TheKillerPenguin

Pretty much sums it up, except the terrain here is slightly different in New Paltz. Go North or South for 10 miles and the roads are pancake flat. Go 2 miles West and you're climbing a mountain. Go North East and there are rollers. Go South East and you're riding through apple orchids.

HAMMER MAN

DALLAS-FORT WORTH TEXAS
fall, winter,spring,summer. Wind, and more wind.
summer time ,heat+wind.
rolling terrain depending on where you live

HWS

Dayton Ohio area:

Extensive Rails-to-Trails system
Lots of varied terrain.. Want hills? We got em. Flats? Rollers? Yep, got plenty of those too.
You can pretty much design your ride around what you feel like doing.
I work on Wright-Patterson AFB and can ride all over the base on the weekends/after duty hours, with next to no traffic and the roads are smooth as glass.
My LBS has 3 locations. If he doesnt have it at one shop, one of the others surely will.
The weather is funny. There is almost always a wind, it can get up to 60 in January and you gan get rained/snowed on without warning almost anytime of the year.

bmike

I used to live in the Finger Lakes region WNY (Canadaigua / Geneva / Keuka)
Rolling Hills and steep river valleys. Beautiful. Similar to the above.

woodboy

- Hills
- Roadkill (porcupines are worst)
- Fresh air
- Some less traveled roads

TheDTrain

I live in greater boston, city of malden which is half suburban, half urban. It's piece of **** and I hate riding here. I have to ride for at least 8 miles before I get to decent suburbs in western ma, 5 miles to get to a bike path I like.

It sucks.

Cypress

Bozeman, MT:

Almost completely enclosed by mountains
Plains to the west
Chip sealed roads
Mountain passes aplenty
Rollers in betwixt passes
WIND
Sunny
Coniferous forrests
College town - ton's o' bikers
College chicks that race
Lions, rednecks and bears oh my

azwhelan

Phoenix, AZ

Year round riding.
Scorching Summers force early morning rides.
Constant growth creates a lot of construction.
Constant growth creates a lof of new bike lanes.
Lots of group rides to choose from.
Dry weather keeps your drivetrain fairly clean.
Don't have to own a lot of cold riding gear.
I don't think drivers are any better or worse than anywhere else.
You kinda have to seek out hills if that's your thing.

Alot more positives than negatives. Tucson is an even better cycling community IMO.

caloso

Sacramento, Calif.

Year round riding, BUT: windy springs, scorching summers, and wet or foggy winters (fall is really nice, though)
American River Bike Trail (a bike highway from Folsom to Downtown)
Grid street layout makes downtown very easy to navigate.
Sprawl to the east and south.
Lots of clubs and teams.
Tons of climbing within an hour drive.
Superfast training rides (Tues/Thurs/Saturday)
If you fall off and destroy your knee, there's a chance your orthopod will be Eric Heiden, M.D.
Lots of good LBSs.

Da Tinker

Lafayette, La

Flat roads, mainly. There are some small rolling hills to the north.
Road quality varies wildly, from smooth asphalt to roads that are mainly patches & potholes. Just about all are narrow.
Many lightly used country roads.
Suprisingly friendly drivers, but we do have enough idiots to keep things intersting.
College town, with a race team.
Good riding club, with lots of group rides in the area.
Hot, which is being polite. Summertime means temp & humidity both in the 90's.
Ride year round.
State wide leash law. Sheriff will come deal with bad dogs, if you call it in.
State rarely cleans road shoulders.
Mosquitoes.
Hurricanes.

curiouskid55

San Fernando Valley California

La Tuna Canyon Road
Angeles Crest Hwy
The Montrose Ride
Barry Wolfe Memorial Ride
Rose Bowl Weeknight Crits
The Simi Ride
San Gabriel River Trail (not realy in the valley)
PCH(not realy in the valley either)
93 races on this years schedule

Bicycle John's
World Cycles
H&S Bikes
socalcycling.com

Thurs. Night Sationary Training at Bicycle John's with Sandra Kolb

Ride every day ,even the rain is warm.

blue_nose

San Diego Ca

The Good:
1. Year round cycling weather. Never too cold or too hot and only average about 10-20 rainy days per year.
2. Good mix of flats, hills and mountains. I can ride from the ocean out to some good hills all in one ride. Great scenery.
3. Many dedicated cycling lanes.
4. Tons of other cyclists on the road.
5. Rides up to Palomar Mt and Julian are just great climbs.

