Seriously; where should a bikie retire?

Jim wrote:
Wrong forum I know, but the other rec.bicycles forums are now inhabited by
trolls...
Anyone here know a USA destination with well-paved mountain roads, thin
traffic & pleasant weather? I'm looking to buy a vacation/retirement home
fit for a bikie.
No pricey ski resorts needed, just good road riding.
Best,
Jim

Others have already mentioned it but the slightly northern part of the
SE part of the country may fit your requirements. Tennessee and North
Carolina in particular. NC has a fairly active bicycling community. I
believe the US bicycle race to pick a national champion was moved to
South Carolina from Philadelphia beginning next year. Obviously SC is
close to NC and TN. Performance mail order catalog is headquartered in
NC.

Pleasant riding weather year round, although the locals probably
imagine they have winter. Cycle North Carolina is in early October. I
was on it a few years ago and it was ideal biking weather. Even the
bad day only had cold rain for an hour at Noon. And the cold was only
in the 40s. Bike Ride Arond Tennessee is held in mid September. Ideal
biking weather.

I have met people who retired to the mountains of NC so you would not
be alone. But that also means the prices may have escalated. But
since you are going there for slightly different reasons, you could
pick a less costly area than the official retirement areas and be just
as happy. About anywhere in eastern TN or western NC will get you into
mountainous territory.

Both states have quite a few paved back roads without much car traffic.
And few potholes due to the lack of freezing in the states.

In article ,
"Tom Nakashima" wrote:

The Bay Area is nice, but too expensive of an area to retire in. The price
of homes here is outrageous as well as the price of gas and general cost of
living (higher than most states). We bought our home in the 80's when then
market was still affordable, so when I retire, I could either rent it, or
get a good price.
-tom

Also, while the climate is good and there's plenty of places to ride,
there's too much traffic and it's getting worse because of new
development.

--
Mike DeMicco

"Mike DeMicco" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Tom Nakashima" wrote:

The Bay Area is nice, but too expensive of an area to retire in. The
price
of homes here is outrageous as well as the price of gas and general cost
of
living (higher than most states). We bought our home in the 80's when
then
market was still affordable, so when I retire, I could either rent it, or
get a good price.
-tom

Also, while the climate is good and there's plenty of places to ride,
there's too much traffic and it's getting worse because of new
development.

--
Mike DeMicco

Yes, agree Mike,
Traffic is terrible in the Bay Area.
I love riding the back roads early Sunday mornings, either people are at
church or sleeping in.
-tom

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 16:15:02 -0800, Mike DeMicco
wrote:

Ideally, be able to ride all year round,
have a lot of acreage (relatively cheap)

I live in SoCal almost at the gate of Angeles Crest NF in Sunland.
The San Gabriel Mtns., Santa Monica Mtns, and others are within
cycling from the house as is Venice Beach, Malibu, and the other beach
cities.

There are many not so great things to say about Los Angeles but the
cycling is outstanding all year.

Your desire, "lots of acreage (relatively cheap), will rule out most
of CA.

Paul Kopit writes:

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 16:15:02 -0800, Mike DeMicco
wrote:

Ideally, be able to ride all year round, have a lot of acreage
(relatively cheap)

snip

Your desire, "lots of acreage (relatively cheap), will rule out most
of CA.

Or most anywhere in the US with a developed infrastructure. Roads are
expensive to build and maintain, and hence taxes are commensurate.

"Paul Kopit" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 11 Jan 2006 16:15:02 -0800, Mike DeMicco
wrote:

Ideally, be able to ride all year round,
have a lot of acreage (relatively cheap)

I live in SoCal almost at the gate of Angeles Crest NF in Sunland.
The San Gabriel Mtns., Santa Monica Mtns, and others are within
cycling from the house as is Venice Beach, Malibu, and the other beach
cities.

There are many not so great things to say about Los Angeles but the
cycling is outstanding all year.


I'm right up the street from you off of Foothill and the 2. Great location
to access mtn bike rides in the San Gabriels and Verdugos, and now that I
have a road bike I'll be joining the legions heading around and up Big T,
I'll probably avoid Hwy 2, though.

Greg

Tim McNamara wrote:
Or most anywhere in the US with a developed infrastructure. Roads are
expensive to build and maintain, and hence taxes are commensurate.

I hear a lot about how expensive roads are... but somehow lower middle
class people in sparsely populated central Illinois farm country (where
I grew up) are able to afford nice paved roads on a 1 mile grid.

The guys who build and maintain these roads are locals who are hired by
the township. A portion of the property taxes pays for it all.

The roads to population ratio is much lower in most parts of the
country... so why are they so "expensive"?

"Ron Ruff" writes:

Tim McNamara wrote:
Or most anywhere in the US with a developed infrastructure. Roads are
expensive to build and maintain, and hence taxes are commensurate.

I hear a lot about how expensive roads are... but somehow lower
middle class people in sparsely populated central Illinois farm
country (where I grew up) are able to afford nice paved roads on a 1
mile grid.

Because they are only paying part of the real cost. Given what roads
cost to build and maintain, it's unlikely that the handful of farmers
and small town residents in the area could bear the burden of paying
those costs.

The guys who build and maintain these roads are locals who are hired
by the township. A portion of the property taxes pays for it all.

Probably only partially paid for by property taxes. In most states
roads are paid for in large part out of the general fund (e.g., income
and sales taxes) and whatever money can be gotten from the Federal
government (e.g., pork).

The roads to population ratio is much lower in most parts of the
country... so why are they so "expensive"?

Roads cost a lot to engineer and build. There are lots of costs: land
aquisition, surveying and layout, engineering, construction, etc.
Asphalt is made in part from oil, which ain't cheap anymore, and there
are over 2 million miles of asphalt roads in the US. According to
Chevron's Web site, a barrel of oil yields about one gallon of tar
after refining into all the various products that can be extracted
from the oil.

There are regional variations of course. In Arkansas, for example,
estimated construction costs for a new two lane rural road are $2.1
million per mile. In the mountains, $2.25 million per mile. In urban
areas, $2.45 million per mile. Of course, reconstructing an existing
roadway is much much cheaper- $800,000 per lane mile (so $1.6 million
per mile for a two lane road).

http://www.ahtd.state.ar.us/Roadway/...ecord_Number=8

In 1996, costs for highway construction apparently averaged about $1
million per mile:

http://www-pam.usc.edu/volume2/v2i1a3s2.html

In Washington State, costs are higher that Arkansas:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/accountabili...sTax/QandA.htm

Drivers are insulated from the actual costs of driving by diffusing
the costs over a variety of funding mechanisms (vehicle taxes, fuel
taxes, property taxes and assessments, state general funds, federal
funds, etc). This prevents the per-mile cost of driving from being so
high that only the rich can afford to drive. Interestingly enough,
all the "total driving cost" Web sites I could find only included the
individual costs of driving (buying a car, insuring it, fueling it,
etc) and left out the infrastructure costs or environmental damage
costs.

Ron Ruff wrote:
Tim McNamara wrote:
Or most anywhere in the US with a developed infrastructure. Roads are
expensive to build and maintain, and hence taxes are commensurate.

I hear a lot about how expensive roads are... but somehow lower middle
class people in sparsely populated central Illinois farm country (where
I grew up) are able to afford nice paved roads on a 1 mile grid....

Do you consider chip seal to be nice? Even worse than the rough ride is
all the loose aggregate that builds up at the corners [1]. I often
though on group rides that the front rider should yell "no gravel" at
the exceptional clean corner on the assumption that all the rest had
loose material.

[1] I knew someone that fell and fractured his hip going around at
corner.

--
Tom Sherman - Former Champaign County resident

Tim McNamara wrote:
...
Asphalt is made in part from oil, which ain't cheap anymore, and there
are over 2 million miles of asphalt roads in the US. According to
Chevron's Web site, a barrel of oil yields about one gallon of tar
after refining into all the various products that can be extracted
from the oil....

Unless it is polymer modified, the asphalt cement used in most
countries [1] is sourced completely from crude oil (the portion that is
left over after the lighter fractions of crude oil have been
extracted).

Tar is made from coal, asphaltic cement from crude oil.

[1] There are some natural asphalt sources, such as Lake Trinidad and
the misnamed La Brea Tar Pits.

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley (For a bit?)