Fifty Plus (50+) - Paradise Visited

If there were no other considerations, what area of the country would you like to live totally for cycling. I know that terrains preferred will vary between riders, but what location do you prefer? From my perspective, safety would be a prerequsite, but certainly wouldn't be a deal breaker.
Just a little daydreaming....

I'm there: Colorado.

That's part of the reason I moved here. I value my surroundings more than money, not that I've had to sacrifice much in that department.

For us it's looking like the area south of Tucson. Life is too short to waste on cold weather.

If you mean the US, the Seattle area sounds like a place I would like for many reasons.

I am not sure. For cycling only I would guess somewhere between San Francisco and LA along the coast. Maybe Morro Bay or Cambria. Everytime I have been to San Francisco the weather has been great but I suspect a little further south it would be even better - less crowded as well. But don't know if the roads are safe for bikes there. Sure would like to hear from someone who has been there.

Seattle when I have been there has either been great weather or day upon day of damb drizzle, I have noticed the people out there will ride on a rainy day, if they don't they will go long stretches w/o riding.

Central VA was good when I lived there - season was March through November - but July and Aug you road in the AM or late PM - mid day could be brutal. Roads were sketchy - no shoulder most of the time.

I find Upstate NY as great from April through October although I ride from March - November, the roads are very good with wide shoulders and great weather - although as we have discussed this spring has been cool. For the time being I'll stay here - but maybe move to the Adirondacks. Cycling season could be longer but there are so many great winter activities that I can give the bike a rest for 4 months out of the year.

I am very happy where I am in north coastal San Diego County, but I concur that the California central coast would be great. If I could afford the Monterey Peninsula, that would be very high on my list.

I love Tennessee and every time I travel it is always great to come back home to the rolling hills and grass and trees of home. But, those hills and the traffic and heat and humidity don't make this the best place to bike. Belgium is nice, but it ain't in the USA. I don't think I could stand the politics in California and the rest of the southern states are too hot. I really liked the geography of Oregon and Washington on a recent trip out there, but too much rain along the coast. I'd have to say Spokane was a very nice area and I have been thinking about trying to get back out there to do some hiking and biking. So, Spokane gets my vote.

For a little change, culture, good food, great beer and fantastic 'just riding along', the Danube River Trail in Germany and Austria is my favorite. I've done it twice, just got back last week, and it's an extremely pleasant way to spend a week or two on a bike.

I would choose several areas and have bikes in each of those areas. This would take a lifetime and that's fine with me.

We have lived and cycled in San Diego, CA (16 years), Newport Beach, CA (3 years) , Los Angeles, CA (5 years), Washington, DC (7 years) and currently live in San Mateo, CA (3 years) (near SF Airport).

The best weather is San Diego and the best cycling is the Bay Area. Cycling in San Diego was great and in fact, we return quite often to cycle there. We recently spent a week cycling Newport Beach to La Jolla. When we lived in SD, we cycling the coast, the back country and Mexico. I never get tired of riding from Carlsbad to La Jolla along the coast.

The Bay Area offers much more diverse cycling including more mountains within easy access and we can ride from our house over Skyline (2000 foot ridge formed by the San Andreas Fault) to the ocean. The route goes through the redwoods and is very nice cycling. The tradeoff in the Bay Area is that it is very hilly. When we leave our house, we start climbing. Most of our rides are 75 feet of climbing per mile and can be more.

There are three major mountains - Diablo (12 mile climb), Hamilton (19 mile climb) and Tam (8 - 10 mile climb). Each mountain offers its unique challenge, reward and view.

The weather from April to November is low humidity, arid with little if any rain. The downside is the wind. We have a lot of wind which makes for some challenging riding at times but great sailing on the bay.

To the north is wine country and features interesting hilly terrain, hotter temperatures and wineries.

In general, the roads are okay to good with bike lanes. Some of the mountain roads are just that two lane roads with no shoulder.

Outside the US, we have cycled in Tuscany, Italy and Mallorca Spain. I really like cycling in Italy and Spain. Cycling is a real sport there and everyone cycles. The guy who drives the 18 wheeler's mother cycles. Motorists are very courteous to cyclists and likewise the cyclists I observed follow the rules. The Italians drive fast but it all seems to work. I do not know if we were any safer in Italy but it was a lot of fun cycling and hanging out with the Italians. The same was true in Spain.

As a footnote, cycling in Washington, DC, MD, VA was okay but the weather was too hot and humid for us. We prefer the drier arid cooler areas for cycling. We lived on the west side of LA in Brentwood. We did not do much cycling in LA but did a lot of in line skating in Santa Monica at the beach.

The Bay Area gets our vote as the best place to cycle in the US considering where we have lived . Abroad, it is definitely Tuscany and I could easily buy a villa and move there.:thumb:

Goleta ain't half bad... and I gotz to be proximal to some diverse cultural little burg... and being 20yds from large acreage open land tracts is good... sadly no skinny skiin...
climate is important but willin to sacrifice snow for a coastal Mtn lifestyle...
Upper Central Coast is very nice (Old Coast Rd, Santa Rosa Creek Rd,...) but a little tooo distant from daily cultural things, but closer to SLO (Peachy Canyon rd, Kiler Rd) would be OK also...
so about the only other step up I can figure
Bonny Doon, CA

The best weather is San Diego. Cycling in San Diego was great and in fact, we return quite often to cycle there. We recently spent a week cycling Newport Beach to La Jolla. When we lived in SD, we cycling the coast, the back country and Mexico. I never get tired of riding from Carlsbad to La Jolla along the coast.

Good to hear you say that. I'm thinking I should go visit the Deege for about the 3 or 4 coldest months and drop in on Bombadil during the summer. I LOVE cycling Wisconsin during July and August.

I don't think I could stand the politics in California and the rest of the southern states are too hot.

Most of the south is too hot - but CA will be bankrupt anyway and hopefully all of the fruits & nuts will get harvested...

My home is a mile from the Pacific, our average high in August is 75, our average low in January is 45, Santa Barbara is 40 miles up the coast, Malibu is 40 miles down the coast and there are plenty of places to ride along the coast or in the mountains (our mountains aren't big but they'll do). Why would I want to move?

I've ridden a bicycle in nine countries and 24 states--and loved all of it. Except for areas where there are lots of cars.

Central Florida has year round cycling. It has some good routes and some are very scenic. It even has some good hills if you know where to look. The drivers are something else entirely.

Michigan, like most of the old Northwest is set up on a township plan. It has a tremendous rural road net which is great for cycling.

I have ridden in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, California, Montana, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, and of course Florida.

All of these places have some superb cycling. The Bow Valley Highway in Alberta is great. Saint George Utah has some really nice riding. The Leelanau Peninsula in Michigan has superb riding. Jekyl Island Georgia is very good. Cherry Lake, Florida is very good. You can find wonderful cycling in many places.

I'm there: Colorado.

That's part of the reason I moved here. I value my surroundings more than money, not that I've had to sacrifice much in that department.

Not knowing the country- Colorado sound ideal to me. Sufficient slopes around for when I want a work out- but for those days when I want to take a gentle ride- there would be the Rockies.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Only problem is that I would like to be able to ride all year round- and I don't fancy studded tyres.