Welcome to the neighborhood...
One of the main things to think about when moving here is that OKC is massive as far as land size goes, but we have nice freeways/interstates which move a lot of traffic with very few areas where things get clogged during rush hour (and here, rush hour is usually just that about an hour in the afternoon). OKC has a large number of suburbs, but probably the best are Edmond and Norman (although they probably don't consider themselves as a suburbs of OKC). As far as OKC proper goes, NORTH OKC is definitely the place to be, but it can be kind of pricey especially as you get near Edmond. The school district situation here is crazy, as you can live in one city and pay their utilities, but be in the school district of an entirely different suburb (this happens ALOT in N OKC/Edmond/Deer Creek). Make sure you ask your real estate agent about this when you are looking at homes. As was stated in a previous post, the best are Norman, Edmond, or Deer Creek. Also a lot of people do the private school thing which can be good if you have the $$$ or are Catholic or Christian. I have never bought a house, but I know from friends that you can get a nice house in many areas in OKC for around $80-100,000 that would cost you 2 or 3 times that much in other cities (I don't know too much as far as square footage goes, but probably around 1500-2000 square feet in that price range depending upon the area). As far as our riding goes here, I don't know where you are coming from, but just don't expect any mountains here...LOTS of FAST SINGLETRACK!!! You can leave those big freeride/hucking bikes behind, because you definitely won't need them here, lots of guys run Singlespeeds here. Our trails are mostly hardpack, lots of sand at some places, and they can be pretty rooty/rutty at times (especially when people ride after it rains--the trails need a few days after a rain to dry
). The best trails are:
1. Turkey Mountain--Tulsa: about 90 minutes north east of OKC
2. Bluff Creek--OKC: one of the best and most beloved trails in OKC, can get pretty busy on nice days/weekends
3. Clearbay/Thunderbird--Norman
4. Nudraper--Midwest City: literally right across the street from Tinker (you could get a lunch ride in if you wanted); 3 loops around 12 miles
5. Roman Nose--Watonga: about 90 minutes West of OKC--great 24 hour race here in the fall
6. "12 Miles of Hell"--Lawton: about 90 minutes south west of OKC--the premier mountain bike race here in OK in February, but you can ride the course most of the year, except during deer season or when the army is doing target practice--it is on the Ft. Sill Army base but there are nice recreation areas near by.
As everyone stated, go to the OK Earthbike site and check everything out. Welcome to the Windy State and look forward to seeing you on the trials!!!
JM
