nikolai wrote:I got a job in Fort Collins at some podunk ag school. I start 1 February.
I need advice on the good (quiet) part of town to live (no parties, no bass music, and no more than 2 miles from campus so I can bike into work)
The bike shops I should avoid.
The quickest way to get info on hiking trails.
I bet I can figure out the rest. But sleep is important. I really don't want to hear some stupid kid's music late at night.
Wow, our little podunk Ag school has some departments in it that are the best in the nation if not worldly ranked. What exactly is your new job going to be that garners such a negative light towards CSU? (your attitude could just be tongue in cheek too, not sure with strangers on the intardtubes)
Quiet part of town? You'll want SoPro, that's anywhere south of Prospect Rd. The area from Harmony south is your best bet, better known as Fort Loveland. Probably cheaper too. If you have $500,000 for a 900sq.ft 1910 bungalow, then you can live on Mountain and you might find quiet there too.
Why so restrictive on distance? We're a very bike friendly town, and while not all the light work they way they should all the time, an easy commute of five miles shouldn't bother you at all. I do that one way from my place to campus (actually just south of it) on a daily basis in 20 minutes. Getting within 2mi of campus is going to pretty much rentals - rentals = high probability of students and noise.
Bike shops to avoid...hrm, not really sure on that one, they are all pretty good. I like to rotate through them occasionally; really geared towards building a custom fit bike to your body - so they may seem off-putting at times (great guys though).
- The Cycologist: higher priced, but great custom service; excellent at acquiring pretty much any item you need.
- Lee's: the FoCo standard; been around forever; two locations (by campus and on Harmony); pretty decent repair staff, although could vary depending on who's graduated recently; maybe not as much items in store to buy.
- Road 34: near campus; comes with it's own bar/pub, often with nightly music; service ok, but only been once; not a large selection of in store parts.
- Recycled Cycles: great place for used bikes; large and extensive workshop; good used part selection; items often not found in other stores.
- Full Cycle: nice selection of items and parts in store; friendly staff; small but sufficient looking shop.
- The FoCo Bike COOP: great place to volunteer your time; the place to donate old bike parts and/or bikes; you can volunteer and work to build your own bike there.
Probably missed a few but so it goes.
As for finding hiking - just head to the west towards the giant podunk "A" on the foothills.