Where should we move so we can bike more???

[cobalt]

I did forget the west coast didn't I?? We actually lived in San Jose for a bit right after we were married.

Portland
San Diego
?

[cobalt]

Shootingstar, if we moved to Canada the kids would follow for sure.

[shootingstar]

Shootingstar, if we moved to Canada the kids would follow for sure.

Interesting. Whatever their perceptions of Canada may be.

I'm curious to hear how San Franscisco fares during the winter for cycling since Seattle and Portland are similar to Vancouver in terms of the rain that we get in winter..but still can sometimes can cycle in between bouts of cold rain. Now if it weren't for the snow right now in our area...which is not typically white Christmas below the mountains here.

For totally biased reasons, and despite the rain, we do enjoy the west coast. Lots of clean snow is not far away ..in the mountains. Most winters we have been able to do decent snowshoeing up there.

But to let cobalt know, I was cycling to my art class on weekends last January. A flat 12 km. round trip. And of course our regular grocery shopping on bike.

And summers where we are on the coast, never get blistering nor soak-drenched humid hot like it did in southern Ontario. This most definitely you would love..

[msincredible]

I'm curious to hear how San Franscisco fares during the winter for cycling since Seattle and Portland are similar to Vancouver in terms of the rain that we get in winter..but still can sometimes can cycle in between bouts of cold rain. Now if it weren't for the snow right now in our area...which is not typically white Christmas below the mountains here.

It's similar...can get cold (30's-40's) and rainy with snow up in the mountains.

[Eden]

Seattle (except for the few exceptions like right now - its SNOWING! and staying on the ground...) is very rideable all year round as long as you are OK with getting wet. We get very few extremes in temperature here - little extremely hot weather, even less humid weather, very little extreme cold and even less snow.

The best kept secret around here is that it is actually very dry from around June through September. We have really nice summers. Yes, we do have a good amount of rainfall, but it falls mostly Nov-April.

Flat however... not so much, but you can stay in some of the valleys and never encounter a hill. We have a 70 or so mile round trip that the worst hill is a bridge over a river. Of course venturing out into the hillier areas is rewarded with great scenery.

[Trek420]

The best kept secret around here is that it is actually very dry from around June through September. We have really nice summers. Yes, we do have a good amount of rainfall, but it falls mostly Nov-April.

Yeah, that's what someone keeps telling me

Do NOT move to Sonoma county, CA. Come and visit, bring all of your disposable income. Leave the income there. Do not move. Sure, you'll want to, but please don't. See Aggie's wish for Austin.

It's too hot in summer after all. Forget Napa Valley, that's not wine county, feh! Sonoma coastline, Anderson Valley, Russian River, Valley of the Moon .... but do not move there.

Here are other TE'ers fave spots:

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=13503

[Thorn]

Oh, definitely Milwaukee...nothing like 14inches of snow shoveling to help you develop your core and force some time off of the bike (and another 4-7 is right around the corner )

Before the latest weather shift we were riding year round in Milwaukee--there are always enough balmy (30-40F) weekends to let you get out and spin. But the last two years have had so much snow and not enough salt that it takes the fun out of the riding (great big ice ruts). But, Milwaukee has great cycling if you live on the SW (e.g., New Berlin) or NE suburbs (e.g., Cederburg). The roads are relatively quiet, the terrain varied, and there are enough roads to keep you from having to do the same 2 or 3 routes all the time.

That said, I dream of moving somewhere where I don't get all that shovelling "cross training". I really like Tucson for winter vacationing, but I wonder if you lived there whether you'd have enough variety of routes "right out your door" or whether you'd find there was really only one or two because there are only so many roads through the desert.