Originally Posted by
jonwvara
I don't care about anything but terrain and scenery, so I would say Vermont, by a wide margin.
Edit: And I say that in all objectivity.
Jon,
I was reacting to the OP's question in the same way. Scenery was my first choice followed by terrain, with a final criteria, traffic congestion. I was thinking Northern New England and was not quite as geo-centric as you.
I've ridden enough with our BF-C&Vers in the greater Boston and Long Island areas, and family in the Atlanta and Chattanooga areas, to see the huge difference!
When I go out for rides here in NH, even in the height of the summer vacation season, it's not unusual to pass less than ONE vehicle per mile ridden (in both directions). There have been evenings in the summer when I've gone on a 20-30 mile ride and only passed 5-10 vehicles.
To me riding in a low population density area, where 99% of the drivers respect bike riders as they pass, plus scenery and terrain diversity trump all the other criteria in the OP's list.
Originally Posted by
noglider
How do you deal with the climate there?
Tom,
Wear more layers!
Good question!
I do find riding in snow a challenge, even with studded tires. The other factor is how dirty the bike becomes. Almost an hour is needed for cleaning after each ride.
But once the roads are dry I can ride in temps down in the low 20F and be comfortable. To date I've not missed at least 3-4 rides in a month in over three years.