Blue Belly

Before you say, right here! Think about it. What part of the country, state, or even city has the best of what any cyclist would want? Criteria?

-Terrain? Mountains, Flat, rolling
-Favorable seasons? Cant be stuck inside 6 damn months out of the year!!!!
-Reasonable cost of living?
-Plentiful job market?
-Air quality?
-Great food? Gotta have amazing places to eat, right?
-Arts/Culture?
-Heck, even cycling variety might be important. Road(of course), MTB, Cyclocross

I know I'm probably missing something but, you get the point.... Where?

trainsktg

Portland OR has everything on your list.

I'm stuck in Fernley NV right now and for all intent and purpose it is a cycling dead zone...:/

keith

Blue Belly

Yeah, I grew up there. It's certainly worthy of the list.

one4smoke

Wouldn't the plentiful rainfall be a detriment?

Of course I'm tremendously biased, but the southeast is as good as it gets.

Frizlefrak

Texas Hill Country.

ShortLegCyclist

Seattle. You can cycle year round without needing a fat bike, there are a good number of jobs and great variety of terrain, plus beautiful scenery just about everywhere you go.

But yeah, Portland has all that and a more bike friendly government.

Blue Belly

I've only been to TX, once. Seemed pretty "Hot". I assume Hill Country is the same?

Blue Belly

I lived in Seattle also. Unfortunately I was between cycling. Didn't get much, if any, in. Seems like it would have some great opportunity, though.

Blue Belly

I'd take rain over 6months of freezing. But yeah, I'd consider it a bit of a deterrent. Not totally but, certainly worth consideration.
Where in the south east, in particular? I can't imagine FL having a lot of mountains to climb?

caloso

Here.

Machka 

Does it have to be in the USA?

Blue Belly

I suppose this thread doesn't have to be all about me . If I could move to Europe, I'd do it in a heartbeat!

Machka 

I'm a Canadian who has lived in Australia for the past 6 years.

Although I've travelled quite extensively in the US, and have cycled in 30+ States, I've never lived there ... so I couldn't really go into any detail about good US cycling routes.

However, I can talk about Canadian and Australian routes. I could also talk about my favourite route in France.

ShortLegCyclist

Rain here is tremendously overstated.

It rains less per year in Seattle and Portland than it does in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Honoulu or any number of other large cities without the reputation.

But... it is GRAY here for 8 months straight, not a hint of sun. It's not the rain that drives Californians away, it's the perpetual gray.

RidesaJapanese

I think the rolling hills and winding roads of NW Missouri make for superb cycling, and the Bicycle Across Missouri this past summer probably went across northern Missouri for that reason.

trainsktg

No, it doesn't rain as much as you might think, and I ride all winter. The summers are absolutely spectacular.

Keith

Frizlefrak

What part of Texas did you visit? The hill country isn't as hot as the desert parts of West Texas or hot and muggy like the Houston area. Lots of rolling hills and more moderate temps. And best of all, no harsh winters.

OnyxTiger

Arizona is a great place for cycling. Phoenix metro and surrounding cities has all varieties (MTB, single track trails, plenty of smooth roads, MUPs, desert scenery. A number of good routes for climbers. Only thing we're missing is an actual beach for the cruisers )

Outside of AZ though, I'd love to live in San Diego for cycling. That place has scenery that can rival plenty of others in the U.S.

Machka 

My favourite route in France ...

Velodyssey, the Atlantic cycling route ? The Velodyssey

We've done part of it and really enjoyed it. Would love to go back and spend a month or two or three or more there. We eye the summer rentals in that area now and then. And we have a look at the language school in Royan once in a while too.

chasm54

I'm not a Merkin, but as a visitor I'd have to agree with Caloso. For a combination of year-round climate and variety of terrain I'd think that Northern California would be hard to beat. I had a great time cycling in New England and upstate NY, but that is lot less practicable in winter. The South East would bore me (speaking purely as a cyclist, here). Proper cycling needs proper hills.

In Europe? Lots of competition, but if one looks at where the pros go to train it gives some clues, for road cycling at least. Girona in NE Spain would be high on my list. Beautiful town, nice climate, access to mountains. And Tuscany, and, and ...

chasm54

That's interesting. It's similar to the UK in that respect. It has a reputation for being wet, but where I live in the middle of the country we get less rainfall than Paris, San Francisco, and the other places you mention. The difference here is that the rain is spread pretty evenly throughout the year, so while it doesn't rain much, one gets a little rain fairly frequently.

wheelsmcgee

Another vote for northern California. I've visited the Sonoma and Napa county areas have always seen a lot of cyclists out. The weather is decent year round, not a lot of rain, and the scenery can't be beat.

Blue Belly

i agree. The difference between a pro cyclist & an enthusiast is that they can fly to all those great places when it's ideal. Envy!

Blue Belly

Northern California is a pretty amazing place. Cost of living seems to be sky rocketing. Tell me, if I'm wrong?

Blue Belly

. I always enjoyed my trips to San Diego. Mt Palomar is a great place to get some training in.