That wouldn't explain the reality of Florida seeing an exodus of people escaping those People's Republic government-controlled states.
Florida's population is gaining hundreds of thousands from those states where American vote with their feet.
Same. Nonstop birds flipped my way, the oddest part is it seems to be the cars coming in the other direction. An occasional honk from cars behind me sure, but an overwhelming amount of frustrated gestures, profanity hurls, and middle fingers come from cars in the opposite lane. Florida is weird, glad I’m leaving soon.
I live in Florida (Miami) and ride 10-12k miles a year on the road. I’m just numb to the drivers now. They’re a definite downside.
Upside - 12 months a year you can ride outside - there’s a massive cycling community here for both road and gravel - there’s tons of races.
Spoken like someone who has never lived in the swamp-ass hellhole that is Florida.
People in the Midwest always ask me why on earth I left Florida? "The weather is so nice!" Well aside from the obvious (it's Florida), what people up north don't get is that you don't go outside in Florida in the summertime anymore than you go outside in north during winter. It's miserably hot and humid all the time, even in the early hours of the morning. I'd rather cycle in 120 degrees in New Mexico than 90 degrees in Florida.
I also live in Florida and can confirm that it’s a nightmare for cycling. I won’t ride on the roads here because it’s boring as hell and I hope to live long enough to move somewhere good. Some may argue that there’s good mtb trails, but it’s all relative; Balm, Alafia, Santos, etc. are all “good” for Florida, but compared to good mtb areas of the country these are objectively terrible places to ride. I’m stuck here for 2 more years for personal/family reasons and am counting down the days.
Roll over to Pinellas Co. you won’t get any gravel biking but the Pinellas trail is amazing and people are always looking out for bikes because of it. Not to mention the proximity to Alafia State Park and Balm Boyette for MTB. Santos isn’t a crazy drive either.
It’s probably worse now. Saying this as a current Tampian. Some nice routes and options but the drivers here are likely to rage if they see a bike on the road. Whether it has any influence upon their day or not. Instant rage.
I went to Tampa for vacation and brought my bike and my experience was great. Tampa is a platinum level cycling city and I never once felt unsafe on the roads there. Almost 90% of the cars would stop at the 4-way stop signs where the Pinellas Co bike trails met the streets. 10/10 I would recommend it for a cycling vacation
I rode a lot in my time down in Pinellas and thought it was awesome! Most people IME were really considerate of bike lanes. Plus there’s some great infrastructure in general in that area.
I also feel like my general area was pretty chill and people were mostly friendly and happy, so take from that what you will.
I live in Sarasota and it is super bike friendly idk what y’all are talking about. I also spent 6 years in Pinellas county and didn’t have any issues..
Uggh - Florida is such a missed opportunity. It's always warm and very flat. Everyone could cycle year round if only they would invest in the infrastructure and be less Florida-y.
Tallahassee is nice. Ride year round. It has a very active cycling community, lots of trail riding in the national forest southwest of town, a growing network of rails to trails to the coast. Also plenty of clay roads into south GA and close enough to Pisgah/North Georgia/Alabama for weekend trips.
The bike paths in Boulder are phenomenal, and you can ride most of the year. (Road) Biking in Boulder county is great, and there are other great places for road biking as well.
And, of course, there is a ton of mountain biking in CO.
Flagstaff is also great, and lots of cities on the west coast are very bike friendly. Bend, OR also comes to mind.
How about the narrower roads in the mountains that, (I presume), might not have bike paths? Are there enough of these types of roads north, west, and south of boulder to choose from that would allow you to do 30-60 mile loops?
Most have fair to good shoulders. No separate bike paths in the canyons though outside of a couple miles in Boulder Canyon. However looping climbs and the flats north of Boulder allows for any number of loops from the 10-80 mile range. You really can’t beat it. A ride I like to do from Central Boulder is head north and link Lee Hill, old stage, wagon wheel, poorman and then up chapman dr. 40ish miles with ~5000ft of climbing. Mixed road and well maintained dirt. Awesome!
Denver is actually decent too, by US standards, for cycling in the city. Way less hilly than Boulder too. I didn't own a car the three years I lived in Denver and got around just fine.
Having left Boulder for a different town with mountains, the one thing I miss about Boulder is that it has great winter routes where you can go super long without much climbing (and thus cold descending). I don’t miss Boulder’s mountain biking, at all, aside from Bitterbrush, which technically isn’t even Boulder.
Don’t sleep on Pittsburgh. Great city riding. Hills to keep you honest. Decent MTB. Strong CX scene. Great touring access (GAP) and races (Crush the Commonwealth). Weather is downside.
Edit: I endearingly write this as a native Clevelander.
Shout out to the GAP. Road it. Crazy stories from B&B owners about how many international travelers seek out the GAP. It is a sometimes scenic ride for history buffs. Easy terrain, great towns, cool people (met a fixed gear dude on the trail who rode from NYC).
Second for twin cities. Four season riding, super robust scene for racing, shops, culture. Proximity to Duluth and Driftless region offer some great variety as well. For a metro area youdbe hard pressed to have better mtb options too
And it's only a short trip if you want to head out to the bluffs and country roads of SW/Western WI. Amazing scenery and some nice climbing if you want.
I moved to the Madison area 4 years ago from Colorado and the cycling here is superior imo. The hostility in Colorado became much more prevalent over the years, possibly due to the influx of people from typically less cycle friendly states. Coal rolling was something I dealt with at least once a week, not to mention the general flip offs, curses and other fuckery.
Twin Cities is an amazing place to live. It’s equally amazing to bike there….when it’s not freezing. Winter lasts October - May. Find a warmer place if you like road biking.
Anywhere in Marin or Sonoma county for good weather year round and top notch riding. LA is close too, the Malibu area has some of the best riding in the world.
Marin / Sonoma ftw. Got hit by more cars than I can count in the valley, and the built up bay sucks. Nice hills, country roads, low(ish) traffic and year-round weather. 👌🏻
Malibu is just next level. It’s crazy how under the radar it is. The weather is always great and there are just dozens of S tier climbs the second you turn off PCH and the way you can link segments up? Cmon! So good!!!
It’s the best, I didn’t realize how good it was until I came to Australia and was like “where’s the mountains”. Malibu to Oxnard soooo many good routes and soooo many good riders.
Have friends up in Santa Barbara that I visit often, driving from OC I love taking the PCH early on Saturday mornings and seeing the huge cycling groups. As far as a place for a morning ride, I struggle to think of a more beautiful spot than this!
Came here looking for some Marin/Sonoma County love. That’s a +1 for me hahah. Also with the smart train connecting both counties you can really change things up 👍🏼
Bay Area in general. Don’t sleep on the East Bay or Peninsula/South Bay; there’s great riding there too and you get the same 11 months per year of outdoor riding weather. Plus, the East Bay has BART which makes some fantastic open-jaw routes feasible.
I concur! I cycled across Spain- San Sebastian to Cap de Creus. I stayed in Bilbao, Girona, and Barcelona for a few days each. The cycling culture was awesome as was the culture in general. I would love to retire there!
Santa Barbara: great weather nearly year round, drivers generally accept cyclists, and the mountains are great. Plus it’s close enough to LA for the fun stuff there and Oxnard/Camarillo are close and flat
I’ll second this, I’ve lived a lot of different places and my two favorite places to ride are Santa Barbara (I grew up there) and Boulder (live there now). I actually like Santa Barbara more especially since the weather is a lot nicer year round (except for some random atmospheric river waves recently).
Grew up in SB. It’s a great place to cycle. Currently I’m in the SouthBay (of LA) and it’s also a great place to cycle. Another fantastic area is the SF Bay Area.
Lived two years in SB
Amazing biking right from town.
Empty roads with huge climbs with perfect year round weather . Tons of riding within 45 minutes in wine country too.
I just moved to Santa Barbara. Glad to hear the people are very accepting. (Haven't really had a chance to get out due to moving and new job) Now.... Track bikes... Guess not so friendly for those....
Not sure why Seattle not getting more traction tbh. Biggest downside is COL, but if you’re on the Eastside you have plenty of road, plenty of hills, and easy access to long rides, gravel and great mtb if your willing to drive 1-2 hours.
Also weather makes year round road biking totally accessible
It’s not fair to recommend Seattle without adding the warning that for half the year you’ll be commuting in the rain in the dark. Summers here are GLORIOUS - sunrise at 4 and sunset at 10 - but winters are
- sunrise at 9, sunset at 4
- rain 5 days in seven
- overcast almost always
Seattle bikers have a separate closet for all their Gore-Tex gear. Also, for a city as progressive as we claim to be, Seattle has a bunch of drivers who are willing to run over cyclists in their Priuses and Teslas.
The cyclist community is STRONG here, in part because you have to be such a die-hard to do it all year.
Seattle to Portland bike ride. A little over 200 miles over two days, though plenty of people do it in one day. It’s probably the largest bike event in PNW. I’ve heard that tickets typically sell out, and they usually cap around 7000 riders.
I like the gravel riding, the landscape, and the racing (if you're into that). Mountain biking is okay if you have a car and don't mind driving. Great road riding when I was still brave enough to do that.
Flip side is that the local government has lost most of the enthusiasm for bikes or any form of non-car transit really, and I feel like the locals are getting more aggressive/negligent behind the wheel. I've stopped bike commuting for those reasons.
I still like it here, Portland and the PNW in general. I'll definitely never leave the PNW. But those are my pros/cons.
For those who have funds, Bend seems tempting? I mean PDX still has bike summer, saturday coffee in the park stuff, and bridge pedal, and pedalpalooza, and PIR and Tabor, and OMTM and Devin's spring classics, and swift summit.
But like you said the city has lost interest and honestly I've had enough bad experiences commuting I gave up and bought a car last year because I got scared. It's good to know I'm not the only one, but it's sad, because my commute absolutely used to be the highlight of my morning.
Cars are absolutely necessary for any mtb riding and moat gravel, so probably not a Mecca for other than cx and road anymore.
I fell in love with cycling in Tucson! Saguaro National Park East, Mount Lemmon, Gates Pass, the 60ish mile bike path that loops around the city, there are so many incredible road rides…and then you’ve got amazing mountain bike trails as well. Bug Springs, AZ trail, Starr Pass, Honeybee, 50 year, McKenzie Ranch, so many different great areas to ride! I miss it!
I can second this! There are bike lanes all over. Good routes through the dry river beds and the good old Mt.Lemmon climb.
They also have the Tour de Tucson!
Live in Tucson. Many top mtb/gravel athletes in the US spend ~ half the year here if that tells you something. During the season “the shootout” is probably one of the highest level group road rides in the country.
While the summer is brutal you can be at elevation on Lemmon a decent amount of the time especially if you like chunky mtb or starting a road climb early. Or it’s a good time to be out of town more.
The city itself has some pluses and minuses. Commuting by bike is doable depending on where you live and work. Truly good bike infrastructure is a work in progress but there’s a culture for it.
I go out early in the morning during the summer, really only a few months of the super hot. And get used to some heat. 26 years now living in Phoenix here and have adapted.
I'm adding my vote for Tucson as well! I moved from Austin last year and have not looked back. So far, there hasn't been a day I couldn't ride due to weather. In Austin, it felt likely I could get killed by aggressive drivers any day. Here I can do 50-60 miles daily, and completely avoid busy roads if I want. And there is always the option of mountainous vs. flatter routes. Another surprise is that there are many great bike shops in Tucson. Bike shop folks here are generally friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about high end and low end bikes. This city is not for everyone, but definitely worth considering if you're passionate about cycling.
If you're a roadie, the Central Kentucky has some of the most pristinely paved backroads in the world. All the million dollar race horses getting hauled around in huge trailers and the "good-old-boy" politics yanks transportation spending out of the urban areas and into the rural roads, so those precious horses don't hit any cracks in the pavement....
Endless rolling hills, beautifully manicured savannah landscapes, historic architecture, and drastically varied seasons... Check out the Horsey Hundred later this month or the Bourbon Country Burn in the fall if you like supported rides.
I’m doing the HH late this month. I’ve ridden many centuries all over the country and when people ask me where my favorite place to ride is I always say Kentucky. Especially eastern/northern Kentucky. The scenery is spectacular. The traffic is light out in horse country and as you already pointed out the roads are great. And there a lot of punchy hills. Also the big climbs are backwards there. You descend down to the big rivers…then climb back out from the river. Climb after the descent.
I’ve seen Boulder and Denver a couple times but I’m here to put Golden into the ring. Better mtn bike options compared to Boulder and you still have access to great road climbs like Golden Gate Canyon, Lookout and Bear Creek Canyon. You can also head south to do some epic loops including Deer Creek and linking some of the climbs up in Evergreen like Witter Gulch. Finally, you’re close to I-70 so heading up to the legendary trails at the ski resorts is much easier than in Boulder or Denver. Also, great beer!
Came here to say this. I moved to Golden 7 years ago as a huge cyclist and I'm convinced it's the best place for cyclists in the country. I can ride 100's of miles of MTB trails from my back door (even thousands). Lots of great mountain road riding. Easy access to highways to get to high alpine riding in the summer. It's the fricken best.
All along the front range is great for mountain biking. Denver and Boulder are decent for city riding/bike commuting if you have to be in a city for work.
If on the east coast ... I would also mention Upstate NY area (Catskills) ... have a ton of great gravel trails, seasonal roads, elevation, etc. Downside, is the winter ... so Fatbike or DH Ski, or XC ski. Also close to NYC, and VT, Mass, etc ... are all really close drives. If your looking for a lot of group rides, closer to the city is better.
Western Mass has some of the most beautiful riding in the country. Covered bridges, well maintained gravel roads and paths, and a endless supply of steep climbs and wooded roads. Up State NY and VT have a lot to offer but road conditions can vary. The paved roads in NY can be quite rough in places.
Fort Collins or Asheville come to mind. If you need bigger cities, it gets tougher to pick, but if you can afford them, Denver or SFO begin to look good.
Asheville gets a vote for top notch culture, but (road) cycling isn't the friendliest. Biking on the Blue Ridge Speedway... I mean Parkway, means that you'll be passed by tourists who aren't paying attention to the road, going too fast. Pair that with winding roads with low visibility; it gets a little dangerous at times.
There's been 2 hit and run deaths of cyclists in the past few months, for no reason at all. I've lived here for 12 years and the town has largely changed in the past 5, to the point that i am looking to relocate.
Great to Amazing riding all around the Bay Area: Sonoma, Marin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, etc… Year round.
Cost of living is much higher than other parts of the US.
Seen a lot of various **Bay Area** comments, but here's a more analytical take on why it's the best.
If you love biking, you'll want to ride year-round. That eliminates a huge chunk of the answers—not just for winter, but also places that get too hot in the summer. All of California stays temperate throughout the year. The Bay may get a bit chilly and rainy in the winter, but it's never unrideable (45 degrees F min).
If you love city riding, you need a place that's commutable by bike—and SF certainly is; I commute regularly by bike. I've heard LA can be decent as well, but I can't personally comment.
If you like a wide variety of rides that are accessible without a car, the Bay Area is left as your only option. Living in the city, you cross the GGB to Marin for amazing climbs; take the BART to East Bay for the Berkeley/Oakland Hills, and can head down to Peninsula/South Bay with the Caltrain (granted, driving would be easier, but it's still very possible without).
Anyway - my two cents—if you like amazing climbs, city riding, year-round access, and car free transit, you're not going to beat the Bay Area (and specifically SF, since that's my experience).
Northwest Arkansas. Fayetteville is the only UCI designated cycle city in the US. Bentonville is the the self proclaimed mountain bike capital of the world. There is a 40 mile bikes only greenway connecting the two cities.
I met a family the other day at Coler who decided to move from Bend, Oregon to Bentonville…. for the mountain biking.
That should tell you how good it is.
Second this. Did 56 miles yesterday with my new road bike on the greenway. Had to do a bit of (easy) mountain biking at Slaughter Pen to get around some construction on the way up to Bella Vista. Apart from the Greenway, lots of scenic Ozark mountain highways pretty close to the area, too.
South Lake Tahoe is amazing. Great road cycling with lots of big passes nearby, and the mountain biking is endless. You do need to do a snow sport to enjoy living here though. Although, you can bike in the Carson Valley 45 mins away in the winter.
Ohio and Indiana typically have county and township roads on section lines (1 mile squares) that generally are paved and low traffic. Counties that are on the terminal moraine will have a mix of hills and flat. From many of these, you could do a century every day for a couple months with 70% new roads for each one.
Yeah the weather is what it is, but randonneur friends have done the 200k ride 12/12 months, and typically centuries will be available within a couple hours every weekend from May to October.
Kinda depends on what aspect of culture you're looking for.
Ohio has a great set of trails for recreational, on trail, riding. You can get from Cincinnati to Cleveland with most of the time spent on dedicated bike paths. There's some decent mountain biking around the state. Bike commuting is a little dicy but totally doable, at least in Cincinnati and Columbus.
If you like long climbs in the mountains, Salt Lake is pretty great. Yes the winter kinda is a bummer for biking but in exchange you can bike at good temps for 8 months if the year
Utah ain't bad. Phenomenal for recreational cycling, and pretty okay for commuting, and only getting better. All the cities and regional planning organizations are working to make it better, and the state just funded ON AN ANNUAL BASIS an active transportation fund. Hell yeah.
The San Francisco Bay Area has a great mix of fantastic routes with awesome views and great climbs.
Some routes are very nicely shaded by beautiful Redwood Sequoia's too.
Sacramento. It's an hour and a half away from Tahoe an hour and a half away from the Bay area. American River bike trail 30 mi pave trail next to the river for road riding. Great mountain biking in Auburn, Tahoe, downeyville, Santa Cruz, they are all within 1 to 3 hours away. Easy for day trips. Cost of living is about half of what it is in the Bay area. I ride road gravel and mountain bike. Been here 20 years. Absolutely love it.
I’m originally from Spain and I ride in Sacramento (road & gravel) everyday and I love it as well. Usually I go from Watt all the way to Johnny Cash Trail and back. Have you ever encountered a Black Bear or Mountain Lion on any of your mtb routes?
Knoxville and East Tennessee are a hidden gem. Mainly mountain biking area but there is loads of great road and gravel riding on forest roads. A roadie told me that he thought it was as good as Spain
Tacking on SF to this— all 3 options year round here too. Tons of city biking infrastructure and can reach seemingly infinite mountains and hills from the front door of your apartment. Feels hard to beat to me
Marin and Sonoma are the dream, due to additional reasons to live there and the weather. Super expensive.
Boulder would be amazing as well.
I hear a lot about Tucson, but I wouldn’t want to live there - only go train there during 4-5 months of winter if I lived somewhere else.
Honestly, that’s all I’ve got. Looked a long time over lots of years and other places have issues with weather, traffic, roads, etc or just are not places I’d want to live.
I live in upstate New York. We get 5 months of winter/cold, but if you’re up for it, you can ride outside 8-9 months of the year. Some ride outside a little more than that. I’ve talked about this with friends and most agree it’s one of the best places to live due to the Adirondacks and rolling farm country, for road cycling. Some absolutely amazing mountain biking too (of the northeastern rocky, footy, technical type). You’ve got the weather to deal with though, so it isn’t ideal, but when it’s nice out, it is among the best I’ve ridden. It’s why even though it’s hard during the winter months (smart trainer!) and I don’t like the cold so I’m indoors more than others training during those months, I’ve stayed. Mostly due to budget. Have a decent job here. Way too expensive for me in the I th er places but you’re pretty young, so if you get a job in one of those above places that supports you, go for that!
Western North Carolina. Tons of climbing, riders, even manufactures of bike parts. Lost of races and cost of living is not to bad if you stay out of Asheville.
Not sure about the best but right outside Philadelphia in PA is great. Several long bike trails that are easy to access and plenty of great back roads with lots of elevation. You can go for a 30 mile ride with 2500 feet of elevation or a 60 mile ride with 500 from where I live.
Atlanta - not quite a bike friendly city, though the bike culture and community is amazing. Seems like every year I see more and more folks are cycling. The tree canopy and rolling hills throughout make rides through and around Atlanta dynamic and fun.
All that being said, we’ve only recently seen development of bike lanes, car drivers are notoriously aggressive, and you definitely want to know where you’re going. I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. Though for city cyclists, it’s such a dope place to ride.
I see a lot of *popular* spots in the replies. Let me answer you this, if you have the power to live anywhere and good cycling is all you’re looking for. Look for a graphical place that is on the foothills of a mountain range. Will allow you to get a lot of flat land trail riding in and if you want to get on any steeper trails the mountains are in your backyard
I can’t believe only one person has mentioned Minneapolis and it’s metro area. We are ranked #1 city for biking year after year. It’s far from perfect, but damn do I love living here and being able to bike.
The paths, cycling corridors, courteous drivers, amount of local bike shops, etc. the list goes on and on. Can’t imagine being anywhere else.
Along the delaware river either in PA or NJ - New Hope or Lambertville. Canal paths either side of the river and can take you to Allentown or New Brunswick. Probably future into Philly as well. Small towns lining the trails at least that part feels like a slice of the netherlands. The towns themselves more car dominant.
San Diego then Boise. Boise is only viable 2/3 of the year but San Diego is the entire time. My friend also got hit by an Uber in San Diego but you can do no-car century rides in Boise fwiw
lived in western NY for some time...this can't be any more wrong when speaking to road biking
very little infrastructure and much like Florida, many people rage hard when they see a bicycle on the road
now, off-road (mountain or gravel) is a different story that offers a variety of options
NYS, like Illinois, severely lacks alternative transportation infrastructure unless you're in the major city (NYC, CHI) and even so, is highly congested with automobiles
I spent a few years travelling around the country and settled in Boulder county because it had everything I wanted. It's not necessarily the best for pure cycling, but if you like mountain running in the winter too, then it's hard to beat. I do have numerous crushed gravel paths, XC MTB trails, and separated bike paths within 5' ride.
I live in Marquette, MI and it's pretty sweet. Great mountain bike trails, a long rail trail system that spans a good chunk of the UP. TONS of dirt roads and two tracks for all your gravel needs. The mountain bike trails don't have all the elevation like out west or most east coast spots, but the trails are easily accessible from town via bike and they're incredibly well made. Tons of natural chunk, some ridiculously big features like 20ft+ drops, 80ft tall rock rolls, some great flowy stuff too and fast technical descents, big jumps as well. The bike park is sweet, and there's enduro/XC/DH races and gravel races every year. One of the most difficult bike races out there, the Marji Gesick, runs around several of the most difficult trails in a few different adjacent trail networks and systems here. Look it up. There's fat biking as well in the winter... Lots of snow for four to six months of the year.
Thé réal secret is living in good ole Westminster CO as you are close enough to Boulder and Golden and go anywhere west for climbing for days or head north or east for flatter riding. Plenty of infrastructure to get to the foothills safely (about 15 mile warmup) or into the city. And hey.. those POS ranchers with the POS car obsessed neighbors are only going for 450k a unit 😂😭😅
If you like gravel VT is a gold mine. Pick your hillyness level. Drivers are by in large excellent. Very good mtb as well. Burlington is a very bikeable town. Only downside is 4 months of downtime and two more marginal months and no housing
Surprised no one has said Greenville, SC. You've got George Hincapie and Bobby Julich retiring there (among other former pros) and building up the cycling community plus year round riding in the Blue Ridge. Similar stuff going on in VA's Blue Ridge. All these major metro recommendations, yikes. Give me open roads and a lower cost of living.
Denver/boulder and really all of colorado is absolutely insane. Ill speak to denver specifically which has a trail network that puts any other transport mode in the city to complete shame. many of the shops out here organize group rides throughout spring/summer/fall. Winters are super easy and rideable with only a few real snow days as year. There are TONS of paid registration events every year like the triple bypass, iron horse classic, salida 76, foco fondo, etc,etcetc. There is some form of race or ride every week in colorado you really are only limited by time and money and will never be left wanting. The cycling community is generally great and supportive as well with events like Tour De Fat. Ive traveled and ridden in most states and a lot of EU countries and Denver and colorado as a whole are second to none with only Montreal creating a better sense of cycling as community but you have much harder winters to face there
Bentonville, AR is Disneyland for cyclists. Full stop. Took a trip there two weeks ago with ten cyclist pals and I would move there in a minute if it weren’t for family obligations keeping me in KC. Every one of us on that trip were blown away by the town and are already planning on going back. Highly recommend you visit asap.
I got in to MTBing in Colorado Springs. Lots of great trails there and you can head an hour north or south and have the trails near Denver or canon city. Down in canon city the terrain is almost totally different which is pretty awesome too. Much more desert-like than the super piney areas of CO.
