raria

There are lots of discussion on riding on country roads, the vineyards of Bourdeaux, climbing hills etc. I agree that they are great but for the most part its all about straight road riding and not handling/manoueviering the bike. But lately I've really grown to immensly enjoy riding in subdivisions.

By subdivision I mean a newer community typically in the suburbs which is all residential housing. I love that they are by the most part free of traffic during the day, have beautiful wide smooth roads and lots of interesting sweeps and turns. The better ones have main arterial roads you can use as the backbone of your ride and then carve off onto a side roads for some tight turns and then loop back to the arterial.

Anyone else enjoy trying this?

Given I'm inbetween jobs and home a lot now, its even better as I can get out for a hard 45 minute ride and not blow my day.

rubiksoval

I have a subdivision nearby that has a perfect little 1.2 mile loop with no stop signs and a beast of a little kicker in the middle of it.

Perfect for some crit workouts I like, though it doesn't have any real corners to it.

CharlieO

Raria,
When I lived in South Florida, and now central Indiana, I prefer to ride in sub divisions rather than on the country roads. Not because of the condition of the roads and various routes. But rather because the country roads around here have no shoulders, deep drainage ditches, and a large number of distracted/ impatient drivers. When driving I've witnessed drivers not giving riders enough room while passing and forcing some off the road. We have also had a number of hit and runs, some fatal, where drivers were either impaired or just not paying attention. So I limit myself to the interconnecting sub divisions.

I can get 15 miles in without looping around a second time. I would like to option of going on the country roads for the distance and change of scenery. Maybe I need to grow a pair and take the chance, its just that the risk (to me) is to great.

Juan Foote

My favorite type of ride is through a well connected suburb/subdivision/residential area.

Velo Vol 

Nope.

caloso

It depends. Often times the pavement is good, there are bike lanes, and you can make a stopless loop. On the other hand, they're often filled with oblivious drivers in stupidly big cars.

Spoonrobot 

I've always used them to connect good roads together. Just riding through the neighborhood in the most direct way possible. Over the winter I found out about a game that gives points for riding every road inside the perimeter of Atlanta.

allofitp.xyz

Since then I've been picking a subdivision and riding all the roads in that specific subdivision. It's quite fun, it gives a real sense of the area and the people that live there that just doesn't occur when riding straight through. As you ride along and spend time in the subdivision people come home from work or are just walking around. The sun starts setting and lights come on as dinners are prepared. It's homey and relaxing and gvies a different view of the world than cruising down the road with cars.

kbarch

I was actually thinking about this kind of thing the other day.

When I had a bike as a youngster in Texas, I liked to ride back and forth through the local grid of streets, sometimes something like an expanding square search where Id figure out which blocks were best looking and which were rough or less fun to ride along.

Sometimes now I'll sort of wander around like that a bit, but I usually get antsy and eager to get on a continuous stretch. Also, where I live now is quite different in terms of development as well as topography. If I go one way, the wandering results in 100'/mile rides on winding roads past some enormous homes of varying vintages. If I go the opposite way, the development is more dense, but the topography is still fairly rolling. I can take a middle route along a county road through a little valley, but getting off that road means getting onto more rolling terrain.

There really aren't any sprawling subdivisions in the area, it's more like a patchwork of bits and pieces gradually built up over the last 130 years or so, and most of the shopping and village areas in the various little boroughs/towns can be passed through quite uneventfully. I consider myself quite lucky when it comes to the cycling opportunities outside my door, just minutes from Manhattan. But if some folks just wanted to spend a couple of hours touring through subdivisions, Id be happy to join

robbyville

WhyFi

I can't stand subdivisions (or commuter suburbs in general).

ditty bopper

Yep.

raria

I agree living in them may not be everyones liking but the newer ones are really fun to ride particularly during the day when everyone is at work.

Bikes are so much fun riding when your carving left and right and then into a sweeping turn every minute rather than a few times an hour.
The excilleration of hitting a turn hard and pedalling through gets me going and its something you rarely get on a road ride.

caloso

A few years ago a local racer organized a week night crit series in a subdivision where they'd laid out and paved the streets but the development money dried up before they put the houses in. That was fun. Fortunately for the economy but unfortunately for the local race scene, the money came back and they finally put the houses in.

OldTryGuy

Something like this ???? Hoping it works.

https://www.relive.cc/view/1854645618

MSchott

I live in a subdivision and ride through many of them regularly. I live in the suburbs and the Detroit Metro area was built in one square mile grids. There are mile roads (I live off of 9 Mile Rd) and named roads and most have a good amount of traffic. So the subs are a good way to add miles and eventually get to a mile rd that is not too busy. None of the subs are gated as they are all 50+ years old and the streets in them are lightly traveled and in reasonable condition.

MSchott

That was very cool! What was the furthest you got from your starting point?

OldTryGuy

Within a 8 mile radius. Riding the roads in Rotonda with some overlap to secure complete coverage comes to 90+ miles.

woodcraft

Not me. A bunch of block-long zig zags.

Especially bad if following a cue sheet.

gorillimo

Seattle Forrest

Oh my god no.

Doctor Morbius

I generally stick to the subdivisions as I don't wish to become a grease spot because some idiot driver wasn't paying attention. It's bad enough in the subdivisions so it could only be worse on the open road.

kbarch

I think Florida must be ideal for rides like that. The expanse and variety of layouts like that you see on the ground when leaving or making an approach into Miami or whatever never ceases to amaze me.

Machka 

I used to like riding through suburbs for short rides or to wrap up a long ride, but not so much anymore. Now I live in a place where all the suburbs are on the sides of hills. We live on a 14% grade hill and there's a nice little 17% next street over.

indyfabz

Negatory, Big Ben.

datlas 

"But the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth."