The idiom "well worth the ride" is usually used for a journey made on horseback, bike, motorcycle, or vehicle.
But what I mean in the following example is "ride" as a journey on foot (e.g. mountain climbing) and "ride" as a metaphor for a journey/ trip / effort in general:
- Dan: "You should try and climb this mountain. It’s hard, it will take lots of time, but it's well worth the ride."
(ride as a journey, or as an effort).
- Sam: We will be traveling on foot.
Can " worth the ride" be used to refer to a journey on foot, mountain climbing, specifically?
Can " worth the ride" be used to refer to a way/journey/ trip/ effort in a general sense?
E.g.
- "You need to study hard, many years; it’s a long way up, but well worth the ride."
Best Answer
"well worth the ride" can be used in regard to any metaphorical journey. I have seen it used with the classic metaphor of life as a journey:
Such a use is not a mixed metaphor. (Not that there is anything wrong with a mixed metaphor when it communicates well. "To take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them" from Shakespeare's Hamlet is a mixed metaphor. One takes arms against an army, not a sea.)
When the journey is physical and on foot, not metaphorical, to refer to it as a "ride" seems a bit odd, and perhaps awkward, but if it communicates well, there is nothing wrong with it. It is at least technically a mixed metaphor, unlike the case above where the journey is non-physical. I don't find that a problem, but i asked my wife and she thinks such a use is poor writing.