On Aug 21, 2:03 pm, "
wrote:
Hi All,

My relocation plans are starting to take shape. I am going to
California next week to have a look around. No bike riding, but plenty
of driving. The plan is for me to see as much as I can so I can make a
"short list" of potential areas which I will visit again in October
with my wife and kids so they can see and make a final descision
later.

I have I beileve enough info for most of the places I will check out,
but I recently became interested in Santa Maria. Can someone fill me
in on what the racing/riding scene is like there? How far do you have
to ride to be out of range of stop signs, etc. In general what is it
like? Any suggestions on particular things/places I should check out
when I am in the area?

As Slave says, northern California is a great place to ride but a
particularly nasty area to work in. The commies are intent on
destroying any businesses and slowly managing to kill the goose that
laid the golden egg. If you have a good job it is sometimes funny to
watch them building their own nooses to hang themselves with. For
instance, Berkeley insisted on giving students at Cal the right to
vote in Berkeley elections. Berkeley was really a hotbed of
electronics and biotech development. The numbers of startups there
were probably the highest in the nation and maybe the world. Now there
are essentially no startups there, all of the electronics firms and
all of the biotech firms are gone. One company I worked for was
threatened closure for having "dangerous chemicals on site". What were
these "dangerous chemicals"? Two unopened cans of motor oil used in
the machine shop to lubricate the lath and mill bearings.

Santa Maria is a strange place. It varies from decade to decade as a
good place or not to raise children. Of course good parents can raise
good kids anywhere but it helps if all of the local kids aren't
thieves, druggies or worse (think of Moab). The riding is good but
somewhat limited because there are so many cars down there and so few
roads. But even the old farts are faster than hell. And the length of
rides is sort of farther than I'm used to because most of the routes
are flat though often windy.

Up here in northern California we do 30-50 miles usually with a good
deal of climbing. Down there a 50 mile ride isn't any big deal.

Santa Rosa is pretty much the ideal country if you have a job though
the roads are narrow without shoulder and the drivers ought to be
ripped from their cars and beaten to a pulp about every other trip.
San Francisco bay area is absolutely spectacular with any kind of
riding you could want. But the cost of living is high, the local
governments are looney tunes and the population never stops growing.
On the other hand the racing is first rate, the good thing about
looney tunes governments is that they discourage land development in
the best places - such as Tunitas Creek Rd and west Old LaHonda Rd
etc.

So, there's good and bad about just about any place in California. The
central valley around Sacramento is a good place to live and work but
it is hot. SF bay area is a good place to live and work but you have
to be ready to change jobs at a moments notice (since '67 I've worked
at 41 jobs in electronics! My favorite was a company that hired me on
Friday and when I came to work on Monday the building was empty.)

Southern California is a great deal more stable, the weather is better
for most of the year but the riding isn't nearly as varied or scenic.
You makes your choice and you takes what you get.