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I wouldn't. Here's a taster of a cracking loop from the front door.
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Cannock - rubbish as too many polished pebbles. 😀
Didn't have a choice but hated living in inner Birmingham. Things are looking up as have just moved to the NW Alps copyright RocketDog, who pretty sure I saw out on his bike recently looking a tad knackered after Xmas. When we stop getting told where to live by the MOD will certainly never liver where the riding is poor.
I live on the edge of the new forest - I reckon that's worse than living with no riding - it's the ultimate tease. Lots of open forest with tracks, but it's ALL SO FLAT and the locals think bikes are the devil.
We have lordswood 10 minute drive from my house, and GECP about 40 minutes away. So not all bad.
I have heard there are good loops on the other side of the NF (Bournemouth way) but that doesn't count as i'll need a car to get there. Stuff on the doorstep is rubbish.
My brother lives in the middle of Ashdown Forest.
There is no legal off road riding bar a couple of bridleways that go straight through. There are rangers who enforce it.
I couldn't live there, tbh.
The accessibility of *some* good riding has been a guiding factor of where we've lived. Currently just outside Dundee, and the from-the-door MTB is a bit limited but the road riding is outstanding. We can afford a house with garden/garage round here too, which is a bonus.
Chilterns for me as well back in the day. In fact Mr Jazz and I shared a few rides before he decided to move to, basically, France 🙂 When we moved - rubbish schools/too close to london/etc - it was definitely a quality of life rather than job motivation. Ended up equidistant between Malvern Hills and Forest of Dean which is nice.
Both a drive tho, local woods 15 mins away. Which gave me a superb opportunity to buy a cross bike 🙂
Born in the hills of Derbyshire. No intention of moving somewhere flat ever even when I'm too decrepit to ride MTBs.
Anyone else find themselves hating Binners? I am v. jealous of your commute to work!
I'd hedge a bet that those that state they would choose where to live purely upon the riding are either single or have other halves that ride themselves or are very understanding? I'd love to live somewhere like the Lakes or somewhere with an awesome view and outdoor sports scene, but life, work and young family mean i live in Norfolk, which can be beautiful in it's own way, but an MTB'ing mecca it ain't..
I live near Wigan,
Apart from North Wales, Guisburn, The Peak District all being an hour away, Rivington 20 minutes away, it's crap
It's always lashing down around here.
Great looking trails binners, but you certainly need better beer 😀
Living round Bath, riding's pretty good out the door and Wales, Exmoor and the Quantocks are all an hour away.
To answer the original question, no I couldn't, but that's also because if a place doesn't have good riding, it generally won't have the other things that are important to me and mine.
Live in Conwy, North Wales:
- excellent mtb straight out the door
- excellent road cycling straight out the door
- hike from front door up into the mountains, or along the beach
- kayaking, surfing, climbing and bouldering all on the doorstep
Good, interesting well paid job with only a 25min easy commute
Affordable housing (garden, bike room etc etc)
Great range of local shops and main high street stores
Theatre, cineworld, great pubs and local art galleries
Why live anywhere else 🙂
i'd have to agree with pieface, i would need a new hobby if i lived somewhere flat!!
can't complain about living in bristol it is ace for biking, not quite what binners has at doorstep, but pretty darn good and i can ride to some pretty epic spots from my house 😆
Moved a year ago from Midlothian to the East Neuk (corner) of Fife; quite limited off-road riding from the door but it has got me into road riding and have a cx bike on order - arguably all I'd need for riding pretty much everything in this area! Can't wait for Giant to get the TRP brake recall sorted...
I lived in Sheffield for a while so had the Peaks on my doorstep, then we moved near to Bristol and I worked in Cardiff so a post work blast around Cwmcarn was a regular thing and then at the weekends the Brecons.
Now I live in the south of the Netherlands, my ride last Sunday was 60km with 70m climbing and I think 6 of those were when I had to go upstairs to get some socks, the riding is a bit rubbish*. I can get to Limburg in an hour which has some hills and the Ardennes takes a bit longer though.
Edit: I can beat Binners for beers though!
