hhnngg1

SF isn't dreary nonstop, ok, but you're fooling yourself if you think that in the summer it's' the equivalent of the South Bay temps and sun a mere 20 minutes south. It's an impressive difference. Still better than East coast for sure for all-round riding, but significantly more sun and less fog. It's often a 20degree difference in the summer (winter actually narrows the gap between the two.)

dalava

Holland may be great for people use bikes as transportation, but not cyclists who think it's a sport and has to be done in the right attire.

dalava

Down side: smog, santa ana wind, ahole drivers with big cadillac SUVs.

hhnngg1

Still beats nearly the rest of the entire country of year-round riding.

dalava

I am sure OC is better, but back when I lived on the west side, it's such a drag to ride. You can't roll out of the door because all the traffic you have to navigate to really start your ride, and it takes forever to drive to any meeting/starting place for the ride. It wasn't bad on the west side, better it was really bad for some the rides when I go east to Pasadena or into the valley.

Where I am now, Norther VA, is not that bad for 4-season riding. It gets down the 20s briefly for a week or so in the winter, and it may snow a bit here and there; otherwise, it pretty much gets to high 30s in the winter and it's never a problem for me to ride. I would say I may have to do the roller 2 weeks average during the winter. I am on the road otherwise.

NaBlade

When I first moved to Vancouver 20 years ago, I heard a similar expression, "Vancouver is one of a handful of places on earth where you can fish in the morning, golf in the afternoon and ski in the evening." Made me smile, because it's true.

Dudelsack 

I lived in SF for two years.

You'd start off with a crystal clear day like this, them around 10 or 11 the fog would drift in, and by 2PM it would be fogged over.

Paradoxically, September and October were the nicest months. The weather sucked for the rest of the year.

Crap, I remember moving on the Presidio in July and not seeing the sun at all for three weeks until we took the kids to the Happy Hollow Kiddie Park in San Jose (wonder if that place is still open?).

And 56 degree weather in the middle of July? No thanks.

hhnngg1

The westside is def a drag to ride in unless you go off hours.

That said, the LaGrange bike group starts at around 7AM, and usually does a daily hammerfest bike ride from 60-90 minutes completely in the westside and/or venice, 5 days per week, and has weekend long rides up the PCH. So it's eminently rideable, even for competitive roadies, as long as you're ready to do it either early or late.

I still have no doubt that it's far more convenient to go out the door in Northern VA at all times of the day, though. Especially if it's not snowing. It's however nearly impossible to be that Socal sun in Dec-March. I loved doing epic PCH rides through the Santa Monica mountains where it was usually 50-60F in the dead of winter and sunny. Crazy stuff.

Carbon Unit

Irvine is great for cycling. Every street has a bike lane and most are wide enough to ride two side by side. Santa Ana winds are only a few times a year and the smog isn't all that bad in OC, especially in Irvine or Newport Beach. I think Ventura County would have more open land but Irvine is very nice.

bigfred 

Dunedin or Christchurch (if you're not adverse to the occassional shake) on the South Island of New Zealand.

c0lnago

If you're trying to say that it's 20 degrees warmer in the summer then you're right and I'd much rather ride here in the 70s than south bay in the 90s.

c0lnago

Totally depends where you live in the city. I get none of that. Presidio/Sunset, different story. Sounds like you chose poorly.

hhnngg1

Rarely 90s down here. On sat mornings, prime time cycling time during summer, it's never 90s - always 60s-75s - perfect.

TMonk

Santa Barbara.

I from N County SD which is pretty nice but SB is the bee's knees.

darb85

Traverse City Michigan meets those criteria. Well MTB stuff lacks a bit, its getting better, but the road stuff is absolutely amazing The city is decently large so there are jobs and stuff to do.

Im sure ill be back in the next 5 years for good. Lived there for 6 years and got spoiled on the riding.

hhnngg1

Doesn't really matter what the SF city microclimate is anyway. The best riding is outside the city anyway, where you're mostly clear of those microclimates. GOod place to live, not as good place to do bike training right outside your door. (Fortunately the good rides are close.)

Machka 

I was used to covering 8000-10000 km from about March to about October, and then taking it a bit easier through November, December, January, and February. During those months, I'd switch to other sports like spinning classes, weightlifting, skiing, snowshoeing, yoga, etc, and might only cover 1000 km for the 4 months.

When I moved to Australia, I struggled with two things:

On the one hand, I felt like I should ride 8000-10000 km during the spring, summer, and autumn, and then continue that pace in the winter because it was still nice out ... which would have put me at 12000-15000 km for the year, and could have put me into a burnout situation.

On the other hand, where in Canada I was highly motivated to ride on every single day that was reasonable good because I knew winter was coming, when I got to Australia every day was a reasonably good day for riding, and I found myself less motivated ... tomorrow will be good too, I'll ride then instead.

So I was sort of caught between those two, and kind of struggled with balance.

Cookiemonsta

Yes, this is actually very true. I mean, I would say it is good for both, but practically everyone here owns and uses a bike. If you live in the city and want to go from one place to the next, the bike is usually a much faster option than the car. In fact, if people would take a car the whole city would be congested. Pretty much all kids take the bike to school and a Canadian friend recently pointed out to me "people here are so comfortable on their bikes eej?" when he saw a lady with a kid in the front and back of the bike, which is actually very common (transporting kids on bikes). I think the major reasons people use their bikes so much is because of the safety and infrastructure, but also like you said, because Holland is flat.

terrier

There are lots of great places to ride and live. Is there a single best place? I'm doubtful so I'll do what lots of others are doing and promote my home town of Denver. A few idiots notwithstanding, the bike culture is great. The city is networked with a ton of MUP's as well as bike lanes on a variety of roads. For example, I can ride from Denver to Golden on 32nd Ave. and it's about a 12 mile ride one way. Or, I can choose to take the Platte River Trail to the Clear Creek trail and it's a little over 20 miles one way. I also have a variety of elevations, climbs and descents to choose from. Some are in the foothills near Golden but if I want to stay close to home I have some nice long hills in my neighborhood for training. There will be a few weeks out of the year when the weather is simply too bad for cycling but I'm guessing you'll have that anywhere. On the other hand, I can expect well over 300 days of sunshine every year and a nice, arid climate. I like to work up a sweat though and there are months in Denver where that's not easy (November through February). Otherwise, it's pretty much ideal. My favorite time of the year to ride is in the worst heat of the summer. I start out a bit after dawn when it's probably in the high 70's and a two hour ride will have me home well before it hits the mid-90's. Traffic can be heavy but it's mostly confined to the highways and larger main arteries.

I don't mountain bike much anymore. In fact, I outfitted my MTB as a commuter. But, less than a half hour away there are fantastic trails in Golden Gate Canyon and some are alternate day trails, where cyclists are allowed on even days and hikers on odd days. On those even days, the only thing you have to worry about running into are horses.

If I really want to be adventurous, the high country is less than 45 minutes from my front door. Mount Evans, Rocky Mountain National Park and all sorts of ski towns are within 45 minutes to three hours away. And two of the most scenic road bike rides in the lower 48 are less than a day's drive away in northwestern Wyoming. But honestly, I'm hardly ever tempted to drive my bike to a scenic spot when the rides in and around Denver are so nice. This place is heaven.

Machka 

Or perhaps Kamloops.

Machka 

We just came through the Tucson area yesterday. I was curious to see it (again, I think I was there when I was quite young) because it does come up on these lists. Yesterday was December 1, but the weather was quite warm and sunny in both Tucson and Phoenix. So for a start, this area would probably be nice to visit when other parts of NA are covered in snow and cold. Just out of Tucson, the roads were a little narrower than what I'm used to and what I like given the amount of traffic, but there were share the road signs everywhere. And there would be a variety of flat and hilly terrain.

Were any of you Tucson riders out yesterday? We saw quite a few cyclists.

SlimRider

I currently live on the East Bay, just a stone's throw from San Francisco. Practically everyday is just perfect for cycling, or anything else you'd like to do outdoors. It's almost never too hot or too cold. Since I'm originally from Ohio, I know very well what too cold is like!

Most summer days are filled with sunshine and warm (not hot) temperatures. Most winter days are cool in the mornings, but sunshiny and warm during the day..

When you sum it all up,

... the entire Bay Area is just a really all 'round cool place to live!

Dudelsack 

Um, the Army chose for me. But I couldn't beat the price, and the view of Golden Gate Park was fantastic.

Machka 

And what about Phoenix? We've spent a little bit of time in the Phoenix area (or more specifically, Glendale), and it seems really nice. Is Phoenix a nice place for cycling?

foresthill

Speaking as a former resident of Tucson for 9 years, the problem with Phoenix is that it sucks in general. Think LA with no ocean and 30+ degrees warmer. Tucson has it beat in every way except for availability of high-end shopping.