Living in the wrong place

Are you me? And do you live down the road?

Currently looking at moving 200 miles north to rectify location issues that we have had for 10 years since uni. Just need to work out how to earn money while/after moving!

I moved from the edge of the Peaks (30 minute ride to the first lumps) to the south of Coventry, pretty poor for any sort of cycling. Glad I essentially doubled my salary, made it easier to stomach.

The next move was bloody awesome though.

Where are you? I suppose it’s not actually my situation because you can ride off road from the door here, even in winter.

Depends on what you have going on.

I live in the right place in the UK for my family, with associated compromises. If I was going to live somewhere based on hobbies and sports, I wouldn't be living in the UK at all.

Been there done that.

We spent '97 to'11 living and working in London - minimum drive of an hour each way to the Surrey Hills to ride. 2 or more weekends a month we'd travel up to the Peaks (staying at my parents in Leicester).

In 2011 we told our respective employers that we were moving to Sheffield and if they wanted to carry on employing us, that was fine, but these would be the terms. Amazingly - both companies thought about it briefly and went "ok"...

We've been here ever since and unless I could move to the Alps, I can't see us ever leaving. Doorstep road, gravel and mtb riding is excellent and there's a proper feeling of community amongst the riders which mostly extends into the wider outdoor pursuits fraternity.

We both work from home now - she'd changed jobs a few times and works for a company in Leeds. I'm still just about with the same bunch and have to spend some time in London - but its always a great feeling getting on the train to head home again!

A few years back we stayed in really rural Norfolk.
Ok , so no Mtb but no public footpaths to explore and really narrow roads so going for a run was dangerous.
Here on the Surrey/ London border I have tons of everything literally on my doorstep.

I live in the right place but the wrong house!

I did ten years in London then moved to Yorkshire because I was fed up with having black snot and the air tasting horrible. My career went a bit haywire but found its way back on track eventually. Glad I did.

Where are you OP?

I felt the same when I lived in Cambridgeshire, but I've been in Berkshire since 06' (hardly an outdoor Mecca I know) here I do at least have lots of riding choice and a bit of elevation from my door with good transport links to more, it's an acceptable balance for me...

Definitely not a fan of the flat, boring Eastern bit of England...

Peaks or Lakes would be better but it's not going to happen now with a settled family, local friends and aging parents/in-laws currently within drivable distance to consider...

We lived in a small village in darkest Lincolnshire for 6 years. Not much to speak of bike wise, a (very) small hill with some tracks, some flat woodland, miles and miles of arable farmland. Use to regularly drive to the Peak or similar to ride. Over lockdown I started riding my road bike more, and started to enjoy it. A few nice, if flat, walks from the door. At the time, I recall getting frustrated, constantly driving hours to go climbing or hiking or whatever, none of our friends lived anywhere near, family were an hour away. We wanted something else.

Bit over a year ago we moved to (suburb of Greater) Vancouver. Now, don't get me wrong, there is plenty to like about it, but I'm not exactly bouncing off the walls with excitement. I miss being in the little villages and being able to go out on my road bike from the door without getting smooshed by a guy in an F350. Traffic is bad and I don't really enjoy the city elements of it, I don't need 100 different ramen restaurants. Yes, there is plenty of incredible biking, but it all feels very procedural and bike parky, compared to exploring in the Peak or the Lakes, like constantly riding a trail centre, without the sausage rolls.

My point is, carefully assess what you want. Previously Vancouver seemed like a dream destination, but it's just another place and I'm not sure the activities make up for deficiencies in other ways. In hindsight, I feel like I might have been happier in the Lakes, but whatever. Grass is always greener, innit.

I'm towards the northern half of the flat eastern bit of England.

I actually live in Cambridgeshire and yes, there are no mountains but a road bike or fast 29er and you can go for miles on some amazing rides right from the front door.

It's kind of what you make of it to some extent.

Admittedly my last big ride had a ferry about a quarter of the way in.

As with most folk, we'd previously been held back by family (both my parents died with a year) and employment opportunities (I got early retirement). With those out of the way we had the chance to pick almost anywhere,  Access to a varierty of riding, but also running, walking and paddling, was key in our choice to move to Aviemore. having said that, where we lived previously was pretty good too.

Make a list of the places on the planet you'd most like to live? Now narrow it down to places you legally can live and afford a roof over your head. That brought me here and I can't think of a good reason to leave.

Superficially I live in one of the best places for a mountain biker: South Wales. Multiple trail centres, Bike Park Wales 30 mins away and all the natural riding within an hour's drive. But I live at the bottom of Cardiff so nearly always drive to ride, even to the local stuff to the north. Why ride for 40-45 mins on tarmac with nutter car drivers when I can drive to a quiet spot just north of the city and hardly touch a road for a few hours. I may be in one of the 'good' places but I'm a country boy at heart and grew up in the Brecon Beacons with the same amount of riding options plus two bona fide classic rides on my doorstep. I really want to get that back as with regards to Cardiff:

Sometimes wonder why I’m here other than for work. Wouldn’t buy a house here. Don’t think I’d miss the place or ever return to visit if I moved somewhere else. I’m not a native local. No local relationships with local people.

sums it up. I moved here specifically due to a job, one I no longer have. I've been looking to move to Bristol due to a new job, which is actually the opposite of where I want to be. If I go riding with mates it usually involves driving to somewhere in the South of England, occasionally Mid or North Wales.

Would be interesting to hear from others, maybe you took the chance and did something about it during the pandemic as many others did?

My original plan was that when I hit 40 (hit the milestone 2 years ago in the middle of a lockdown...) I would move back to somewhere rural, back to the Beacons, Forest of Dean or Snowdonia were options, and satisfy my longing for open space on my doorstep. I could have afforded to live on a low wage as rural rents were low. Sadly the pandemic screwed that up with everyone now able to WFH and searching for a new place with space around them, what I was after went from being out of fashion to being THE thing overnight. So thanks to circumstances I'm stuck living in one city, work in another and have 2+hrs drive every day.

So yes, definitely live in the wrong place.

Sometimes wonder why I’m here other than for work. Wouldn’t buy a house here. Don’t think I’d miss the place or ever return to visit if I moved somewhere else. I’m not a native local. No local relationships with local people.

I don't even wonder.

Everything around me is road, there's some stuff in Dunoon but that's a ferry ride and half hour drive away. Nothing outside the door unless I want to do road miles (on the one single track road north because the rest is the A78 and is utter shite to drive on never mind ride) or ride in a boggy mess 10 months out of 12.

Quite aside from that the public transport is crap. I'm starting a new job in June working 3 days from home and 2 in Glasgow so could move anywhere else but for the fact my missus got a job in town 😠

I really miss hills and mountains but when we moved to Norfolk I purchased a road bike and went off exploring.
A fat bike has opened up a whole new cycling experience for me and riding along endless sandy beaches and dunes makes up somewhat for the lack of elevation. The wildlife I get to witness is a big motivator for getting out. Something I would really miss if we moved away.
I have just adapted to my surroundings.

There are not many wrong places,there are places that are wrong for some people,some of the time.
😉

Having spent 40yrs of my life smack bang in the Chilterns I find it hard enough just being 3 miles from the hills, but this will be resolved.

I lived in Wokingham and worked in Reading for about 9 months. Aside from sharing a flat with a mate that worked in Bracknell there wasn't another thing I can remember that was good about it. I suppose it was motivation to emigrate.

Right place, right house, reasonable local riding, Gisburn forest 20 minutes by mates car from mine.
Lakes an hour away. Need to get myself a car.
Would like to one day move 200 miles North to the outskirts of Edinburgh though.

Moved to South Wales from the Home Counties almost 40 years ago. Loads of proper riding easily accessible from the door, I'm less than a mile from the Brecon Beacons National Park Boundary. Equidistant from Gower, Brechfa, Cwmyrhaidr, Afan and Glyncorrwg; all about 45 mins drive. It all sounds great but it's a rural village and my closest friend lives an hour away. I'm a bit introverted so mixing with others isn't always my forte. My oldest frinds are hundreds of miles distant but we keep in touch by phone etc. My biggest (only) regret is that my extended family is a long way away so we don't get to see them often enough. I'm not a particularly gregarious person but sometime I like a bit of company.

I moved to Peebles.... I think I have totalled about a tenth of what I used to ride when I didn't. 🙄

I live at the foot of the South Downs. Every now and then we idly look at relocating to somewhere cheaper with land (dreaming of turning substantial horse livery costs into repayments on a bigger mortgage).

But then I bring up Ride with GPS and realise that there is only 1 section of bridleway within 5 square miles of the property...and its practically invisible across a farmers field and doesn't connect anywhere.

We moved here by chance...I can ride from the door and during covid I rode all the bridleways I can reach from my house without crossing a public road, 50 miles/80km and 1700 metres of climbing with a small portion of overlapping. Cross the roads dissecting the South Downs and there is hundreds of miles extra to add, and two forests full of singletrack that are within riding distance (although I'd rather drive there rather than try and session the trails halfway round a 50 mile ride)

Not gloating (much!) but if I lived in the 'wrong place' I'd not do anything like the amount of riding I do. Grew up in Dorset and that wasn't bad for riding but it was nothing like the hils and views of the South Downs

One of the lovely things about living in the UK is that you can live where you want.

I think so many of us get dragged into higher wages, to spend more on houses, and more on cars to use more fuel to carry more expensive bikes over busier roads to further away riding venues where we expect to spend a good chunk on an expensive cafe, parking and a new bit for a bike...

We found that we could make huge choices over where we lived, in places and a lifestyle we wanted to, and while the finances are hard (as is being further from family and some iffy weather at times), the rewards are worth it.

I quite like where we live and we live here on purpose.

Got the Pentlands on the doorstep (about 500m of road to get onto them) for evening bike rides, dog walks and open water swimming. 2hr40 NW I have Oban and the playground that is the Hebrides during the summer. Going NNW 2hrs20 we have Aviemore and the Cairngorms. 2hrs on the nose NNE I’m on the slopes in Glenshee.

I could probably earn more moving to London or the SE, but it’s frankly pretty grim down there and not at all worth it in my opinion.

We half live in the right place, half the wrong place. The reason is, we have 2 different lives to consider. There's the 'work' and trips into cities for Mrs Weeksy and then there's the DH Racing teen life. We're close to M4, so works well, but it's a hike to Wales etc...
From a riding context, here is/was everything perfect for me in terms of day to day riding, but again the teeny DHer has thrown that a little as we're now riding more and techier rides.

Overall, i don't really know the answer 😀

No, I'm at the east end of the Tweed Valley
But contemplating a move to the Cairngorms for entirely non-bike related reasons. But if the riding there wasn't great I wouldn't be contemplating it at all.

I did it. Like most people who have lived in London, great whilst you're young, but it get's exhausting when you're a bit older. Moved out to rural Surrey where i have a bit of land with a poly tunnel and solar panels. Quite happy out in the sticks on my own growing a bit of fruit and veg. Reasonable MTB, good road riding a decent local for when i fancy a pint.

Find somewhere you like the look of, ticks your boxes etc and spend some time there.

I'm from Manchester and with ageing parents i have to consider the potential that i'll have to go back north if they need me. So, do it whilst you can!

Moved from Bristol to the FOD in 2020 because I was here every weekend anyway, best decision ever. I can ride to some of the best offpiste trails in the country from my doorstep and there's a huge community of likeminded people. The FOD is a lovely area too and being able to WFH just made it a no brainer.

My quality of life as well as fitness and bike skills have all rocketed since moving here.

I moved to Peebles…. I think I have totalled about a tenth of what I used to ride when I didn’t. 🙄

@joshvegas is that to do with moving to Peebles, or some other factor?

We'll be moving from Sheffield to outskirts of Edinburgh later this year.

Sheffield has lots of positives but I've been here 15 years on and off, and I think change is important to keep things interesting.

tetrode were you on my Spanish jolly few weeks ago?

I live round the corner from Weeksy and quite like it.
I've got the Ridgeway at the end of the road which opens up hundreds of miles of XC riding.
Not into road riding at all, but we have nice country lanes for pottering with lovely cafes & pubs around.
Considering it's the South, it's actually quite quiet once you're in the country side.

The biggest things I miss though are the sea, forests and mountains.
I lived in Cornwall for a fair few years and miss the surfing, water, views & everything else that comes with the sea.
We have no forests at all, just the odd wooded section, and our elevation is quite frankly pathetic so the trails are as tame as it comes.

That said.. 45mins to London, 1/2hr to Swinley, 1hr to A417, 1 1/2hrs to FOD, 2hrs to BPW & 45mins to Heathrow, so the travel isn't too bad. Just a bloody expensive area to live in.

tetrode were you on my Spanish jolly few weeks ago?

I wasn't, never ridden in Spain but would love to!

Fair enough few Bristolers on the trip who’d moved to FOD, book a trip mate Southern Spain has some great riding!

Given I'm very much a fairweather cyclist when not commuting these days, I'm not sure I could do much better than our current location on eastern suburbs of Southampton. Less than five miles to poper rural feeling lanes on edge of South Downs, less than five miles to city centre.
I wish the prospect of cyling through the city to get to the New Forest wasn't so daunting, I've ridden there once in the past six years of doing more riding.
Still need to explore north of Winchester too, my riding is mostly in the Owlesbury/ Liss/ South Harting triangle of hills.

For the hills like Road To Hell and Stwlan Dam in dry summer time, I'd move to North Wales in a heartbeat, but as my retired mum has found it can be very wet and cold over the winter months.

I really need to get over to IOW with the road bike, not been there at all for ~15 years and talk of a hol there this year, Ventnor is supposed to be pretty good for sunshine plus has some decent hills on its doorstep... Every year the Randonnee event https://www.cycleisland.co.uk/ Sunday 30th April 2023 catches me by surprise at best on the day! 😆

I moved to Peebles…. I think I have totalled about a tenth of what I used to ride when I didn’t.

Hmm. Similar for me moving to Aviemore. There's so much in the area that I rarely explore further afield nowadays. Once upon a time I'd jump in the car/van/train and go off exploring all corners of the country. Now, 95% of my riding is done from home. It's cheaper and better for the environment, but also a bit lazy.

I don't think we used to live in the wrong place.
An hour from the Welsh border/an hour from Brum.
Right on the edge of the countryside with some good riding straight from the door.

But we now live in a much better place.
An hour from Edinburgh.
Trails from the door.
Right in the countryside.

The difference is we've gone from good trails to world class trails with a huge riding scene.
Less people, less traffic, a much more open and accepting attitude to however you chose to use the space around you.
Feels really odd to me now if we go somewhere else and complete strangers don't say hello or stop and have a quick chat with you.

Wish we'd been able to make the move years ago.

Now, 95% of my riding is done from home. It’s cheaper and better for the environment

I'm very much a proponent of this.
I moved here because of the riding. Why do I want to waste time driving somewhere else when I could use that time to ride more.

Fairly lucky here, edge of Peaks and about 10 miles from Manchester. Can even commute into the city centre with hardly touching a road (why I didn't do that before getting my spine broken on a commute). Can get into the Peaks off road within a 20 minute ride. Good road and MTB riding from doorstep. Very rarely drive anywhere to ride (other than the occasional trail centre).

One of the beauties of trials riding you can simply ride literally on your doorstep 😏

I don't know what on earth we were thinking moving to where we did. The mountain biking from the door is rubbish!..

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And theres not much to be said for the road riding either...

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😀

Here on the Surrey/ London border I have tons of everything literally on my doorstep.

I was going to reply to this, but someone got there before me:

I did ten years in London then moved to Yorkshire because I was fed up with having black snot and the air tasting horrible

I lived for two years on the Surrey/London border. It was horrible, pure suburban hell. I'd wake up on a Sunday knowing what day it was because of the lawnmowers. If I couldn't hear lawnmowers it was because of the jets going over, every 2 minutes. If they had been quietened then I would have heard the constant traffic noise. I'd get back from work, in Westminster, and blow black snot out of my nose. The people were indifferent, if not actively unfriendly, it took hours to actually travel anywhere and everything cost a fortune.

But, yes, tons of everything on your doorstep, which I'm happy to have just a 3 hour drive away and be able to ride into the hills tonight, or surf or just go to a local pub which doesn't require a mortgage application.

Mind you, it was a long time ago, and my Irish friends were still being routinely stopped by police on the streets because of bombing campaigns which I ignored because I was young. Maybe it's changed.

😀

I use to live in the Chilterns so brilliant for XC, I now live (almost) in the Tweed Valley - brilliant for every form of riding.

I come though from one of the flattest places in the UK, pancake flat for at least an hours ride in any direction, and below sea level. When I was a kid everyone rode a bike, including most of working folk in the town - so it was good for that, at least.