Doctor Morbius

I don't know where the best place is, but I'm pretty certain the worst place is Uranus!

Rollfast

I'd never ride past Venus, it's a bad neighborhood.

While I don't know about the best, I would recommend against quicksand.

OmegaWolf

That's rather spectacular. Where is it?

Machka 

Hwy 11 between Nordegg and Saskatchewan River Crossing in Alberta.

More here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/machka...7619203595712/

devianb

Id kill for some mountains since I am a climber. Here in Central Illinois its all flat with nothing to see but farmland until you reach some rivers where the terrain finally gets interesting.

avole

downhillmaster

bobwysiwyg

indyfabz

His night didn't get any better.

Hoopdriver

Can you be a bit more specific about your particular issue?

windhchaser

they hate bikes here they claim it is there road no i i mean no one rides a bike here any more i tried again and gave up

Hoopdriver

I've lived in the US southeast for most of my life and have ridden tens of thousands of miles in many of the states. Other than a few infrequent encounters with societal misfits, my cycling experience has been positive.

Perhaps you attract haters. In that case, it's probably good that you gave up cycling.

deephate

StanSeven

Siu Blue Wind

I think a lot of is is your frame of mind and how you choose to handle situations that you come across.

I once tried to ride down Heavenly on my mtb. That didn't go so well and I ended up, well.. Lets just say I had three broken ribs within the first 45 mins.

I then tried to ride my road bike around Lake Tahoe. I came so close to being hit that I ended being nervous the whole time because I felt so unsafe due to cars buzzing me constantly. I called for transport back, my nerves were so shot.

But I look back on it and still say those were the most memorable experiences ever. Because I survived. So to me, that's a very positive thing.

Milton Keynes

Best place to ride: anywhere it's downhill all the way.
Worst place to ride: anywhere it's uphill all the way.

bikenub4

probably some young thugs. I'd say the best place I've ridden is Amsterdam or Germany. Especially Munich.

ddub

I have nothing to add but that was a great reply. ROFL

Machka 

This was very nice ...

KraneXL

Both Florida and the south should be some of the best locations to ride for obvious reason. To bad the locals (which in fact are largely displaced from other states and countries) don't respect cyclist.

And to add to that, the states lackadaisical view when it comes to enforcing the safety laws (not even cops recognize the 3 ft law) and prosecution motorist who violate them.

Motorist can literally run down a cyclist, say they didn't see him, and get home in time for dinner none the worse for wear. Its just frightening how trivial a cyclist life is in many of these southern state.

Of course the infrastructure, or lack there of, most certainly plays a large part is cycling safety too.

Juan Foote

Lol

In regards to near Atlanta, I don't like to ride on the roads any more. There was a time during my youth and immortal years that the incidents that happened almost every ride didn't bother me. As I have gotten older, and the prevalence for people distracted by cell phones, kids, etc. has gotten worse, not better, I have taken to trail systems or neighborhoods exclusively.

Given your location way up North Atlanta, some of this may or may not work for you.

The Silver Comet is a good out and back ride. I highly suggest going during work hours, like I would also suggest for the Eastside Beltline in Atlanta. Those are both interesting rides for 'every now and again'. The biggest issue, to me, about the Comet is the out and back aspect. I have never been a fan of doing "lollipop" rides, I prefer loops. The Beltline being that it's just short. Piedmont Park in itself offers some nice ability to take a different route around. The Stone Mountain trail can be accessed via that side as well, but keep in mind there is a section right near Fernbank that they throw you out on the road at about the worst place they could. Out at Stone Mountain proper are some good paths, if a bit hilly in places. The Westside Beltline is always underutilized. I would suggest keeping an open eye. Some of that area is truly less than safe.

In particular, a lot of the above mentioned are awesome because of all the "see and do" available off of them all.

Arabia/Panola/South River Trail network is a great ride. It's really long, some parts of it challenging. There are a couple of miles of areas that, like the Westside Belt, it's best to keep your wits about you. Overall though a tremendous ride with unreal scenery.

Peachtree City, near where I live, has an exceptional system of cart paths that total over 90 miles all in. They go pretty much everywhere within the central part of town. Lots of places to stop and see, sit, eat, etc. Highly recommended.

