Havent posted for quite some time as Im coming to the end of my course so Hi again.

Im now looking for a job and was wondering where , in the collective forums, opinion was the best place to live with the following criteria as Im trying to balance my future job with riding.

1)Rides on the doorstep, if possible I dont want to drive to the trail, Id rather live on the doorstep of the rides

2)Looking for the best area(s) (I realise thats a bit subjective) for cross country riding and lots of different ones if possible

3)the further from a big city the better , although if the rides are good enough then city living not a problem

4)If there is a hospital nearby then all the better (for my employment)

Any ideas are greatly appreciated

At the moment Ive applied for jobs in Inverness, Fort William, Somerset, Morecambe Bay and Cornwall so any feedback on these places for riding would be great by people who live and ride there

Many thanks in advance

Marple area then – Christie, stepping hill, macc general all within riding distance and you could be off road for hours fron your doorstep

I live on the Oldham\Saddleworth border,2 minutes ride to the Pennine
moors,15 minutes ride to the local Hospital where I work,There’s 4 local
hospitals in the Pennine Acute trust so plenty of scope for jobs there

sheffield.

work in this big building*, live up on the hill in the trees**, ride your bike off the back of the hill.

(*other hospitals are available, we’ve got more than you can shake a stick at)

(**too urban? – you don’t have to go much further and it’s peak district all the way to manchester)

Went through the same thing myself 10 months ago. Used to live in Salford which was awful, now live just outside Hayfield in the High Peak which is lovely. Loads of riding on the doorstep, trains to Manchester and Sheffield and Stepping Hill Hospital 30 minutes away. It feels very rural, we have views over the hills and we can be in the Peak District National Park in less than half an hour.

This book is well regarded for containing excellent routes in and around the Peak District and 6 of them pass my door! What more could you want?

Frieburg!

Why limit yourself to the UK, Frieburg is on the edge of the black forest, It’s less than an hour to cross the border into the Vosges region of France.

And the alps also start about an hour away heading south.

Hard to beat fort william for trails on your door step.

Inverness is infinately a nicer place to be though and still has trails on door step but not as good as fort bill plus a gateway to a few trail centers 30 minutes away and big days out in the hill all round

Dumfries?
Got quite a few bikers amongst the staff/doctors and consultants
Good road riding if you like that. Only a few miles road ride or by car to Mabie and Ae 😆

Biking consultant @ D&G

Don’t bother with N wales, unless you into canoeing

Moved up to Kendal because my partner got a job working on all the sites in Morecombe Bay trust.Kendal is a great spot for easy access to The Lakes and the Dales great train motorway links to!

Northumberland is great for riding plenty to do and plenty of hospitals within close proximity. Good luck on the job front

thanks for the ideas and info, Sheffield looks an attractive area, unfortunately Ive missed the cut off for their applications (I dont qualify until march) but I am on the look out.
Im quite glad , Ive applied to jobs in all the areas except Sheffield ( they have had nothing available for a while according to my daily updates from nhs jobs).
the Morcambe Bay job would be great……heart is sold on Scotland (has been for the last 3 years) , so hoping for the job in Inverness or Fort William…..BUT open to anywhere with trails !

Someone already said it but Inverness is a much nicer place to be than F.W.

Stirling?

North Cumbria university hospitals at Carlisle and whitehaven, commutable from Keswick, cockermouth or penrith.

Big hospital in Guildford (big town). Ride from the door out of Dorking (small town), or from any point between the 2 (several villages and a train line between the 2).

Between the 2 is http://www.surreyhills.org/

Vancouver, get out of this country whilst you’re still young, you’ll never look back.

Another vote for Inverness and hospital has a few good cyclists in its staff. Good local trails and a good number of clubs road and mtb

Kamloops, innit!

Oh, Fort William.

Born and bred there, as an adolescent I hated it and escaped pronto to Edinburgh but i’d give an arm(ish) to be able to move back now.

It’ll happen. Wanderlust betrayed me!

Being a Highland boy from the Fort, genetically opposed to the dullness of Inverness.

It doesn’t have this>

Kamloops, innit!

hot in summer, freezing in winter. I was there August 2009, 38degC at 7pm. Apparently that’s quite normal

anyway, I’ll see that Sheffield & raise you one Bradford & district. Everything that Sheffield’s got, plus the best curry in Britain as well.

Dumfries and Galloway has some of the best cycling in the country, not just mtb but great road riding quiet mile and miles of roads.

Bristol. Bristol. Bristol.

City for work/bars/fun.

10 mins out of town is country – moved here 4 or so years ago and my god its a great place….

🙂

Freiburg is a big city but so close to the Vosges and alps I’d have to agree……. Beautiful !

two of my interview are this week, so hopefully Morecambe bay and the lakes are calling. Scotland is looking more and more distant ( no returns on my applications, then again being newly qualified my chances are slim )
I have to admit frieberg looks amazing !

thanks for the info, its been very useful

Perth?

@xcwomble – as per @mattjg’s post

Bristol. Bristol. Bristol.

This.

Believe me im trying , Ive applied to just about all the places youve mentioned which are advertising my speciality(s) its sit and wait time to get that crushing news lol. Im trying to remain upbeat about the fact Ive just spent 3 years training and now Im faced with some hospitals cutting back on recruitment …..(but thats a subject for a WHOLE NEW THREAD !), but so far it been positive, Ive calculated Ive got a 10% return rate from applications…..so pretty good for the first stage

Still its opened up eyes to areas Ive never been biking before

Aberdeen scored very highly in the PWC / Demos survey:

Cities to live and work by brf, on Flickr

Full report here: http://www.pwc.co.uk/government-public-sector/good-growth/index.jhtml

Footflaps, you are the man !, I got looking at that site and gave me some good info for the interviews Ive got, cheers !

Fort William is a great place to live and for riding, job hunting is pretty grim though

BGH – Borders General Hospital

You can literally ride out of its doors onto trails – and Glentress/Innerleithen are nearby plus the Southern Upland Way passes within 400m.

I’m gonna throw cornwall slash Devon in there. Plenty of great coast riding all around, Bodmin moor, Exmoor and DartmooR, Tavistock etc.. Then you’ve got Exeter Plymouth and truro for big hospitals. Trelisk might be worth a look.

Morecambe Bay area is lovely and close to the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales, with N Wales and S Scotland not too far. Not great for (MTB) riding from the door though.

North Lakes
or
Australia