Foo - I love my city

Not mine...

I decided to not work during spring break and travel somewhere. I have no idea what I want to do, though. Not going anywhere out of the country. Want a fairly unique experience. May or may not have one or more of my bikes (depending on distance from home. No likey fly with bikes). Want to avoid snow, but it doesn't really matter.

So, what is so great about your city? Why would it be worth visiting?

My city is the greatest city eva! We have some of the best mountain biking in the midwest! And it's home of Taerom, the coolest person ever! :D

Want to avoid snow

Oh, nevermind then. :o

Because it is absolutely a wonderful place (http://bikeportland.org/index.php) to ride your bike and for bike fun (http://www.shift2bikes.org/). :) Come for Pedalpalooza (http://www.shift2bikes.org/pedalpalooza/index.shtml).

Dallas, we killed Kennedy!

so cal...its summer here all the time.

Dallas, we killed Kennedy!
Tomato heading your way!!!

Tomato heading your way!!!
Lots of people come to Dallas to see Dealey Plaza, grassy knoll, school book depository, really.

http://www.city-data.com and their associated forum has lots of city stats and info (although it's directed more towards people looking to move, but it might help).

You can visit Highland Park, Michigan
http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=8752
That is if you are into the post apocolyptical feeling of an abandoned city.
Plus, if you bring your bike, you are guaranteed to get it stolen and have your body violated and mutilated in a most inhumane way... ever see "The Hills Have Eyes"?

A city built on rock and roll would be structurally unsound

just as a fyi, yanno

You definitely want to think about SF man.

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/7200/270bf800a14f4d33b7fbea2hv5.jpg

It's all about SPREADING the love.

You don't want to come here. Unless you don't mind the pitbulls that attack, drug dealers, high price homes, sirens, loud music all hours of the night, drive bys as a daily thing, people who tell those who speak English in a different language to get the heck out of their town, car jackings, robberies, rude people, high grocery prices, higher taxes, air pollution, funky tasting water, thumb tack sabotage on trails, and stolen bikes. I could add more but I really don't want to scare anyone.

But! If you come my way, I'll treat you to lunch. :)

Siu, you're forgetting about the LOVE. We have plenty of LOVE.

You don't want to come here. Unless you don't mind the pitbulls that attack, drug dealers, high price homes, sirens, loud music all hours of the night, drive bys as a daily thing, people who tell those who speak English in a different language to get the heck out of their town, car jackings, robberies, rude people, high grocery prices, higher taxes, air pollution, funky tasting water, thumb tack sabotage on trails, and stolen bikes. I could add more but I really don't want to scare anyone.

But! If you come my way, I'll treat you to lunch. :)

Detroit? :D:D:D

No, but I'd rather be there instead of here, that's for sure.

Kansas City = not very exciting. It's a nice comfortable place to live, but there's not much that's super great about it. The plaza is a neat place to eat and shop, and that's about it. It's not very bike friendly. The BBQ, on the other hand, is to die for.

Manhattan, KS (home of Kansas State University) is actually far better in terms of biking. There's not much to do if you don't go to school here, but if you ride 4 miles in any direction, you are out in the beautiful flint hills.

Overall, Kansas is beautiful (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=272077), but there's just not much to do.

Detroit? :D:D:D
Detroit is a walk in the park compared to SF. Castro district baybuh. Straight rainbow powarr.

No, but I'd rather be there instead of here, that's for sure.
So you want all that you have plus icy, slushy misery?

Detroit is a walk in the park compared to SF. Castro district baybuh. Straight rainbow powarr.
Oh c'mon. If you stay out Bayview, Hunters Point and the Sunnydale projects, SF is pretty tame from a safety standpoint. Even the Tenderloin is more seedy than unsafe (unless yu are trying to live on the street). There are some parts of Oakland you do not want to be in after dark, or even before dark, and most of Richmond is best avoided. But most of SF and the Bay Area is pretty safe - certainly nothing to compare to Bed-Sty or South Bronx or South-Central LA.

The SF Bay Area, all in all, truly is God's country. Tremendous riding, road or off-road. Virtually any outdoor recreation you could want within a half day's drive (and usually significantly less). In the summer, if you like hot, go a few miles inland. if you don't like hot, stay near the coast (50's or 60's most of the time right on the ocean). Stunning scenery all over the place. Top drawer restaurants and great cheap eats. Incredible diversity of visual and performing arts. Pro sports, college sports, high school sports, and participatory sports all in abundance. People who, by and large, are very tolerant of what others do, as long as you aren't doing it in the streets and scaring the horses.

The main downside: housing is stupid expensive, both renting and buying. Oh, and the fact that there will eventualy be an earthquake that will make Hurricane Katrina look like a fresh spring shower . . . .

So you want all that you have plus icy, slushy misery?


Hey....Free slurpees for everyone! ;)

Hey....Free slurpees for everyone! ;)
Within ten minutes of the snow falling in any decent sized town, it will not be giving you a hankering for slurpees. Trust me on this one.

Philly, Stay out of Philly! They're averaging more than one murder a day so far.

New Orleans if you looking to have a good time.

[Randy Newman]I love LA[/Randy Newman]

But LA is not my city, I have not even been there.

My town is Lebanon, NH

Haven't been here long enough to know if I like it or not. Give me one riding season to decide and I will let you know.

Tampabay.....heart and soul of the state with the smartest voters in history!

Austin, TX - Home of Lance (who shows up on group rides and the Tuesday nighter every once in a while). Great night life down town. Lakes and Hill Country are awesome. Lots of good live music too. Year round cycling - both mountain and road.... No state income tax...

Jsharr - I remember as a kid watching a tape of the Kennedy assasination going "there's no way that man in the building behind Kennedy shot him... He was clearly shot from the front..." Anyway, such a big chunk of history its definitely worth visiting. Kind of gives you goosebumps when you realize where you are - it did me anyway....

Austin, TX - Home of Lance (who shows up on group rides and the Tuesday nighter every once in a while). Great night life down town. Lakes and Hill Country are awesome. Lots of good live music too. Year round cycling - both mountain and road.... No state income tax...

Jsharr - I remember as a kid watching a tape of the Kennedy assasination going "there's no way that man in the building behind Kennedy shot him... He was clearly shot from the front..." Anyway, such a big chunk of history its definitely worth visiting. Kind of gives you goosebumps when you realize where you are - it did me anyway....
Austin is well worth visiting to the OP!!!!! And Lance actually grew up in my hometown of Plano Texas. If you come to Dallas, visit Richardson Bike Mart at Coit/Campbell roads and you can see a lot of his memorabilia.

And yeah, visiting the assasination site is pretty powerful. Standing there and thinking of the Zapruder film as you look at the X in the street and up at that window was chilling. If you come to Dallas, it is something you should do.

I would second donnamb's petition to have PDX elected best over all city to visit. Best biking bet from Portland--ride your bike up to Mount Saint Helens. Completely and totally insanely awesome. You can look down at the streams far far away and realise that the streams have cut through hundreds of feet of ash. You can look at the trees still lined up neatly in rows, all facing away from the center of the blast, miles away. You will have never seen anything else like it. And, you can ride your bike!

East Hill

If I'm going to fly, I'm not bringing my bikes (unless I ship them/it). If I'm driving and bringing my bikes, I don't want to drive more than a day.

I've been to Austin because my aunt lives there. That's out.
Dallas doesn't sound appealing if I'm going to look at the place JFK was shot :rolleyes:
Haven't been to Portland. Sounds nice, but I'd be bikeless.
San Francisco was on the list.
New Orleans was on the list but I thought it would be kinda depressing.
Don't want to do the Florida spring break thing.
LA makes me think Hollywood which I have a deep hatred for.
Philly will never be a consideration. Been there, done that.
That Highland Park looks pretty cool, but I don't think I'd want to make a spring break of it.