* To be fair it's OK, just different, the ride above was started from my house and I never touched a road and although it's flat it's still engaging rooty terrain where you need to give it some pasty to get the most out of the trail. On group rides average speed of 30km/hr are the order of the day
The riding from my door in Prestwick is 'okay' decent enough to keep the wheels turning when I can't be arsed to drive somewhere to ride (seems to be on the increase in the last while, can't be arsed driving to the stanes any more). I'm 20 minutes by car, or about 75 mins by bike from some really good riding around Fairlie.
However, for weekends away, which are quite often, I'm 2.5 hours from aviemore and the same to the lakes, and slightly less to Glencoe.
Pretty happy in general.
I live with rubbish riding every day.
I live, and will live for the foreseeable future in London so trips out mountain biking have become very rare. Luckily tomorrow I'm moving to within half a mile of this
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Not quite flat but very featureless, ruddy good fun though.
Live in Urmston, the only "from the door" riding being the Trans Pennine Way, which is about five mins away. It's rubbish. Where I moved from, it would have been possible to ride home from work via the top of Lochnagar. Not that this was my commute to work, but I did the shoulder by Meikle Pap to imbibe some alcohol a few times.
Yes I know it's my fault.
Leicestershire is shite for legit riding. But it's ace for road riding.
I've pretty much pinpointed where BillOddie lives by his description. 😉
I had to move to Cambridgeshire in 2012; property prices means I'm in the Fens too. Only get to go mountain biking a handful of times a year, and always with a (hefty) drive. Spend loads more time on the road bike. But when I do ride mountain bikes, I make sure I make the most of it. 🙂
If there was an option, I wouldn't have moved here. But there wasn't. Life goes on.
I'm on the wrong side of the North Essex/Suffolk border and the bike riding around here is shocking, it is actually offensively bad. A real shame because the weather is exceedingly good compared to the rest of the UK.
Moving from lincs over to Shropshire so at least I won't have a massive hike to a hill!!
I live on the west coast of Norway. it sucks. too many mountains
8)
Only if the surf was good.
Liverpool. Brilliant place to live but utterly shite for mtb in terms of rideable stuff without driving due to the Cheshire plain. Having said that, 90 mins driving in most directions brings great stuff.
Sue_W is the winner for me, sea at the front (for me sea fishing) & hills at the back. Been to Conwy a couple of times & I reckon it would do me!
Darrell's in a better place for the fishing though so it might be a toss up.
Except the beer's probly cheaper in Conwy!
Personally, I wouldn't fancy living by the sea either - love visiting, wouldn't like living.
Oh - and North Wales is full of North Walians 😐
I live on the west coast of Norway. it sucks. too many mountain
What's the riding like over there? I fly to/over Norway (Oslo/Kristansund/Stavanger/Narvik/Tromso) most weeks and on a (rare) clear day the mountains look incredible, particularly around Kristiansund.
In March I will be moving to Yorkshire (new job) and am gutted to be leaving NE Scotland behind, some of the best riding in the UK in my opinion. Before my 8.5 years in Scotland I lived in the Lakes and before that lived/was brought up in North Yorkshire so have always been lucky to live somewhere really great for MTB.
Long time since I rode in Yorkshire but I can't see it living up to Scotland. Still, at least there will be some riding and the Lakes just up the road.
If I had a choice I would stay in Scotland or move back to the Lakes but you have to go where the work is.
I grew up in green south Wales, with some great (but not noted) local loops from my parents' house and late teenage / early twenties years spent in the Beacons, Afan and later Cwmcarn.
I've always been happy with the riding of my adoptive Bristol, but it really took-off when the Ashton Court and Leigh Woods trails were done a few years ago.
I live a ten minute ride from the trails and would find it very, very hard to move away now.
No but would move somewhere with slightly less good riding, to be closer to a beach and some decent surf
I am based in Suffolk, riding here isn't so bad with Thetford a 15 minute drive away. Driving anywhere else can be a PITA especially as friends who ride too are very scarce these days and generally can't be bothered.
Another (Englishman) here from North Wales. Mountain biking ace and road riding even better (right to roam would help). Tend to use the beaches on Anglesey. Lived in Central London for 7 years and don't think I could hack it now. How could I give up my lunch time ride around Pen y pass? Night life far from spectacular, but, well, you can't have it all... can you?
Uni' towns around Peaks and Lakes a possibility, but an international move is more likely. Never back to a place with crap riding.
