Best - Santa Barbara
Worst - Honolulu

Honolulu is the very, very worst. And that's from someone who was a bike messenger for three years in New York during the 1990s.

NorCal people may crucify me for this, but...

I was excited to spend time in Napa/Sonoma area. Rode with my wife. Hated it. Traffic was un-f'ing believable. We did the local shops recommended routes. Nice road surface, great hills and sceneary. All totally ruined by traffic. I was shocked it was a destination

Granted, I ride in rural/suburban Wisconsin.

Best....Madison; Worst.....Orlando, with Las Vegas close behind.

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Gary Geiger
http://www.geigerphoto.com Professional photographer

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Sunset Hills, MO it seems could be one of the worst.


I think Twin Cities and Madison area would be hard to beat even with the shorter riding season.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Wish every city was a "best place to cycle in". I can't say I have ever actually looked forward to biking in a city unless on a "townie" type one speed to tool around.

I've traveled all over the east part of the country over the last couple of years for work. Now I'm based out of Miami, and I'll vouch that South Florida sucks. Same with Orlando. At least with Orlando you can get into the "country" with some work. So...

Some of the best in my travels: Louisville & Lexington, KY, Grand Rapids, MI and Tallahassee, FL.

The worst: Miami (by far)... flat, traffic, rain/heat. Orlando. Cleveland.

Boulder is awesome to ride in. There are bike lanes or big shoulders every where around town. The island of Kona is great but some of the side roads have iffy pavement. Marin is also epic.

Almost any major metropolitan area in the city itself is going to blow. Denver sucks, Vegas sucks, Clearwater sucks, Los Angeles sucks and so forth.

The best place to live/cycle and best place to vacation cycle are two entirely different beasts. Portland, Minneapolis and Boulder are the top 3 in Bicycling Magazine's ranking, but there is only one of those that I would vacation to for a training/fun environment.

I would also throw Ashville NC and the nearby Hotel Domestique (in SC) owned by George Hincapie on that list. I haven't been there but is definitely on my top 3 to visit and ride.

Our little town of Victoria BC is awesome to ride in. Very cycling friendly, and you can do it all, hills, flats, waterfront, endless west coast forests, year round riding, and a great cycling culture. Leave from almost anywhere in the area and be on an amazing cycling route in 10 minutes. I never get bored riding here.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Shhhhh! Don't need more people here esp from Vancouver.

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Swim - ( x ) All good ( ) In the shop
Bike - ( x ) All good ( ) In the shop
Run - ( ) All good ( x ) In the shop

you mean the wet and coldish riding of victoria??? yes! victoria is great, and beautifull...i miss the waterfront!

but for long course racing and putting the big miles in, it did get boring quickly, too small, and unreliable weather. i dont know how many times i froze myself in jordan river trying to go long!!!!

Penticton in the summer is hard to beat!!!! but we do have that winter issue.....

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
Instargram

Yes, it can be miserable in the winter, but just when you're sick of riding in horizontal rain, you will magically get a week or two in January that's nothing but blue skies and sun shine! It almost gives you hope that you can make it through the winter.

There are plenty of long ride options though! Aside from Jordan river, the peninsula loop, tour de Victoria ride, over the malahat has plenty of options, mill bay to port Renfrew and back (200k), or the insane grand condo doppio (270k), and if those get old, you're just a ferry away from port Angeles, hurricane ridge and plenty of other rides!

I love penticton though. I go there every summer. Beautiful riding in the summer, but a bit warm for my taste. I was just there after whistler for some r and r with my girlfriend!

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Long Chile was a silly place.

To find the best places, I think you should look outside big Cities. There are some great smaller towns surrounded by beautiful, low traffic roads all over the place. One of the best, most beautiful places I've ridden was northern Georgia around the Smokey Mountains. Little small towns with their own personality. I plan on going back there when I get a chance to spend a few days.

Not in the US, but the Worst place I've ever tried to ride my bike was Okinawa Japan. US side, I'd probably agree with Honolulu. Don't rule out Hawaii as a whole though, but I wouldn't want to ride around the city. North Shore would be ok during certain hours. Probably better off on Maui or the Big Island though.

Honolulu isn't that bad kids. Tell you what, lets all do a century ride on Jan 15th then talk about who's towns are best/worst. Yea, we have traffic, but if you know where to go it is pretty nice. Everyone I have taken from town to Waimanalo thought that was one of their top 10 all time rides . Especially when you get to see a few whales along the way.

San Luis Obispo and the central coast are pretty nice but I have had good rides so many places it's hard to choose one.

Just got back from Vancouver and for a sizeable city, downtown riding there was very pleasant.
Worst? I'd say I do not like riding in any big city on a route with bad roads and lots of traffic whether here in LA or in the east.

Access to side or open roads, dedicated lanes and less stopping makes a good ride.
J

It might not qualify as a "city", but I'll say Bloomington, IN.

Worst? I'd put money on Pyongyang, North Korea.

Bend, Oregon is the best I have seen.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I'm in S Jersey where it is mostly flat but there are a few major roads (Expressways, etc) so it is no fun riding near there or finding different routes from one side to another.

Quote:

Worst? I'd put money on Pyongyang, North Korea.

You are nuts. The books I read about North Korea suggest wide roads and absolutely NO cars.

Chicagoland is pretty marginal for biking. Too many cars for the road capacities.

My sister lives in Seattle. The path system is quite good, but she moved on-road in the past couple of years and bikes over 5K miles a year just for "fun". In my IM years my best year was under 4K.

My other sister lives in the Twin Cities. She can bike from her home in the suburbs to Target Field almost entirely on paths. They plow the paths in winter and the road snowplows specifically don't "snow" the paths. Some paths near me in Chicagoland are covered by road snow/ice the entire winter which is a big f-u to the runners, walkers, and winter bikers.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

Best: Most of Colorado
Worst: Baton Rouge, LA

I would agree with the folks that mention the Twin cities. Great bike paths that are separated from the cars. I would add Austin to the list of bad bike cities. Although it was once thought of as a good cycling city those days are gone. Way too many cars going way to fast. It is difficult to find truly safe roads in Austin these days.

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JW (on the comback trail)

Does the hotel include a dose of EPO on your pillow each night?

I'll second Bend. I was there recently for a training camp. The riding is great and the scenery beautiful. Depending on the time of year, you could ski, ride, and paddle board all in the same day.

With regard to Napa, I would recommend going on a weekday to avoid the tourist traffic.

Cleveland is potentially the worst city to cycle in, that and Orlando!