I may just take my mountain bike somewhere south. I don't know.

hehe - Dallas has more to it than the place were JFK was shot. :D Dallas Museum of Modern Art is top notch. Pretty cool night life on Lower Greenville, Deep Ellum, and some really cool spots on Henderson I used to hang out at. The Dallas World Aquarium has a rain forest exhibit that is really something else. The Ft. Worth Zoo is world class and isn't too far away. Star's, Cowboy's, and Mav's games if sports are your thing. And that's just scratching the surface.

Top three on my list are now: 1) mountain biking in North Carolina 2) relaxing on the Virgin Islands 3) urban experience in some city (leaning towards California because I love it there... San Francisco maybe?). I don't know what to do.

get a three sided coin and flip it.

Salt Lake City! :D Close to mountains, lots of things to see/do. Or you could go futher south to Moab. I hear they have a lot of good mtn biking there. :)

Athens, Georgia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens,_Georgia). It'd be a good fit for you, no question.

get a three sided coin and flip it.
Just roll a D3

Come to L.A. .....we have Universal Studios.

Salt Lake City! :D Close to mountains, lots of things to see/do. Or you could go futher south to Moab. I hear they have a lot of good mtn biking there. :)

Oh, don't worry, I'll be in SLC this winter. You can push around my wheelchair after my friend tries to teach me to ski :o

I have been to Moab, but not with a bike. I think that's something I would want to experience with someone else. I'll be alone this trip except for the random people I meet in the streets.

I don't think Universal Studios is enough of an attraction to get me to LA.

Athens would be different. Don't know exactly what I would do there.

In an urban setting, I'd be looking at museums, zoos, gardens, aquariums, theaters, nightclubs etc.
Otherwise, backcountry hiking, biking, and whatnot.

Dallas/Fort Worth actually does have several museums, two aquariums, two zoos, botanical gardens and a decent night life on lower greenville, knox-henderson area, state thomas area. Might be worth including on your list. And Richardson Bike Mart will rent you a Trek road bike, so no need to bring yours.

Dallas/Fort Worth actually does have several museums, two aquariums, two zoos, botanical gardens and a decent night life on lower greenville, knox-henderson area, state thomas area. Might be worth including on your list. And Richardson Bike Mart will rent you a Trek road bike, so no need to bring yours.

Interesting. Dallas on the list.

will have to do some checking on theater, but there is the Eiseman theater ,the Dallas Theatre Company, Watertower Theater ,Undermain theatre that I can think of off hand. do not know if any have a net presenece where you could see offerings as to what productions are in town at each.

DFW also has a large Indo-Pak population and if you like Indian food, movies, cricket, etc. you can always go to FunAsia (http://www.funasia.net/)

No affiliation, just a cool place. I miss good Indian food.

come to Portland and go ZooBombing on Sunday night. Bike will be provided, but it's strictly ride at your own risk.

:)

http://www.zoobomb.net/

There are bike rentals available, too, or perhaps some nice BF member like me or Donna will lend you a bike.

;)

There are bike rentals available, too, or perhaps some nice BF member like me or Donna will lend you a bike.
I don't have a collection as of yet, but this is certainly something to think about with that carfree conference coming to Portland in 2008.

Stupid choices. I should just vote for pie like I usually do.

The road riding in DFW is pretty good if you get out in the country btw. Never mountain biked there so I couldn't say anything along those lines. Martini Ranch on Mondays used to have $1 Martini's - sweet bejesus. My liver hurts just remembering that.... ;)

Anywayz - you got some cool other choices on your list. I'm just chiming in on DFW because I lived there for 10 years and thought it was pretty fun.

I don't think Universal Studios is enough of an attraction to get me to LA.

In an urban setting, I'd be looking at museums, zoos, gardens, aquariums, theaters, nightclubs etc.
Otherwise, backcountry hiking, biking, and whatnot.
No, Universal Studios is not an adequate reason to spend more than one day in LA.

