I am looking to relocate to the southwest within a year. I am considering Arizona or New Mexico. I am an avid recreational road rider living out in New York. I am use to lots of hills and twisty roads. Not likely as big as the hills/mountains you have out west. What I do have out here are lots of roads. Within 1/2 hour drive I have enough different routes to keep me going year after year. What I am trying to figure out is this? Are there enough different roads to keep it interesting? I do not want to ride/live in an area that has just 2 or 3 roads to ride. If anyone has transplanted themselves from out this way I would surely like to here from you.

I have been to Albuequerque N.M., Phoenix, Sedona, Prescott, Yarnell, Cave Creek, and Apache Junction, in Arizona. All nice places but the number of secondary roads drops once you get out of the cities or towns.

What is your riding like? Do you tend to just hop on a few different roads all the time or is there enough variety to keep it interesting?

LD
:cool:

What is your riding like? Do you tend to just hop on a few different roads all the time or is there enough variety to keep it interesting?

LD
:cool:

My Tucson perspective: I think there are enough rides around here that I won't get bored for at least 10-15 years. Tucson is nearly all secondary roads. One big highway runs through town (I-10). One sorta big one runs south outta town (I-19). That's about it for big roads. Now Tucson is a big metro area....750,000+ people....but it feels like a town that is much smaller. Maybe that's because Tucson ain't ensnared by freeways, bypasses, and the like.

If someone does get bored of Tucson, it doesn't take much effort to put the bike on a car and head somewhere else for the day or whatever.

Phoenix doesn't trip my trigger, but I've never pedaled around there, so I can't give any informed info on that area.

From my drives through New Mexico...especially Albuquerque...methinks that would also be a great place to ride.

There aren't a lot of flats around Tucson, and the wind can be a pain in the dorsal cushions, but methinks it's one of several cities in the US that could rightfully be considered a cycling nirvana.

albuquerque is decent. I tend to stick on the out side of the city because i hate riding with cars and the people in new mexico suck at driving. I like going out rout 66. It nice because once you get into tijeras you can go three ways one keeps goin east one north and oak flats is west. oak flats is about 15 miles long with a nice little grade to it i mean the road goes out like 60 miles but most people stop at this little funky shop about 15 miles out. If you keep going east you run into edge wood or farther out morarty then it turns into the freeway. If you go north you hit the triangle and you can go three dircetions north west that is the crest road about 14 miles to the top im not to familer with north and east. In town there are some fun hills. There are alot of nice rides i just like 66 cause of its lack of cars rolling hills and our out of the city. you can alos do the 2 day alb to santa fe loop. or one day if your crazy and wake up at like 4 its like 70 miles each way im not 100%

Another consideration is temperatures, if you want to ride year around. Albuquerque is the same elevation as Denver, but the southern latitude keeps it warmer. Santa Fe is 7,000 ft and the weather is similar to Flagstaff AZ. Cold in the winter, but sunny and fairly dry so if you are dressed warmly enough you can ride all year.

Phoenix and Tucson are much lower elevation, which makes it nice in winter, but hot in the summer. Tucson is marginally better than Phoenix.

Re routes. It is true that for the most part there are fewer secondary roads in the west than the east. I grew up in upstate NY and there are many more roads there than where I live now (north of Santa Fe). Here there is usually one or two main paved routes beteween locations. And while there are plenty of smaller roads, they tend to be deadends and/or unpaved. I think that's why a lot of cyclists around here also sport a mtn bike or cross bike, to get some more variety in their riding.

Also like another poster said, sometimes it might mean tossing the bike in the car a driving a little ways to do something new. Or taking a couple days for a mini-tour. Sometimes I'll take a long weekend and drive to another part of the state and spend a few days checking out rides in a new area.

A couple sites to visit.
New Mexico Touring Society http://www.swcp.com/~nmts/
Greater Arizona Bicycle Association, based in Tucson http://www.bikegaba.org/

I live in Phoenix and find the road riding around here to be superb. While I will admit that Tucson in general is a more bike-friendly town (always rated tops in the nation), Phoenix/Scottsdale is not that far behind. Add in the better job market here and Phoenix is usually a better destination for us working folks.

There are a lot of nice rides in and around the greater Phoenix area. From my house in Paradise Valley I have many options -- short, long, flat, hilly, steep, twisties...you name it. In fact, I'd say my rides are as numerous and varied as any place you will find in the USA.

If you do consider Phoenix for cycling, stick with the far North, East/Central, or South parts of the city as that is where the majority of the bike routes and lanes are located. This would include East Phoenix/Arcadia, Paradise Valley, North Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Ahwatukee, and Tempe. Newer parts of other cities have lots of bike lanes too (Gilbert, Chandler, Peoria), but not very exciting terrain to ride. Other parts of the city are OK, but not as bike friendly.

With respect to the climate...you will have fabulous riding weather from October through May. In June it starts getting hot, so you will want to ride earlier (I usually start at 6AM and try to finish by 9). In July/Aug it gets *really* hot and I always start my rides at 5:30AM. But the point is that you can ride all year long. And since it never rains here, you will not be confined to the indoors because of precipitation. I don't know anybody who rides on a trainer here (unlike you folk in the colder climates).

Lastly, as another poster mentioned, if you want even more variety, there are more routes a short car trip away. Many of my friends ride in Flagstaff in the summer.

Thx...Doug

I live in Phoenix and find the road riding around here to be superb. While I will admit that Tucson in general is a more bike-friendly town (always rated tops in the nation), Phoenix/Scottsdale is not that far behind. Add in the better job market here and Phoenix is usually a better destination for us working folks.

There are a lot of nice rides in and around the greater Phoenix area. From my house in Paradise Valley I have many options -- short, long, flat, hilly, steep, twisties...you name it. In fact, I'd say my rides are as numerous and varied as any place you will find in the USA.

If you do consider Phoenix for cycling, stick with the far North, East/Central, or South parts of the city as that is where the majority of the bike routes and lanes are located. This would include East Phoenix/Arcadia, Paradise Valley, North Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Ahwatukee, and Tempe. Newer parts of other cities have lots of bike lanes too (Gilbert, Chandler, Peoria), but not very exciting terrain to ride. Other parts of the city are OK, but not as bike friendly.

With respect to the climate...you will have fabulous riding weather from October through May. In June it starts getting hot, so you will want to ride earlier (I usually start at 6AM and try to finish by 9). In July/Aug it gets *really* hot and I always start my rides at 5:30AM. But the point is that you can ride all year long. And since it never rains here, you will not be confined to the indoors because of precipitation. I don't know anybody who rides on a trainer here (unlike you folk in the colder climates).

Lastly, as another poster mentioned, if you want even more variety, there are more routes a short car trip away. Many of my friends ride in Flagstaff in the summer.

Thx...Doug

I'll 2nd that. I live in the SW valley and the riding here is pretty flat and boring. I find the Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, North Scottsdale and Cave Creek to be my favorites. The cost of housing is pretty steep there though. The Lake Pleasant area north or Peoria is nice too if you can get there without getting killed.

I live in Tempe, and grew up riding in Scottsdale/Paradise Valley/Fountain Hills, and riding in all surrouding areas is great.