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Where to live - Bike to climb edition

Original Post
Israel R · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2018 · Points: 87

This is an infinitely rehashed topic, but I have a new twist - I want to live somewhere that I can go ride my bike to climb outside! I like all styles of climbing and can work anywhere with reliable internet so the primary constraints are a town/city with decent bike infrastructure (i.e., I won't feel like I'm gonna die riding my bike around town) and a decent local crag within workday (e-)biking distance (<10 miles).

Some secondary considerations:

  • single-pitch/boulder projects (>=5.12/V6) an easy biking distance
  • Fun multi-pitch and/or a bigger climbing area within a day biking radius (20-50mi)
  • Young people and halfway decent food, exceptions made for towns <= 1 hour from a bigger metro
  • Reasonable rental/housing market, the cheaper the better but willing to pay a bit more if it means I have a better biking experience
  • A climbing gym, also within easy biking distance

Some places I've found already:

  • Boulder/Golden, CO
  • Flagstaff, AZ
  • Burlington, VT

So MP, what else ya got?

Ezra Ellis · · Hotlanta · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 0

Tucson az

Las Vegas 

Slc 

Boise?

Albuquerque 

Santa Fe?

Bend Oregon 

Or metollius Oregon 

Spokane has lots of single pitch

Asheville 

Chattanooga 


there’s hundreds of these threads already 

Israel R · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2018 · Points: 87

Perhaps you missed an essential part of my prompt, I'd hardly call Las Vegas a bike friendly city. On the map Spokane doesn't look too great either. I'm ideally looking for people's insights into what some of these commonly recommended climber cities feel like on a bicycle.

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 35

Sounds like a terrible idea.

Riding and lugging gear, constantly looking over your shoulder to see if some tweaker in the woods is messing with your bike, riding back late and tired. Traffic up the canyons. Literally I can’t think of worse combo and I love bikes.

One thing that might sort of work would be a big cargo ebike. You’d still be dealing with the security situation though.

I frequently ride my bike to the crag where my wife is waiting for me, where I stow the bike in the car and change clothes. Or vice versa, and I ride home. That’s really the only way to make it reasonable at all.

As far as cities go, choose one that doesn’t have a big cumbersome metro to get out of. 

Ezra Ellis · · Hotlanta · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 0

Spokane is a fairly bike friendly city with maybe six crags you can bike too.


Two pitch routes on the rocks of sharon also.

Klaus theK · · Fruita · Joined Oct 2018 · Points: 1

Golden CO 

Orem UT

As a much younger person I biked extensively in both of these places and didn’t die.

Israel R · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2018 · Points: 87
highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion wrote:

Sounds like a terrible idea.

Riding and lugging gear, constantly looking over your shoulder to see if some tweaker in the woods is messing with your bike, riding back late and tired. Traffic up the canyons. Literally I can’t think of worse combo and I love bikes.

One thing that might sort of work would be a big cargo ebike. You’d still be dealing with the security situation though.

I frequently ride my bike to the crag where my wife is waiting for me, where I stow the bike in the car and change clothes. Or vice versa, and I ride home. That’s really the only way to make it reasonable at all.

As far as cities go, choose one that doesn’t have a big cumbersome metro to get out of. 

Perhaps more cumbersome than a car but I don't think it would be "terrible". I've heard many stories of boulderites riding their bikes to Eldo to go climbing. The bike security situation sounds like a crux, but not an insurmountable one. Part of my reason for posting this thread was hopefully to find some of us out there that do this. I'm fairly committed to using a car as little as possible in my daily life so it feels natural to try and do the same with my regular climbing.

Old lady H wrote:

And bike, with a boulder pad?

Actually one of the least of my concerns. I've biked with a BD Mondo on my back before; it wasn't great but doable. With a cargo bike or a bike trailer it would be very reasonable.

Ian Lauer wrote:

How does Boulder or Golden meet the cheap housing tick?! If that's cheap for you, you can probably rent nearly anywhere

I wouldn't consider them cheap, hence why I am asking for other places. But in terms of quantity of rock in a bike-able distance, they seem hard not to at least entertain. I'm coming from Chicago (which has a reasonable housing market for a city of its size) so if I can get cheaper than I am currently paying ($1.8k/mo for a 2bd/1ba apt in a walkable neighborhood) then I'd consider that a win for me personally.

Thomas Zenner · · Boulder, CO · Joined Apr 2020 · Points: 0

If you're gonna do this in boulder just get the shittiest bike possible, then when it gets stolen you won't be out an expensive bike and a 5mi walk from home. Ask me how I know...

Fan Y · · Bishop/Las Vegas · Joined Jun 2011 · Points: 964

Truckee, South Lake Tahoe, Mammoth, Bishop. 

Old lady H · · Boise, ID · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 1,375

Boise only ticks the bike friendly box. You can rocket out from downtown on a paved bike path that passes literally just across the road from the bike path. Not even any stops on the way.

But cheap housing? No.

5.12+ routes? Not much.

Multipitch? No.

I'd say Redmond, for Smith. Bend, only if there's a bike path to Smith. Biking the main road seems less than safe.

And bike, with a boulder pad?   

Best, Helen

Ian Lauer · · Yakima, WA · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 15

How does Boulder or Golden meet the cheap housing tick?! If that's cheap for you, you can probably rent nearly anywhere

Brent Moore · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2020 · Points: 0

Arkansas maybe?

BAd · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 130

Bishop involves more distance to the crags than you might realize.  Closest is bouldering at the Happy/Sads, maybe 10 miles?  Everything thing else is about 20 miles or more and up hill, especially brutal when it's warm.  Solid ebike with a good range and power might make it doable.  I live very close to town, and getting to the Gorge, for example, is a 20+ min. drive with some big chunks done at 65+ mph.

Ol A Thousand Bananas · · Stockholm, SE · Joined Jun 2022 · Points: 0

Biking to crags is a nice way to get around, and not owning a car does save you a fair bit of money.

I would be wary about moving to a windy area if you plan to ride with a crashpad on your back.

I would also consider looking into multimodal options, perhaps with a foldable bike, to expand your range using buses and trains (where available).

richard aiken · · El Chorro Spain · Joined Nov 2008 · Points: 20

El Chorro Spain. MTB, Vuelta a Espana comes through EC, bike touring routes everywhere. ridiculously cheap. great food. lots of climbers. 9 month season. good internet. not much multi but some long and good routes. bikes not likely to be stolen. nearest climbing gym 45 km away but you won't want to climb there since you will be climbing outdoors every day. 

Spanish drivers are not great but they are unbelievably careful when near cyclists. I have never felt as safe biking anywhere else in the world and others say the same 

Jack Neus · · Boulder, originally NJ! · Joined Apr 2018 · Points: 0

Echoing the above posts, Boulder is very bikeable (there's a whole network of bike paths that don't require crossing streets) and there's a decent community of folks who bike to Eldo in the mornings (either using frame bags or a backpack). Flatirons are accessible too.

Gerald Adams · · Sacramento · Joined May 2019 · Points: 0

How about  climbing & bouldering at  The Pie Shop near South Lake Tahoe & Meyers ,CA ? Housing would probably be the hard part.

Long Ranger · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 669

I live in Boulder, I climb sometimes, I have fairly cheap rent. I ride all year and don't own a car. I absolutely moved here because of the access to trails. If needed, I can grab a bus all the way to Durango, or Alamosa, or Steamboat Springs, or Crested Butte. I've also just ridden my bike to all those places. I can make Longs Peak a day trip if I'm feeling motivated. Happy to answer q's if you need specifics on how I do things. 

petzl logic · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 730

burlington to lone rock is easy, bolton is a bit harder. after that, i am not sure where you’re gonna go. by the time you do a round trip to smugglers notch your day has gotten short, but so is the season since the road doesn’t melt out till may and closes mid october. i would say it’s not a particularly viable place for bike to climbing, maybe look down south instead. 

Israel R · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2018 · Points: 87
Long Ranger wrote:

I live in Boulder, I climb sometimes, I have fairly cheap rent. I ride all year and don't own a car. I absolutely moved here because of the access to trails. If needed, I can grab a bus all the way to Durango, or Alamosa, or Steamboat Springs, or Crested Butte. I've also just ridden my bike to all those places. I can make Longs Peak a day trip if I'm feeling motivated. Happy to answer q's if you need specifics on how I do things. 

This is the kind of experience I was hoping to find with this thread, though I already know what I want is achievable in Boulder. Do you ever feel like bike security is an issue when you take your bike to go to climbing? My inclination would be to just hide it in the woods if the area does not have a lot of people traffic to keep it safe locked in plain view. It feels like housing is a crux with a lot of places, can you comment on how easy it is to find reasonable rent in Boulder? I feel like I only ever hear people gnashing teeth about how expensive it is.

richard aiken wrote:

El Chorro Spain. MTB, Vuelta a Espana comes through EC, bike touring routes everywhere. ridiculously cheap. great food. lots of climbers. 9 month season. good internet. not much multi but some long and good routes. bikes not likely to be stolen. nearest climbing gym 45 km away but you won't want to climb there since you will be climbing outdoors every day. 

Spanish drivers are not great but they are unbelievably careful when near cyclists. I have never felt as safe biking anywhere else in the world and others say the same 

I imagine I have a lot better options if I expand my search to Europe. I have a plan for EU citizenship but that is gonna take some years. I do wonder how it would feel being an expat in a village as small as El Chorro. Can you comment on that?

petzl logic wrote:

burlington to lone rock is easy, bolton is a bit harder. after that, i am not sure where you’re gonna go. by the time you do a round trip to smugglers notch your day has gotten short, but so is the season since the road doesn’t melt out till may and closes mid october. i would say it’s not a particularly viable place for bike to climbing, maybe look down south instead. 

I was mostly thinking lone rock which would be nice easy access to a decent number of hard projects. Everything further than Bolton would have to be longer weekend kinda deals or just long days to simulate something alpine. I do like Burlington a lot though and have family in New England so I keep entertaining the idea of moving there even if the seasons are short and the (bike) access isn't as great as other places.

Ezra Ellis wrote:

Spokane is a fairly bike friendly city with maybe six crags you can bike too.


Two pitch routes on the rocks of sharon also.

I'm not sure why but when I looked at Spokane before it didn't give me a very good impression for biking, but looking at it again now it doesn't seem so bad (by US standards). I'll have to keep it in the running. Do you have any first hand experience riding around town/the climbing areas?

Long Ranger · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 669
Israel R wrote:

This is the kind of experience I was hoping to find with this thread, though I already know what I want is achievable in Boulder. Do you ever feel like bike security is an issue when you take your bike to go to climbing? 

Knock wood, but I've never had a bike stolen anywhere. I see a lot of fairly terrible bike lockup practices, like using trendy but terrible locks, and doing dumb things like leaving a bike unlocked on their car that can be easily plucked off, or using a U-lock to lock the fork of the bike (take off the wheel, slide the U-lock off, put the wheel back on) instead of using a better technique (lock the rear wheel through the rear triangle). Don't do dumb things and the chances drastically go up that your bike will be there when you come back.

My inclination would be to just hide it in the woods if the area does not have a lot of people traffic to keep it safe locked in plain view. 

In the trails near the city, this is really not required. Most all the trailheads, including a ton in the flatirons and at Eldo, have actual bike lockup areas. Even East Longs Peak TH has a place to lock up a bike. In other parts of the state, I usually lock up to the info sign at the th with dental floss, as no one is looking to steal a bike 5 miles up a 4WD track, and if they did, there's nothing I'm bringing that's going to stop them so carpe diem. If I'm gone for many days at a time, I just ask like a campground to watch my bike - the camp host is usually more than happy to help. But trailheads in general are not hot spots for bike theft. Places like grocery stores are.

It feels like housing is a crux with a lot of places, can you comment on how easy it is to find reasonable rent in Boulder? I feel like I only ever hear people gnashing teeth about how expensive it is.

When I moved back here in 2014, rent was $250/month or something. The big crux is that Boulder has fairly outdated zoning laws, so only a max of 3 unrelated people can live in a house, no matter the size. For real cheap rent, you have to find housemates and/or landlords that don't care. And yes: housemates. That law isn't going to change anytime soon. I'm only a n = 1 but I developed a friend network and found out about places to live through that. I would admit that "cheap housing" isn't something that's getting any easier.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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