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Guernsey
Best - Always by the sea and great views along the commute
Worst - No singletrack
York
Best - Beautiful city, easily the best collection of pubs in the country, the local people.
Worst - Flat as a pancake for miles around!! Bloody tourists (I wouldn't mind if they didn't walk so slowly)...
Coburg, north Bavaria.
+ interesting history; Queen Victoria's husband Albert grew up here, hence the royal surname. almost all royal households in europe have at least one member of their family originating in Coburg. last Duke was Queens Vic's grandson; i rode past his grave today.
+ some hills, more than in Essex.
+ some good riding
- Nazi's. large problem here with skinheads/whitelaces. quite blatant about it too...
- lack of work.
- Shit weather...similar to UK at the moment
- no snow in winter
i'm off, hopefully.
Darley Dale, nr Matlock, Derbyshire.........
Best - beautiful countryside with great local riding and the Peak half an hour away, close to Sheffield (great city), not too much unemployment.
Worst - if I had to find anything, there are a few delinquents on a local estate.
Plymouth: see Jam bo's post about Tavistock: pretty much the same here!
iirc Tavi is one of the rainiest places in the yookay. All those clouds off the atlantic bumping into Dartmoor, see?
Simonralli, look us up when you get to Enviro-skool, some ace cheeky stuff round here and a proper quality-and-friendly xc race series all winter.
Gothenburg, Sweden.
Best- low crime rate (for now), endless singletrack, pretty much free to ride where ever off road, stunning females, fantastic city and nightlife, close to the sea.
Worst- rains way more than the UK, restrictive rules concerning alcohol that clearly don't work, the perfect social security system that is far from perfect, introverted Swedes, countryside full of rednecks to rival the USA, its not Leeds!!!
Leeds!!!!!! DIsagree with ton
Best:
Loads of local trails in all directions
Lots of variety of local trails
I can commute to work in the city centre >70% off road with options to extend
Very central - relatively easy to get to all other areas of the country
Worst:
No big hills locally (closest is Otley Chevin, and that's only medium sized)
Property is expensive
Trails turn to sh1t during the winter - North of Bradford is loads better!
on balance, a winner
Leigh (near wigan)
Best: Masses of offroad riding due to the vast tracts of ex-mining land that cannot be built on for another 100 years.
Worst: This is a hard one. Leigh is a complete shithole filled with less than neanderthal gimps for whom getting drunk and kicking a complete strangers head in is a three times weekly occurrence. Not to mention the general populaces suspicion of anyone who can read (and does it for fun) or who does a sport that isn't football or rugby (for example, riding about on a bike).
But if you were to put a knife to my neck (something I'm quite likely to experience just nipping down the shops), I would suggest that the worst thing about living in leigh, is that it has the worst drivers on earth. I'm sure they can all handle a car and understand the mnechanics but they are the most malicious, nasty ****ers going. I can do a 100 mile road ride and not have one problem but cross the Leigh town border and I'll have three near misses, be gobbed at, have a car drive onto the green cycle lane at the lights in front of me and most likely have someone call me something rhyming with 'steer' at least once because I'm on a bike.
Ipswich
Best countryside no more than 10 minutes from the front door.
Worst it's a bit flat, highest point around here is about 100m above sea level.
I have to wonder why so many of you actually live (and continue to do so) in places you describe as being completely crap.
Samuri - my then girlfriend took me out to Ruebins(?) in Leigh about 12 years ago, I'm still surprised she turned out to be my wife. Needless to say we haven't returned. now living on the
Wirral
best...nice to be near the coast all of which is rideable albeit very flat and more like an estuary than crashing waves and wilderness, north wales 15 min drive away, close(ish) to Lancashire and Lakes. Liverpool, Chester both nearby. Penninsula.
worst...birkenhead, its like Leigh (see couple of posts above)
Auckland- best, good weather,great range of food both eating out and groceries, quality of life is reasonable people are friendly, no chavs, cheap cars/petrol
worst- its new zealand and so a day away from the rellies and friends on a nut crushingly dull flight.
village near Malvern
Best: the hills (honourable mentions for the lack of traffic on most roads, and the fact the kids can play out in the street where we live).
Worst: long way from the seaside, or indeed anywhere decent to windsurf (alternatively, the proximity to Brum).
calgary
best; fantastic scenery on your doorstep,and lots of sun
worst; cant get proper bacon for a fry up and no riding for a few months in winter
Clue's in my name! Good, the area is a Mecca for all outdoors. Bad, the village is a tourist trap and can be incredibly busy.
Oh, but, on the whole I'll happily live here forever!
Wellington, NZ
Best- the local pie shop
Worst- The local hirstute women
NO PEOPLE!!
mountains oz style
(not very hight in elevation but still good fun)
i intend to leave.....
Galashiels, Borders.
Best things, lots of riding nearby, Glentress and Innerleithen on way home from work, lots of natural riding also with hills.
Nice friendly people, good primary school for the kids, pretty crime free (compared with my last domicle in Headingley).
Worst things, Town centre is dying a death due to the placing of two massive supermarkets, Tesco and Asda, across a roundabout from each other on the edge of the town centre.
People who don't indicate, never seen such an inability to use the flashing things on the corners of your car than in Gala, it's like some kind of illness, most likely genetic this being the Borders an all.
It's not Peebles, I can't afford to live in the town I come from because of all the white settlers from England/Edinburgh pushing the house prices up!
Brackley. Just up the road from Munque-chick...
Pros: Low crime, good schools, pace of life is relaxed. Easy reach of lots of places, Oxford, Northampton MK, are less than 30minutes away, London and Brum are an hour away, reasonable close to major M-Ways, so day trips are pretty easy. Road riding is quiet country lanes where meeting a car is an event. Countryside is picture postcard English.
Cons: Pretty provincial country-side backwater where nothing ever happens and the annual F1 at Silverstone is/was the year's major event. No real off road riding to speak of at all, unless field edge Bridleways are your bag, Although Chilterns are 30 minutes down the road, so not all lost I guess.
Could be worse, it's not inner city life, and it's not the middle of nowhere
Musselburgh, East Lothian.
Best - It's where I'm from, Ship Inn, Staggs.
Worst - neds. But they leave me alone so can't complain too much.
Love this town...
Brecon Beacons
Best - whole bunch of riding out the door, and when it inevitably rains the mid and south wales trail centres are an hour and a bit away.
Worst - National Parks setup is better for visiting than living in.
Glasgow
Bads- pretty endless really
Goods-It's close to fort William
West Sierra de Madrid,
Best: No rain, sunny weather
Worst: No rain, too hot.
Julian - cheers will do. I already have bought my 2 Dartmoor maps but would very much welcome some local advice on where to ride.
Maybe I should bookmark this thread for when I need to look for somewhere to live in 2010 🙂 I will need a couple of months to write my book and thesis, and due to budgets may be renting a room at a friend's house in Blaenau Ffestiniog. At least the trails are great around there!
[i]I have to wonder why so many of you actually live (and continue to do so) in places you describe as being completely crap. [/i]
Everyone has only given the worst and best things about where they live. There's a hundred other reasons why they live there.
Larbert
Bad:
Nothing it's full of drug dealing and binge drinking scum. The trails and riding are shit, anything that get's built is soon destroyed by Dog Walking Nazis and it's the dog shit capital of Europe.
Good:
It's probably a good place to live if you want reasons to leave Scotland and the UK for good
Balerno
Good: Close enough to Edinburgh for access to work & shops etc. but far enough out that it's quiet. Right on the edge of the Pentlands so decent riding on my doorstep and lots of great riding not far - south or north.
Worst: No really good pubs in Balerno (R.I.P. The Kestrel), house prices are quite high.
East Molesey (Hampton Court)
Best - Small town feel, safe, clean - mins from Surrey hills and Swinley
Worst - Nothing really, could do with a bakers I suppose
Epicsteve - the Grey Horse ain't too bad, they've worked out how to keep their beer. I've not been here long enough to remember The Kestrel unfortunately
Swindon
Best: Cosmos
Worst: Arkells
Manchester
good hills nearby 🙂
always p155ing down though. 😥
Stafford
Best - easy access to Cannock Chase
Worst - easy access to Cannock Chase for all the numpties in the area on a week end 😐
Borders of Berkshire/Hampshire/Surrey.
Best - Swinley Forest but nothing else except easy access to motorways to get away from here. Can't believe I moved back to this area 🙁
Worst - traffic, particularly aggressive drivers. Would love to get away.
cockermouth
the view of skiddaw from my lounge window, endless riding in the lakes
crap weather and lack of choice of employment
previous
Kathmandu
endless riding wherever you like, 8 months of sunshine and fantastic climate, cheap tasty food, trekking, paragliding and fantastic kayaking
crap milk, and a long way from family and friends
Northfields, West London
best: Food shopping: Local farmers market, butchers, fish mongers bakers + great for pubs eating out + great neighbours, more community feeling than anywhere I lived previously (N Yorkshire, Co Durham, W Yorks) + great school on my road
worst: no mtb for 27 miles, making mtb at least a half day event, and no mountains for over 2 hours drive.
Too many good things here to trade off moving to some of the above just for better riding though.
Did I mention that I lived in Northfields in 1997? There was a cracking Indian/Balti restaurant there on the main road - not too sure if it's still there though.
Montys?
Yeah Monty's - really rings a bell. Loved it there. Am sure that's the one.
Yeah, still there, still good, but been superseded by papaya which is the second best curry I've ever had. Monthys is 4th
Well you should also try and get to Monafs in Hampton - maybe get a STW SW London curry night organised - or make it a regular event and try out different ones while also being able to chat about all things bike. Can't remember any good ones in East Molesey although there used to be a great pub right on the Thames tow-path.
New Forest:
Worst, f*cking tourists
Best, f*cking tourists 😉
(nah, you're right - neither of those)
Best - climate, nice village to bring up kids
Worst - NF is a bit flat & boggy and you're not supposed to ride in there
North of Bradford
good: ace trails on your doorstep; fantastic curry; Leeds close enough to do the social life thing
worst: well it's Bradford, innit?
deserter - I know what you mean. Just spent a week in Canmore. and a few more days in Vancouver. I know where I'm emigrating to...
Brentwood, Essex
Best - easy for work, close to London, low crime and some local singletrack through the very flat woods.
The road sign "secret nuclear bunker", still makes me smile.....
Worst - miles away from any hills, 4x4's gridlocking the town every morning from 8.30-9.15 and the same on an evening.