What is your cycling environment: roads, hills, weather, scenery, traffic, attitudes, clubs, etc.?
Here around Fairbanks, AK we have absolutely fantastic summer riding: Roads: great roads, mostly asphalt, some chip seal, most routes have 3-4 foot shoulders to ride. Hills: lots rolling terrain and numerous 6-7% climbs that go 1-3 miles. You could ride 360 miles from Fairbanks to Anchorage on the Parks Hwy with rolling and 6% hills on a 4 foot shoulder. Scenery: Miles and miles of trees, wilderness and the Alaska Range looming 100 miles to the south. Weather: beautiful weather, highs in the 70s, very low humidity and wind, tons of daylight. Traffic: mostly light and considerate of cyclists. Attitudes: active, positive community, we almost always see other cyclists and runners out. Clubs: Fairbanks Cycle Club is active on and off-road, winter and summer. We also have a very active running club and several swim clubs. No tri club.
Unfortunately, “summer” cycling is only from late-Apr – Aug (maybe into Sep). From Oct-Mar we have cold, snow, ice, gravel, darkness and generally unsafe, unrideable road bike cycling. Some folks commute all winter long on MTB and some of us ride the snow machine/dog mushing trails/rivers on MTBs all winter long.
Roads: Urban roads some good most not so much. Contstant battle with Cabs and cell phone talking goofs. We do have about 18 miles of bike path that isn’t crowded very early in the morning or in the winter Hills: None Scenery: Urban mostly, can get nice if you get the panaramic views of the city from the Southside. If you go North you can ride past the B’hai (sp?) temple and some other nice places. Weather: Cold/windy during the winter. Summer can very from rediculously hot to rather cool and can start as late as June 15 and end as early as Sept 15. Attitudes: Believe it or not a lot of people get out and do things here. In general you have to be careful riding on the city steets as most believe that bikes shouldn’t be on the roads. The city is going to great lengths to add bike lanes to most major streets but people will drive in them if traffic is bad. And cycling commuters, a lot of times, don’t know how to use them. Clubs: I think their are enough to go round. Dunno really never joined one.
If I have the time and the choice, I’ll drive up to Wisconsin for much better riding in hills with almost no traffic.
You suck… but only cause I’m envious. If you live in AK you missed the most important part of your cycling environment – the breathtaking scenery. Come on, expand a little (pics would be nice).
It’s not bad where I live. I live in the town of Aurora which is about 50K north of Toronto. The roads here are great in that we can get to nice roads for cycling in about 5 minutes of riding through town. Mixture of flat and rolling terrain with a few bigger climbs, but no mountains. Pavement quality varies from great to terrible. For the most part there is not a lot of traffic on the roads. However, drivers are a bit crazy and drive like cyclists aren’t there! Need to keep a heads-up all the time. We have been riding outdoors right up until now, but this has been an unusually warm winter, so far. Outdoor riding in the spring typically get’s going in mid-March, but we can still get cold and winter like weather right into April. Need to have ALL the winter/cold-weather riding gear to get out in the fall and spring. Many groups and clubs to ride with. The Cyclissimo Club in Aurora has about 150 members. Newmarket Eagles just to the north of us has about 300 members. Many other people ride on their own or in their own groups. Warden Ave, which you can ride right down into Toronto or all the way up to Lake Simcoe, is a becoming a freeway of cyclists on Saturday and Sunday mornings. It’s an impressive site!
Alaska would be absolutely awsome to Bike in the Summer!!! Did a trip a couple years ago, no cycling, 2500 miles of driving in a week. What a beautiful place!
Los Angeles serves up great cycling no matter what you are into & it’s all pretty much year round.
-Roads to the east are generally rural, but some can be pretty busy. Its not hard, though, to search out quiet country roads with no traffic. There are rarely shoulders to ride on. Most roads are nice and smooth, but some of the less traveled roads have degenerated into pothole hell.
-Terrain is rolling. Most hills are probably 25-50 feet of vertical, 7-8%. If you drop into some valleys you can find climbs of 200-300’ vertical, with some sections approaching 15%. There are also lots of sections that are relatively flat, so you can choose if you want hilly or sorta flat. Much of the country roads wind through stands of hardwoods, some so dense that in the summer time you are riding through “tree tunnels”.
-Climate can vary dramatically, especially in the winter. Summers are generally warm and humid, with light breezes (windy around here means anything approaching 20mph). The fall and spring are awesome…fall is my favorite time to ride, with all of the gorgeous leaves. Winter can be cold and raw…mid 30s with high humidity is not very pleasant for riding. But, some days you get a nice, sunny 45-55, and its great.
-Traffic is generally pretty low if you limit your riding to country roads. Drivers are generally tolerant, although for some reason, people are very nervous about passing cyclists around here, and will hang on your rear wheel forever waiting to pass.
-Clubs…I’m sure there are plenty, I just haven’t looked for any. There is the Gears for Beers crew down in Cincy that I ride with on occassion.
MANILA,PHILIPPINES ( south east asia)
this is an hour away from the city…roughly 30miles out of town Roads: great roads, mostly asphalt, concrete, bike lanes non-existent but bikes are equal with cars here and they give us ample space Hills: Rolling terrain to flat roads by the lake here.
**Scenery: **Miles and miles of trees, grasslands and cows,water buffalos by the roadside Weather: beautiful weather, highs in the 100s, very humid and wind, tons of daylight. Traffic: light and slow – no one on their phones like in the UA Attitudes: everytime people see cyclists…they will always shout " faster!!!" or hey its a race! its a race! Clubs: lot of cycling local cyclings but only around 3-4 tri clubs here…you can see lmost all kinds of bikes here but everyone`s on a carbon diet nowadays. majority of triathletes are on carbon, roadies are on Al and steel here.
cycling is done all year round regardless of what weather it is
Calhoun Falls, SC: Roads: Mostly “Carolina Pave” aka chip and seal or tar and gravel. There’s some smooth ashphalt in a few places. Hills: The landscape has ridges. Ride north/south and you’re either atop or at the bottom of a ridge and riding on relatively flat roads. Ride east/west and you’re going over one rolling hill after another. In the Savannah River basin just to the west, you can get some nice climbs in and out of the valley … long hills or short climbs. The Blue Ridge is an hour north by car. I go there for serious climbing. Scenery: Forest and pasture land. Plus Lake Russell. It’s a very rural area. Mostly farms. No development. Weather: Average winter afternoon is in the mid-50s. Average summer afternoon is mid to upper 90s. Traffic: Pretty light. Most folks in these parts have never seen anyone like me before in their lives. Very little cell phone coverage around here, so you don’t see every other driver with a phone in their ear. There’s as much danger from wildlife as there is from traffic. Attitudes: This is the heart of NASCAR and Southern fried foods. But people are nice. Clubs: I’m the President, Treasurer, Membership Director and Ride Coordinator for the Calhoun Fallers Bicycle Club which has one member … me. So far, everyone in the club seems to get along.
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Southeast Florida
My little suburbia town has GREAT roads - new asphalt with really wide cycling lanes. Moms in soccer vans who give you a wide berth. And not too many intersections because of the way the subdivisions are built.
There is a park with a loop that is great for no-traffic speedwork.
And then we have 2 good venues for distance. One of them is south near the everglades - through tree farms.
And the other is 50 miles of ocean - but traffic is bad during snowbird season - so I use this more during racing season when i am sick of the other two.
The weather is always beautiful and in the 70s in the morning.
There are always tons of cyclists.
I think the key is the time of day that you ride. I have a home office so I can go out after the morning rush hour and pretty much have the place to myself
Oh wow - that is really nice - and looks like fun. Do you have any problems with traffic on those windy roads? It looks like there are more cyclists than cars!! That is the way it should be!!
I have two. During the week, I live in central CA which is flat as a pancake, has roads like Apalachia, smoggy and hot summer climate and a lot of dairies (cough, gag). There is little in the way of support for cycling, actually its pretty discouraging. The only good part is that we are about a 45 minute drive from the foot of the sierra nevada mountain range, and thing improve substantially if you want to drive over there.
On most weekends, we have a second house on the central CA coast near San Luis Obispo. Polar opposite of the central CA location. Very supportive cycling community. Lots of club activity. Amazing rides and scenery. Well maintained smooth roads. Hills, ocean, trails, perfect year round climate. It’s outstanding.
San Clemente, California:
Weather: Comfortable year-round. 80’s in summer, 60’s in winter. Very little rain or wind typically. Much hotter in summer just 10-15 miles inland away from the beach.
Roads: Smooth asphalt with plenty of hills in this town, and plenty of flats along the coast. Heading south from here, there is a military base called Camp Pendleton and the traffic through there is light. Lots of decent rides within Orange County (Santiago Canyon, for example).
Plenty of fire roads for mountain biking in the hills on the east side of the town.
Attitudes: Knock on wood…so far haven’t had any problems.
Clubs: There’s the Orange County Triathlon Club and the Triathlon Club of San Diego on either side of us.
Roads: Great roads and bike trail. Both ocean-side and in-land. I can put together a 30+ mile loop (figure 8) on the former Fort Ord/BLM land which is closed to traffic.
Trails: Lots of them for Mtbking. Almost 80 miles of them in my “backyard” (BLM land). Great for just after rains and not feeling like riding asphalt.
Hills: Plenty, actually the only flat rides are along the coast, but eventually lead up the coastal range.
Scenery: Monterey, need I say more? Well, actually, I will. Some of the most gorgeous ocean views on the West coast, many will say anywhere. Coastal mountain ranges also provide many vistas that overlook the ocean or east towards the inland valleys.
Weather: Mostly perfect for year-round riding. Cool, but not cold.
Traffic: Not bad, but being a tourist location, can be worst on weekends. Generally very light in the mornings and off-season.
Attitude: Mostly positive. I’ve not had any hostile experiences. Only problem is when riding along the coast roads and tourists are too busy watching the ocean and sometimes swerve all over their lane.
Clubs: VeloClub of Monterey is a well-established cycling club and there are a few others.
Roads: so so roads, mostly asphalt, some chip seal, most routes have no shoulders
Hills: I do hill repeats on overpasses
Scenery: Miles and miles of corn fields all fertilized with noxious chemicals that make me gag to smell, these are spread by cropdusters that seem to love to buzz me
Weather: beautiful weather, in the summer,highs in the 90s, however we have high humidity due to all the lakes in the area.
Traffic: mostly light in the country but very heavy in town. Very car centric place no allowances for bikers and more than one person has informed me it is illegal to ride on the road, then scoffed at me when I pull a copy of the michigan traffic laws put out by the Michigan league of Cyclist. They think its a hoax. I have been yelled at numerous times to get off the road because “you don’t pay taxes, to use the road” wtf? Like a cyclist doesn’t own a vehicle?
Attitudes: Actively Hostile, i know every other regular cyclist in town by sight (both of them)
Clubs: Very active running club, there is a cycling club twenty miles away that seems very roady ish, I get nods on the road bike and ignored on the tribike.
Those two photos are from the Tour of California, but on many weekend days, it can look like that out there.
The first picture is Hwy 1 near Muir Beach. The second picture is near Lafayette, probably not too far from where Cousin E rides.
Traffic generally isn’t too bad and there are usually lots of cyclists. A recently-retired pro cyclist was here a couple of weeks ago on vacation and he said the riding here (Marin County and the peninsula) was “like riding in a postcard” with a some climbs similar to Europe.
This is a year or so old, but a pretty good description.
In Kansas, lots of dirt country roads to ride my mtn bike on(which I actually enjoy, very few vehicles, lots of cows), but not great for road bikes…In the summer very hot and windy (great for Kona if I ever get in!)…