The Bad:
1. I am convinced that Southern California drivers are the worst - too many distracted drives on the road.

will caulfield

London, UK

The Good:
1. Good sites to see. Houses of Parliament, London Eye, etc.
2. Lots of cyclists around. If you've ever used our public transport this will not come as a shock
4. Once you get outside Central London there's some good scenery and lots of good routes around
3. Plenty of parks to ride.
4. Great place to live.

The Bad
1. Traffic, lots and lots of traffic
2. Narrow, potholed roads
3. It rains, a lot
4. Pollution
5. Did I mention traffic?
6. The price of beer

DnvrFox

Parker, CO and surrounding areas, contiguous with the SE Denver area.

Lots and lots of well-maintained bike paths with underpasses so you can go miles and miles without crossing a street.

Lots of bicyclers

Well-trained dogs - I have been chased only once.

Well-trained peds who know that bicycles RULE and generally get the heck out of the way.

Great LBS

Fitness is IN, not only bicycling, but lots of other outside (and inside) activities.

4 seasons, like it or not.

All the revenue from the Colorado lotteries goes into open space, trails and the like.

Flat. The hills don't start much until you hit the mountains, 20 miles west.

This year has been the year of the WIND! So much, that it has limited my outside activities.

They plow the bike paths - 1st thing, right along with the roads.

Lots and lots of SUV's with ladies talking continuously on their cell phones (to whom are they talking and what are they saying - I want to know!) However, besides the SUV's and CP's, the drivers are bicycle aware.

pedex

Columbus Ohio
mostly flat, small steep hills typically when crossing rivers
downtown is mostly 5 lane one ways
no bike lanes(glad of this)
fairly bike friendly
ride year round, temp is usually tween 15F - 95F
suburbs are typical american fare so best riding is either downtown area or out of town
lots of colleges
this city is like a big cowtown, a city that just refuses to grow up and act like a city

domestique

South PA,

The Good:
-Pretty quite roads
-A lot of friendly cyclist
-Beautiful country side
-Nice rolling hills

The Bad
POT HOLES (PA roads suck!)
Stupid hicks in their trucks
Deer!
TAR AND CHIP on the roads

Veloduo

Central Texas -- Austin and vicinity.

1. Widely varying terrain. Short of mountains, we've got everything: flats, rollers, nice and challenging hills, some severe climbs, streams and river valleys.
2. Scenery -- both flora and fauna. Big skies. Live oaks. Lost pines. Wildflowers. Interesting wildlife. Bucolic pasturage.
3. Wind, pretty much all the time, sometimes not too bad, often punishing and relentless.
4. HEAT. Upside is that winters from Austin south are extremely mild. Seldom if ever have to ride with many layers -- maybe a long-sleeved jersey and an underlayer or two. Not even much need for tights.
5. An avid, knowledgeable, supportive, politically active, and visible cycling culture. Austin has been a cycling town for decades, and whatever your feelings about Lance, his success has only increased interest in the sport around here.
5b. Bicycle racers introduced at the 50-yard-line in 100-degree heat during a national championship college football season to a standing ovation by 90,000 fans.
5c. The only seven-time winner of the Tour de France.
6. Bike shops -- lots of 'em. And good ones.
7. Barton Springs. See https://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/bartonsprings.htm
8. Krause Springs. See https://www.texasoutside.com/kraussprings.htm
9. Lots of Mexican restaurants.
10. BBQ.
11. Whole Foods (the mother church).
12. Shiner.

dta95b7r

[QUOTEBozeman, MT:

Almost completely enclosed by mountains
Plains to the west
Chip sealed roads
Mountain passes aplenty
Rollers in betwixt passes
WIND
Sunny
Coniferous forrests
College town - ton's o' bikers
College chicks that race
Lions, rednecks and bears oh my][/QUOTE]
A buddy of mine is in montana he said the riding is awesome you just have to watch out for the drunk indians.

Veloduo

Oh, and hey, Castaway, how can we order up some of them polite Japanese dogs? Maybe we can arrange some sort of non-native species introduction program...

2Rodies

Austin Texas

The good:
Lots of cyclists
Lots of female cyclists, serious, cute and fast
Hills, lots of short steep ones
Heat
Humidity
Friendly cyclists
Good bike shops (Especially 360 Cycleworks)
Lot's of races
Good BBQ
Good Music
Beautiful women

The Bad
Chip seal
No shoulders
Just enough Pickum up Trucks to make it a bit sketchy
No real climbs
No flat roads (you gotta travel up north to find them)
The never ending head wind

clausen

Toronto ON.
North of Scarborough
I'm lucky 7km of wild 2 lane quite suburbia to open country roads. After that it's take your pick of what you want except mountain climbing. Flat slight up hill with little rollers I go north nice and fast on the way home. Big rollers I go east. There is also a couple of steep climbs not the longest but give a great workout and easily avoided if you don't. Very little traffic and the roads are in fairly good shape.

mollusk

I spent 10 weeks at WPAFB back in the summer of 1988 and rented a room in a house in Yellow Springs. I had my bike there all summer (and it was a HOT one, even for this Florida guy) and rode it all over the place with memorable round trips to Port Washington and Cinti I went on a century ride out of Oxford, OH called the Ft. Hamilton 100 that was pretty nice. The first 62 miles looped north of Oxford and was close to flat, but the last 38 went south of Oxford and had some short but steep hills. There were lots of people to ride with for the metric century part, but I was pretty much solo for the balance of the ride.

It wasn't too hilly around Yellow Springs, but the were a few short pitches up from the Little Miami River. Bicycle commuting from Yellow Springs to WPAFB would have been suicide back then. I have no idea if it is feasible now. I was up at WPAFB not too long ago, but I didn't have time to poke around as it was a business trip.

The bike trail stuff was just being built when I was there. I think the one up the Little Miami River went as far north as Morrow at the time and I don't remember exactly where it started further south. I know it didn't go as far south as Milford because I had to ride there and then up through Indian Hill to get to my in-law's house.

Terex

West-Central NJ: Hunterdon County and surrounds may be one of the nicest places to ride in the US. Good: Rolling to hilly small, wind-sheltered, country roads, few dogs, generally courteous drivers, four season riding - any bad weather usually moves out quickly in this coastal area, scenic, lots of riders of all ages and abilities, numerous bike shops, neat places to stop, flat areas if you need them, hills to test your skills - and it's all right out my drive! Bad: High cost of living, esp taxes, congested areas to the south and east, lots of chip & seal (but generally in good shape). More good - Wegmans AND Whole Foods. Oh, and Liquor Locker in Edison.

Re Houston: Yea, probably the suckyist place that ever sucked.
Re Denver: Beautiful, but too many long stretches of exposed road - makes it seem like a grind.
Re Columbus: Drive a bit to the east. I just rode around the Gambier area last weekend. Beautiful, rolling countryside. Lots of dogs, but they obviously havn't seen too many cyclists - by the time they doped out what was going on, I was well down the road. In general, OH isn't the best, due to condition of roads and weather.
Re London: I'm afraid to walk there, let alone bike. Zillions of cyclists, but mostly due to high cost of motorized transportation in the City. Would love to ride in the countryside, though.

MICHAELM

In Kentucky, yes, we wear shoes. The roads are excellent unlike say Illinois, where their farm land roads are chip and tar. Very few rides are flat. Can be challenged with the hills. Good shops and friendly personnel. Can be very scenic, have to watch out for the occassional crazed horse, just kidding. Local club is excellent with rides everyday and well organized. No, the bluegrass is not blue. Most of the time motorist are courteous.

Stv

Toronto, GTA EAST:

THEGOOD:

Cars normally respectful and courteous of cyclists. Head three to five kilometres north of city and enter immediately into bucolic rural country side. Farms, horses, cattle'n, corn.....lots'n, lots of corn. Follow numerous criss-cross of RR# concessions to avoid significant traffic on main roadways. Generally very quiet traffic-wise out here, with long, very flat, to gradual rollers, primarily from natural brook fed ravines. Roads generally fair to middily conditions. Best route is to stay rural on city fringes north of Ajax to Whitby to Oshawa and then head further north some more .............................. don't stop........

THENOTSOGOOD:

The frighteningly rapid decimating encroachment of urban sprawl into these pastoral country roadways. Very narrow to non-existing bike lanes on roadways.

THEREALLYNOTSOVERYGOODATALL:

Winter, ....much too long,........... leaves the cycling season, ... way too short.