# Also moving to CO



## JTinVA (Jul 29, 2004)

Like another thread on here, I'm looking to move to CO in June. Because I'll be telecommuting, I can pretty much live anywhere I want. What are some of the best places for both road and MTB riding? Also, which cities / towns are most bike friendly and have the best trail / greenway systems? I've been leaning towards Colorado Springs but am also considering Grand Junction or Fort Collins. 

Non bike factors would include affordability, social setting (I don't want to be the biking hermit necessarily), etc.

Thanks for any help you can provide!


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Grand Junction is extremely hot in the summer and is culturally and socially in Utah. On the bright side, the Junk is somewhat affordable. Fort Collins has good riding and is far more livable, although it costs more and the Front Range is growing a lot. It's all a trade-off.


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## fosbibr (Aug 29, 2005)

Colroado is a horrible place to live - blizzards all winter long, barely any sunshine and horrible summer conditions. Seriously, if you are tele-commuting you may want to consider some of the mountain towns. Housing prices could be considered more but there are still some reasonable out there. Front range is good, (I've lived in Denver/Boulder for ten of the past 15 years), but the opportuntiy to live in the mountains is a strong pull.


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## Hardtail (Feb 4, 2003)

*me too*

Im gonna be in Longmont about 4 weeks from now
maybe somebody can show me some good rides soon


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## 8art8 (Feb 2, 2007)

i moved to the front range from dc about 12 years ago and didn't realize how friggin big the state is. 8 hours in the car from boulder (driving to durango) and still int the same state? sheeesh! Junction is way out there and kind of "small town" atmosphere from my limited experience, but it is very far from front range stuff if that's what you want (city, relatively consistant race schedules, traffic, lots of people). It's a cliche but as for colorado springs I would have to say "neo-nazi-religious-conservative" (but I admit to very little experience there)... maybe also consider pueblo if you like small, affordable town feel. For me, from your list, I would pick Fort Collins for most of the reasons others mention.


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## MikeBiker (Mar 9, 2003)

I've considered moving to Grand Junction for the more laid-back atmosphere. The summer heat is one of many things that ended that idea.

I've lived in Colorado Springs twice and found that the "neo-nazi-religious-conservative" viewpoint to be popular there. I never really felt comfortable there.

I do enjoy the front range from north of Denver to Ft. Collins. Lots of nice riding and mostly friendly people. Denver is nice, but too large for me.


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## gearguywb (Dec 26, 2006)

Junction is warm in the summer...but the trade off is that we don't generally freeze our a*** off in the winter! Everything is a trade off, but personally I would take Junction and the smaller town over the traffic and the front range any day.


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## John Nelson (Mar 10, 2006)

The riding is great everywhere in Colorado. I think other factors are going to play a larger role in your decision. For many people, the largest factor is how far from civilization you want to live. Once you choose your city, a more important decision will be where within that city you want to live. You probably don't want to live in the core of a large city since it will make it harder to escape to the sparsely traveled roads.


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## ColoradoVeloDude (Oct 7, 2005)

JTinVA said:


> Like another thread on here, I'm looking to move to CO in June. Because I'll be telecommuting, I can pretty much live anywhere I want. What are some of the best places for both road and MTB riding? Also, which cities / towns are most bike friendly and have the best trail / greenway systems? I've been leaning towards Colorado Springs but am also considering Grand Junction or Fort Collins.
> 
> Non bike factors would include affordability, social setting (I don't want to be the biking hermit necessarily), etc.
> 
> Thanks for any help you can provide!


I came here (Colorado Springs) from the SF Bay Area in 1982 (Cupertino, it was apricot and plum orchards back then) for a 18-month job. I never left. 

This is my third season of bike riding and I don’t think you can beat The Springs for bike riding (I am sure other folks will have equally strong opinions for other parts of the state). I live in the NW part of town and can get in all kinds of climbing without even looking for it. 

As far as the town itself, yes, it is conservative. But, any place you go is what you make of it. My experience is that you can find the types of people that you want to hang out with anywhere you go. 

The only thing bad about the high country (basically the in-between part west of the Front Range) is that the cycling season will be abbreviated. Snow, storms, ice, cold weather will put a cramp in your riding. Goodmountain bike riding up there, but the snow doesn't go away until mid-June and comes back in September. I guess people up there put their bikes away for the season and do cross-country skiing. Along the Front Range, the weather is often nice enough in the winter to go riding (you might have to rug up a bit to deal with the cold, but won’t have to deal with snow/ice on a regular basis). 

On my first Ride The Rockies, the ride stopped in Delta and Montrose. These appeared to me to be really nice, solid, small communities that are worth a look at to live in. There is skiing nearby in Gunnison (Crested Butte) or Durango, or the ski area outside of Grand Junction (forgot the name), or the Aspen ski areas. Grand Junction was nice too, but I liked the feeling of these smaller towns better. 

Around Ft. Collins seems to be nice (Broomfield, Louisville, Loveland). The only thing around there is that location seems to get a lot of nasty, nasty (i.e., tornado spawner) thunderstorms. There always seems to be a big red blob on The Weather Channel around Greeley/Weld County during the summer. 

Maybe take some input from some of these responses and go live in each place for a week or two to decide where you would like better? Like a previous poster said, the driving distances can be long out here. If scheduled air service is a factor, then you are looking to be near Grand Junction, Durango, Colorado Springs, Aspen, Steamboat Springs, or Eagle (30 minutes west of Vail). You usually can’t get out of Colorado to somewhere else with out a stop in Denver, Chicago, Dallas, or SF/LAX first.


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## Hardtail (Feb 4, 2003)

ColoradoVeloDude said:


> My experience is that you can find the types of people that you want to hang out with anywhere you go.
> 
> .


Unless you're in Houston Texass.. 

i will be up in Longmont next week getting in my new house. Anybody in the area want to hang out let me know


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## John Nelson (Mar 10, 2006)

Ride west out of Longmont until you get to 75th. Then ride north for as far as you want to go. They'll be a few jogs here and there. Just go with the flow.


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