Hey there - looking for some feedback on Fort Collins. I have a potential opportunity to move to that area and would be moving from the Sacramento CA area. I've been to Fort Collins about 10 or 11 years ago, and I know its a great place. Just don't know what the riding is like there or what the winters are like (I've only been there in the Fall). Good bike trails? Do you need 4WD in the winter for driving? This would be a family move - so not just me involved. Kinda curious if people there are house bound in the winter time due to snow (limited riding, etc). Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

I live one county south of Ft. Collins. I ride year round. The snows melt/evaporate quickly and the roads are dry within a few days of a winter storm. Because it is usually sunny, and the humidty is very low, the winter rides almost always feel warmer than the temperture would indicate.

I've never owned a 4WD vehicle, nor seen a need for one (although everyone else seems to own 8 to 10 of them). There are lots of cyclists in the Ft. Collins area, so motorists are used to seeing them on the roads.

There is information on the Ft. Collins cycling community here: http://www.experienceplus.com/reading_room/archives/advocacy/fort_collins_co/index.html

You can ride year round in Fort collins. The only think I don't really like about it is, ingeneral, it's pretty flat, I mean, there's horsetooth, and risk, but that's it really. I come from Colorado springs though, where it's not flat, at all, everything is a hill, or a false flat, and I'm used to that. Anyways, the flatness annoys me.

Fort Collins is a pretty nice place to live, the people there are very freindly, it's a smallish town, but not too small, and not to large.

It's pretty there too, and has the feel of a college town, it's very much a college town.

I like it. I move up about a year ago. It snowed a few times, rarely caused a problem on the roads (usually melts off the roads pretty quickly)

There are some great road rides, to suit anything but long, long climbs, and great mountain biking, too.

4wd would be useless 99.5% of the time, but still not bad to have.

Here is a great link for information about Fort Collins

http://www.city-data.com/city/Fort-Collins-Colorado.html

First, let me say I'm not sure agree with the assessment that biking around Ft. Collins is flat. I'd agree that in the city things are pretty flat. And frankly I like it that way. There are two major bike paths that dissect the city at 45 degree angles to all the major streets and allow you to get from one side of the city to the other with minimal street riding. And even then most of the major streets have great bike lanes or are in the process of getting them.

For road riding, just head north/east/south and ride as far as you'd like for flat/rollers. It doesn't take long to get in the middle of nowhere to the east and north. If hills are your game, there are endless possibilities. I could probably name 20 routes of lengths between 20 and 100 miles with elvation gains between 1500 and 10000 feet without even looking at a map. Horsetooth, Carter Lake, Pinewood Rez., Rist Canyon, Stove Prarie, Centennial Dr., Big Thompson, etc. I've been fairly serious about riding for the past 2 years and have yet to exhaust the possiblities. No, it's not Boulder so you probably won't run into Tyler Hamilton on a group ride but there is a very good scene if you want it. Check out http://www.fccycleclub.org/ for starters. There are also several teams that operate out of FC and Loveland and CSU has a pretty active cycling team. The two major shops are Lee's and Peloton (in Loveland) and they both sell the main stream stuff (Trek, Spec., Litespeed, etc.). There are also several smaller shops that (Cycologist, Road 34, Mtn. High Cyclery) that carry great stuff and have even better service. You could also find about 100 shops in Denver/Boulder that carry every possible make/model of bike you could every want. You'll need something to spend all that money that you make when you sell your house in Sac. and move here :)

If off road is your thing, there are lots of options as well. There are probably 10 good rides you can get to without putting your bike on a car and a limitless amount within 20 - 120 min. drive. You can go West to the foothills/mtns., south to the Denver/Golden area or north to Wyoming and find excellent riding at all.

Finally, now would be a great time to buy a house in FC. As much as I hate to say it, the economy in NoCo is hurting. There are tons of pre-owned homes for sale and it is definitely a buyer's market. But if you have things lined up jobwise, I don't think you can go wrong. I'm biased, but I would look on the west side of town. You avoid most of the traffic of the east side and you're that much closer to riding ;) The only drawback is it adds 15 min. to the trip when you're trying to get to DIA, Denver, skiing, etc.

FC Pros:
Year-round riding (road and MTB)
College town atmosphere
Close to Denver yet far enough away :)
Good schools/people/communities
Still fairly affordable (at least compared to Boulder or CA)

FC Cons:
Economy is so-so right now (hope you're not in tech!)
Not the most diverse place in the world.
Sprawl is starting to rear its ugly head

Good luck in your decision and feel free to ask if you want this person's opinion!!!

-j

Thanks everyone for your thoughtfull feedback. Your comments and links have helped me paint a much better picture of Fort Collins and the surrounding area. Overall, sounds like the winters aren't too bad and the many positives out way the negatives. I'll let you know how it goes and if we get out there soon I'll hit you up since I'll be looking for new riding partners!