Originally Posted by
RupertCornelius
It's a common theme in many sports - skiing, running, rock climbing, etc that people seek out the best cities to live in to have the best places nearby, but I haven't seen the similar sorts of threads for cycling.
Where in the US has the best road cycling? I'd think maybe somewhere in California, where you get year-round rideable weather, not too hot summers but also no snow or cold in winter, along with ability to get up into mountains. Various places in the Rockies would be good for summer, but snowed in in the winter. Doesn't seem like anything east of the Mississippi would even be a contender, but maybe somewhere in North Carolina, Tennessee or Kentucky has the climate and topology, if it also had a local scene and safe roads.
So all things considered - year-round weather, terrain, roads, traffic, group rides, etc, where has the best cycling?
Let me understand "road cycling" - you mean riding proper road bike with the intent of racing road races? Then look were the US pro riders live and ride. If you looking for a bike friendly place to ride any bike ... I'll give big ups to my town - Minneapolis!
https://www.ourstreetsmpls.org/minne...city_in_the_us
For reference, I ride a bike whenever I can on travel, and I travel around the US frequently. Chicago is good, DC is OK, San Diego was good, Houston sucked ... to name a few that stand out. Also, I've bike-tour France, and our best cities are crap in comparison.
I live just west of Minneapolis (9 miles by the Cedar Trail), in Hopkins, there are 5 regional trails that are less then a mile from my garage. This give you 10 to 15 miles on any one of the trails without sharing with motor vehicles; and connects you to a network of trails that can take you all sorts of amazing places - you could route a car-free century route.
I'm not understanding the snow issue? We have great year-round bike community here. The city plows dedicated bike routes before most streets. There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad bike gear.
Lastly, tell me, where else in the US do you have a
bike freeway? Three lanes (Eastbound bike, Westbound bike, and foot traffic); connects the western suburbs right to downtown, Target Field, and bike friendly train connections to MSP and MOA.
