Year in Review: Andy’s Top Bike Rides of 2022

The peaceful local attitude, clean eating, and pristine roads of the Valley Isle make Maui appealing to all cyclists. When I need a reminder of the aloha mentality and the slower pace of island time, Hawaii is an easy trip from the West Coast. I flew to the islands through Los Angeles—just under six hours in the air—and stopped over in SoCal for my Santa Barbara cycling fix (but more on that in a minute).

West Maui’s diverse terrain makes it worth packing your road bike. With my snowy home base in Boston 5,000 miles away, I was thankful for the winter miles and didn’t take a second of the 85-degree weather for granted. Ditto the West Maui Loop, a challenging 60-mile coastal route, and Haleakalā.

From sea to summit, this paved climb is the longest in the world, gaining over 10,000 feet elevation in 35 miles. Confidence and fuel are essential—luckily tropical fruit and massive avocados are easy to find—but the views are worth it all the way to the top.

In February, I hit one of my favorite places for a solo adventure: Santa Barbara, California. I went in search of new discoveries and found top hotels, consistently good roads, and great food and wine.

I started at the Hotel Californian in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, a downtown area that’s getting hipper by the day. The hotel reminded me of Marrakech, with design that marries Santa Barbara’s Spanish Colonial style with Moroccan influence and materials. In the morning, I walked to Handlebar coffee, but you can also ride right out the door; it’s mere minutes to Gibraltar Road, with a hefty 7% grade that makes this one of the toughest climbs in Southern California.

Santa Barbara is also the gateway to wine country on the Central Coast. I headed north to get some joyriding in on the cowboy country roads of the Santa Ynez Valley—Los Olivos, Happy Canyon, and Fig Mountain—before arriving at The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern. My stay at this Auberge resort was a 10/10 because of the passionate staff who really understand hospitality.

I carve out time every year to ride in Tuscany because the cycling culture and camaraderie are unmatched. In March, race season kicks off with the Strade Bianche, which traverses the Tuscan countryside from historic Siena where all of Tuscany gathers to watch.

With longtime DuVine guide Valentino, I followed the race from farmhouse to farmhouse, including an al fresco lunch at his mother’s home just meters from the course. When I think about the local moments I try to create for DuVine guests, this one has it all: breaking bread with mamma while watching the world’s best cyclists climb the stretch of gorgeous gravel behind her home.

The next day, some 5,000 loyalists ride the same 139-kilometer circuit in the Gran Fondo Strade Bianche. I joined with Valentino, who motivated me through paved sections, plenty of gravel, and rolling countryside as I reminded myself I can always go faster—it will still hurt the same.

The challenge keeps me coming back, but the Italian sense of belonging is what makes this one of my favorite rides ever. (The aid stations serving cheese and salami aren’t bad either.)

Upon landing in France this April, I had to wonder why more people don’t visit Provence in spring. Crowds haven’t showed up yet, roads are traffic-free and super safe, wildflowers are in bloom, and the locals are as charming as ever.

But I could be biased: I was there to reconnect with the DuVine guide team for our annual training—our first since the onset of Covid in 2020—so I felt more overjoyed than normal to be freewheeling in the French countryside. It was a great early start to a summer of European travel, and since then I’ve been encouraging others to exploring ahead of the pack (not to mention the reasonable airfare ahead of summer’s busy season).

I was joined by Ben Bressler, my friend and Founder of Natural Habitat Adventures, and I wanted him to have the full Provence experience. We stayed at Coquillade, my go-to hotel for the quintessential Provençal feel, impressive spa, and restaurants that make you wonder why you ever need to leave the property. And—in theme with the rest of the trip—we had the place to ourselves. Didn’t Ella Fitzgerald sing “I love Provence in the springtime?”

Skiing was my first love, but I admit to being sweet on ski towns in the summer, too. When I remember my trip to Switzerland this July, I think of sticking my head out the window of my room at the Alpina Gstaad and gulping in the crisp Alpine air, wishing I could bottle some and bring it home in my luggage.

The 2022 Tour was as good a reason as any to head to Gstaad. Following the race, we hit the Col de Mosses, a mountain pass surrounded by striking green valleys, Swiss chalets, and grazing cows. This week, though, the scenery also included avid cycling fans waving Swiss flags in celebration of Stage 9 of TDF. Shoulder to shoulder with about 5,000 other cyclists, we rode 80 kilometers over the pass and bumped into a friend from Boston who we were surprised to see on the group ride. At the stage finish, we watched the peloton go by and cheered as the pros came flying down the runway. So epic.

Even though I drove the rest of the way to Megève, I considered myself as capable as the pros reaching the Stage 10 finish there (after all, a crowd cheered me on in my mountain stage!). My reward was blissing out at Les Fermes de Marie and celebrating with a bottle of Chassagne-Montrachet, because frankly I had Burgundy on the brain…

Being in Burgundy feels like coming home to the place where it all began. In 1996, I started DuVine here and I remember that first tour like it was yesterday. A quarter century later, I returned to Beaune to reminisce with the friends who knew me when I had long hair, ride the highest quality cycling routes in the world, and reflect on the last 25 years. The whole experience was captured in a video celebrating this major milestone for DuVine.

Everywhere I went in Burgundy, I was flooded with memories that defined the past 25 years. It’s funny how your senses remind you of the familiar: my morning rides through the vineyards of the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits smelled the same as I remember; the locals are tending the vines the same way they always have. It’s comforting to return to a place that never changes—there are only new vintages and new memories.

The harvest was just beginning, and it made riding the Route des Grand Crus even sweeter. Burgundy embodies the essence of DuVine because it checks all the boxes: there is nowhere better to bike, eat, drink, and sleep.

At the intersection of the Adriatic and Ionian seas is my idea of heaven on earth (or should I say on wheels): Puglia. In October, I joined local DuVine guides Davide and Paolo in the heel of Italy’s boot. These two are the dream team in this region, and they know Puglia forwards and backwards.

I followed them down the most stunning coastal roads and felt energized after lunches of simple, satisfying Mediterranean food—fish, fresh cheese, vine-warm tomatoes—it felt like summer in October. We rode through sun-drenched towns with Moorish architecture, pedaled on farm roads lined with olive trees older than entire civilizations, and turned our faces to the sun during a coffee stop overlooking cliffs at the very edge of Italy.

There’s no question why we’re seeing record requests for private and corporate retreats in Puglia. It’s familiar but otherworldly; heavenly but homey. My favorite moment of the trip was seeing a sprawling table that snaked through the streets of Alberobello, set by our amazing Italian guide team to serve lunch for nearly 100 private guests. I’m not the easiest person to impress, but this was a wow moment I won’t soon forget.