There is a really good trail system down in Columbus.

Among my favorites, low mileage notwithstanding are the trail system down at Callaway Gardens. It's a little hilly in places, but so beautiful it's easy to forget. In the summer there are loads of things to stop and do. The wife and I purchased a membership to take greater advantage of that this upcoming year.

There are loads of smaller trail systems to ride as well. I suggest taking a look at the PATH website and you will find others close to you. Some of them are so short as to hardly be worthwhile to "load up" for IMO.

For other locales, my faves have been near Tampa at an area called Terra Ceia as well at Longboat Key off Sarasota, and in Maine in the Androscoggin River Valley area. Did some wonderful rides near Chevy Chase Kentucky as well.

My least favorite was up in Michigan, near Detroit. The roads were absolutely horrid, although there was a really good trail system near where we were.

kayakindude

Over the past 2 years thanks to my 2 folding bikes I have enjoyed exploring in and around the following cities/areas, ranked 1 through 10:
9- Newport, VT, great paved and unpaved country roads little traffic and lots of hills, MUP into Canada.
9- Seattle WA, simply awesome oceanside rides with snow capped mountains (in May!), superb park and MUP systems. Plenty of hills to get your fix.
9- C&O towpath VA/WV, enjoyed this path and the country riding in and through Harpers Ferry and Antietam.
8-Miami FL, Busy multi-lane roads, but the oceanside riding and causeways are amazing
8-Columbus OH, Great neighborhood ridiing and nice MUP through OU.
8- St. Paul MN, commuted from Mall of America to St. Paul via MUP along rivers with lots of wildlife, barely needed to touch a road,
7- Los Angles CA, Griffin park and love the MUP along the beaches though congested, not a fan of road riding due to traffic.
7- Atlanta GA, enjoyed the Botanical park and Silver Comet/Stone Mountain MUPs, did not enjoy the roads to get there, decent hills though.
7- DC, here often, great hill workouts with some MUP to Great Falls, love the MUP to Mt. Vernon, busy in the city center but good bike lanes.
7- San Fransisco CA, loved the Golden Gate and parks, decent bike lanes, lots of people and traffic so have to ride with patience.
6- Houston TX, solid MUP system, most along the river nice, one not (smelly river near the hospital) so nice. Tough traffic.3- Dallas TX, most anti-bike place I have ridden, got a flat in the 1st 10 minutes because the bike lanes were full of glass, got yelled at, only saving grace was riding around the lake.
2- Baltimore MD, Only time I ever felt unsafe on the roads and the MUP- had to turn around because of litter/debris, switched to jogging in the harbor.

These are my opinions based on where I rode, there are likely other paths roads I did not get to ride on that would have adjusted my number. Did not include RI and SE Mass because that is home and I would be biased

The_Joe

Manhattan is easily the worst place I've ever ridden. Victoria, BC is one of the best places I've ever ridden. Fairly flat and open.

RollingBuffalo

Buffalo is becoming much more bike friendly.. The city has been adding more dedicated bike lanes in the streets, and this spring they are finally doing something with a large chunk of our waterfront that has been deserted for years.. They will be opening 6 or 7 different new bike paths/tracks/trails on our waterfront .. Exciting times up this way... We also have some nice hilly roads with little traffic just south of the city . And there are even mtn bike trails not far away either.

wipekitty

Best: Among places I've lived and done a lot of riding, western Wisconsin is among the best. On the Wisconsin side, there are miles of paved, low-traffic roads, and on the Minnesota side and into Iowa, miles of gravel. There are plenty of steep hills for climbers, fast twisty descents, and some flat stretches in valleys. Commuting is fine, too, as there are enough side streets and connector paths to get around.

I don't MTB or trail ride, but there's decent MTB trails and flat gravel trails as well. In the winter, you can fatbike, or throw on studs and hug the road shoulders.

Worst: Among places I've lived, let's talk about Mobile, AL. I tried to commute there. My issues: narrow streets, no infrastructure, intersections that were dangerous for all road users, heat, packs of feral dogs, random aggressive loose dogs. Road riding was okay, but still hot with no infrastructure and no hills other than bridges!

Southern California and the Denver area were promising, though seemed to be a bit of a hike through traffic to get into good road cycling.