Michigan - [censored] or worth moving to??

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by chrisl
Fellow riders...I have the possibility to move to Michigan (precisely the west side of Detroit - Novi area).

I'm currently living in Mexico and the drivers treat cyclists like s*** - I'm sure they go out there way to be b*******.

Anyhow, enough [censored]; I'd like to know if they are any better in above area. Also are there decent quiet roads to ride and train on and what is the road racing / TT scene like?

Your comments would be greatly appreciated!

CL

I grew up in michigan. In a word, winter and [censored]. OK that's two words but you get what I'm saying. Most of MI is old so there are not the nice perks such as bike lanes. In fact, most of the edges are down right rotten from their winter-summer degredation.

Michiganders are nice enough, but what the hell are you doing riding on the road: "that's for our cars, idiot!" Or they just won't see you and wonder what that bump was, since summers are so short they don't have time to get accustomed to seeing bikers.

Good luck amigo.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by chrisl
Fellow riders...I have the possibility to move to Michigan (precisely the west side of Detroit - Novi area).

I'm currently living in Mexico and the drivers treat cyclists like s*** - I'm sure they go out there way to be b*******.
CL

There's plenty of good riding to the west of Novi. Better to leave early though as shoulders aren't very wide and traffic picks up. Do a search for Ann Arbor Velo Club for a club near Novi.

Michigan is only....o.k. The best thing about it is all the jobs up here (as I assume you've found out). It's not so terrible that I'm trying to move away.

MI SUCKS

Coming from Mexico, you probably won't like the winters up here, but then you'd get that in NY, Vermont, Ohio, etc, etc. I think our road and mountain bike scenes are great! The Michigan Mountain Biking Association (www.mmba.org) is very active and there's lots of great members. Novi MI has a very active mtn bike scene around the "Tree Farm" trails.

Road riding can be problematic, but near Novi is a big park, Kensington Metro park, where many people ride. Just south of Novi is the start of Hines Drive, which is 30 miles long and just about the best road riding in the western suburbs.

The Ann Arbor Velo Club (www.aavc.org) is a great club and very active in road racing. There's club rides nearly every day from March to September.

There's great road racing, mountain bike racing and cyclocross racing series in the Metro Detroit area, so if you can handle the winters you can ride and race from March to December.

Good luck with the job!

I'm partial to Michigan, as I've lived here most of my life. I'm one of those crazy northerners who intends to stay here in the winter when I'm old. My folks (79 and 85, go to their cabin in northern Wisconsin instead of south in January - I intend to do the same.) I prefer the west side of the state (where I live), and not so crazy about the east side. The state has lots of biking available. And if you like to ski, you can take advantage of the snow in the winter. Ski in winter, bike in spring, summer, fall. To me, that makes it great.

Agree with lesliegee. Great temps for riding in summer along the lakes. A few years ago, had a great week riding from the Dunes area up to Mac Island and over to Alpina. Good roads with shoulders, something rare in AL. Plus the X-country skiing in winter, which is a natural sport for bikers.

Dan

[QUOTE]Originally posted by chrisl
Fellow riders...I have the possibility to move to Michigan (precisely the west side of Detroit - Novi area).

I'm currently living in Mexico and the drivers treat cyclists like s*** - I'm sure they go out there way to be b*******.

Anyhow, enough [censored]; I'd like to know if they are any better in above area. Also are there decent quiet roads to ride and train on and what is the road racing / TT scene like?

Your comments would be greatly appreciated!

I live in the are, don't have time for good answer, I will get back to you tonite.

Brad

Hello CL,
I lived in the western suburbs (Westland) from 84 to 90. Biked to Ann Arbor almost every day. Found it a fairly bike friendly state. Once tipped over at a light (doh) and people stopped to see if I was OK. (Here in CT or my home state of NY they would stop - to laugh at you). Above post is correct - old state - "surface streets" can be tough. Is a bottle bill in MI which helps keep the shoulders glass free. Had a summer job at Dearborn Engine Plant and biked in towards Detroit - challenging at best - but no different than any other major metro area. Winters not too bad - cold but not much snow (compared to Syracuse anyway).

It's fairly flat. Would train there only to return to NY and New England for races and be eaten up by the hills. Did I mention it's flat? Also, living in New Mexico you have a large yellow, warm, shiny thing in the sky. Metro Daytwah doesn't have one of those. Won't be in "Lake Effect" country but still stays fairly cloudy in winter.

There is good Mexican/Tex-Mex food there though! Go git yurself some rattlesnake at Xochimilco. Or, head to Bell's Diner in Ann Arbor (just push the commie pinko's aside) and have the Fisherman's Breakfast - Fried Fish with steak, eggs, homefries, toast. That sound you hear will be your arteries clogging.

PS - If you see a car with it's blinker on - - - it was on when they bought the car