Any Place Can Be a Cycling Destination If You Make It One
Many of us have a favorite road or section of trail somewhere near where we live or ride. This place is not necessarily glamorous; perhaps it’s only a few hundred yards long. But it makes our brain happy to a higher degree than the other dirt lines or pavement ribbons over which our tires pass.
My local favorite is a nondescript section of asphalt in Alpha, New Jersey. On the opposite bank of the Delaware River from Bicycling’s headquarters in Easton, Pennsylvania, it’s an easy 15 to 20-minute ride away.
Oberly is a 1.5-mile length of tarmac that cuts a north-south line through corn fields and grasslands. The road is not particularly challenging; it features a mellow rise and an easy bend near its northern terminus. The surface is lightly worn from years of winter weather. There are rarely any vehicles on the road. The only buildings are some barns and a pair of farmhouses; a short turf airstrip is hidden behind rows of crops.
On Oberly, cyclists can easily forget they’re riding parallel to one of the most highly trafficked roads in the Northeast U.S. Less than 1,000 feet across the farmland is the eastbound lanes of Interstate 78. It certainly doesn’t feel, look, sound, or smell like the stereotype of Northern New Jersey.
#AlwaysOberly was born during a group ride in the summer of 2022. We were returning from another ride when someone (either Editorial Director Bill Strickland or local rider and friend of Bicycling Jared Mast) asked if we should ride Oberly or the steeper and longer Carpentersville Road back to Phillipsburg. Wanting to avoid the climb because I was already suffering in the summer heat, I said, “Oberly, always (take) Oberly.”
The turn of phrase stuck and became a little inside joke. It then morphed into an aesthetic, and I documented every ride I made on Oberly by posting photos to my Instagram stories. I took iPhone pictures of the road, horizon, barns, and clouds. I documented friends along for the rides and unofficially tracked the field cycles from snow to tall rows of sweet corn.
As #AlwaysOberly became our local riding community’s little thing, my constant photos and hashtagging made others inquire about this mythical spot. And each time I post pictures of Oberly, I get messages from people asking about where it is or how they can ride it.
At first, I laughed at these messages because, really, Oberly is just some local road. It’s not Strade Bianche, Oude Kwaremont, or Col du Tourmalet. It’s not the road of Yorkshire or any of the dozens of picturesque canyons in California—it’s just a one-point-five-mile farm road in New Jersey.
Recently, my thoughts shifted. Maybe Oberly is a special place; perhaps Oberly is a destination—it’s special to me, it’s a destination for me. Until racers and cycling media made those other famous riding spots “special destinations,” they were just some local road in those places.
Juliana launched a 150mm travel, enduro-style trail bike a few years back. It was named Roubion after a small village of 114 people in France’s Maritime-Alps region near the Italian border. As I recall, Juliana’s original marketing tagline for the bike was “Find your Roubion.” I rode through Roubion when I did the Trans-Provence race in 2014. While it is beautiful, what makes Roubion more noteworthy than the hundreds of other small, ancient, nearly abandoned settlements that dot European mountains and valleys? Nothing. And that’s the point—it’s a special destination to the person who named that bike.
What is it about Oberly? In the winter, the road often reminds me of long rides on the roads of Western Massachusetts when I was in college. In spring, Oberly brings up thoughts of wanting to watch Classics racers on the farm roads of northern France and Belgium. Other times, it makes me think of photos of Midwestern farm roads with never-ending horizons.
Rides aren’t always perfect—except for those few minutes on Oberly. Even in dumping rain or stifling summer heat, your legs—somehow—always feel fresh on Oberly. Your bike always rides well on Oberly. You’re always a pro on Oberly. #AlwaysOberly is a vibe and an ethos.
Any place can be a special and important cycling destination if you make it one. You don’t need a prestigious race or mountain bike video segment to justify a location’s worth. If a local road or trail is your favorite and you go there for a reason, then it’s a special cycling destination. And if you don’t yet have one, find your #AlwaysOberly.
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