The discussion a bunch of us are having on the merits/pitfalls/possibilities of cycling in Chicago got me thinking:
If you wanted to primarily ride on the road year round … where is the best place to live in the U.S?
For instance, my favorite cycling destination is Tucson, but in the summer it’s crazy hot … just like it’s crazy cold in Chicago in the winter. You can ride year round in both places, but it’s going to be difficult for 3-4 months of the year.
I have a feeling the answer to this is going to be something obvious like Boulder, CO … maybe not. But if I was told I could magically move tomorrow to somewhere where the riding was good-to-great the entire year, I don’t know where I’d pick.
I hate to say… But Florida is good for most of the year… And if you are near the Claremont (central Florida) you can ride punchy hills. Summers can be brutal, but fall to early spring is mostly pleasant
If you go out earlier in the day it’s not that bad. It takes a year to get used to the heat and humidity. I know some guys that love the heat and start rides at 1am. I’m usually done with my rides by 11 am the latest in the summer. Right now it’s perfect out with a high of 80°. Northern Florida and central Florida have actual hills.
I would also suggest somewhere in Arizona as a year round area, but it definitely gets hot during the summer too.
Agree that Hawaii and SoCal are more temperate. But if you want to be able to eat, then go to Tucson. You can be outside all year. You just have to shift your ride times with the temperatures. In the summer, start your ride at 445am and get inside by 9am (otherwise you’ll roast). In the winter, you can start your ride at 9am and ride for 5 hours and barely break a sweat.
Plus, you have incredible Road, Mountain, and Gravel riding all in one town.
Sacramento is more affordable by CA coastal standards. Great selection of roads to ride, from flat to rollers to mountains. Great selection of group rides during the week and weekend. Great weather year round.
I love Hawaii but feel like I would get island fever and want to ride somewhere else after a while. But that would mean you’d have to take a plane somewhere
San Diego seems to have perfect weather year round. Not sure about the riding there. Tons of people of said Los Angeles is a fantastic place to ride. But as someone who rides a lot of empty roads I feel like I wouldn’t like how many cars would be around
Is Boulder rideable in the winter? I thought it gets cold and snowy there in the winter?
How about St George, UT? Not to far from trips to do Epic weekend ride (mtb or road) trips in Moab or Salt Lake City. Low population so I imagine the roads are probably not too busy? Never been, but it looked nice when I was watching the IM world championships video
When I lived in Portland I could ride year round and it had some very good (but not quite amazing due to the population there) riding.
A local Kona IM age grouper has a house here in Sacramento area, and a condo in Kona. She definitely suffers from island fever after being on the big island for awhile.
Yesterday was last day with a high in the 80s, I woke this morning to nothing but low 70s and high 60s in the 3 week forecast and declared it the first unofficial day of fall.
We are looking to retire and make a move and anywhere that draws water off the Colorado River basin is out. I go to Accuweather.com and pull up January 2023 forecasts for different cities, Its really hard to find something in the mountain west that isn’t in the rapidly dwindling water supply of the Colorado River basin, and offers similar Mediterranean climate and nearby outdoor advantages as this area.
Not sure if you want to stay out west, but have you checked out the Greenville, SC/Asheville, NC/Chattanooga, TN triangle?
I think they are at elevation, so they don’t get as ungodly humid in the summers as the rest of the South. I’ve never been, but am really curious about that general area for year round climate.
