Best place in US to train and race?

[Multebear]

Where is the best place to be in the US in terms of good roads, good weather and good roadraces (not crits).

Roads need to be with good tarmac and not too many cars. Mountains would def. be a plus as well.

Races need to be cat 1 or 2 races. I'm not to much for crits. I like the longer races around 100 to 150 km.

[djgarrett21]

If you are looking for some long epic climbs then the Wasatch front in Utah is hard to beat. Numerous climbs of various categories, lots of HC if that is your thing. Racing scene is good with a good competition ranging from CAT 5 all through CAT 1. Mountains are minutes away and easily accessible from most portions of the valley.

[nickf]

Don't have much climbing here in Florida but out rides are always full gas. I think us flatlanders have an advantage when it comes to climbing because we are conditioned for long sustained efforts. No coasting down hills here to recover. There are some "hills" out in Lake County, FL. around 30min west or Orlando. Nice quiet country roads. Lots of cyclist flock to that area for the mixed terrain. Racing scene in Orlando/Miami is ok from what i hear, no road racing for me. Weather is also great, hot as hell in the summer but better then subzero winters. We can really ride year around. For climbing the mountains are around a 8 hour drive in north Georgia.

[KarlC]

Don't have much climbing here in Florida but out rides are always full gas. I think us flatlanders have an advantage when it comes to climbing because we are conditioned for long sustained efforts. No coasting down hills here to recover. There are some "hills" out in Lake County, FL. around 30min west or Orlando. Nice quiet country roads. Lots of cyclist flock to that area for the mixed terrain. Racing scene in Orlando/Miami is ok from what i hear, no road racing for me. Weather is also great, hot as hell in the summer but better then subzero winters. We can really ride year around. For climbing the mountains are around a 8 hour drive in north Georgia.

Who coast down hills ?

[mergeforthekill]

Southern CA wins.

[KWalker]

Most pros are based out of Boulder area and/or train in Tucson in the winter.

Judging from your post if you're moving somewhere just to train, then your team that you are going to race for should be telling you this. Good luck riding for any decent domestic team and trying to tell them you won't race crits.

[Multebear]

Good answers guys. Tell me more about Southern CA and Boulder (Colorado??).

I haven't made any plans at all yet, and I don't know anything about the "scene" over there. I'm based in northern Europe, and I'm just toying with the thought of moving somewhere warm for 1-2 years. First I thought about Spain, but it's too cold during winter. And Spain doesn't really turn me on anyway. Always wanted to go to US. It needs to be a place, where the winters aren't to cold.

Could you guys tell me more about crits? We don't really do crits here. In the european scene it's not really regarded reel racing. Don't you have lots of long races in US?

[beeatnik]

Southern CA wins.

yep

[KarlC]

........... Always wanted to go to US. It needs to be a place, where the winters aren't to cold.

.............

Southern CA wins again then, I ride all year long and don't even own a jacket

[Multebear]

Where in Southern CA do you guys ride? And where do you ride from? Do you need to drive out of the city to get to the place where you train?

[beeatnik]

Good answers guys. Tell me more about Southern CA and Boulder (Colorado??).

I haven't made any plans at all yet, and I don't know anything about the "scene" over there. I'm based in northern Europe, and I'm just toying with the thought of moving somewhere warm for 1-2 years. First I thought about Spain, but it's too cold during winter. And Spain doesn't really turn me on anyway. Always wanted to go to US. It needs to be a place, where the winters aren't to cold.

Could you guys tell me more about crits? We don't really do crits here. In the european scene it's not really regarded reel racing. Don't you have lots of long races in US?

HUGE fields. Diverse fields. Young fields (not just the U23 stars but kids coming up from the urban, fixed gear scene). Year round riding. As the beer says, 329 days of sun (more in 2015, less in 2016/17). Santa Monica Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, many, many 1-5 mile city climbs. And, finally, for better or worse, numerous, gigantic training rides (100 to 200 riders).

[KWalker]

90% of U.S. crits are raced in office parks by masters racers that aren't always that fast in normal races. Heavier riders.

5% of the remaining crits are on very technically demanding circuits so lighter or faster riders are favored.

The last 5% are the pro-level crits, where you have to be stupid strong. These guys might use those office park or boring crits as part of a training ride.

If you've never raced here, but hold a UCI license you can usually self-select your starting category. The pack dynamic of U.S. and foreign races is quite different so I would select as a 2 or 3 depending on your racing history and experience.

The one reason I give Tucson the edge over So Cal is the sheer number of pros that now train there all winter long. The Shootout ride there in particular probably has the highest percentage of pros of any group ride in the country.

[Multebear]

Very interesting. Those office parks, are they usually long wide straight roads with soft curves with no technical sections?

No one mentions regular road races. Are they not very common?

And do you need to drive out to train in Southern CA? Or is it possible to start training from your house?

[KWalker]

Road races are common, but often more of longer circuits. There are very few point to point races at the amateur level.

Dude, saying Southern CA is almost like saying "France". Depends where you live.

Explore Strava.

[wingguy]

Dude, saying Southern CA is almost like saying "France".

Now that's just crazy talk..... It's more the size of Romania