Road Cycling - What city do you believe has the best roads and conditions for riding?

I was just wondering what everyone believed to be the best city for riding.

I'm going to college this next year, and where I decided to go is based entirely on how the riding is around the college. Since I plan on riding like crazy throughout college, and hopefully going pro in a year or two, this was the main factor in choosing a school.

My criteria:

- Had to have big climbs.
- Had to have scenic byways, nearly void of cars.
- Had to have a warmer and dryer climate than anywhere in the Northeast.
- Roads couldn't be boring (had to have turns and twists and scenery).
- Area had to have a strong cycling scene with a lot of races within driving distance and a lot of teams.

I was accepted to all of the following schools (I only applied to four), so am not biased towards or against any of the following places. I visited all of these places for at least three days each and rode at least 100 miles at each place. And so, here's what I thought...

Appalachian State University (Boone, NC): VERRRRYYY nice roads. This area is famous for being where Lance staged his comeback to the sport after cancer. Lot's of great scenic and twisty climbs. There are no really long climbs to train on however (Beech Mtn. is about the nastiest thing in the area, and it was about 3 miles at 8%) Road quality is not as good as in other areas because of somewhat harsh winters. It rains quite a lot. The racing scene is not that good. Not a lot of big teams compete in this area.
OVERALL RANKING (#2)

CU Boulder (Boulder, CO): The climbs are HUGE and VERY difficult. Magnolia is about 5 miles at 10%. The racing scene is fantastic. Unfortunately, unless you're going to climb mountains, the roads are very straight, very boring, and have no landmarks at all. I found the riding to be boring and unexciting. Frankly, I couldn't see what the big deal was with this place when I visited. Even the group-ride I took part in one day, took place mainly on very straight roads with cars passing us at 50 mph. At least the cars were courteous though. The climate is dry, and very nice. I did flat TWICE though in two days because of so much road debris on the shoulders of roads.
OVERALL RANKING (#4)

Colorado College (Colorado Springs, CO): The population density in this area of CO is greater than Boulder, and the roads were more interesting (they had turns and were genrerally more scenic). Garden of the Gods is a beautiful place to ride a bike and is about 15 minutes away. The racing scene is very good. It, however, is void of very big climbs, and even on the group ride I did, a lot of riding was done on highway type roads (very uncool). As you left the area dirrectly surrounding the city, the roads got straight and boring. Climate is like Boulder's.
OVERALL RANKING (#3)

So where did I like the most?

University of Redlands (Redlands, CA): The racing scene is fantastic with half a dozen NRC events in the area, and almost TEN pro teams based in California. The climate is perfect, except durring the summer when it gets a bit hot and a little smoggy, but I won't be there durring the summers while in college so that's not an issue for me. Tons of cyclists all over the place. BEAUTIFUL mountains wherever you look. The ride towards Big Bear lake is beautiful and goes up and up and up. The Oak Glen climb (the summit finish in the Redlands Bicycle Classic) is really tough (5 miles at 7%) and the hardest part is at the top. The city also seemed cleaner than the other places I visited. Roads are twisty and turney, there's a ton of them, and the riding seemed really exciting. LOT'S of variety in terms of topography from pancake flat to Mountain after Mountain + Twisty backcountry roads + warm and dry weather = Great Riding!
OVERALL RANKING (#1)

FYI: The Bay Area didn't have big enough climbs. I want climbs that are even bigger than Mount Diablo and Hamilton. But I'm sure it's really nice up there for everyone except people who want high mountain passes.

I'm can't wait until I leave. Looking forward to spending four years in Redlands!

That's just my take on those cities.

- Maurizio

It depends what you consider necessary for "good conditions". I'll give you an example of what I mean. Where I live (the Gold Coast) has more bikelanes and roads with wide shoulders than anywhere else I have ever been. However, it has also has a very high moron quotient. Hence, I don't believe the bikelanes etc are really worth all that much.

Having said that, all of the above is secondary as far as I'm concerned. We have 42km of golden beaches, we have mountains shrouded in world-heritage listed rainforests. I'm happy. :)

I'd like to put where I live at the bottom of the list. I put off buying a new road bike for 12 years and leave my old one in CT. I kept telling myself I was going to move away from here, but, I finally said to heck with moving and just bought a roadie anyhow. Manhattan NY Sucks for cycling with a capital "S". Cars have no respect for pedestrians, let alone cyclists. Cab drivers are only concerned about earning money as fast as possible, while completely disregarding the safety of others. And courtesy? What's that mean? They obviously don't teach the concept in the "cab driving course". A red light in this city means "floor the gas pedal", so that you can approach the next red light at mach 1, before slamming the brakes. A bike lane? That's simply a fancy parking spot for a delivery truck. And what's the speed limit in the NYC? I have no idea as there are "0" signs posted. I do know that cars fly down broadway at 50-60 mph. The cops can't really police this city because there's simply too much to control. They let 99% of infractions slide. And with a huge amount of police being reassigned to anti-terrorism task forces, quality of life is going down again and activities such as bank robberies are skyrocketing. Central Park, the last resort for a city cyclist acts as an additional highway for rushhour traffic exiting and entering the city. The exact times that you as a cyclist want to use it, it's crammed with cars and exhaust fumes. Saturday & Sunday are the only days it's completely closed to vehicular traffic. But, on these days its roadways are clogged with so many people, trying to bike there is anything but relaxing. Therefore, the one way to enjoy biking in NYC is to bike away from it (far away). That's just my opinion.

Steve

Hey Steve...that's like living where I am

Traffic all the time...crazy drivers. It's not fun riding a road bike on busy roads!

You gotta try the central coast of california...Ventura to north of San luis Obispo...climbing may be a tad short of what Maurizio seeks but easy to avoid most traffic...pretty good drivers...great weather...lots of areas with more turkey and deer than cars. Some good climbs out of Santa Barbara that Hampston was quite fond of. Much much healthier air that where you chose Maurizio...give it a visit...try Nacimiento Ferguson Rd. north of Cambria...Santa Rosa Rd. out of Cambria...Black Mtn. climb out of Paso Robles...who knows ... you may try and transfer to Cal Poly SLO. I guarantee it's a visit you would never regret . Many Pro teams training here pre season now...

Long beach area.You can ride from the ocean to the desert with zero cars on path.60-80 loop easy of car-less bike riding.

Congratulations, Maurizio! You made a great choice. Redlands is a very fine school in a nice city. Don't overlook the San Jacinto Mountains. The best access is by Hwy 243 from Banning. Paved roads will only take you as far as Idyllwild (I had a cabin up there for a number of years). It's only about 6,000 feet up there, but the roads have very little traffic compared to the roads going up to and around Big Bear. Since it has no lake it does not attract endless streams of cars pulling motor boats. It's more of a human-powered area, cycling and cross-country skiing.

From Redlands you also have great access to the mountain roads of the Cleveland National Forest, between Redlands and San Diego.


Have a great time!

Rich

By the way, Mauricio, don't miss the opportunity to climb Fargo Street in the Echo Park district near downtown LA. It's only one tenth of a mile, but it's a 33 percent grade! I hear that the steepest street in San Francisco is only 22 percent. I think the most recent organized Fargo Street hill climb was on March16. You might as well get a patch or t-shirt to brag for you. Of course, the idea is to do it without switchbacks.

Rich

I would have to second t;ohe vote for the central coast of California. Beautiful scenery, low traffic and come january, that huge blue blur that passes you on the road, thats Lance and the rest of US Postal.:beer:

Check out Cal Poly SLO or UC-Santa Barbara

KennethToronto:
Where do you bike in Toronto?
I live in THE CITY and have a bike path (off road) to take me right downtown. Once I'm there I bike on roads with bike lanes. Toronto has a Bike Plan to build even more routes in the next decade.

