What’s best small city in Northeast for bikes?

[Bob Ross]

State College, PA

Population 42,000

Smooth rolling roads through idyllic farmlands, not too heavily traffic'd by automobiles, and some of the most aberration-free asphalt I've ever encountered anywhere: Betsy & I spent three days cycling there and in all that time I think we pointed out a pothole once.

[Louis]

Anyone going to vote for CT? Say, south-central, somewhere near Middletown?

(I'm asking for opinions, not suggesting, since that's been on my radar a bit, and it isn't quite as cold as NH, VT, or upstate NY.)

[skiezo]

Harrisburg PA and surrounding area is great. Great road riding, plenty of hills if that is your thing, gravel close by and for you MT bikers is 45mins to some of the best Mt biking on the east coast, so I heard.

[sailorboy]

Amherst, Mass. Benefits of a college town, but near great roads and a gateway to the more serious hills and gravel aplenty in S. Vermont.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by Louis

Anyone going to vote for CT? Say, south-central, somewhere near Middletown?

(I'm asking for opinions, not suggesting, since that's been on my radar a bit, and it isn't quite as cold as NH, VT, or upstate NY.)

Grew up in Cheshire/Hamden, CT; college in Lewiston, Maine and Burlington, VT; skiied a few years in Vail, CO; grad school in Albany, a decade in NYC, then ended up in back in Saratoga area.

Burlington is awesome, but the traffic is heavy and cost of housing has become exorbitant. The roads in VT aren’t as well maintained as elsewhere. The riding is actually better in the NY side of Lake Champlain. If you can live and work in a small town, and want to be in VT, i’d opt for Waitsfield or Stowe. Saratoga still has winters, but they aren’t unbearable and the skiing is nearby. It doesn’t take much to get from the city to rolling farmland. Think Battenkill. And it is in the Capital District. Albany did somehow get ranked as a top place to live. https://wnyt.com/news/us-news-and-wo...lbany/6263208/

Traffic in CT is impossible these days, at least in southern CT, and housing is outrageously expensive.

Saratoga has great riding, and is close to the Adirondacks and VT for skiing or other mountain sports. The riding is really great, and the roads are maintained decently.

[leftyfreak]

Originally Posted by Tz779

Agreed. But the west “suburbs,” Belmont, Lexington, Concord, & Carlisle are excellent for cycling. And the “watertower hill” from 2A to Belmont Center is a good end of loop climb.

You forgot about Bedford.

Definitely easy to access good cycling roads from here (Bedford) and the towns mentioned above, but I do find myself craving bigger hills. To be honest, though, we have a pretty good balance between city amenities and rural-ish roads. Anytime my wife and I have thought of moving we came to the realization that we were just trying to recreate what we already have here.

I'd also consider the Amherst/Northampton, MA region.

[bpiecuch]

I live in Providence, RI. I would not recommend anywhere in RI.

I lived in Western Mass (Amherst area) for a few years and love the riding out there. Not mountainous, but hilly with some great short climbs along the CT river. Quiet roads and easy access to the bigger mountains north, west in the Berkshires, and even more west in the Catskills, NY.

I grew up in CT. You can forget about anywhere in Fairfield country (around NYC). Most of the coast is fairly busy and flat. But man, Litchfield County and most of northern CT is very nice. Punchy hills, quiet roads, and you can ride outdoors (comfortably) for 9-10 months of the year.

If you're retired and focusing your life on Saddle time, this is a great discussion. If you're moving for other reasons, you can find "good" riding and roads outside your back door just about anywhere in New England. Great riding and real mountains are only 2hrs away from where ever you end up. Super easy for big weekend trips.

[vav]

Originally Posted by Tz779

Agreed. But the west “suburbs,” Belmont, Lexington, Concord, & Carlisle are excellent for cycling. And the “watertower hill” from 2A to Belmont Center is a good end of loop climb.

Use the minuteman path out of Arlington for a warm up and then branch out into the west burbs

[Turkle]

I see others have mentioned, but wanted to chime in with Northampton / Amherst and that whole little ring of cities there in Massachusetts. Seemed like there were a thousand breweries all located on well-maintained bike paths, the cities are quite bike friendly, and you're only a short ride away from some mountains if you're into it. Fantastic hiking too. I imagine the winters are brutal but we had a gas biking around last summer.

I wasn't doing any serious road riding up there but I saw dozens of road riders in full kit tooling around so there seems to be a bit of a scene, for what it's worth.

My experience in Connecticut is that the whole place is a car sewer and is quite unfriendly to cyclists, but obviously I've only been to certain portions of the state and I could be way off.

[peanutgallery]

Shhhhhhhh

Send all those fools someplace else that's "cooler"....like Hegins or Tamaqua

Originally Posted by skiezo

Harrisburg PA and surrounding area is great. Great road riding, plenty of hills if that is your thing, gravel close by and for you MT bikers is 45mins to some of the best Mt biking on the east coast, so I heard.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by bpiecuch

I grew up in CT. You can forget about anywhere in Fairfield country (around NYC). Most of the coast is fairly busy and flat. But man, Litchfield County and most of northern CT is very nice. Punchy hills, quiet roads, and you can ride outdoors (comfortably) for 9-10 months of the year.

I've been thinking Middlesex county, but could be convinced to check out other places farther north too. (but as you said, Litchfield is probably the best of the lot up there)

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by Louis

Anyone going to vote for CT? Say, south-central, somewhere near Middletown?

(I'm asking for opinions, not suggesting, since that's been on my radar a bit, and it isn't quite as cold as NH, VT, or upstate NY.)

No real direct experience, but I'd check out Torrington. I've done a little riding in far NW CT and over the nearby state lines and it was good. Solidly longer riding season than VT or NH, too. Hartford / Danbury / Waterbury aren't far for bigger cities, but you're out of the crush of the very southern and southwestern developments.

[lorenbike]

Originally Posted by Onno

Central New York has excellent cycling, and some affordable small cities. Ithaca is fantastic; smaller and cheaper (and still around Finger Lakes) are Geneva, Skaneateles, and Canadaigua. Cooperstown is smaller, but also wonderful. All have access to excellent roads, with not a lot of traffic; good terrain, gravel if you want it. I find the roads here to be remarkably well-maintained, and aside from a few assholes in pickup trucks, traffic is fairly respectful of cyclists. There are so many paved small roads, windy and hilly! To me it's close to perfect, and I've biked in lots of other parts of the world. The winters do run about 4 months, but that's when I x-c ski.

.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by steveandbarb1

Nothing wrong with the cape, just run away in the summer.

Cape isn't that bad in the summer, and only on the weekends.

The upside is that, because we're surrounded on both sides by water, the weather is a bit more temperate...fall runs through November. I don't typically close my outdoor shower until November 15.

Some great riding here, both pavement and dirt. And most of the cape is small town friendly...

[sparky33]

Norwich VT

It is not a city but has the amenities and economy of one because of the college town and major hospital next door and a practical urban area ten miles down the road. Good spot for someone who likes the outdoors and a high quality serving of civilization nearby.