MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Canada?
US?
New Zealand?
Australia?
Anyone lived and worked in any of these places?
I am a mechanical engineer so to get work I would probably need to be in a big city, but also want to ride good trails. Currently I live on the edge of the peak and can ride from my door, so am a bit spoilt!
Canada! lots of land, lots of water and very few people... 😉 and more importantly lots of riding...
NZ probably it's truly awesome, but totally lacking glamour, but for outdoors its mega.
Oz for beaches and birds though 🙄
Canada is probably top of my list, misses prefers Oz though.
New Zealand is amazing but not sure about job opportunities?
Beaches...not to fussed, and unfortunatly misses has strict rules about birds, any ideas what the ridings like in Oz?
Lived there but before i used to ride, it's such a huge diverse place there will be plenty of riding. It cannot be stated how HUGE a country it is.
I spent iirc 65hrs on a coach from one side to the other...
come to north wales. its great.
bit wet though 😐
Why do you want to move? a positive or a negative reason? Ie do you want to live in Canada or are you fed up of the Uk?
Myself after a fair bit of travelling over significant periods of time I realised I love the Uk ( bar the south east) too much to live elsewhere. to many good things in the UK I would miss elsewhere. decent pubs with good beer, good access to the hills in Scotland, proximity to Europe and its variety of cultures, green hills and family and friends.
For from the door riding, plus decent work available close by, I'd rate the Peak District above New Zealand. I've lived and worked in both S Island NZ, and at the bottom of the Peak District.
New Zealand is a big place with a lot of private land and not so much easy access to the outdoors. Because it is such a big country, there are tons of trails, but a lot of driving to get to many of them. Having said that, there are some nice really big mountains, a few of which you are allowed to ride up.
I don't know how Canada is in terms of living where you are allowed to ride and still being close enough to get to work easily. Presumably as a biker you're meaning Vancouver or somewhere that side? You'd also have to deal with several months of not riding in a lot of places (although if you do winter sports too that may not matter).
You can't really say that the USA is good or bad for riding - it'd be like saying 'Europe is a good place to ride'. I hear Boulder is nice, and has some local riding. Again they have way more access issues and limits than the UK, you may end up driving a lot to ride, and a lot of places they don't ride off road in rainy season (can be all winter) or snow season.
I've briefly worked in Aus (but only for a couple of weeks on projects). I liked the riding, and it is by far the least like the UK place I've been - weird animals, deserts etc. which is cool to visit. It feels very back country. From riders I've met, they do seem a bit limited in terms of where you can ride, and riding from the door is unlikely. Again Oz is pretty big, I've only been to Sidney & Melbourne, I imagine things are different at the other ends. I hear good things from mates in Brisbane, as long as you can cope with riding in 35 degree+ heat.
Joe
Oh yeah, and don't just move out of the UK because it sucks. Move somewhere because you want particular things. Otherwise you'll just be another grumpy ex-pat moaning about the wrong marmite, and waste the opportunity.
Joe
Not a negative reason, basically want to try something different for a while, definatly nothing wrong with living in the peak. If/when we come back thats almost certainly where we'll be heading.
I have a young family as well so figure if we were going to try somewhere for a cocuple of years it better to do before they go to school etc.
As you say Joe, access for riding was a concern, and when you live so close to good riding you do start to take it for granted!
I'd like to live in west cornwall, its fantastic and the singletrack around there (think coastal paths) is both potentially deadly and amazing!
I like Australia, 99% of my family are immigrants/Aussies. For some reason I love the UK though, so have steadfastly refused to emmigrate 🙂
I've ridden and walked in a few areas there, and found it slightly different to the UK. As mentioned, it's HOT. As a northerner, you've probably never seen the big burny ball of fire in the sky, but in Aus it's bloody everywhere.
Like the fella said about NZ, there is lots of private land you can't ride on, and no bridleway/footpath network on a scale that you find here. National parks seem to offer lots though, and I did ride in the Blue Mountains which was great in parts. I'm sure a local guide would turn up some good stuff wherever you were, though it might be a drive away.
What are your ties to the UK? Any reason you couldn't try out a working visa to Aus for a year, then come back and decide if you want to go for it?
Dont forget Canada gets brutaly cold in the winter.
Lived in Oz for 2 years wouldn't go back.
The Peaks take some beating. I've got friends abroad....they seem to spend a lot of time on Facebook telling everbody how great NZ/Aus/Canada is.
Despite everything,this countrt is still the best.
USA, California to be precise it has absolutely everything, no wonder the Americans stole it.
Dont forget Canada gets brutaly cold in the winter.
Depends where, Vancouver doesn't. This year we've barely had a winter.
the middle of Canada gets cold. my sister lives there, they had -46.5C at Edmonton airport just before christmas. a typical warm winter day of -7C feels like shorts & t-shirts weather.
I have no data on the NE (Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia).
West coast climate is pretty similar to the British Isles climate from what I read, for pretty much the same reasons. But if you do want snow, it's not that far away.