Enjoy Bike Week and check out the site for North America's most bike friendly city.
http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/cycling/

Originally posted by Maurizio
I'm going to college this next year, and where I decided to go is based entirely on how the riding is around the college. University of Redlands (Redlands, CA)

Not a bad choice at all. I lived in and around Redlands from 1982 - 1991 and have many fond memories of the great town and great cycling that I enjoyed there. I owned one of the three all-brick houses built in Redlands. Not sure what it looks like today but you can check it out and let me know.... 332 Eureka St, just "up the street" from the Library and outdoor amphitheatre. I'd just finished a total restoration of the front porch, pool enclosure/deck and 1/2 of the interior before being relocated to Georgia. There should still be a small brass information plaque at the front walk which reads, "The MacIntosh House", circa 1892... with some other information I discovered during research at the town's library.

For those who are not familiar with this cycling meca of the "Inland Empire" area of Southern California, Redlands was where many well healed folks from New England built winter homes beginning in the 1880's. You can't even see most of the original homes from the 10 Freeway because they are buried under all of the mature trees which form a wonderful canopy over most of the secondary streets. The library, post office and several other structures -- including some of the University of Redlands structures as I recall --- are on the National Historic Register and many of the homes and housing districts are protected by local historic preservation laws. The hills are dotted with mansions including "Kimberly Crest" -- a reproduction French Chateau and gardens built in 1897 -- and the ridge of the hills overlooking Redlands from the South that separate it from the San Timeteo Canyon is a wonderful piece of asphalt called "Sunset Road" that makes for a wonderful part of a late afternoon ride.

I could go on for a long time discussing all of the great cycling opportunities.... yes, fond memories indeed.

I sure hope the subsequent owners have taken care of my old house and the neighborhood. Maybe you shouldn't go past... I may not like what I hear. 12 years is a long time and old homes need TLC to stay nice (that would be Tons of Labor & Cash).

My criteria: - Had to have big climbs.


You're joking, right?:rolleyes:

You're joking, right?

you mean you're joking, right?

i don't think i could ever again live some place without big climbs at least easy to get to on the weekends...

i would be very unhappy if i had to live somewhere without mountains...

I agree. I crave hills. What's the fun if I can't burn.

Call me crazy..... I've ridden in a lot of places and the most fun, best rides were in rural Iowa. Decent roads, very little traffic, courteous drivers, big hills.

Originally posted by txroadie
Call me crazy..... I've ridden in a lot of places and the most fun, best rides were in rural Iowa. Decent roads, very little traffic, courteous drivers, big hills.

I think you are the first person who has ever described Iowa as having bid hills

I live in North York Ontario, , but the best ride for me is north of the City abouyt 25 k outside Northyork, those are great ride

I think you are the first person who has ever described Iowa as having bid hills

if you've been to Houston you'd understand why!!! i spent 2 1/2 horrible years in Houston and i made a joke when i first got there that the highest point you could ride to was an overpass... well the joke was on me b/c it's true!

when i lived in Austin we used to make fun of the Houston riders in races b/c they sucked on hills... well i got my punishment b/c the reason why they suck on hills is there are none to train on! max Houston "climb" is like 30 meters!

sorry to all you Houston guys, but for me it was just a horrid wretched place - flat, crowded, polluted, humid... no mountains - i hated every day of it (except for the nice people and friends)

i was so happy when i moved to Oregon and Massachusetts was tollerable and i of course love Munich! (ok, munich itself is pretty flat like Denver but the mountains are there for every weekend)

He's right about Houston. I do hill repeats on an overpass. It also depends on what your definitionof "big" is. To me a hill is big if you suffer trying to get up it. So yes, Iowa does have some big hills.

Go to Florida, the highest point in the state is about 200 feet above sea level. They call that a mount. They do have some pretty high bridges though.