I'd give up on the bike to work thing in that area and maybe be willing to expand your commute up to 20-30 miles to give you more options. I really dont know enough to give you specific recommendations cause i live in Orange County. My brother lived in Claremont near the colleges and its hell of lot better than Fontana haha.

 
The locals call it Fontucky ;)

You don't want to live in Fontana but Glendora, San Dimas, Rancho Cucamonga, and Clermont are all nice. Riding to work would be tough and dangerous. The good thing is you should have a reverse commute so the commute should be OK

If you like to climb there is some great riding there. Some awesome big climbs and great weather.

Ventura locals often call it Ventucky. I see a trend.

Fontana hot, very hot in summer, dry and windy. No rain May to November. In winter, snow and skiing nearby.
Claremont is a green leafy oasis, with interesting food and entertainment. Walkable old college town.
Lots of cyclists, road racing. Mountain biking.
Long climbs around Mt Baldy, Los Angeles National Forest.
Endurance Nation/Wheelbuilder close by.

Just over the mountains is Slowtwitch HQ.

SoCal has everything, good and bad

Can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet......

Redlands

Great community, great views, small town vibe, great cycling.

Congrats on the new position!

Re: bike commuting, I'll echo others and say it's not a great choice. Strava heatmap can be helpful here - note the lack of riding in the Fontana area.

Redlands or Claremont would be my picks.
I live in Riverside a bit south of the uni, which does tick the SBR checkboxes - can't speak to the nightlife myself.
Good luck!

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-Me

No more Endurance Nation nearby - Rich Strauss has long left EN and also lives in Colorado nowadays.

I dont think there's much nightlife out there. My friend lives in Eastvale and often mentions he wishes he had the options we have in Orange County. In that area Claremont would be my pick due to the proximity to Mt Baldy Rd. and there's probably some good bars since its also a college town.

I used to live in Claremont and regularly cycled up to Mount Baldy village or the ski area parking lot making a loop going up Glendora Mountain Road or Azusa Canyon Road and descending Mount Baldy Road. Also rode to Seal Beal along the San Gabriel River (drainage channel) and back for a flat 100 mile ride. Claremont has a short bike/running trail leading to the Claremont Wilderness Park that made for a nice five-mile run in the foothills along fire roads...it got very crowed with walkers but early morning runs there were awesome...came across mountain lions twice. My long run was usually and out and back to Bracket Field airport or looping around reservoir at Bonelli Park. Trial runs or hikes up Ice House Canyon and connecting trails were great. The Claremont Cub had a nicely equipped gym, swimming pools and many tennis courts. Claremont is home to the Claremont Collages and has a small downtown area with a few restaurants. Summers in Claremont and the entire "Inland Empire" are very hot with poor air quality. As others have noted, I can't recommend bike commuting...I was hit by a car riding to work in Pasadena on a weekend. Good luck with your move.

Hi Ben — Welcome to SoCal!

I think Rancho Cucamonga is a great idea. There is a very long bike path out there that traverses a number of the cities. Also the city of Rancho Cucamonga has gone all out to build very nice recreation centers and pools. That said, I think you will find more single people in Claremont, which has a complex of colleges.

Politically, Rancho is far more conservative than Claremont, if that makes a difference to you. Claremont is also closer to access the mountain riding routes.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

Also, look at Pomona and San Dimas and Glendora — All close to Bonelli Park, which has a very safe 7-mile bike loop with climbing, close to Glendora Mountain Road.

But if you’re committed to the bike commute (and for the sake of our air quality, I commend you on that) best stay within your 10-15 mile radius of the job. By the way, there’s nothing wrong with Fontana if you want real convenience to work. There is a lot of new housing construction there, it is affordable, plenty of shopping, truly diverse population that more closely reflects the overall diversity of SoCal.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

Thanks for the input everyone! The big takeaways I'm hearing are to re-consider my plans to bike to work and to explore housing options in Claremont, Redlands, and RC. Claremont seems the most appealing of the three given the proximity to pools and good biking/running, and it sounds like it is a real charming town. Unfortunately, it looks like the Claremont Club is now permanently closed. Are there good alternative outdoor pools in the area? What is the local multisport scene like? Will it be easy to find training partners?

Ben

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Canadian Professional Triathlete

Instagram

Either Rancho or Claremont will work though Claremont is a bit "nicer". Corona is also an option but it will be a little further south and when the traffic returns to the normal level (probably in about 6 months or so) the commute will be a bit harder.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Any recommendations on where to swim there in your area?

I typically swim at Canyon Crest Athletic Center. 3 lanes, 25m, outdoor, and heated - not big or fancy, but gets the job done.
I've only had to wait for a lane a couple times in over 2 years.
They're doing reservations now since reopening.
UC Riverside and Cal Baptist Uni both have pools, as do a couple LA Fitness locations in the area (indoor).

If you're looking for OWS, Lake Perris is the only option I'm aware of, short of driving to the ocean or up to Big Bear.

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-Me

Crafton Hills College has a beautiful outdoor 50M pool. Its in the Yucaipa/Redlands area. I think its Yucaipa swim team based out of there. You might want to look at that option if your in that area.

Welcome. SoCal. The most amazingly best worst place on earth. Gorgeous gorgeous area. Morons from top to bottom. Enjoy it. I love it

2nd the Crafton Hills pool. It is great! Riverside also has the bobby bonds sports complex (never swam there, but near downtown) and they have the canyon crest athletic club, which has a 3 lane, outdoor 25m pool. A bit rare for a private gym and it can't be beat mid-day, mid-week, in the summer.

Good stuff; thank you. I wonder whether the university allows non-students to use the pool.

I used to live in Upland which sits between Claremont and Rancho. Claremont is a nice little college town so an apartment there would lend itself to walk/biking to the main restaurant/bars, but Rancho also has its share of younger, single folks with things to do. One thing to consider, I believe Claremont is in LA county which at least when I lived there equated to higher taxes. From Upland further east it's San Bernardino County.

As for riding, GMR to Baldy remains one of my favorite routes, however there are numerous options right out the door for whatever type of riding you want including a lot of fun mountain biking options. The weekly throw down ride is Wed nights doing 3 laps of Bonelli park (it used to be at least). There are at times up to 200 riders in the peloton including various Conti/Domestic level pro's so even hanging on for all three laps is a badge of honor. On Saturdays there is the Montrose ride which basically sees folks from the area riding out to Pasadena (picking up people along the way), meeting up with a huge group in Pasadena and riding back out. That group can swell to 100's as well along the roughly 60-70 mile out and back route. It's usually a pretty casual affair heading out then groups form coming back giving you the option to make it as miserable as you want.

If interested, message me and I can put you in touch with a local member of the cycling community who lives in Upland. He can fill you in on the when and where for everything cycling in the area.

As for swimming, I am out of the loop at this point but there used to be a great masters group in Covina (the wrong way for you but was on my route to work) and I know Fontana used to have one as well.

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

Thanks for the insider scoop flynnzu. Hearing about the local scene in RC/Upland/Claremont has me really excited as someone who has historically trained mostly solo. I'll send you a PM.

Ben

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Canadian Professional Triathlete

Instagram

Redlands also has a big Tuesday night ride in the hills and a Thursday night ride on a flat course. Most the local cyclists also head out to a Saturday group ride in Riverside.

In one of Phil Gaimon's recent videos, he goes over the Redlands classic course and makes a mention of the Tuesday group ride.

And what's your budget. My parents still live in the area and lordy is it EXPENSIVE.

Claremont will be significantly more expensive than Upland or Rancho. However, Upland and Rancho are no longer the cheap-but-nice areas of the Inland Empire. A little cheaper than Claremont but still expensive. Claremont has some townhouses in Old Town that could be great for lifestyle if you're wanting to meet young women in the area. The Village has tons of nice restaurants and bars.

As far as pools are concerned I have no idea about lap swim and such. I'm guessing with most pools in that area you'd have to join masters or swim at an LA Fitness.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Ben,

When you get here set your radio dial to 89.3fm and you'll hear SharonMcN guide you through lots of local, important news and kick a couple of bucks to her public station to keep 'em afloat.

I'm sure you'll setting in nicely and you'll dig the weather.

Ian

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Ian Murray
http://www.TriathlonTrainingSeries.com
I like the pursuit of mastery
Twitter - @TriCoachIan