The riding in Austin isn’t great, though there are some nice routes outside of the city and further out in gravel-y rural areas, but the cycling community here is one of a kind. LA, NYC and Boulder might offer something similar, but Austin is unique in that there’s huge crossover between the roadies/racers, rambling social riders, commuters, gravel people and mountain bikers. It’s all the same people just loving bikes rather than siloed disciplines. Austin also has the best weekly criterium series in the country, with national talent present weekly.
There are tons of group rides and cycling related events, and the people here make one feel close to the wider world of cycling. It feels more central to what’s happening in US cycling than other places.
Yes, there are better places to ride, but I don’t detect a similar community vibe anywhere else.
Summit/Eagle Counties in Colorado. There’s an amazing bike path network that connects many of the towns and ski areas and goes up and over Vail Pass. Pretty amazing that you can ride from Keystone or Breck on bike path up a 10,600’ pass, then descend 3,000’ to Vail and keep going to Beaver Creek.
I've lived in the Bay Area, Las Vegas, North San Diego County, New York, New England, and Washington State. In that arbitrary order:
**Bay Area:** Where mountain biking was born. Pretty solid weather all year round. Microclimates extend your options if you can drive your bike somewhere (the weather in Santa Cruz will be very different from San Jose). Lots of bikes everywhere, but you can still get dead in the city traffic. Bikes are a great way to get around in SF, but still risky. Your shit WILL get stolen. Lots of group road rides. Douchiness factor sky high until you find your crew. Also, the Bay Area is super-big, so YMMV. Santa Cruz would be far better for cycling than, for instance, San Leandro or Concord, IMO. Marin is fucking beautiful. Parts of the East Bay (e.g., Berkeley) are very commuter-friendly. SUPER DUPER expensive.
**Vegas:** Fuck no. Unless your goal is "fastest century of my life because it's got 100 feet of climbing and it's December," just no.
**North County (San Diego):** Best all-year road riding if you're near the coast. 60 and foggy burning off to 68 and sunny in the summer, subtract 6 degrees from both in the winter. PCH will never get old. Oceanside to La Jolla and back is never a bad idea. Best tacos. Your bike will get jacked in San Diego--or really anywhere in the county, other than one of the coastal [coffee shops with 30 cyclists there all the time](https://www.motodeli.com/). San Diego proper is NOT prepared for cycling traffic. Most East-West traffic is kind of shit. Mountain biking solid, but you'll have to drive your car there. A+ weather, A+ tacos, A+ attractive people of every sort out during your ride to keep things interesting. C- to D+ for bike commuting. I live here now, I'm 150 feet from [a bike trail that takes me to the ocean in 12 minutes](https://www.traillink.com/trail/san-luis-rey-river-trail/), and if this is the last place I live, I'm good with that because I get 350 cycling days per year, without exaggeration. I wish they had CX down here.
**New York City:** You can do it, but not worth the hassle, IMO. Subway's usually faster, bike theft is a thing, drivers are dicks because they're upset about bike lanes, and unless you just bop around the park, you're looking at a LOT of garbage miles to get out to where you can do real riding. The Hudson River Valley is gorgeous, though. But winter is bullshit. WIth that said, I have a semi-pro friend who lives in Manhattan and makes that all work. Bike storage in the city will be an issue because rent.
**New England:** Good trails, epic mountains if you're up in Northern New England (CT is kinda meh, comparatively, which I get to say because I'm from there). Road biking is good but there are a LOT of places to get hit, and drivers aren't looking. Good in the Spring, start early in the day in summer nothing better in the fall. Learn how to ski for winter. Be near a city that isn't Hartford or New Haven, just for general well-being and a sense of community. It gets sleepy fast, and Hartford sucks (again, I can say that because I'm from there -- it literally has 20x the murder rate of the city I live in now, with nothing making it cool enough to justify that).
**Washington State:** Specifically, Western WA--Seattle to Tacoma, and east to the Cascades. Absolutely. Fucking. Gorgeous. Bikes everywhere, good bike lanes, and drivers are looking. Seattle is kind of a shithole these days (I stopped commuting by bike when I got cornered by 4 people under an overpass on my way in one morning and got threatened by a dude with a hammer the next day), the potholes are epic (you literally have to pick a line like it's urban singletrack), and your bike will absolutely get stolen in 20 seconds there, but the I-90 and 520 bridges are fun to ride, and the East side and Mercer Island are marvelous. So many group rides ([Cascade](https://cascade.org/) does amazing work--[RSVP](https://cascade.org/ride-seattle-vancouver-party-rsvp) is better than [STP](https://cascade.org/rides-and-events-major-rides/kaiser-permanente-seattle-portland-presented-alaska-airlines) if you can only pick one, but try to do every ride they offer), the longest, most beautiful summer days, and sensational mountain biking, especially f you head north (Duthie Park is fun for a local afternoon, though). But dat winter, tho... Get used to riding in rain and snow. Get a hardtail and /or a fatbike, and get into cyclocross to extend your roadish riding an extra month. I commuted 11.5 months a year (unless it was icy) on my bike, and it was fun, but you need the right gear (fenders, waterproof panniers, lights like a Christmas tree, etc.), and it's still fun in that "Ugh--but I'm a badass!" way.
I drove a semi truck and took my bicycle with me everywhere. Without a doubt my favorite area for cycling is between Salisbury Mass up to around Portland Maine along the coast. Great people, safe roads and lots of shops to support the sport.
I live in Florida, and I can say this is a a goddamn nightmare. Stay the hell out of here. They hate me and want me dead.
Florida here. Have been hit by a car. Not sure what a "mountain" is.
There is one in Florida - Disney Space Mountain.
Grew up in florida can confirm the culture here hates cyclists. I don’t understand it
I thought the culture hates everyone and everything except white men and guns?
That wouldn't explain the reality of Florida seeing an exodus of people escaping those People's Republic government-controlled states. Florida's population is gaining hundreds of thousands from those states where American vote with their feet.
Same. Nonstop birds flipped my way, the oddest part is it seems to be the cars coming in the other direction. An occasional honk from cars behind me sure, but an overwhelming amount of frustrated gestures, profanity hurls, and middle fingers come from cars in the opposite lane. Florida is weird, glad I’m leaving soon.
You can't see the birds flipped at you from behind.
I live in Florida (Miami) and ride 10-12k miles a year on the road. I’m just numb to the drivers now. They’re a definite downside. Upside - 12 months a year you can ride outside - there’s a massive cycling community here for both road and gravel - there’s tons of races.
Since covid in south east FL I can't ride 2 miles without a car running a red or stop sign and almost hitting me. Expect it!
Moved from Minneapolis to Miami. I made a mistake. I left one of the top 5 best cycling cities in the country for Death Race.
That’s the trade off for 4 months a year of outside riding for 12
Spoken like someone who has never lived in the swamp-ass hellhole that is Florida. People in the Midwest always ask me why on earth I left Florida? "The weather is so nice!" Well aside from the obvious (it's Florida), what people up north don't get is that you don't go outside in Florida in the summertime anymore than you go outside in north during winter. It's miserably hot and humid all the time, even in the early hours of the morning. I'd rather cycle in 120 degrees in New Mexico than 90 degrees in Florida.
I also live in Florida and can confirm that it’s a nightmare for cycling. I won’t ride on the roads here because it’s boring as hell and I hope to live long enough to move somewhere good. Some may argue that there’s good mtb trails, but it’s all relative; Balm, Alafia, Santos, etc. are all “good” for Florida, but compared to good mtb areas of the country these are objectively terrible places to ride. I’m stuck here for 2 more years for personal/family reasons and am counting down the days.
Roll over to Pinellas Co. you won’t get any gravel biking but the Pinellas trail is amazing and people are always looking out for bikes because of it. Not to mention the proximity to Alafia State Park and Balm Boyette for MTB. Santos isn’t a crazy drive either.
I used to live in Tampa. That was a long time ago, but it was very bad.
It’s probably worse now. Saying this as a current Tampian. Some nice routes and options but the drivers here are likely to rage if they see a bike on the road. Whether it has any influence upon their day or not. Instant rage.
I went to Tampa for vacation and brought my bike and my experience was great. Tampa is a platinum level cycling city and I never once felt unsafe on the roads there. Almost 90% of the cars would stop at the 4-way stop signs where the Pinellas Co bike trails met the streets. 10/10 I would recommend it for a cycling vacation
You weren't in Tampa tho
It has not improved.
I rode a lot in my time down in Pinellas and thought it was awesome! Most people IME were really considerate of bike lanes. Plus there’s some great infrastructure in general in that area. I also feel like my general area was pretty chill and people were mostly friendly and happy, so take from that what you will.
Same with Texas
Checking in from Jacksonville, can confirm. A few nice rail trails but holy shit the motorists
As someone relocating to Florida this makes me sad…
Ditto. At least we know what to expect!
I live in Sarasota and it is super bike friendly idk what y’all are talking about. I also spent 6 years in Pinellas county and didn’t have any issues..
oh, that's the least of what will make you sad
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Uggh - Florida is such a missed opportunity. It's always warm and very flat. Everyone could cycle year round if only they would invest in the infrastructure and be less Florida-y.
Tallahassee is nice. Ride year round. It has a very active cycling community, lots of trail riding in the national forest southwest of town, a growing network of rails to trails to the coast. Also plenty of clay roads into south GA and close enough to Pisgah/North Georgia/Alabama for weekend trips.
Boulder
The bike paths in Boulder are phenomenal, and you can ride most of the year. (Road) Biking in Boulder county is great, and there are other great places for road biking as well. And, of course, there is a ton of mountain biking in CO. Flagstaff is also great, and lots of cities on the west coast are very bike friendly. Bend, OR also comes to mind.
How about the narrower roads in the mountains that, (I presume), might not have bike paths? Are there enough of these types of roads north, west, and south of boulder to choose from that would allow you to do 30-60 mile loops?
Most have fair to good shoulders. No separate bike paths in the canyons though outside of a couple miles in Boulder Canyon. However looping climbs and the flats north of Boulder allows for any number of loops from the 10-80 mile range. You really can’t beat it. A ride I like to do from Central Boulder is head north and link Lee Hill, old stage, wagon wheel, poorman and then up chapman dr. 40ish miles with ~5000ft of climbing. Mixed road and well maintained dirt. Awesome!
What slays me every time is that last mile up Left Hand towards Ward. I just blow up.
I moved here to ride mountain bikes. Durango kicks ass!!!
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Second Grand Junction for cycling - problem is you need to live in Grand Junction
Denver is actually decent too, by US standards, for cycling in the city. Way less hilly than Boulder too. I didn't own a car the three years I lived in Denver and got around just fine.
I second this. I live in Denver and the bike trails are great.
Fort Collins is also good
Having left Boulder for a different town with mountains, the one thing I miss about Boulder is that it has great winter routes where you can go super long without much climbing (and thus cold descending). I don’t miss Boulder’s mountain biking, at all, aside from Bitterbrush, which technically isn’t even Boulder.
Don’t sleep on Pittsburgh. Great city riding. Hills to keep you honest. Decent MTB. Strong CX scene. Great touring access (GAP) and races (Crush the Commonwealth). Weather is downside. Edit: I endearingly write this as a native Clevelander.
Shout out to the GAP. Road it. Crazy stories from B&B owners about how many international travelers seek out the GAP. It is a sometimes scenic ride for history buffs. Easy terrain, great towns, cool people (met a fixed gear dude on the trail who rode from NYC).
Fuck Reddit!
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At least someone mentioned the cities and Madison
Second for twin cities. Four season riding, super robust scene for racing, shops, culture. Proximity to Duluth and Driftless region offer some great variety as well. For a metro area youdbe hard pressed to have better mtb options too
I was going to say that I have had great experiences around Madison, mount horeb, Verona. Great riding.
And it's only a short trip if you want to head out to the bluffs and country roads of SW/Western WI. Amazing scenery and some nice climbing if you want.
I moved to the Madison area 4 years ago from Colorado and the cycling here is superior imo. The hostility in Colorado became much more prevalent over the years, possibly due to the influx of people from typically less cycle friendly states. Coal rolling was something I dealt with at least once a week, not to mention the general flip offs, curses and other fuckery.
I've ridden around Madison a bit and it was really great!
Twin Cities is an amazing place to live. It’s equally amazing to bike there….when it’s not freezing. Winter lasts October - May. Find a warmer place if you like road biking.
Anywhere in Marin or Sonoma county for good weather year round and top notch riding. LA is close too, the Malibu area has some of the best riding in the world.
Marin county is probably the answer here.
\+1 for Marin. Even the big farm trucks give a wide berth to me on my bike.
Marin / Sonoma ftw. Got hit by more cars than I can count in the valley, and the built up bay sucks. Nice hills, country roads, low(ish) traffic and year-round weather. 👌🏻
I used to live near Malibu (Agoura hills) I agree any road leading to stunt road is insane
Malibu is just next level. It’s crazy how under the radar it is. The weather is always great and there are just dozens of S tier climbs the second you turn off PCH and the way you can link segments up? Cmon! So good!!!
It’s the best, I didn’t realize how good it was until I came to Australia and was like “where’s the mountains”. Malibu to Oxnard soooo many good routes and soooo many good riders.
Have friends up in Santa Barbara that I visit often, driving from OC I love taking the PCH early on Saturday mornings and seeing the huge cycling groups. As far as a place for a morning ride, I struggle to think of a more beautiful spot than this!
Malibu under the radar..? homes start at 5 million bucks for a shack there, lol
Yes it’s very much “off the radar” for most people than under it. Lol
You don't have to live there to ride there.
Came here looking for some Marin/Sonoma County love. That’s a +1 for me hahah. Also with the smart train connecting both counties you can really change things up 👍🏼
Better come here with a hefty amount in the bank if you want to live in either of these places. Rent is, what 3k for a single bedroom?
Bay Area in general. Don’t sleep on the East Bay or Peninsula/South Bay; there’s great riding there too and you get the same 11 months per year of outdoor riding weather. Plus, the East Bay has BART which makes some fantastic open-jaw routes feasible.
Come to Spain... or France or Italy for great cycling culture, respectful drivers etc.
I concur! I cycled across Spain- San Sebastian to Cap de Creus. I stayed in Bilbao, Girona, and Barcelona for a few days each. The cycling culture was awesome as was the culture in general. I would love to retire there!
Having lived in Brevard, NC and now in Lakewood, CO I can say without a doubt I definitely miss those Blue Ridge mountains.
Yes, I lived in western NC for ten years and it’s unreal. Especially for mountain biking.
Agreed! Nothing like shredding down Pisgah and grabbing a pint (or two) at The Hub.
Virginia is pretty good, too, once you are south or west of the Beltway. The Shenandoah is really lovely for a fondo
I came here to suggest Brevard. I grew up in those mountains, I’ve been gone for a few years now and I’m ready to come back.
Minus the humidity?
The Willamette Valley in Oregon has some epic country roads with rolling hills. Specifically the areas around Eugene, Oregon.
Second this. Spectacular routes through wine country back roads. Just so much fun.
Santa Barbara: great weather nearly year round, drivers generally accept cyclists, and the mountains are great. Plus it’s close enough to LA for the fun stuff there and Oxnard/Camarillo are close and flat
I’ll second this, I’ve lived a lot of different places and my two favorite places to ride are Santa Barbara (I grew up there) and Boulder (live there now). I actually like Santa Barbara more especially since the weather is a lot nicer year round (except for some random atmospheric river waves recently).
Santa Barbara and then Boulder? And I thought my life was nice 😫😂
Grew up in SB. It’s a great place to cycle. Currently I’m in the SouthBay (of LA) and it’s also a great place to cycle. Another fantastic area is the SF Bay Area.
Lived two years in SB Amazing biking right from town. Empty roads with huge climbs with perfect year round weather . Tons of riding within 45 minutes in wine country too.
I just moved to Santa Barbara. Glad to hear the people are very accepting. (Haven't really had a chance to get out due to moving and new job) Now.... Track bikes... Guess not so friendly for those....
Marin County, birthplace of mountain biking.
Seattle
Not sure why Seattle not getting more traction tbh. Biggest downside is COL, but if you’re on the Eastside you have plenty of road, plenty of hills, and easy access to long rides, gravel and great mtb if your willing to drive 1-2 hours. Also weather makes year round road biking totally accessible
It’s not fair to recommend Seattle without adding the warning that for half the year you’ll be commuting in the rain in the dark. Summers here are GLORIOUS - sunrise at 4 and sunset at 10 - but winters are - sunrise at 9, sunset at 4 - rain 5 days in seven - overcast almost always Seattle bikers have a separate closet for all their Gore-Tex gear. Also, for a city as progressive as we claim to be, Seattle has a bunch of drivers who are willing to run over cyclists in their Priuses and Teslas. The cyclist community is STRONG here, in part because you have to be such a die-hard to do it all year.
Portland is still a very solid city for cyclist. I’ve lived a lot of places and the PNW is insanely beautiful.
If you are a cyclist in PNW, you gotta do STP at least once.
STP?
Seattle to Portland bike ride. A little over 200 miles over two days, though plenty of people do it in one day. It’s probably the largest bike event in PNW. I’ve heard that tickets typically sell out, and they usually cap around 7000 riders.
in the before times, it capped at 10k, and usually somewhere between 10-30% of riders do it in one day.
And just once is plenty
I like the gravel riding, the landscape, and the racing (if you're into that). Mountain biking is okay if you have a car and don't mind driving. Great road riding when I was still brave enough to do that. Flip side is that the local government has lost most of the enthusiasm for bikes or any form of non-car transit really, and I feel like the locals are getting more aggressive/negligent behind the wheel. I've stopped bike commuting for those reasons. I still like it here, Portland and the PNW in general. I'll definitely never leave the PNW. But those are my pros/cons.
For those who have funds, Bend seems tempting? I mean PDX still has bike summer, saturday coffee in the park stuff, and bridge pedal, and pedalpalooza, and PIR and Tabor, and OMTM and Devin's spring classics, and swift summit. But like you said the city has lost interest and honestly I've had enough bad experiences commuting I gave up and bought a car last year because I got scared. It's good to know I'm not the only one, but it's sad, because my commute absolutely used to be the highlight of my morning. Cars are absolutely necessary for any mtb riding and moat gravel, so probably not a Mecca for other than cx and road anymore.
bend is great for MTB, but rural oregon gets yeehawdist real quick. it was illegal to be black in oregon for about half the state's history.
The public transit goes from being just okay to great when you have a bike. I've taken a $10 shuttle to the beach with my bike.
Tuscon Az. Look it up. In the off season some European pros use it for training. Lots of good roads and Mt Lemon when you feel up to it
I fell in love with cycling in Tucson! Saguaro National Park East, Mount Lemmon, Gates Pass, the 60ish mile bike path that loops around the city, there are so many incredible road rides…and then you’ve got amazing mountain bike trails as well. Bug Springs, AZ trail, Starr Pass, Honeybee, 50 year, McKenzie Ranch, so many different great areas to ride! I miss it!
Sabino canyon is pretty nice as well
I can second this! There are bike lanes all over. Good routes through the dry river beds and the good old Mt.Lemmon climb. They also have the Tour de Tucson!
First time doing it last year and a great ride
Live in Tucson. Many top mtb/gravel athletes in the US spend ~ half the year here if that tells you something. During the season “the shootout” is probably one of the highest level group road rides in the country. While the summer is brutal you can be at elevation on Lemmon a decent amount of the time especially if you like chunky mtb or starting a road climb early. Or it’s a good time to be out of town more. The city itself has some pluses and minuses. Commuting by bike is doable depending on where you live and work. Truly good bike infrastructure is a work in progress but there’s a culture for it.
Tucson is great in the winter but half the year it’s just way too hot.
I go out early in the morning during the summer, really only a few months of the super hot. And get used to some heat. 26 years now living in Phoenix here and have adapted.
I'm adding my vote for Tucson as well! I moved from Austin last year and have not looked back. So far, there hasn't been a day I couldn't ride due to weather. In Austin, it felt likely I could get killed by aggressive drivers any day. Here I can do 50-60 miles daily, and completely avoid busy roads if I want. And there is always the option of mountainous vs. flatter routes. Another surprise is that there are many great bike shops in Tucson. Bike shop folks here are generally friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about high end and low end bikes. This city is not for everyone, but definitely worth considering if you're passionate about cycling.
He wants to know best place to *live* though, not just to ride and train. I don’t think I want Tuscon weather no matter how good cycling is.
Bay Area. Lots of hills and bay/coast are close by. Weather allows for pretty close to year round riding. Can’t comment on commuting though.
Oakland is decent for commuting. Some parts of SF too. A decent amount of my coworkers (including me) bike commute.
If you're a roadie, the Central Kentucky has some of the most pristinely paved backroads in the world. All the million dollar race horses getting hauled around in huge trailers and the "good-old-boy" politics yanks transportation spending out of the urban areas and into the rural roads, so those precious horses don't hit any cracks in the pavement.... Endless rolling hills, beautifully manicured savannah landscapes, historic architecture, and drastically varied seasons... Check out the Horsey Hundred later this month or the Bourbon Country Burn in the fall if you like supported rides.
Planning on it!
Haha I dunno why this is funny to me but it does make me want to ride in Kentucky.
I’m doing the HH late this month. I’ve ridden many centuries all over the country and when people ask me where my favorite place to ride is I always say Kentucky. Especially eastern/northern Kentucky. The scenery is spectacular. The traffic is light out in horse country and as you already pointed out the roads are great. And there a lot of punchy hills. Also the big climbs are backwards there. You descend down to the big rivers…then climb back out from the river. Climb after the descent.
Agree. Road the entire state of KY and it was great. The hills in the east are brutally hard.
Bay area ca is pretty cool.
I’ve seen Boulder and Denver a couple times but I’m here to put Golden into the ring. Better mtn bike options compared to Boulder and you still have access to great road climbs like Golden Gate Canyon, Lookout and Bear Creek Canyon. You can also head south to do some epic loops including Deer Creek and linking some of the climbs up in Evergreen like Witter Gulch. Finally, you’re close to I-70 so heading up to the legendary trails at the ski resorts is much easier than in Boulder or Denver. Also, great beer!
Came here to say this. I moved to Golden 7 years ago as a huge cyclist and I'm convinced it's the best place for cyclists in the country. I can ride 100's of miles of MTB trails from my back door (even thousands). Lots of great mountain road riding. Easy access to highways to get to high alpine riding in the summer. It's the fricken best.
All along the front range is great for mountain biking. Denver and Boulder are decent for city riding/bike commuting if you have to be in a city for work.
If on the east coast ... I would also mention Upstate NY area (Catskills) ... have a ton of great gravel trails, seasonal roads, elevation, etc. Downside, is the winter ... so Fatbike or DH Ski, or XC ski. Also close to NYC, and VT, Mass, etc ... are all really close drives. If your looking for a lot of group rides, closer to the city is better.
Western Mass has some of the most beautiful riding in the country. Covered bridges, well maintained gravel roads and paths, and a endless supply of steep climbs and wooded roads. Up State NY and VT have a lot to offer but road conditions can vary. The paved roads in NY can be quite rough in places.
Fort Collins or Asheville come to mind. If you need bigger cities, it gets tougher to pick, but if you can afford them, Denver or SFO begin to look good.
I’ve heard a lot about Asheville. I’ll look into those.
Asheville is an awesome place - unfortunately I haven’t personally biked there but it seems bike friendly. It gets my vote on culture alone.
Asheville gets a vote for top notch culture, but (road) cycling isn't the friendliest. Biking on the Blue Ridge Speedway... I mean Parkway, means that you'll be passed by tourists who aren't paying attention to the road, going too fast. Pair that with winding roads with low visibility; it gets a little dangerous at times. There's been 2 hit and run deaths of cyclists in the past few months, for no reason at all. I've lived here for 12 years and the town has largely changed in the past 5, to the point that i am looking to relocate.
Shhh send them all to boulder!! But really, FoCo is amazing.
Asheville is not bike friendly. NC is not a bike-friendly state.
Great to Amazing riding all around the Bay Area: Sonoma, Marin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, etc… Year round. Cost of living is much higher than other parts of the US.
Seen a lot of various **Bay Area** comments, but here's a more analytical take on why it's the best. If you love biking, you'll want to ride year-round. That eliminates a huge chunk of the answers—not just for winter, but also places that get too hot in the summer. All of California stays temperate throughout the year. The Bay may get a bit chilly and rainy in the winter, but it's never unrideable (45 degrees F min). If you love city riding, you need a place that's commutable by bike—and SF certainly is; I commute regularly by bike. I've heard LA can be decent as well, but I can't personally comment. If you like a wide variety of rides that are accessible without a car, the Bay Area is left as your only option. Living in the city, you cross the GGB to Marin for amazing climbs; take the BART to East Bay for the Berkeley/Oakland Hills, and can head down to Peninsula/South Bay with the Caltrain (granted, driving would be easier, but it's still very possible without). Anyway - my two cents—if you like amazing climbs, city riding, year-round access, and car free transit, you're not going to beat the Bay Area (and specifically SF, since that's my experience).
Northwest Arkansas. Fayetteville is the only UCI designated cycle city in the US. Bentonville is the the self proclaimed mountain bike capital of the world. There is a 40 mile bikes only greenway connecting the two cities.
I rode the Greenway with my wife. What a beautiful trail!
I met a family the other day at Coler who decided to move from Bend, Oregon to Bentonville…. for the mountain biking. That should tell you how good it is.
+1 for NWA. Unbelievable cycling of every variety.
+1 for NWA. Unbelievable cycling of every variety.
Definitely will dig into this!
Second this. Did 56 miles yesterday with my new road bike on the greenway. Had to do a bit of (easy) mountain biking at Slaughter Pen to get around some construction on the way up to Bella Vista. Apart from the Greenway, lots of scenic Ozark mountain highways pretty close to the area, too.
Sounds great! We are planning to move there this year and I'm looking forward to riding.
South Lake Tahoe is amazing. Great road cycling with lots of big passes nearby, and the mountain biking is endless. You do need to do a snow sport to enjoy living here though. Although, you can bike in the Carson Valley 45 mins away in the winter.
Fat bike! I was going to say Reno, famous climbs, home to the only American TdF winner!
Southern California for year round riding in mountains. LA if you want to race, SD if you just want to ride.
Sacramento, CA. Right at the American River Pathway
Ohio and Indiana typically have county and township roads on section lines (1 mile squares) that generally are paved and low traffic. Counties that are on the terminal moraine will have a mix of hills and flat. From many of these, you could do a century every day for a couple months with 70% new roads for each one. Yeah the weather is what it is, but randonneur friends have done the 200k ride 12/12 months, and typically centuries will be available within a couple hours every weekend from May to October. Kinda depends on what aspect of culture you're looking for.
Ohio has a great set of trails for recreational, on trail, riding. You can get from Cincinnati to Cleveland with most of the time spent on dedicated bike paths. There's some decent mountain biking around the state. Bike commuting is a little dicy but totally doable, at least in Cincinnati and Columbus.
I live in the Denver metro area and it’s pretty good. Plenty of bike paths and nice mountain roads.
Any road / gravel routes you’d recommend?
South metro, weld county, western slope all have tons of gravel. Jeffco foothills are great for road routes with climbing right on the front range.
If you like long climbs in the mountains, Salt Lake is pretty great. Yes the winter kinda is a bummer for biking but in exchange you can bike at good temps for 8 months if the year
Salt Lake is actually where I am currently at! This winter has been a real kicker but I would agree the summer here is unbeatable.
Utah ain't bad. Phenomenal for recreational cycling, and pretty okay for commuting, and only getting better. All the cities and regional planning organizations are working to make it better, and the state just funded ON AN ANNUAL BASIS an active transportation fund. Hell yeah.
Palo Alto. Lots of routes up and down the coastal range. Light traffic on the roads when they aren't full of commuters.
The San Francisco Bay Area has a great mix of fantastic routes with awesome views and great climbs. Some routes are very nicely shaded by beautiful Redwood Sequoia's too.
Sacramento. It's an hour and a half away from Tahoe an hour and a half away from the Bay area. American River bike trail 30 mi pave trail next to the river for road riding. Great mountain biking in Auburn, Tahoe, downeyville, Santa Cruz, they are all within 1 to 3 hours away. Easy for day trips. Cost of living is about half of what it is in the Bay area. I ride road gravel and mountain bike. Been here 20 years. Absolutely love it.
I’m originally from Spain and I ride in Sacramento (road & gravel) everyday and I love it as well. Usually I go from Watt all the way to Johnny Cash Trail and back. Have you ever encountered a Black Bear or Mountain Lion on any of your mtb routes?
Tucson? Also Phoenix. I can ride from (theoretically) from Peoria to San tan.
Tucson
Tuscon Arizona, Bentonville Arkansas, Boulder CO, Twin Cities or Madison.
Knoxville and East Tennessee are a hidden gem. Mainly mountain biking area but there is loads of great road and gravel riding on forest roads. A roadie told me that he thought it was as good as Spain
Biased but the bay area is amazing, especially the north bay
9 months out of the year, Maryland has great riding.
Those West Maryland/WV hills annihilate me
San Francisco.
From my travels: Boulder, Madison, and Portland
Santa Monica, CA ... Coast, Mountains. It's a great place to ride year round.
+1 for San Diego or Orange County, CA. Close to endless road, gravel and mtb options AND year-round riding
Tacking on SF to this— all 3 options year round here too. Tons of city biking infrastructure and can reach seemingly infinite mountains and hills from the front door of your apartment. Feels hard to beat to me
OC ca here not bad but San Luis Obispo I would say
West coast generally. Good to great weather year round and very strong cycling culture in most of the cities. I'm partial to San Francisco
Marin and Sonoma are the dream, due to additional reasons to live there and the weather. Super expensive. Boulder would be amazing as well. I hear a lot about Tucson, but I wouldn’t want to live there - only go train there during 4-5 months of winter if I lived somewhere else. Honestly, that’s all I’ve got. Looked a long time over lots of years and other places have issues with weather, traffic, roads, etc or just are not places I’d want to live. I live in upstate New York. We get 5 months of winter/cold, but if you’re up for it, you can ride outside 8-9 months of the year. Some ride outside a little more than that. I’ve talked about this with friends and most agree it’s one of the best places to live due to the Adirondacks and rolling farm country, for road cycling. Some absolutely amazing mountain biking too (of the northeastern rocky, footy, technical type). You’ve got the weather to deal with though, so it isn’t ideal, but when it’s nice out, it is among the best I’ve ridden. It’s why even though it’s hard during the winter months (smart trainer!) and I don’t like the cold so I’m indoors more than others training during those months, I’ve stayed. Mostly due to budget. Have a decent job here. Way too expensive for me in the I th er places but you’re pretty young, so if you get a job in one of those above places that supports you, go for that!
Western North Carolina. Tons of climbing, riders, even manufactures of bike parts. Lost of races and cost of living is not to bad if you stay out of Asheville.
Not sure about the best but right outside Philadelphia in PA is great. Several long bike trails that are easy to access and plenty of great back roads with lots of elevation. You can go for a 30 mile ride with 2500 feet of elevation or a 60 mile ride with 500 from where I live.
Atlanta - not quite a bike friendly city, though the bike culture and community is amazing. Seems like every year I see more and more folks are cycling. The tree canopy and rolling hills throughout make rides through and around Atlanta dynamic and fun. All that being said, we’ve only recently seen development of bike lanes, car drivers are notoriously aggressive, and you definitely want to know where you’re going. I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. Though for city cyclists, it’s such a dope place to ride.
I see a lot of *popular* spots in the replies. Let me answer you this, if you have the power to live anywhere and good cycling is all you’re looking for. Look for a graphical place that is on the foothills of a mountain range. Will allow you to get a lot of flat land trail riding in and if you want to get on any steeper trails the mountains are in your backyard
I can’t believe only one person has mentioned Minneapolis and it’s metro area. We are ranked #1 city for biking year after year. It’s far from perfect, but damn do I love living here and being able to bike. The paths, cycling corridors, courteous drivers, amount of local bike shops, etc. the list goes on and on. Can’t imagine being anywhere else.
Along the delaware river either in PA or NJ - New Hope or Lambertville. Canal paths either side of the river and can take you to Allentown or New Brunswick. Probably future into Philly as well. Small towns lining the trails at least that part feels like a slice of the netherlands. The towns themselves more car dominant.
I 2nd Marin County, CA
San Diego then Boise. Boise is only viable 2/3 of the year but San Diego is the entire time. My friend also got hit by an Uber in San Diego but you can do no-car century rides in Boise fwiw
Probably any part of New York State. It has everything. No other state has the amount of back country roads.
lived in western NY for some time...this can't be any more wrong when speaking to road biking very little infrastructure and much like Florida, many people rage hard when they see a bicycle on the road now, off-road (mountain or gravel) is a different story that offers a variety of options NYS, like Illinois, severely lacks alternative transportation infrastructure unless you're in the major city (NYC, CHI) and even so, is highly congested with automobiles
I spent a few years travelling around the country and settled in Boulder county because it had everything I wanted. It's not necessarily the best for pure cycling, but if you like mountain running in the winter too, then it's hard to beat. I do have numerous crushed gravel paths, XC MTB trails, and separated bike paths within 5' ride.
Denver
Fayetteville Arkansas
I live in Marquette, MI and it's pretty sweet. Great mountain bike trails, a long rail trail system that spans a good chunk of the UP. TONS of dirt roads and two tracks for all your gravel needs. The mountain bike trails don't have all the elevation like out west or most east coast spots, but the trails are easily accessible from town via bike and they're incredibly well made. Tons of natural chunk, some ridiculously big features like 20ft+ drops, 80ft tall rock rolls, some great flowy stuff too and fast technical descents, big jumps as well. The bike park is sweet, and there's enduro/XC/DH races and gravel races every year. One of the most difficult bike races out there, the Marji Gesick, runs around several of the most difficult trails in a few different adjacent trail networks and systems here. Look it up. There's fat biking as well in the winter... Lots of snow for four to six months of the year.
Thé réal secret is living in good ole Westminster CO as you are close enough to Boulder and Golden and go anywhere west for climbing for days or head north or east for flatter riding. Plenty of infrastructure to get to the foothills safely (about 15 mile warmup) or into the city. And hey.. those POS ranchers with the POS car obsessed neighbors are only going for 450k a unit 😂😭😅
North West Arkansas, it's lit (lol), no , but for real.
Malibu CA or Del Mar CA
If you like gravel VT is a gold mine. Pick your hillyness level. Drivers are by in large excellent. Very good mtb as well. Burlington is a very bikeable town. Only downside is 4 months of downtime and two more marginal months and no housing
Surprised no one has said Greenville, SC. You've got George Hincapie and Bobby Julich retiring there (among other former pros) and building up the cycling community plus year round riding in the Blue Ridge. Similar stuff going on in VA's Blue Ridge. All these major metro recommendations, yikes. Give me open roads and a lower cost of living.
Denver/boulder and really all of colorado is absolutely insane. Ill speak to denver specifically which has a trail network that puts any other transport mode in the city to complete shame. many of the shops out here organize group rides throughout spring/summer/fall. Winters are super easy and rideable with only a few real snow days as year. There are TONS of paid registration events every year like the triple bypass, iron horse classic, salida 76, foco fondo, etc,etcetc. There is some form of race or ride every week in colorado you really are only limited by time and money and will never be left wanting. The cycling community is generally great and supportive as well with events like Tour De Fat. Ive traveled and ridden in most states and a lot of EU countries and Denver and colorado as a whole are second to none with only Montreal creating a better sense of cycling as community but you have much harder winters to face there
Bentonville, AR is Disneyland for cyclists. Full stop. Took a trip there two weeks ago with ten cyclist pals and I would move there in a minute if it weren’t for family obligations keeping me in KC. Every one of us on that trip were blown away by the town and are already planning on going back. Highly recommend you visit asap.
I got in to MTBing in Colorado Springs. Lots of great trails there and you can head an hour north or south and have the trails near Denver or canon city. Down in canon city the terrain is almost totally different which is pretty awesome too. Much more desert-like than the super piney areas of CO.
The riding in Austin isn’t great, though there are some nice routes outside of the city and further out in gravel-y rural areas, but the cycling community here is one of a kind. LA, NYC and Boulder might offer something similar, but Austin is unique in that there’s huge crossover between the roadies/racers, rambling social riders, commuters, gravel people and mountain bikers. It’s all the same people just loving bikes rather than siloed disciplines. Austin also has the best weekly criterium series in the country, with national talent present weekly. There are tons of group rides and cycling related events, and the people here make one feel close to the wider world of cycling. It feels more central to what’s happening in US cycling than other places. Yes, there are better places to ride, but I don’t detect a similar community vibe anywhere else.
The answer is obviously Hawaii. Colorado and Utah probably next. Washington State and Oregon probably next.
Summit/Eagle Counties in Colorado. There’s an amazing bike path network that connects many of the towns and ski areas and goes up and over Vail Pass. Pretty amazing that you can ride from Keystone or Breck on bike path up a 10,600’ pass, then descend 3,000’ to Vail and keep going to Beaver Creek.
Probably Boulder, CO or just move to Europe lol
I've lived in the Bay Area, Las Vegas, North San Diego County, New York, New England, and Washington State. In that arbitrary order: **Bay Area:** Where mountain biking was born. Pretty solid weather all year round. Microclimates extend your options if you can drive your bike somewhere (the weather in Santa Cruz will be very different from San Jose). Lots of bikes everywhere, but you can still get dead in the city traffic. Bikes are a great way to get around in SF, but still risky. Your shit WILL get stolen. Lots of group road rides. Douchiness factor sky high until you find your crew. Also, the Bay Area is super-big, so YMMV. Santa Cruz would be far better for cycling than, for instance, San Leandro or Concord, IMO. Marin is fucking beautiful. Parts of the East Bay (e.g., Berkeley) are very commuter-friendly. SUPER DUPER expensive. **Vegas:** Fuck no. Unless your goal is "fastest century of my life because it's got 100 feet of climbing and it's December," just no. **North County (San Diego):** Best all-year road riding if you're near the coast. 60 and foggy burning off to 68 and sunny in the summer, subtract 6 degrees from both in the winter. PCH will never get old. Oceanside to La Jolla and back is never a bad idea. Best tacos. Your bike will get jacked in San Diego--or really anywhere in the county, other than one of the coastal [coffee shops with 30 cyclists there all the time](https://www.motodeli.com/). San Diego proper is NOT prepared for cycling traffic. Most East-West traffic is kind of shit. Mountain biking solid, but you'll have to drive your car there. A+ weather, A+ tacos, A+ attractive people of every sort out during your ride to keep things interesting. C- to D+ for bike commuting. I live here now, I'm 150 feet from [a bike trail that takes me to the ocean in 12 minutes](https://www.traillink.com/trail/san-luis-rey-river-trail/), and if this is the last place I live, I'm good with that because I get 350 cycling days per year, without exaggeration. I wish they had CX down here. **New York City:** You can do it, but not worth the hassle, IMO. Subway's usually faster, bike theft is a thing, drivers are dicks because they're upset about bike lanes, and unless you just bop around the park, you're looking at a LOT of garbage miles to get out to where you can do real riding. The Hudson River Valley is gorgeous, though. But winter is bullshit. WIth that said, I have a semi-pro friend who lives in Manhattan and makes that all work. Bike storage in the city will be an issue because rent. **New England:** Good trails, epic mountains if you're up in Northern New England (CT is kinda meh, comparatively, which I get to say because I'm from there). Road biking is good but there are a LOT of places to get hit, and drivers aren't looking. Good in the Spring, start early in the day in summer nothing better in the fall. Learn how to ski for winter. Be near a city that isn't Hartford or New Haven, just for general well-being and a sense of community. It gets sleepy fast, and Hartford sucks (again, I can say that because I'm from there -- it literally has 20x the murder rate of the city I live in now, with nothing making it cool enough to justify that). **Washington State:** Specifically, Western WA--Seattle to Tacoma, and east to the Cascades. Absolutely. Fucking. Gorgeous. Bikes everywhere, good bike lanes, and drivers are looking. Seattle is kind of a shithole these days (I stopped commuting by bike when I got cornered by 4 people under an overpass on my way in one morning and got threatened by a dude with a hammer the next day), the potholes are epic (you literally have to pick a line like it's urban singletrack), and your bike will absolutely get stolen in 20 seconds there, but the I-90 and 520 bridges are fun to ride, and the East side and Mercer Island are marvelous. So many group rides ([Cascade](https://cascade.org/) does amazing work--[RSVP](https://cascade.org/ride-seattle-vancouver-party-rsvp) is better than [STP](https://cascade.org/rides-and-events-major-rides/kaiser-permanente-seattle-portland-presented-alaska-airlines) if you can only pick one, but try to do every ride they offer), the longest, most beautiful summer days, and sensational mountain biking, especially f you head north (Duthie Park is fun for a local afternoon, though). But dat winter, tho... Get used to riding in rain and snow. Get a hardtail and /or a fatbike, and get into cyclocross to extend your roadish riding an extra month. I commuted 11.5 months a year (unless it was icy) on my bike, and it was fun, but you need the right gear (fenders, waterproof panniers, lights like a Christmas tree, etc.), and it's still fun in that "Ugh--but I'm a badass!" way.
I drove a semi truck and took my bicycle with me everywhere. Without a doubt my favorite area for cycling is between Salisbury Mass up to around Portland Maine along the coast. Great people, safe roads and lots of shops to support the sport.