Best Oregon towns (to live in) for road biking

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

Moderators: robbosmans, Moderator Team

Post Reply
User avatar
tommasini
Posts: 1460
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 6:48 am
Location: Central USA
Contact:

by tommasini

Am working on an exploritory trip to Centra/Western Oregon - with the possiblity that in a few years and after a few more trips my wife and i pick a great town for retirement / mostly road riding but a bit of mountain bike trail riding too.

I am not a "city" rider (have visted Portland for instance which is considered bike friendly) - I prefer communites 50K to 300K residents where I can ride from my house and get on out into the quiet countryside (riding on shoulders of busy highways is not my cup of tea) on a variety of flat (for interval work) and challenging terrain........I no longer race but do competitive pace group rides several times a week with the local racers.

I'm also a sunny day rider - won't leave the house if it's evident I'll be rained on......Bend is on high on the list to check out. But I am wondering what others think of Medford/Ashland, Eugene/Springfield, and Roseburg areas. Also any other suggestions in central/western Oregon. Cost of living is not a major issue.
Last edited by tommasini on Sun May 27, 2018 11:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



AJS914
Posts: 5392
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

I'm also interested to hear what people think. I'm in Spokane now which is great right now for riding but you have a long stretch of cold weather and snow during winter. My wife may have a future job opportunity in Ashland so that could be a possibility.

robertbb
Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:35 am

by robertbb

I'm a bit jelous - of all the places I've visited in the US, the PNW (Oregon) was my favourite. If only it wasn't so wet, I probably would have married that American girl.......... ;-)

User avatar
Mr.Gib
Posts: 5548
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:12 pm
Location: eh?

by Mr.Gib

Bend is a very cool place. Great beer and mountain bike scene. Lots of young people and beautiful real estate along the river. Perhaps a nice place to raise a family.

Road biking, hmmm. Definitely some nice loops and climbs around Mt Bachelor but the road surface is not great in many areas. Also the road network is not that extensive. The loop through Prineville Canyon is fun. Scale is big. A lot of loops at least 100 km. The desert can be insanely hot.
wheelsONfire wrote: When we ride disc brakes the whole deal of braking is just like a leaving a fart. It happens and then it's over. Nothing planned and nothing to get nervous for.

Imaking20
Posts: 2260
Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:19 am

by Imaking20

Bend is great... the problem is lots of folks have realized that. You could check out neighboring areas like La Pine or Sisters if you want a few more trees and a few less people. Redmond if you want a little more desert and less people.

With your rain disclaimer, I'd say stay away from Eugene. The weather is more or less the same from Eugene all the way up to Seattle on the left side of the Cascades.

Ashland and Medford are awesome. Less people, less precipitation, and lower cost of living than any place mentioned so far (except maybe La Pine). There's a really cool sanctioned hill climb event each year up Mt. Ashland.

Another place to throw out would be The Dalles. Views in the Gorge are absolutely spectacular and riding is excellent - so long as you don't mind some wind.

Spent the day out there today actually.

Image

Image

Image

And the Rowena loops never deny a great photo op:

Image

Image

robertbb
Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:35 am

by robertbb

The geeks in here will notice a lot of Intel CPU codenames in there: Klamath, Mendocino, Deschutes...

Such a cool part of the world. These pics make me long to go back!

Imaking20
Posts: 2260
Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2011 5:19 am

by Imaking20

Yeah, Intel is a massive presence in the Portland area for sure.

boots2000
Posts: 1393
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:28 pm

by boots2000

I love Bend- But in my opinion Bend has so-so road riding.
The road stuff there is is fine, but not huge options, surprisingly only one climb very close by and it is a highway grade up Bachelor.

That said, if you like to mountian bike- or exptend the road to gravel/mixed surface riding- The options are both limitless and spectacular.
You can ride gravel and/or combo rides in every direction- it is awesome.

I never bring a road bike to Bend anymore- Last few trips I have only brought my gravel bike.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply