mile loop out the Parks Highway and back along the Old Nenana Highway. It's a nice route that we have done before, and includes a modest climb up to the George Parks Highway Memorial and a glorious downhill on the Old Nenana Highway.
It might also be nice, of course, to have a different route every week, but the number of summer weekends is bigger than the number of suitable paved routes starting in Fairbanks, so sometimes we do our favorite routes more than once. I read somewhere that it costs about five million dollars per mile to build a paved two-lane road, so cost alone is likely among the many reasons that pavement bicyclists don't have more options.
07-27-2025 - Not Missing the Smoke And Missing the Rain
Report by Dave
The Lazy-ish Sunday Road Rides are still happening, with or without ride reports, Sundays at 11am from the Patty Center.
This week six of us did the 20-mile loop out the Parks Highway and back along Rosie Creek Road. It was nice that the forest fire smoke of the past few weeks has finally let up. We also lucked out and just missed some passing rain showers, and basically had perfect conditions for a pleasant summer road ride.
06-15-2025 - Matt Glover Bike Path Loop plus
Report by Dave
Six of us did the 29-mile loop from the Morris Thompson Visitor Center, north along bike paths to Chena Hot Springs Road, down Nordale Road to the Badger Road bike path, and back to the start on the new Matt Glover Bike Path. We managed a comfortable average speed of 11 miles per hour, including stops. It was a pretty relaxed pace, at least by my standards. It is likely that we were slowed a bit by temperatures being in the 80s for the first time this year.
We were pleasantly surprised to see repaving work on the bike path that runs along Farmers Loop Road Extension between the Steese Highway and the Johansen Expressway. That half-mile section of bike path has been in disrepair for many years. It would be nice to have a bicycle-friendly way of getting through the roundabouts from the Old Steese Highway to Chena Hot Springs Road, but with the repair of that section of bike path, this entire loop will be on good pavement.
06-08-2025 - Actually Lazy-ish
Report by Dave
Six of us did the Lazy-ish Sunday Ride this week. We rode the loop up Chena Ridge Road to Isberg Road and Cripple Creek Road and then back along the Parks Highway.
The loop is around 20 miles and we finished in just over two hours for an average speed of 9 miles per hour, which is pretty close to my idea of a "lazy-ish" bike ride. We talked about stopping at the coffee shop in Ester, as we have talked about on several previous rides, and yet again it didn't happen. Maybe next time.
It was windy and cloudy and cool, with temperatures around 50 degrees, and there was some light rain before the ride, which would have made the ride wet in addition to being windy and cool if the rain had persisted. We were fondly remembering past years when the temperature was closer to 80, which is maybe a more pleasant temperature for lazy bike rides. We did, however, have a nice tailwind heading back to Fairbanks, and even in less-than-perfect weather, going for a bike ride is almost always a good choice.
06-01-2025 - To McGrath and Back through the Valley
Report by Dave
Although the Lazy-ish ride for Sunday, June 1, turned out again to be not-so-lazy, the option of just doing a lazy six-mile ride to the coffee shop (and six miles back) will (almost) always be available. If someday we actually do that ride, it is likely that someone would be so energized by the experience that they would spring for tea and donuts for everyone on the ride. Just a thought…
This week we instead rode out Farmer's Loop, up the hill on McGrath Road, back through Goldstream Valley, and back over the hill on Ballaine Road, which made for a ride of about 26 miles that included a fair subset of the major hills in the area. It was a beautiful day and a great group. We had such a good time that we forgot to take the ride photo until we were back at the Patty Center.
05-25-2025 - Not-So-Lazyish Old Nenana Loop
Report by Dave
This week a group of eight apparently not-so-lazyish riders set off on a lazyish trip to the coffee shop in Ester, which would been about 12 miles roundtrip, and ended up doing the entire 30-mile Old Nenana loop -- Old Nenana Highway and back along the Parks Highway -- with 2600 feet of hills.
A lazyish option is almost always available on these rides. If any in the group had wanted a truly lazyish ride I'm sure some of us (or at least one of us) would have been happy to just go to the coffee shop, but it was a beautiful spring day, and so when the choice came up about whether to go to the coffee shop or ride an extra 20 miles up a 2000 foot hill, the vote was unanimous. Maybe the coffee shop ride will happen next week…
We got off to a slow start when two in the group developed mechanical problems while still within walking distance of the start. One problem was easily fixed but the other rider decided to cancel and walk home to get a bigger wrench. It was a good reminder that bicycles can be complicated, and sometimes stuff goes wrong even for experienced riders with well-maintained bicycles.
05-18-2025 - A Little Testing, But No Torture
Report by Dean
There were 6 of us and thinking I had just ran a half-marathon a day prior up Chena Ridge Road (Two-Way Torture Test), I figured maybe something more lazy-ish. My thoughts were from the Patty Center and back. When we had all met, some others suggested about going past Ester and taking Cripple Creek to Isberg. I've never gone that route, so especially since it was new to me, I was down to try something new.
A runner friend who had just done the Two Way Torture came along with us since she was recently fitted for her bike since she was having issues of being in pain. I hung back with her and rode at her pace to make sure she was OK, but she said if it hurt too bad that she would just head back.
So we decided that instead of taking the Parks Highway path from Sheep creek Extension, we went up Goldhill Road. Everyone was having such a great time and talking that it made the climb up really easy. We rode to Ester without issue and pulled off at the bottom of Old Nenana Highway to see how everyone was feeling before climbing out of Ester to Cripple Creek. So we carried on up the hill when I noticed we had lost Ken and Amy. We were talking too much and having a good time. We stopped and they caught up. Amy was having seat post issues and just needed some adjustments. Everyone was still feeling good so we kept going.
We again let everyone catch up at the little gravel lot at the start of Cripple Creek Road before carrying on. To this point, It was new territory for me and some others. Pretty neat how it connects a the top of Chena Ridge Road via Isberg Road. At Chena Ridge Road I was reminded that a couple of us had just run the loop 24 hours prior, which was neat.
The really fun part happened next. We sailed down Chena Ridge Road! We could have gone straight back the university, but we decided to cross Chena Pump. We rode Dartmouth to Steelhead to take the bike path that parallels the highway and rode by University Park Elementary School and up Thompson to get back to campus and the starting point.
The ride was about 20 miles and everyone had a great time. Great weather, great ride.
Photo by Ken
05/11/2025 - Lovely Lies on a Little Less than Lazy-ish Chena Ridge Loop
Report by Eric
We had five on this ride, though at first it seemed like a lot more. The Breakup Triathlon was also happening on Sunday, so there were a lot of bikes at the Patty Center parking lot. But we finally figured out who was lazy-ish. (Not the triathletes!)
After some discussion, we decided to head out Chena Pump Road toward the lookout/pullout near Rosie Creek Road. We said hi to another group of cyclists as we waited for a light and then headed down the Chena Pump bike path. The path is in fairly good shape. It seems like it had been swept earlier, but it had some gravel on it, either from the road or from ATVs riding next to it. A few spots are also needing repairs, and the gravel and broken bits get worse the farther you go. Overall, though, it was better than I figured it would be.
We stopped at the Chena Pump Wayside for a potty break, then headed up the (uff da!) hill to the overlook/pullout. From there we could see the breeze we were experiencing was really blowing the silt on the sandbars in the Tanana River. We were glad we weren't down there getting silt in our eyes!
Then we discussed whether to head back or continue on the loop. Dean remembered that there was just one more hill, and Eric confirmed that, adding that it wasn't as steep or as long as the one we had just done. We decided to go for the whole loop and started off, immediately meeting up with the other group of cyclists we had said hi to earlier. Then we headed up the final hill.
Except - whoopsie - it wasn't the final hill. Oh, and the final one (the actual final one) was longer and steeper (in places) than the first hill! Dean's memory is conveniently fallible. As is Eric's (who should have mentioned he hadn't ridden the loop in many years!).
But we soldiered on, taking occasional breaks and eating some snacks, and playing leapfrog with the other group of cyclists. Fortunately, the gorgeous views from up high were a great distraction from the huffing and puffing.
Finally - finally! - we got to the top near Isberg Road. From there we had a couple of more smaller hills, but mostly we had some flats and some fast and furious downhills. Yeehaw!!!!! That's the reward for all that climbing. Almost all the car traffic was super polite -- giving us wide berth or slowing to let opposing traffic go by -- and no one did anything rude. So nice to have that consideration.
We were close to finishing the loop, but earlier Dean had an idea that we should take a short detour to Sheep Creek Road and cheer on the Breakup Tri participants. On the way, Eric told the group about DOT plans to signalize the Parks Highway/Sheep Creek Extension intersection, which people were happy to hear about.
We saw several people as we biked on Sheep Creek and West Tanana Drive back to the Patty Center. We did some cheering, though it was a bit hard to tell who was out simply for a bike or a run and who was participating in the triathlon. One of the great things about races here is that more casual racers and uberathletes are happy to compete in the same race. It's a very welcoming environment!
We finally made it back to the parking lot and said our goodbyes. Well, almost. Without planning for it, four of us ended up at Hot Licks after the ride! Now that was a nice way to end the outing!
Pics by Dean and Eric
05/04/2025 - Tour of North Fairbanks Bike Paths
Report by Dave
For the Sunday ride this week we stayed almost entirely on bike paths, riding east along the bike path on the north side of the Johansen Expressway, and then back along the Farmers Loop bike path.
We had a healthy discussion of bike path advocacy. Most of the bike paths are in pretty good shape, and some have been swept clean, but there is always loose gravel here and there, and troublesome intersections and sections in need of repair. Now that we have recent experience we will know what to say if the occasion arises to offer opinions about prioritizing improvements.
Unfortunately, one rider got a flat tire just as we started, and I (the fallible ride leader) didn't notice until we were too far along to realistically go back and help out. I promise to be more attentive in the future, and to the rider we left behind (I think her name is Doris), I sincerely apologize, and hope to see you on a future ride. I'll buy the ice cream.
04-27-2025 - Biting off Ballaine Hill
Report by Eric
We worked a bit of the -ish part of the Lazy-ish on this ride!
At the start, Dave led a bit of a discussion about which way to go -- out to Ester and back on the Parks Highway bike path or the more-difficult Ballaine-Goldstream-Sheep Creek loop, which includes the tough Ballaine high climb.
The group chose to tackle the Ballaine hill, but not without trepidation. In fact, a couple of riders almost bowed out, but with encouragement they decided to try. "You can always turn back," we said.
We had a mix amongst the 12 riders. They included some who put in long miles regularly all year, those who were just getting back into riding after a winter break, and those who were fairly new to biking. But all had a good time.
We made it up Ballaine hill -- regrouping at the top -- and then down the other side -- regrouping at the Vallata. The hardest parts were over, but the we still had to tackle a hill or two on Sheep Creek. Then it was an easy cruise back to UAF.
There was some complaining about sore butts -- as well as some advice and equipment idea swapping -- but all were glad they had gotten out to be a little less lazy than they might have!
And some good news at the end. Dave could only commit to leading through May 11, but Dean has agreed to help lead the rides, so they will be lasting later into the summer. We'll get the details up on the page soon.
Photos by Corrine and Eric
