Best places in the UK to live for a cyclist?

fishyweb

Looks like Valley Of The Rocks in Lynton to me.

ugo.santalucia

fishyweb wrote:

Looks like Valley Of The Rocks in Lynton to me.

Yes, but that's probably the coastal path

littledove44

Isle of Wight

vs

ugo.santalucia wrote:

fishyweb wrote:

Looks like Valley Of The Rocks in Lynton to me.

Yes, but that's probably the coastal path

Correct on both accounts.

markhewitt1978

Title of this thread may as well be "where do you live?".

I would like to add in general terms for cycling, better to live on the edge of the urban area or in a small town, if you're enjoyment comes from riding in the countryside.

Plus if it's a hilly area live at the bottom of the hill! Back in the day I had a 2 mile @ 5% climb to do after every single ride, not fun. I think these days I would be tempted to drive down to the bottom of the hill and start my ride from there!

These days I can virtually stop pedalling about 5 miles from home and coast down the rest.

ugo.santalucia

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Title of this thread may as well be "where do you live?".

Not really... I would never endorse anything within 50 miles from London and if I didn't have to work, I'd rather move somewhere else.

Gpfanuk

NapoleonD wrote:

Cheshire

Close to flat country lanes, the peaks, north wales and easy access to the velodrome in Manc

+1

Pross

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Title of this thread may as well be "where do you live?".

Nah, that's why I went for Mid Wales rather than South East Wales. There's excellent roads for riding here (including the route of this year's National Road Race) and also some great off road riding but to me Mid Wales beats it due to being quieter. That said, I guess the best place to live for cycling depends a lot on what you want from life away from the cycling element. If you also want a fantastic social life then Mid Wales (and many other areas mentioned on here) are probably not the best and I'd opt for somewhere in Devon on the edges of a bigger town but then I don't know the north of England very well at all.

rayjay

I live in London but every year without fail I head up to Scotland [ north west] and ride.


If you can't climb you won't like it ,,,but I love it and the views are beautiful and you can bag a munro while your up there.


I

MartinGT

I feel I am pretty lucky in North Leeds. I have the Dales not far away and the flat East if I want it.

Decent climbing and some great quiet back roads.

5mins away we have Leeds Chaingang through the lighter months which has a lot of decent riders attending. Regularly see Thwaites, Edmonsons (including their father who is rapid!), Brownlees, Armitstead (and her brother who's handy), Annie Simpson, Ian Field, Moses's, Bustard, Williams and a load of GB Tri guys who train at Leeds Met.

We are all pretty lucky in this country though, we have great countryside and if you're on your bike enjoying yourself, thats the main thing

chris_bass

I grew up in the Brecon Beacons (in Llangynidr to be more precise) its pretty good round there, plenty of hills if you like that kind of thing but you can also pick some fairly flatish routes as well.

My only regret is that I didn't get into cycling until I moved away, luckily my parents still live there so I can convince them I am going to see them and pop the bike in the car :-)

lakesluddite

Kendal, where I live, is also quite well placed.

You have the Lake District to the North and West, The hills of North Lancs including the Forest of Bowland to the South, and the Howgills and Yorkshire Dales to the East, all reachable from my house.

But yes, it does rain a lot.

Druidor

Live in West Berkshire so have the whole Oxfordshire, Hampshire & Wiltshire countryside to ride around, nice mix of routes depending upon which direction you take.

Original post is a very subjective question as everyone will have a place near them that's great (Unless you live in a nasty overcrowded city).

chris_bass

Druidor wrote:

Original post is a very subjective question as everyone will have a place near them that's great (Unless you live in a nasty overcrowded city).

And unless you have cycled all over the UK you can not really say if it is the best!

drlodge

I would have thought the answer is obvious. The best place to live is very close to where you want to cycle. Wherever that may be...

iPete

My nasty overcrowded city. Why?

Because I wouldn't cycle as much if public transport was cheap or if I could drive.
There are other cyclists everywhere (positive and negative)
The roads are nearly always ice free, its warmer, thanks pollution!
Every day is interval training
Mopeds act as great keirins
You see something new every day
Its largely flat etc.

nunowoolmez

On the plane or Ferry out of the UK...to anywhere other than the UK

markhewitt1978

nunowoolmez wrote:

On the plane or Ferry out of the UK...to anywhere other than the UK

So where is the best in the world? Does even Mallorca get boring eventually?

hanhamreds

Somerset levels, you will need overshoes though.

VmanF3

nunowoolmez wrote:

On the plane or Ferry out of the UK...to anywhere other than the UK

Cycled in shed loads of countries and I do not agree with you at all. Good and bad everywhere. I have been in a few places where you truly fear for your life and not just because of the dreadful driving.

jamie1012

iPete wrote:

My nasty overcrowded city. Why?

Because I wouldn't cycle as much if public transport was cheap or if I could drive.
There are other cyclists everywhere (positive and negative)
The roads are nearly always ice free, its warmer, thanks pollution!
Every day is interval training
Mopeds act as great keirins
You see something new every day
Its largely flat etc.

Well said.

Guanajuato

LakesLuddite wrote:

Kendal, where I live, is also quite well placed.

You have the Lake District to the North and West, The hills of North Lancs including the Forest of Bowland to the South, and the Howgills and Yorkshire Dales to the East, all reachable from my house.

But yes, it does rain a lot.

Plenty of variety - Lots of short, properly steep hills or long 10 mile 1500ft climbs or pan-flat or undulating or into a wind tunnel, down to the seaside or high into the fells. All possible 20 mile loops from my doorstep, and almost all on empty backroads.
Kendal IS pretty good.

Caithness is great for a constant power-type workout. Flat, straight roads and courteous drivers.

bobbydazzla

Initialised wrote:

Newcastle isn't bad, you've got the North Pennines to the South West if you want brutal climbs, The Tyne Valley to the West, Northumberland and Keilder to the North West, The Northumbrian Coast to the North East and the Durham Hills to the south. For MTBing there's Dalby, Keilder, Hamsterly all within an hour or so's drive. Then there's the C2C and NCN routes connecting most towns on Beechinged railways and historic Waggonways where the gradient is never more than a horse pulling a tonne of coal could cope with. Durham seem to be systematically tarting up their off road routes and it's starting to make Tyne & Wear's look bad. Prevailing wind is westerly so most storms blow them selves out over the Pennines so it's fairly climatically stable. So plenty of variety, less rain than the west but still some high roads and steep, long climbs.

And there's hardly any cars on the roads once you leave the city.

Ian_d

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Isle of Man, but shhh, don't tell anyone.

I'll 2nd that, I still haven't seen the "Cat with no tail" on my outings...

nunowoolmez

markhewitt1978 wrote:

nunowoolmez wrote:

On the plane or Ferry out of the UK...to anywhere other than the UK

So where is the best in the world? Does even Mallorca get boring eventually?

I seriously doubt I would ever get bored if riding in Majorca! Much less traffic, respectful drivers, cycling friendly nstion, better climate, better roads, more cyclists, great climbs & long descents, good food & free oranges at cafes...whats not to like?

Best in world...don't know, but it sure as hell ain't UK! Only rode in Majorca & France outside UK, so can only comment on them, but nothing in UK compares.

ugo.santalucia

If you want to extend the concept to the rest of Europe, then I have to say Germany is the best place to ride a bike. tens of thousands of Km of proper bicycle roads, completely segregated from the main road and occasionally running far away from it make it cycling paradise.
I have not been in any other country with such a developed cycling road network

DavidJB

Druidor wrote:

Live in West Berkshire so have the whole Oxfordshire, Hampshire & Wiltshire countryside to ride around, nice mix of routes depending upon which direction you take.

Original post is a very subjective question as everyone will have a place near them that's great (Unless you live in a nasty overcrowded city).

Oxfordshire is great. I also live in West Berks Up to streatley, goring, towards wantage some great roads, the view out of lambourne is nice. The 338 from Wantage to Hungerford is a lovely road. I wouldn't say its the best but it's better than going towards Reading :twisted:

mercia_man

I live in South Shropshire on the Welsh border and it takes some beating. You've got the challenging hills of Mid Wales and South Shropshire and the easy plains of North Shropshire and South Cheshire within easy reach for day rides. Good cycle shops including Epic at Ludlow and Dave Mellor and Stan's in Shrewsbury.

It's all attractive countryside and is much less "gentrified" than places like the Cotswolds. There's a great network of lanes so you don't have to use many big roads or do the same route time after time. Shropshire roads are also very quiet compared with southern Britain. Ride across into Mid Wales and there are even fewer cars.

As for the rest of Britain, I reckon Northumberland, with its wide open spaces, would be a good place to live for a cyclist.

markhewitt1978

Mercia Man wrote:

As for the rest of Britain, I reckon Northumberland, with its wide open spaces, would be a good place to live for a cyclist.

Agreed; I like County Durham but I think I could handle living in Northumberland too . Perhaps somewhere like Alnwick, where to the Eastern side you've got a vast expanse of flat terrain with quiet roads, and to the West you've got hills with quiet roads.

I love cycling in Northumberland and it isn't that far as the crow flies, but getting around the Metrocentre area by bike is a nightmare, heavy traffic, chavs leaning out of cars shouting at you etc

Druidor

DavidJB wrote:

Oxfordshire is great. I also live in West Berks Up to streatley, goring, towards wantage some great roads, the view out of lambourne is nice. The 338 from Wantage to Hungerford is a lovely road. I wouldn't say its the best but it's better than going towards Reading :twisted:

Did a loop from Newbury through Hungerford B4192 to Swindon then back on the Baydon/ B4000 road through Lambourn at the weekend while there was some lovely sun. 40 miles with long hills and flats to recover. looking to do it again this weekend tbh

B4000 used by local club for their time trials and races.

Think the main thing is that you enjoy the road and the scenery when you are out, been towards Reading and the traffic leaves you wondering what lorry is going to get you where as West wards its a lot quieter and asthetically pleasing.