Biketown USA/Canada - best cities to live in for MTB in North America?

[raisingarizona13]

So rad, is that Alabama?

I think that is freeride.

Atlantic City is YUGE for that.

[fastfred]

Maybe in Summit county, but you can where I live.



People lack creativity when deciding where they want to live for these types of questions.

there are plenty of "real jobs" not as many as say a big metro area, but enough, the problem is people show up expecting all those corporate 9-5 pay well with lots of benifits jobs to be everywhere and easy to get. The average job in a ski town doesn't pay enough to make ends meet.

[fastfred]

Front Range has more to offer with a similar season imo.

How much of the year is Salida rideable?

I agree with lindahl salida is ridable all year except for a possible shut out around january to march because of snow, the riding is pretty limited, since most of it is up at elevation

[fastfred]

Here is my limited take on riding out west, since I don't go anywhere, don't need too

Eagle CO, pretty good, lots of riding, average year you can all the time except january to march you can ride right out your door, nice town to live in if you like suburbia, but you'll be driving up and down 70 everyday for work, top place to live especially if you have kids

Winter Park, never really been impressed by the town or the trails

Fruita, great trails, but you have to drive to the trail head no trails in town that's a fail for me, did the saralacc trail finally and that was a xc riders wet dream

Moab, I'd like to live there, great place excpet the summer time, downfall: billions of tourons, and you have to drive to the trail head for most of the rides, their bike park is pretty fun

Sante Gay is pretty nice place, ride from town trails, but not enough, I like the town and visit once a year, if your an artist like me it's awesome cause you can have your outdoor activities (which not many people do there) and pretend to be an intellectual at night

Sedona I'm moving there in a couple years, can't beat it, tons of riding, right out the door, great trails, hiker gapers are in the way, but they seem to only be in certain areas, other than that you can have trails to yourself sometimes, the only downfall is there is no climbing whatsoever

[Sirshredalot]

Grand Junction, Asheville, Santa Fe all come to mind.

It's hard to think of any particular place with year round riding where at least 1 season isn't too hot (for me).

I'd rather switch to skis and fat bike in the winter.

[Lindahl]

Sedona I'm moving there in a couple years, can't beat it, tons of riding, right out the door, great trails, hiker gapers are in the way, but they seem to only be in certain areas, other than that you can have trails to yourself sometimes, the only downfall is there is no climbing whatsoever

And no good skiing.

[gravitylover]

I haven't been there in 20 years but my recollection is that Grand Junction should be good year round. High country nearby in the summer when it's hot and valley in the winter. I also remember it being a reasonably affordable place to live with some jobs around. Is it not good anymore?

[muted]

GJ is good, there are some MTB companies there and a good economy for rednecks. Downtown has a bunch of sculptures, restaurants, and is kinda rad. it doesn't give the redneck vibe the rest of the town gives. Skiing is OK from what I've heard at powderhorn. A mellow vibe says a freind that lives there and works a the resort.

Was cheap to live there, probably still is.

[LeeLau]

I'd say North Vancouver, but the real estate is scary. Squamish is also scary prices for what is there for economy. BC more than ever stands for Bring Cash.

For that reason - Bellingham. Could buy 3 houses there cash down for my place. Insane

[goldenboy]

I'm with Danno. If I wanted to move somewhere just for biking, it would be Durango. Trails out the door, when it gets hot you've got the best alpine riding anywhere (and it gets nowhere near as hot as GJ), Phil's world is a short drive, and Moab/GJ/Fruita aren't far either.

Having lived in BC, I just can't motivate to ride in rainy mist in the middle of winter. But I'm clearly soft having grown up with CO sunshine all my life.

[raisingarizona13]

And no good skiing.

We have good skiing when it snows. The back country is rad. http://www.powder.com/stories/tranqu...xjctl6MM4BB.97

There is climbing all over the area. https://www.mountainproject.com/v/sedona-area/105787793

Still, this thread is about livable mountain biking cities and Flag is hard to beat and not just for the riding, it's the town and the people.

[SchralphMacchio]

I think there's been enough defense of GJ in this thread to put it on the list of contenders/leaders ...

(edit) USA
1) Bham
2) Flag
3) Boise
4) Grand Junction
5) Asheville


CA
North Van/Squamish

I was going to defend the skiing in Flag but RA beat me to it. From what I hear the skiing is great, just not reliable.

[nickwm21]

It's hard to think of any particular place with year round riding where at least 1 season isn't too hot (for me).

San Diego. It should be on this list, although not near the top. There is a good amount of local riding of OK quality, and a pretty big MTB community. The weather is literally perfect for year around riding.

[raisingarizona13]

I think there's been enough defense of GJ in this thread to put it on the list of contenders/leaders ...

(edit) USA
1) Bham
2) Flag
3) Boise
4) Grand Junction
5) Asheville


CA
North Van/Squamish

I was going to defend the skiing in Flag but RA beat me to it. From what I hear the skiing is great, just not reliable.

Thanks. It's definitely not reliable. But that's what Sedona is for. What we don't have are long dry periods where there is snow on the ground but the skiing is crap. There is always something you can be out doing. Dry winters in colder mountain towns really can suck imo. the thing that I love about this area is that no matter what season there is some form of outdoor recreation that is top notch within 45 minutes of driving. If you aren't just into one or two sports Flagstaff offers a very high quality of life.

[TahoeJ]

I've only been golfing and skiing there, but people sure talk about Bend Oregon a lot. But are the trails too mellow / not enough technical terrain to qualify? (I wouldn't know, this is just my limited impression based on what I've heard)

Another area I will add to the list for consideration: Santa Barbara. Maybe not the best for beginners, but for intermediate and expert riders there are some great trails there (Jesusita, Romero Canyon, Camuesa, Tunnel, etc.), and the weather allows for comfortable year round riding. Definitely more quality than quantity though, I suppose.

[Danno]

There never will be one town to rule them all. Because, for example, I like seasons, and I could never choose a town that doesn't really have them (eg coastal California). I like skiing, so I could never choose a great mt bike town that doesn't have that close by (eg Asheville). And I don't mind hot (dry heat that is) if there is a way to escape, so places like Grand Junction don't scare me too much, but I know that some would wilt and could never deal with that.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

It's hard to think of any particular place with year round riding where at least 1 season isn't too hot (for me).

SF Bay Area.

For that reason - Bellingham. Could buy 3 houses there cash down for my place. Insane

Probably don't have to deal with as many Chinese either.

[Lindahl]

We have good skiing when it snows. The back country is rad. http://www.powder.com/stories/tranqu...xjctl6MM4BB.97

There is climbing all over the area. https://www.mountainproject.com/v/sedona-area/105787793

Still, this thread is about livable mountain biking cities and Flag is hard to beat and not just for the riding, it's the town and the people.

When it snows... backcountry may be good, but good lift served and sidecountry is also important imo

Anyway, if you can deal with rain/mist then Bham gets my vote. Or Squamish if you can afford it and can get to Canada. Otherwise somewhere in California or Flagstaff. Add in good skiing and things change a bit.

[summit]

If you factor skiing in it is a whole different equation than just looking for Biketown.

Although Squamish still wins.

[gravitylover]

I think there's been enough defense of GJ in this thread to put it on the list of contenders/leaders ...
(edit) USA
1) Bham
2) Flag
3) Boise
4) Grand Junction
5) Asheville
CA
North Van/Squamish
I was going to defend the skiing in Flag but RA beat me to it. From what I hear the skiing is great, just not reliable.

Thanks. It's definitely not reliable. But that's what Sedona is for. What we don't have are long dry periods where there is snow on the ground but the skiing is crap. There is always something you can be out doing. Dry winters in colder mountain towns really can suck imo. the thing that I love about this area is that no matter what season there is some form of outdoor recreation that is top notch within 45 minutes of driving. If you aren't just into one or two sports Flagstaff offers a very high quality of life.

Yeah Flagstaff is another one that is high on my list. Winter is unreliable but a little bit of creativity, north side of the peaks with some walking or a sorta long drive to Sunrise, gets you on snow. Livability is high and it's affordable.

When it snows... backcountry may be good, but good lift served and sidecountry is also important imo

Anyway, if you can deal with rain/mist then Bham gets my vote. Or Squamish if you can afford it and can get to Canada. Otherwise somewhere in California or Flagstaff. Add in good skiing and things change a bit.

When it's good the lift served is really good and generally uncrowded with easily accessed big vert sidecountry.

What about Eureka or Arcata CA? Year round riding, good beer and great weed. Snow access is a bit of a trip though unless there's backcountry stuff I don't know about (which wouldn't surprise me).

[raisingarizona13]

The sidecountry runs are some of the best tree ski lines in the states imo. These lines are south facing though and don't come into play every year. The ski area is decent, nothing really rowdy but it has long enough lines with pitch for powder skiing.

But if you have to have reliable natural snow skiing then ya, it's not the best place for you but this thread is about biking, not skiing.

I guess there isn't a magical perfect spot but ShralphMachio's list sure seems like it's hitting the major ones imo.

side country skiing- runs like this are practically right off the chair. You do have to hitch hike back up the access road to return to the area though. the runs are about 3400 vert or so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo0xdz8J9vE

Our ski area is in the middle of a several year long facelift right now too. This is the freshly cut liftline for our new six pack chair. Hopefully this will be used for a bike park in the not so distant future.

[teledad]

Another candidate: Reno. Live in the NW area and ride Peavine out the door year round. A few other spots in/around town too. High desert so never gets much rain/snow and usually isn't too hot (though might be too hot for some). Shortish drives to Tahoe, Truckee, Downieville, Susanville, Carson City. Cost of living isn't the lowest but it's a lot better than the Bay Area. Decent vibe if you avoid the casino area, lots of folks there to do outdoorsy things (ski, climb, fish, etc.).

[SchralphMacchio]

What about Eureka or Arcata CA? Year round riding, good beer and great weed. Snow access is a bit of a trip though unless there's backcountry stuff I don't know about (which wouldn't surprise me).

I'd love to hear anyone chime in about the trail riding up there.
BC skiing isn't great, access to the Trinity Alps is tricky in the winter, and you have coastal temps. Shasta is a rad place to ski but at that point I think living in Ashland would be a better call.

some of the best tree ski lines in the states imo ... but this thread is about biking, not skiing.

I'd really like to see a legitimate case where the tree skiing is better than Tahoe anywhere; the decomposing granite and growth/fire of Jeffrey pines pushes the trees out to a magical 30' spacing between trees.

But yes this thread is about biking not skiing, because there have been a million of these threads for skiing, or for skiing plus X, but I haven't seen one that's about bike riding. I'm also imagining a world where ski seasons below 9000' are really short or non-existent.

It's been a fun exercise because I'm also learning about a lot of new trail development projects, like the ones discussed at Breck, or those outside of Corvallis OR (Alsea Falls, which plans to be 2x the size of Sandy Ridge pretty soon). I also learned about the scene up at Duluth MN, but shit it's definitely not rideable in the winter there ... I can maybe handle riding if it's 30 degrees but not -30 degrees!!!

[Mr. Toad]

I lived in Arcata for 10 years and would not consider it a good mountain biking area. It rains or is foggy most of the year. Winter riding is messy. I had to go single speed because I was wearing out my drive train every few months. The Arcata Community forest has steep fire roads with decent single track but the area is pretty small. There are lots of illegal logging property riding but most are smooth single track with very little texture (think Mendocino). There are the usual scenic hiking trails along the coast some of which allow bikes or you'll have to poach it. If you want real mountain biking, you have to drive south or inland. Shelter Cove's King Range trail is an undiscovered jewel. Tish-Tang used to be one of my favorites out of Willow Ck but its on Native American land and there was talk of closing it down. Further east you have Weaverville and Whisky town, very good trails but a bit of a drive and unbearably hot in the summer. Nearest (BC) skiing in good winter is Horse mountain which used to have a lift, then Trinity Alps, Lassen, Shasta. It is, however, a WW kayaking mecca. We moved to Tahoe and never looked back. We'll have year round mountain biking here soon enough.

edit: has anybody mentioned Albuquerque? Great mountain biking and mild winters allow year round riding in the lower elevations. Skiing is not too far away.

[powpig]

I think Truckee / Tahoe is a legit contender for sure, but not based on your year-round requirement.)

Another candidate: Reno. Live in the NW area and ride Peavine out the door year round.

From Truckee, Peavine is about 30 min when the roads are dry, Cow Canyon even closer.
If you believe in the not too distant future that snow levels will be rising so that Reno will rarely see a flake, Reno or Truckee would seem to fit the year round criteria.
Add in the sheer quantity of high quality trails the rest of the year and it's pretty hard to beat.