For these other criteria, the SF Bay Area has to be at the very top of your list. All the urban stuff you list - SF has all of 'em, Oakland has all but the aquarium, and Berkeley and San Jose have at least some of 'em. As for the hiking, biking and whatnot, there is great stuff available in the immediate Bay Area (Golden Gate Recreation Area, East Bay Regional Park District string of parks in the East Bay Hills, Mount Diablo State Park, Muir Woods, Stinson Beach, the San Mateo County State Beaches, to name a few), and many examples of absolutely world-class such stuff within a four hour drive - Yosemite, Point Reyes, Redwood forests (various locations), Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, to name a few. Add a couple hours to that, and you are adding in Mount Shasta, Mount Lassen, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, and if you drive a day, Death Valley and the Mojave Desert are within your range.

So the only issue is having a bike for you to ride. What kind of riding do you like to do? What frame size(s) do you take? I bet the Bay area Foosters could set you up for your stay.

Again, as I said above, the downside is ridiculously expensive housing - the closer to downtown SF you get, the worse it gets, but there is no such thing as cheap rent in the Bay Area. But that is because this is such an incredible area in which to live.

So when should we expect you?

No, Universal Studios is not an adequate reason to spend more than one day in LA.

For these other criteria, the SF Bay Area has to be at the very top of your list. All the urban stuff you list - SF has all of 'em, Oakland has all but the aquarium, and Berkeley and San Jose have at least some of 'em. As for the hiking, biking and whatnot, there is great stuff available in the immediate Bay Area (Golden Gate Recreation Area, East Bay Regional Park District string of parks in the East Bay Hills, Mount Diablo State Park, Muir Woods, Stinson Beach, the San Mateo County State Beaches, to name a few), and many examples of absolutely world-class such stuff within a four hour drive - Yosemite, Point Reyes, Redwood forests (various locations), Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, to name a few. Add a couple hours to that, and you are adding in Mount Shasta, Mount Lassen, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, and if you drive a day, Death Valley and the Mojave Desert are within your range.

So the only issue is having a bike for you to ride. What kind of riding do you like to do? What frame size(s) do you take? I bet the Bay area Foosters could set you up for your stay.

Again, as I said above, the downside is ridiculously expensive housing - the closer to downtown SF you get, the worse it gets, but there is no such thing as cheap rent in the Bay Area. But that is because this is such an incredible area in which to live.

So when should we expect you?

Don't forget the Tech Museum in San Jose! Me mum is a docent there--you can't miss her, she's the one with the English accent. At least, I've been told she sounds English. I don't know, she just sounds like me mum...:D

East Hill

Please come to Boston for the spring time.
I'm stayin' here with some friends
And they've got lots of room.
You can sell your paintings on the sidewalk
By a cafe where I hope to be workin' soon.
Please come to Boston.
She said, "No.
You come home to me."

And she said, "Hey, ramblin' boy,
Why don't you settle down?
Boston ain't your kind of town.
There ain't no gold and
There ain't nobody like me.
I'm the number one fan
Of the man from Tennessee."

Please come to Denver with the snow fall.
We'll move up into the mountains so far
That we can't be found.
And throw "I love you" echoes down the canyon
And then lie awake at night until they come back around.
Please come to Denver.
She said, "No.
Boy, would you come home to me?"

And she said, "Hey, ramblin' boy,
Why don't you settle down?
Denver ain't your kind of town.
There ain't no gold and
There ain't nobody like me.
I'm the number one fan
Of the man from Tennessee."

Now, this drifter's world goes 'round and 'round
And I doubt it's ever gonna stop,
But of all the dreams I've lost or found
And all that I ain't got.
I still need to lean to
Somebody I can sing to.

Please come to L. A. and live forever.
California life if just too hard to break.
I live in a house that looks out over the ocean.
And there's some stars that fell from the sky
Livin' up on the hill.
Please come to L. A.
She just said, "No.
Boy, won't you come home to me?"

And she said, "Hey, ramblin' boy,
Why don't you settle down?
L. A. can't be your kind of town.
There ain't no gold and
There ain't nobody like me.
No, no, I'm the number one fan
Of the man from Tennessee.
I'm the number one fan
Of the man from Tennessee."

Oops...this isn't the song thread, is it? :o

Good try though. And Boston's a nice place to visit, now that you mention it.

East Hill