An amusement park with a number of rides
Kirk and Picard taking horses for a ride
A ride was any vehicle or animal that a rider mounted or fastened themselves into for the purpose of amusement or transportation. Many amusement parks had rides (some of which were called thrill rides) such as roller coasters, swings, and slides that were designed to entertain people. Sometimes a person might have stolen a vehicle for the purpose of a joy ride.
In 2024, there were a number of rides, such as a ferris wheel and roller coaster, on the Santa Monica Pier at the Pacific Park. (PIC: "Assimilation")
In an alternate 2255, when Jim Kirk rode his motorbike into Riverside Shipyard, one of the shipyard workers told him his bike was a "nice ride." Kirk then parked his bike, pulled out his startcard and tossed it into the worker's hard hat and said "it's yours." (Star Trek)
On the planet Nibiru in an alternate 2259, when Captain Kirk was startled by a large riding animal, he stunned it with his hand phaser. Doctor Leonard McCoy then frustratingly told him "You just stunned our ride!", as they apparently had originally planned to ride it so as to escape the Nibirans after Kirk stole some scrolls that they were bowing to. (Star Trek Into Darkness)
In 2285, a Federation Security agent offered to give Dr. Leonard McCoy a ride home. In actuality, he had no intention of taking him home, and instead this agent arrested him for trying to chart a spaceflight to the Genesis Planet. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
In 2369, Quark expressed interest in expanding his establishment to include family entertainment, which would have included "rides and games for the kiddies." (DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses")
In 2371, when Captain Jean-Luc Picard was pulled into the Nexus and went searching for James T. Kirk, he found him living out his own fantasy in Idaho, where he enjoyed chopping wood, cooking, and taking his horse for a ride. (Star Trek Generations)
In 2381, the lower deckers of the USS Cerritos visited Historical Bozeman in Bozeman, Montana, which had a variety of rides, including most famously, "Ride the Phoenix." (LD: "Grounded")
Later that year, Beckett Mariner described the Vindictaverse as a "thrill ride." Despite this, Brad Boimler chose to follow the subplot of the holoprogram that he wrote that was supposed to be a sequel to Mariner's original holo-movie (LD: "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus")