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In the web site it is broken down into 8 sections, 4 cover the US and 4 cover the rest.
US = Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, West and then you have
Canada, Australia & Asia, Europe and Latin America…
So in your opinion, where is the best place to ride?For me, I would have to say that the US WEST is the best place to ride..
We have a little bit of everything, which means we have it all. We have mountain trails, desert trails, coastline trails, plush green pacific nw trails, island trails(Hawaii) and canyon trails…
It would be intresting to see what people think is the best…. -
Western North Carolina.
You can have the west. Been there.
I’ll take Western North Carolina.
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seenvic,
why would you say W.N. Carolina what makes that the best??? -
I love riding in the southeast but I gotta say, the west is the best for mountain biking. Big views, epic trails, long climbs and descents, and great weather (esp. in CA). It’s no wonder in places like Colorado the percentage of residents who ride mountain bikes is much greater than in other parts of the country – it’s just too hard to resist!
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"BUDDAH" wrote
seenvic,
why would you say W.N. Carolina what makes that the best???Big techy rides. Long rides. Long climbs, descents. Pisgah has old school hard trails to ride. DuPont has newer style, flowier trails. Tsali is there for those who don’t like Pisgah.
A typical 5 hour ride in WNC has a lot of climbing and descending. You may climb for 45 minutes to an hour, then go down, repeat.
Out west….the climb can be for 3-4 hours of the 5 hours. Then a one hour DH.
I like the WNC riding of up/down/up/down better than one long up and one long down. I realize this is a personal preference that others may not share.
Where I live is pretty flat. A long climb here is a mile or two long. Those are rare, but the longest we have. When I ride Pisgah, climbing for an hour seems like a long time (to me).
I enjoy the riding out west, but prefer WNC’s style to the west.
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I think the Southeast has the best in the country. North Georgia, Western North Carolina have some of the best riding with acceptable weather year round and fewer legal restrictions sorta. Been all over the country and there are better places some of the time (seasons) and better scenery but the Southeast does it good all year round. Come South and see. 😄 Later,
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+1 with trek7k.
being a native of SoCal and traveling throught out the western states while I was growing up exposed me to a lot of different lands 😄"seenvic" wrote[quote="BUDDAH":3jrsse1y]seenvic,
why would you say W.N. Carolina what makes that the best???I like the WNC riding of up/down/up/down better than one long up and one long down. I realize this is a personal preference that others may not share.[/quote:3jrsse1y]
I do have to agree that it’s better to ride up and down x2 or x3 then to just ride up and then down. But you can find that for example in CO in places like Palmer Park, Falcon Trail or certain trails in Fruita…
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Gotta’ be the West and here’s why–only the west has it all.
No other area has huge, sweeping views of 12-14,000ft snowcapped peaks visible from their best singletrack–nothing in the east can compare to Monarch Crest, Curly Lake, etc.
No other area has huge 4,000 – 5,000 (or even more) vertical foot climbs and/or descents. With a couple small exceptions, nothing out even reaches that high above sea level, let alone allow that much descending in a single ride–nohing in the east can compare to the Downieville Downhill, Monarch Crest, Skyline Trail, etc. Our climbs can go on for hours, but they don’t have to–we have plenty of roller coaster trails as well.
There’s no desert riding out East. Nothing in the east compares to the fine ribbons of singletrack in Fruita, the rocky, gorgeous rock of Sedona, etc. While the east claims to have some "slickrock," it’s nothing like Moab
No other area has so many huge epic rides where you can get truly lost. Head in the same general direction long enough out east and you’ll run into a town, road, or other obvious signs of civilization. Out west you can go much further without these trappings.
What about weather? Everywhere I’ve lived in the East or Midwest gets way too much rain much of the year. By the time the trails dry out from the last rain, the next rain has arrived. By contrast, in Colorado, I can ride pretty much anytime I want–hit the low elevations in the winter and the high elevations in the summer and I’ve always got great singletrack under my knobbies and fine weather in my face. Contrast that with the intolerable heat, humidity and mugginess that infests the southeast most of the year and even the midwest and northeast in the summer months.
So I guess the East does have some things the west doesn’t–inescapable humidity, crowds, congestion, etc. Also axle-deep mud, swarming mosquitos, relentless poison ivy.
I’ve lived and ridden all over the country and when it came time to settle down, the quality of the MTBing was a prime factor in my decision of where to put down roots–it was no contest.
NC may have Pisgah and Tsali, and there are a few other lesser-known quality riding destinations out East, but can that really compare with Downieville, Sedona, Moab, St George, Sun Valley, Durango, Crested Butte, Steamboat Springs, Summit County, Taos, Bozeman/Big Sky, and the literally hundreds of lesser known but equally awesome biking destinations out West–either in quality or quantity?
The proof is in the pudding. Every year, Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder are listed as the fittest cities in the US–this is not because we all like to hang out at the gym–it’s directly attributable to the environment that inspires us to get outdoors an engage in vigorous physical activity!
Of course, it all boils down to personal preference and I, for one, love everyone who loves the East. It’s starting to get crowded out here . . .
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St George, UT. I actually don’t like the town but the riding is incredible. From Gooseberry Mesa, Little Creek Mountain to Grafton Mesa Trail, Flying Monkey, JEM, Zen and sooo much more. Only go here in the cool seasons as it’s desert but the trails offer everyone fun at whatever level you want to find.
The reason I don’t like St. George is I feel the prejudice of the church when there, something not seen in nearby Hurricane. There is a church edict against facial hair, which I have.
I have travelled a lot, Colorado does also have worlds of riding to offer, so does Arizona (Sedona, Flagstaff, Tucson, Black Canyon, AZ Trail) and every western state. -
"trek7k" wrote
I love riding in the southeast but I gotta say, the west is the best for mountain biking. Big views, epic trails, long climbs and descents, and great weather (esp. in CA). It’s no wonder in places like Colorado the percentage of residents who ride mountain bikes is much greater than in other parts of the country – it’s just too hard to resist!
And…no mosquitoes and very low humidity 😃
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@skibum…I take it you’re not in Fairfax any more…
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venice – italy – europe is too far from where u live? see: http://buonostato.blogspot.com/2011/11/riding- mountain-bike-in-heart-of-venice.html and http://buonostato.blogspot.com/2012/01/ … enice.html. it isn’t a technical track but spectacular for sure. Gas.
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You are all right about it being in the west, but you are forgetting one important point, its north of the US boarder!
Maybe you guys have never heard of it before, it’s call BC!
Just stirring the pot, I really have no clue as I’ve never ridden there. But from video’s and pictures I’ve seen anywhere in the west, be it Canada or the US they both look to be epic places to ride.
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Since I never had the chance to ride outside of Europe, it’s hard to compare.
All I know is, we have really great spots here at different countries, especially at the Alps.
Maybe one day…… -
I love places like Diablo, Highlands, Seven Springs, Whistler, Tower, and a few other sweet rides, but my favorite trail is right here in my home town or other words, in my back yard. Has something for everyone, with the exceptions of mountains, but plenty of elevation change…. 😆
Our trail is not for the fain hearted or beginners. 😄
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"seenvic" wrote
Western North Carolina.
You can have the west. Been there.
I’ll take Western North Carolina.
I completely agree
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"kevine3" wrote
[quote="seenvic":1mvsqhm9]Western North Carolina.
You can have the west. Been there.
I’ll take Western North Carolina.
I completely agree[/quote:1mvsqhm9]
Oh yeah, Western NC has to be in there as well. Beech Mountain & Pisgah among the many other hot tickets to ride…. 😄 -
Where is the best place to ride?
Easy.
Wherever I’m riding.
I’m pretty partial to riding around here in VT. The Burlington area has tons to offer, whatever style you like. It can be wet, but a lot of the newer trails stand up to use in the wet, so it’s no showstopper, just means you have to be good at riding rocks, roots, and structures that are slippery. Adds an element of excitement.
Burlington ranks among the healthiest (#1, CDC), safest (#10, Farmer’s Insurance Survey), outdoor recreation (Top 10, Outside Mag) and greenest/organic cities (#1, Sperling BestPlaces) in the country.
I definitely feel fortunate to live in such a beautiful state. it may not match the sheer grandeur of some places out West, but we have beautiful scenery, big vertical, good snow, low crowds (for the East) and great riding.
The #1 reason? Maple Syrup. Nectar of the gods.
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You’re all wrong. The best place to ride is wherever you’re riding at any given moment. ( corny, but true ).
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"tobar" wrote
You’re all wrong. The best place to ride is wherever you’re riding at any given moment. ( corny, but true ).
Your wrong…. 😆 😆 😆 Not everyplace I was or am riding is favorable for me. Not every trail will agree with me, though I love to ride, but some trails are just miserable, especially sugar sand laded trails. 😮 😉 …. 😆
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Good point.
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"tobar" wrote
Good point.
Yep, though I was just giving you the razz, but very true. There is always that trail that just does not sit right with ya when riding or has miserable conditions, either man made or by nature… 😆 😆 😆
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Yeah, like the time I rode the pinelands of south Jersey. Big mistake. Nothing but sand.
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