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Further to the riding from the door thread, where are the great places to live that have decent job opportunities, good transport connections (ideally rail, if we're trying to ditch cars) and a decent amount of liveliness to them?
Yes, we know it's great riding out the door if you're a hermit in the Trossachs, but where is great riding where normal people would also like to live?
Sheffield, or somewhere nearby - although not sure about the job opportunities.
Hathersage is probably a nice place to live if you can afford it and aren't bothered by tourists
I've always liked Sheffield.
Disley is new to me.
I've always quite liked the thought of living in Macclesfield too.
Hathersage is probably a nice place to live if you can afford it and aren’t bothered by tourists
My sister lives in Charlestown in Cornwall, and I honestly don't know how she doesn't go mad.
Almost everyone I know in Aviemore moved to this area specifically for the biking, running, walking, skiing, paddling, swimming etc. Of course it very much depends on what your job is, or what sort of job you'd consider. If you are a chef, you're quids in 😂
Many other areas will be mentioned, mostly with "in an hour I can be in..." caveats. Not really what you're asking.
Living in the heart of the Somerset Levels that is flatter than a witches tit I have no choice but to drive . Quantocks, Exmoor, Mendips , etc etc but if I didn't use our car for that it wouldn't be worth having one . I'm retired so the car sits on the drive most of the week . Not been off off for almost a month and when we do I take it in turns with my mate . On Friday we are off to Haldon about an hour and a half away .
I think Edinburgh always gets thrown in the mix - Juniper Green / Currie / Balerno for access to the Pentlands.
Horwich or Rivington or Belmont for Rivington and relatively easy access to the Lakes and Wales
Stirling/Perth for all sorts plus access to Glasgow / Edinburgh for work.
I like Brighton but it’s bloody expensive, I’m not sure the jobs are great and the riding isn’t super gnarly. If you haven’t ridden here though, it’s much more than just long XC bridleway stuff.
It’s nice being somewhere with a lot going on culturally, even if it seems like we’re an island of enlightenment in a blue sea…
Where I am, great is debatable. Bloody expensive and too many people. However, I moved to Surrey long ago because that's where the jobs were in my industry and turned out there's loads of riding from the door.
Excellent transport links. I'm in Woking. 30 mins train to London, 1hr to the coast. Heathrow / Gatwick 30-45 mins. Not too far drive to channel tunnel or Dover. 3 hrs Wales driving.
Not the best riding in the world or country, but there is a lot of it and a lot of common lands that all join up which isn't so common (😋) in some other parts.
Today though, with WFH I don't need to live here and cheaper house prices elsewhere is making me think about relocating, but there's a compromise on the amount of riding from the door.
Dundee.
Jobs, as it's a decent sized city, with two universities and a well respected regional hospital. Good rail links.
Riding local: Sidlaws, Ballo, Lundie, Tentsmuir.
Loads of road and gravel from the door and also by setting off by train and riding home via somewhere interesting. Aberdeen, back via Cairn o Mount or Braemar & Glenshee for the more ambitious..
Glens are nearby, as are Perth, Dunkeld and Pitlochry by train in those cases.
Stirling/ Bridge of Allan / Dunblane.
See this for reference:
And
And
https://youtu.be/JnbSTe-LAL4?si=20iRQI29CGZnOMNx
Anywhere north of Stirling.
Marple
Edale
Buxton
Macclesfield
Poynton
Hayfield (no good train connection though)
Growing up here I never thought I'd say this but Worthing. On ebikes can get to the Steyning and Chanctonbury trails in 20 minutes and they are properly mint, too much for a lot of people though. Which is also something that isn't usually associated with the South Downs. Mind you, with the current weather you have to clear them every second ride.
Worthing itself has the usual crappy high street but nice seafront and some good bars and restaurants. Good train links to Brighton and London.
@el_boufadour can back me up about the trails although probably shouldn't because it's a secret!
West Sheffield for access to the Peak - I can't remember the last time I put my MTB in the car. North Sheff if you like Wharncliffe style riding. And you can head out north or east for some decent gravel loops.
Added bonus that the sandy soil drains reasonably quickly (not at the moment though!).
Dennyloanhead 🙂
@el_boufadour can back me up about the trails although probably shouldn’t because it’s a secret!
Sorry mate, it’s already on google maps 😂 https://maps.app.goo.gl/8xoXfkkBR9HVJF9Y6?g_st=ic
In answer to OP, I concur though. Chichester in my case these days, at the foot of kingley vale, formerly of Brighton residence. It’s not a bad place to be for riding out the front door with employment nearby.
Swindon....and yes I'm serious
One of our riding group moved to Hathersage because his missus wanted to be a country lady. They moved back to Sheff within two years. They just felt swamped by tourists!
Sucre, Bolivia.
Swindon….and yes I’m serious
Not only all that amazing stuff behind Nationwide, but I'm sure you could get a job at Nationwide too 😄
And for transport there's the magic roundabout, and it's fairly lively.
Speaking for the area of North Yorkshire where I live where we have great local riding on the moors, Guisborough forest and Errington woods.
-Guisborough
-Nunthorpe/Ormesby
-Skelton
-Redcar
-Marske
-Saltburn
I’ve been dropping massive Sheffield hints to my wife as we’ve spent a bit of time there visiting our lad in Uni. Love riding in Greno and Wharncliffe.
Unfortunately the type of houses we like in Ranmour seem to be around £1m.
Rotorua has awesome riding, all within front door access.
I’ve also been dropping Rotorua hints too.
Backing up @davosaurusrex
Some mint (scary!) stuff in Steyning
Quite a long way from other riding though? However I do envy your proximity to travel into Europe
Forgot about Kendal. That would be good. Not sure about from the door but lots of epic riding a very short trip away. And also a proper town not (totally) a theme park like Keswick/Ambleside etc
It's not too bad to be fair, Surrey is 45 minutes, QECP about the same, good off piste there. Then there's Rogate, Stanmer, Friston etc not too far away.
95% of my riding is from the door though, 100m and I'm off road
last time I was in Sucre, Bolvia, there was a coup d'etat. Cannot recommend.
+1 for Sucre.
Wigmore.
I've a mate who lives in Guisborough and I think its a great location. 5 minutes to Guisborough woods on the bike, and all the riding in the woods or on the moors. He cycles to work at the former ICI plant in half an hour and is in a place that has a market town feel but has easy access to all the facilities that one might need a max of 15-20 minutes drive away (a distance that most in a larger urban area would drive anyway)
great places to live that have decent job opportunities
Really depends on what job/career you have, as was pointed out above, if your a good chef you'll find work in busy places like Aviemore.
But, the FS company I work for now recruits for hybrid/WFH so rather than limiting itself to the Central Belt, I've colleagues based across the UK - and some live in/around Aviemore.
I live near Cockermouth - its a bloody excellent place to be from my perspective! Great riding from the door.
However not quite so good if you don't drive and want to actually leave the place 😁 Happily I do drive.
Dumfries and Galloway.(yes, almost all of it). Quiet when you are away from the A74/75 and Dumfries. There’s very few places that havent got good riding within 5 miles. We’re on one of the flatter parts,and hills are only 1 mile away. Off road riding 300 metres from the village centre. Cheap housing, no Highland surcharge for deliveries, close enough to large towns to get major purchases (rather than mail order).
last time I was in Sucre, Bolvia, there was a coup d’etat. Cannot recommend.
They blow over in no time. It’s surrounded by deep valleys and endless tracks and singletrack. Nice locals, cheap eating, great weather, music, rivers to swim in and hills to climb. It is a long way from the sea though…
Cardiff. As much riding from the door as your legs can handle.
Whaley Bridge, easy train to Manchester, lots of riding…..close to Disley and Macclesfield.
And the home of The Goyt, which is an excellent pub, and Casa Di Pizza (I can't remember it's new name), which is the best Italian food I've had outside Italy.