BoldRider

Hi, I am posting this in the 50+ forum hoping for input from those who are near or in retirement and active cyclists. I am looking for 4 seasons, but milder winters and summers not too intense. Good local road and mountain bike (trail/fire-lane) riding. Good health care options. Good employment options for older folks. A walk-able and cycling friendly community. A few good local bike shops. Animal/rescue organizations to volunteer at. Truly affordable housing. Not much of a list is it? One community I have an interest in is Lexington, Ky. I live in Nashville area and find it too hot and increasingly overpopulated with all that goes with that. Internet searches and retirement oriented "places to live" lists are of very limited help.

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to see what people have to say about where they live or places they have visited. I can't be that unusual in my desires. Thanks for your thoughts and input.

Mike M.

Dave Cutter

I've been to Nashville. Nice place, nice area, very moderate weather. Tennessee really is (generally) just below the harsh northern winters.... and just north of the extreme southern summers (most years). Maybe you should explore the suburbs of Nashville,

making

Augusta Georgia. it cools off a bit in the winter, about 25 miles of trail near and lots more a little further out of town. Place is more hospitals than anything else. It does get kinda hot down here.

TimothyH

I'm south of you in the Atlanta suburbs.

Have you given thought to the Alabama coast? Very pretty.

Greenville SC is really, really nice. George Hincapie is from Greenville. There are a few clubs and some races. I've cycled there and would love to live there but I have a daughter at Georgia Tech right now.

if Nashville is hot to you then I'm not sure either place would be in consideration in terms of weather.


-Tim-

Caymandiver1

Medellin Colombia

BikeArkansas

i also put to gether a "Utopia" list. Could not find it, so I am staying home in the LIttle Rock area. After research, I found every place is a trade-off, including price if the area is getting close to the correct temps. The main decision you need to make is which parts of your list you are willing to give up.

BobbyG

Colorado Springs. I don;t know what you consider "mild" winters, but compared to the midwest they're mild.

StanSeven

Based on what you said, North Carolina sounds like it. You can easily drive to find any riding condition whether it's rolling hill, mountains, or the goat coast. There are metropolitan areas to buy things and lots of sparsely populated places.

BKE

You forgot the "and sticky" .

Mr IGH

Front Range of Colorado I what I choose in the exact same circumstances. Never moving away, should have moved here 30 years ago.

Biker395 

I had central California all ready for you before the "truly affordable" part.

zandoval 

Bastrop Texas, (but not Austin unless ya got $), Woods, Water, Damn near desert, Hills, Flats... All within a two beer drive...

rm -rf

It's hard to find a place with:
Decent weather
Some climbing and good bike roads
Employment opportunities
Walkable
Amenities
Healthcare

and affordable. A place like that would be popular, and tend to get expensive.

Yes.
Anything in a nice urban is getting quite expensive. People are bidding up the housing costs to get the amenities: nice parks, walkable, restaurants, etc. Country living is cheap around here, but you have to like the solitude, and all the driving required to get to anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weather
I like the yearly data from weatherspark.com. For example, Lexington KY.

Kentucky gets waves of cold air from Canada, and warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, so temperatures vary a lot day-by-day in the winter.

Lexington
See the average high and low temperature chart, with the percentile bands in lighter red to show the typical ranges of temperatures.


And the percentage of each day in different temperature ranges is helpful:
Note that light green is the 50-65F range. They start getting some warm afternoons around late February.


The average fraction of time spent in various temperature bands: frigid (below 15°F), freezing (15°F to 32°F), cold (32°F to 50°F), cool (50°F to 65°F), comfortable (65°F to 75°F), warm (75°F to 85°F), hot (85°F to 100°F) and sweltering (above 100°F).

~~~~

Lexington KY is about an hour south of me, I'm near Cincinnati. I ride every month of the year, but decent riding weather is limited from early December to late February.

Last year was often colder than usual, but there were some really nice days mixed in. My Garmin reports:
Oct 2015 460 miles
Nov 2015 220 miles
Dec 2015 240 miles
Jan 2016 140 miles (including the 30 mile New Year's day ride, at 29F. I normally wait until it's above 40F at least.)
Feb 2016 210 miles

Frank72

Kansas City. Spring and fall have great weather. A little hot in the summer but still great for morning rides. Lots of biking and clubs here. Lots of miles of trails. Good amount of hills to ride.
Affordable too. Housing is very affordable on the Missouri side. Good health care too.

DiabloScott

LOL - come to the Bay Area NOW... before the housing here gets REALLY expensive.

Wildwood 

there are other retirement location threads, if OP wants a long list.

The South would be out for me = hot, humid, long summers. Grew up in Nashville before a/c was widespread. For me it would have to be near the west coast USA. Lots of affordable places somewhere between San Diego and Seattle. assuming only US choices

mpath

Hawaii (Big Island), North Kohala coast.

ltxi

Moved to front range Colorado as a conscious quite likely eventual retirement choice after decades of roaming. Living and doing business in many different areas of the country...and world. That last move was 20+ years ago. Ideal for for me but YMMV.

jon c. 

That was my thought as well.

NC has a lot of regions that have the elevation to offer cooler summers, but don't suffer much inclement weather in the cooler months. My brother is in the Asheville area and is generally able to ride throughout the winter.

I love my north Florida location. Property is affordable and we have endless miles of low traffic, well connected rolling hill roads. No serious climbs, but more hills than most people realize exist in Florida. But it's 95+ degrees for about 5 months. And 90 for a month on either side of that. Perfect for me, but most find it a bit intolerable.

John E

How about Utah, either St. George or somewhere along the Wasatch Front? My father retired to Springville, which is essentially a Provo suburb, and happily lived out his final 17 years there. My stepmother, who grew up in that area, always likes to brag that, compared to Arizona, "We're higher and cooler."

FBOATSB

I've worked and lived all over the U.S. Literally. I have determined that I, personally, will move to the Tucson AZ area when I finally retire. The heat can be adapted to and it even snows on MT Lemon.

DeadGrandpa

+1. I live in a county next to Charlotte. All the 'big city' amenities are nearby, and a 20 minute drive gets me to rural rolling hill riding areas where I often don't see a car for ten minutes or more at a time. Any sunny winter's day is a riding day. Three hours drive east or west, mountain or ocean communities abound. Lots of variety from which to choose.

Steve B.

Albuquerque would be an option, or the vicinity.

Good weather, not much rain, hardly snows, typically 50's in winter, high 90 in summer, sometimes hotter but no humidity. Area is around 5,000 ft and gets lots of sunshine. Decent roads east and north, lots of mt. biking as well. Lots of areas to explore in the SW and lots of cycling opportunities.

tsurr

Knoxville, isn't as crowded as Nashville, strong biking community, great country roads, you get use to the heat and humidity in the summer

CreamyPete

I'm about an hour north of this guy, it's pretty - good riding, me and Tam are buying a house on two less than impressive incomes. Quiet out here, of course I'm in a dry county.

You didn't mention being close to family or friends though....It can be lonely being settled in a place all by yourself. . .but there is also freedom, if I had that freedom - I'd keep a bit nomadic. Rent places for a few months at a time and move on whenever I get an itch.