bikingman

Because of my ever evolving curiosity, Ive started to think about a perfect location. I know these discussion come up all the time but I"m going to pose one with a bit of subjectivity.


Where in the world is there a place with.

A city
with 300,000 people
with diverse culture (food, music, people ect)
with mountains and smooth roads to train on, just outside town
that's warm year round (highs of 60-100F)
with road races&TT within 50 miles every weekend
with large number of competitive amateur teams

Machka 

You could find something along those lines in Australia ... I'd suggest one of the suburbs of Melbourne.

Melbourne (as a whole) is a large city, much larger than what you are looking for, but a suburb might fit.
That area has a diverse culture.
If the suburb you pick is to the northish or northeast of the city, you'll find mountains and decent roads close at hand.
The weather is quite decent most of the year, although in the winters it can get down to near freezing sometimes and in the mountains you'll have snow. But that's OK. You can go skiing for a few days each year.
And there is quite an active cycling culture there.



Rowan and I spent 3 years in/near a town a little further north of Melbourne than you probably want to be, and did a lot of cycling there. Including taking in the 7 Peaks Alpine Ascent Challenge.

The state of Victoria, which is where Melbourne is located, will provide you with a lot of variety. We would take long weekends about once a month and go to a different area to cycle. You've got flatlands, mountains, lakes, rivers, ocean, beaches, forests, fields, cattle, and orchards. Within easy reach are some gorgeous rides along the ocean, or up in the mountains, or through relatively flat bush or agricultural areas. Your choice.

We're travelling the world right now, but I miss Victoria.

bikingman

Cool! I haven't thought about down under.

Are there lots of road races in Melbourne? Would I be able to race each weekend?

I do have a british passport- hmm Thanks for the advice!

bikingman

are there any places like what I've described in the US?

Machka 

We are with the Audax Australia club and there are Audax events just about every weekend. I'm not sure about the race schedule, but I'm sure it is pretty active. After all Cadel Evans spent a portion of his life in Eltham, a northeastern suburb of Melbourne.

Machka 

You might also be interested in Vancouver, BC or the outlying area. Vancouver's population is more than 300,000, but you could base yourself in one of the suburbs.

There you would have diversity in culture and things to do, mountains, good roads, and lots and lots of cyclists and cycling events. The weather is, perhaps, a little cooler than your request but winters are quite mild and you should be able to cycle reasonably comfortably all year round.

You have the option of cycling on flat ground, up the lower mainland, or up any of the mountains around. And for some additional variety, you could take a ferry across to Vancouver Island.


I have family in that area and I have cycled with the BC Randonneurs, so I have done a fair amount of cycling in those parts, and I enjoy it. If we were to move to Canada at some point, the lower mainland BC area would certainly be high on our list.

Keith99

What is the general policy for taking bikes on trains in Australia?

When thinking of the 'perfect' place people often want the best of the big city and the country. From what I saw of the trains in OZ they might jsut work out to provide this, especially if one can take their bike (off peak hours of course).

Machka 

We have rolled our bicycles onto trains in off peak hours, and have travelled with them.

The last time we did that was in February 2008 at the beginning of a 10-day cycling tour we did. Cycled from where Rowan lived in the country to a train station, took the train into Melbourne, changed and took the train to another country point on the other side ... then cycled down Wilson's Prom (beautiful area) and back up.