Does anyone know of a country that......

[old_windbag]

Hi

From everyones travels, and possibly experiences of living in, does anyone know of a country that is cyclist friendly, respectful of the environment and wildlife and temperate for outdoor living. I've got to the point where I'm despairing of living in the UK where I encounter anti-cyclist views left right and centre, should be on a cycle path, should pay for the roads and everything centers on putting the car first. Its as if general intolerance and fast living is becoming the norm...

So is there a country that ticks all boxes or is it a case of simply living away from all populated areas in general whichever country you choose?

[Psamathe]

Hi

From everyones travels, and possibly experiences of living in, does anyone know of a country that is cyclist friendly, respectful of the environment and wildlife and temperate for outdoor living. I've got to the point where I'm despairing of living in the UK where I encounter anti-cyclist views left right and centre, should be on a cycle path, should pay for the roads and everything centers on putting the car first. Its as if general intolerance and fast living is becoming the norm...

So is there a country that ticks all boxes or is it a case of simply living away from all populated areas in general whichever country you choose?

I remember when I live in France they were building a motorway about 5 miles away. And then all work was stopped because they discovered some rare beetles in the path of their construction. So it all stopped whilst the beetles were relocated and successfully established elsewhere, and only then did the work resume.

But I didn't cycle much there and the very little I did was on very very rural roads (and I don't remember ever being passed by any cars).

I would doubt any country would tick all your boxes. And even if you found such a place, once you moved there you'd discover new boxes that would not be ticked. Either than of things would change and some boxes start to be un-ticked.

Ian

[old_windbag]

I've heard good things about France. I think the north west of scotland looks good but.... very windy and also limited number of roads so wouldn't take long to run out of on-road routes.But i liked it. Going to take a look at southern ireland on google maps and property websites. New Zealand sounds and looks idyllic but not easy to get into without required skills or lots of money( they seem to have a route in by paying a few hundred thousand or similar ).

[rualexander]

New Zealand isn't cyclist friendly though.
I doubt if such a country as you describe exists, and even if it did getting permission to live there might not be very easy.

[old_windbag]

I'd heard some anti-cyclist comments about New Zealand but it was in Auckland so hoped it may be different outside of the big connurbations. Entry into so many countries is a lot stiffer than the UK but the EU countries should in theory be easy . Well I thought that was one of the benefits of membership...

[pete75]

Tuscany.

[pwa]

No perfect places, sadly. My Dad's Irish and my parents live in southern Ireland, and I find Irish drivers have a higher nutter count than UK drivers. Outside cities I find France okay for cycling (though I also have few problems here in South Wales). France also gets most of its electricity from nuclear and renewables, so has lower carbon emissions.

The one that always makes me laugh is Norway, often cited as an example of a near perfect society. Yet they kill whales and seals (when allowed) and fund their economy by selling oil and gas to the world!

[old_windbag]

Thats not good news about southern Ireland.... I spent a good time last night viewing propoerties and looking at their tax system. It's 20% for basic salaries with only a tiny personal allowance... so expensive by the look of it but houses were cheap, probably why. They seem to allow mortgage interest tax relief, pension contributions and medical insurance similarly. I thought it would be seriously windy yet it seems the atlantic side is but the centre and west isn't, also temperature wise milder than most of england. Wales does sound nice in places ( pembrokeshire.. expensive I guess ) and some bits will be busy in holiday season. I've only been to Aberystwyth, victorian seaside town.

On the French energy I think Fission energy if done none corruptly ( sub-contractors corner cutting etc ) can be good but the goal of fusion is looking sadly beyond my lifetime. That would be the ideal as Fusion is much cleaner. I was impressed by what the Green Party were putting forward but their policy on nuclear seemed very backward thinking, science doesn't have to be viewed as always seeking to destroy the world. Also I knew any vote would simply not count being a minority party and not having proportional representation. I'm working on a renewable energy project at present for anaerobic digestion... lot's of poo everywhere very clean energy .

[Richard Fairhurst]

New Zealand isn't cyclist friendly though.
I doubt if such a country as you describe exists, and even if it did getting permission to live there might not be very easy.

I found New Zealand wasn't as cycle-hostile as I'd been led to believe. Many of the main roads have surfaced hard shoulders (like the US, but unlike the UK) which serve as bike lanes, and there are some lovely back roads. I suspect it depends where you go though - the Wairarapa looked particularly good for road cycling, while on much of the South Island I think you'd want something that could cope with gravel.

I was surprised there was so little provision for cycling in Wellington, though, given that in other respects the city is very much like Portland (Oregon).

[Graham O]

. Wales does sound nice in places ( pembrokeshire.. expensive I guess ) and some bits will be busy in holiday season. I've only been to Aberystwyth, victorian seaside town.

No where will tick all of your boxes, but certainly in the UK, Shropshire/Herefordshire/Mid Wales are pretty quiet. I live in North East Wales and it always surprises me how quiet it is down there when I go on business. There are a couple of main roads, but they are generally not fast roads and although you'll get idiots everywhere, most roads and lanes are empty. Great countryside, great towns and villages and generally good weather (certainly more cycling friendly than northern Scotland and Ireland). I've had some great days out down there, but it is quiet. Last time I went, there was a traffic jam of 3 tractors and the locals are still talking about it.

[old_windbag]

Yes to me New Zealand looks like the type of place I'd design as a perfect environment. A bit of everything warm tropical air far north, cool arctic air far south and mountains, glaciers, lakes, fijords etc all in a compact space similar to UK and with a tenth of the population. Scotland, Ireland and wales have population at sensible levels but England is crazy, there must be a sweet spot of population density versus quality of life. Though I suspect Irelands highish tax regime may be accounted for by the high cost of services for a small population.

[beardy]

An Irish friend who I worked with decades ago pointed out that our income tax may well be ten per cent lower here but that was made up for by the existence of NI. He ended up paying 1% more over here and NI cuts in at a lower level than income tax.

[old_windbag]

Yes the NI threshold should be made the same as Tax threshold.... makes life simpler. Just raise NI a fraction to compennsate for any loss, having said that NI pays for not a lot the important one being state pension. Most important services health care etc come out of normal taxation.

One country that looks good from above ( not to live in but to explore ) is Sardinia. There's some nice windy switchback style roads but they may be rough tracks rather than tarmac. Quite a large island too, as I say purely for cycling exploration.

I've had to resort to Bing maps as google has changed its online mapping offering a poor interface and restricted zoom. I had a link to the old version but they've even put a redirect on that... Bings not stunning but does offer better zoom plus os 1:50000. If it ain't broke don't fix it but if people are idle you have to find work for them.

[LollyKat]

For cycle friendliness surely the Netherlands and Denmark are at the top of the list? Too flat for me, though.

Some years ago we had a week's holiday about 20 miles south of Limoges. There were lots of quiet roads with lovely countryside and the few drivers were very considerate - the only close passes had GB plates .

[Tangled Metal]

Someone mentioned road building France was stopped for a rare beetle. That happens in UK too but was surprised that France actually followed the EU rules. Thought that was not their style. Shows I must be listening to Al Murrary Pub landlord too much and am remembering my childhood holidays there.

Over here there was a long delay with the heysham bypass over newts that were found by some local Green party members (or was it Greenpeace activists). Took a long time IIRC before the experts brought in gave up having not found any. Then the otters were spotted. Anyway it is well on its way to being built just had a long time for environmental investigations as required under laws and regulations (originally UK origin but later EU wide).

Personally I doubt there is a perfect place to live. IMHO it is not the place where you live so much as the people around you where you live. For me family and friends are more important than an occasional insult or close pass from a car. That is my opinion and TBH i actually like it here. However I have the great pleasure in living in North Lancashire. Not a bad place to live.