I live in Southampton..... :-/
It could be worse, there are local trails in Lordswood and plenty within driving distance, though I find myself getting a bit of real mountain withdrawal after a month or two, having moved down from the highlands many years ago now....
To that end, planning the move back up to Edinburgh this year! 😀
One of the reasons I left the RAF was the likelihood that my next posting would take me from Scotland to East Anglia.....the thought makes me feel ill.
I now live and work in the north east of Scotland and have amazing riding locally, can be in the cairngorms in under an hour and can easily get to Torridon for a weekend away.
I do not regret leaving a good career in the slightest to stay where the riding is good.
A few comments about Grenoside on this thread. How is it? It's not too far from me (south of Huddersfield) and always looking for new rides!
There's some fairly decent riding on my doorstep but lots of mud at the minute. I would never live somewhere flat, it seems boring in every sense.
It depends on why you ride and what type of riding you do I guess.
I was brought up in West Lancs (flat as a pancake) but I was always out on my bike as a kid exploring paths, lanes, canals, farms, river banks, etc. I still love this type of riding now.
Every town is surrounded by countryside. You can have fresh air and solitude wherever you live. Yes you may have to drive somewhere to get an adrenaline fix though...
...but now I have some of the best riding in the country on my doorstep 🙂
I grew up in Cheshire and had some great riding on the doorstep. I live in Melbourne Australia now and the riding of any decent calibre is a drive away in any direction. 45 minutes gets me to my "local" trails, an hour and a bit in the other direction gets me to the manmade trail centre, and 3 hours drive up north east gets you to Mount Buller for really decent riding. Road riding isn't bad here especially during summer along the beach road.
Urban sprawl
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If I lived somewhere that would require me to drive before I ride, I'd never get out because, I'd say, 95% of my riding is night riding after the kids are in bed
Started riding mtbs in S****horpe (Lincs) and the only thing it had going for I was the old mines and slag heaps moved to Cannock Chase area then partner @ the time wanted to move jobs I said fine as long as there is somewhere decent to ride my bike.She got a job in the Lakes!!!!! I married her 😀
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/7196618430/ ]Lemon Drizzle Cake eater!!!!![/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr
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I live in Leamington. Decent riding is a bit thin on the ground, go to Cannock Chase at the weekends, occasionally Wales and up to Glentress once a year for our anniversary.
I live and work in Neath, South Wales, and The riding here is great. Neath Port Talbot is the most heavily wooded area in England and Wales, and I have tidy local riding a minute from my house, which can be sewn into other great local built and cheeky trails in several directions. I can get up to Afan and Kilvey in 30-40 minutes on the bike - 15 in the car - and Gower, Brechfa, the Beacons, Bike Park Wales, and Cwmcarn are all within an hours drive, plus many more less known riding spots along the M4 corridor.
Reading some of these posts has made me realise how lucky I am, even though the employment prospects are awful, and we have consistently sopping weather. I'll never be able to afford top-of-the-range bikes living here, but at least the rents are low. 😉
Been living in Oxford for 1.5 years and it sucks for riding, having lived in mid Wales for 7 year previous the Chilterns just don't compare IMO and I don't really enjoy riding flat or rolling hills. On the plus side, moving back to Wales in about 5 months... Won't be in a hurry to move somewhere without good riding again...
Used to live extremely close to Swinley Forest and did miss it when I moved away. However, following its change of use to a trail centre, I definitely don't miss it although sad that so many of the fun trails have been lost.
I live near hairyscary. I very rarely drive to ride. I can do a loop that takes me from door to 500m to beach and back in a few hours. The stuff out the door is awesome and the further you go the better it gets. Real variety too. There's not many places I'd rather live and none of them are in the UK. If I did have to live where most of you live, and had to drive if I wanted to bike, then I'd just give up. That would never happen though.
My local rides could easily be done on a CX they're that tame. Still enjoy them though.
The Peak or Dalby is best part of two hours drive but that's ok for a day out.
Plenty of advantages to me living where I live, so I stay.
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Well, look at what I had to leave to live in London 🙁
Top at 2120m, gondola from the city outskirts to 1800m and chair lift to 2000m from one of the suburbs with public bus connection...
Moving from there almost made my cry
Funny consequence of such geographical and topological situation + lifts is that most of the active mountain bikers there are on 180+ travel bikes (: