Looking for some insight. Part of life and accepting a new job offer is looking at every aspect. I am in North Central AR so we get the cold weather but not alot of snow/ice. Some great riding area's out my back yard. I have a possible choice to make which includes moving to around Fairfield, OH. I already understand my winters would be much more aggressive in my weather. BUT how's the area for riding, you know if you want to do some full weekend rides are there some nice areas within 2 hrs as a starting point? F'n rent is crazy everywhere but it appears it's about 30% higher in the Cin, Fairfield, Hamilton area. But seriously riding is my peace. So are there some nice area's to get out and about?

Thank you for any help or advice on this that I do not take lightly.

 

Southern Ohio has some great roads. I prefer the roads in the South East part, but that South West section is nice as long as you avoid Cincinnati. If you like whisky, your only a stones-throw from Kentucky. The roads in Kentucky are even better than the ones in Ohio. If you ever hop on youtube check out a channel called MotorcyleDen. I think he's around Loveland, Ohio. Pretty close to Fairfield. He and his wife ride all over that area, and have tons of videos with great ride recommendations.

 

Yeah, there's some stuff over towards Nelsonville and Athens. One road is called "the back of the dragon". Tons of good riding around Cinci and SW Indiana.

 

It sounds like you'll be working in the Cincy metro area but are you hellbent on living there? If you're comfortable with a commute, an hour in any direction will open up a ton of more affordable options. My mom lives down there, pays $1700 a month for a scummy 2 bedroom apartment and all she talks about is leaving.

That being said, Ohio has tons of good riding. Southeast ohio is on par with some of the most popular spots in Tennessee. I live in Logan county aka the high point. It's not quite as vast as say Athens or Nelsonville, but what we do have is great. Put-in-Bay is a little further than 2 hours but that always makes for a great weekend.

 

The more I ride in lots of places, the more I realize what great road options we have in southeast Ohio. From Jackson county I can be in WV or KY in 45 minutes. We ride there often and the scenery is superb. Many of our southern Ohio state routes are crooked wonders which follow terrain like ridges or rivers, and have very little grid layout. The 'Windy 9' is a group of routes well known for providing excellent rides and food opportunities. Towns like West Union, Pomeroy, Hillsboro, Portsmouth, Athens, Logan and Marietta are all situated within the best riding area. Unfortunately Cincinnati isn't really near the best riding which is at least 1-2 hours away. The hardest thing for us is to decide which roads and routes we want to ride any given day. We're huge fans of riding in eastern KY which has some extremely tall hills and rugged terrain.

 

I lived in Lebanon Ohio in 2000-2003. I rode into Franklin because there were a couple good biker bars. F&S Harley sponsored me when I raced. However. Hamlin is where I wanted to move but ended up moving to Florida. Cincinnati then wasn’t that long of a drive. I use to go to Mt Adams area a lot. Great live Jazz scene back then. I played in a band and was real busy around there. Cincinnati is a cool city in many ways. Way cooler than Orlando. Museums, restaurant's, culture was way better.

I don’t know what it’s like now… I’ve never been back. I only lived there those three years. I imagine traffic like all places is worse. But I took the bike to Quaker Steak a Lube from Lebanon to downtown every bike night. I rode with a pack of crotch rockets and we literally took 71 the whole way at speeds that were stupid.

I wish you the best. There is some good there. Very cool city.