If you're restricting the choice to Canada, I would have to think Penticton is high on the list.

Awesome choice,...I've been in Penticton a few times, and LOVE it. In speaking with J.Blake and others who have lived there,...the riding is out of this world with a ton of choices and huge climbs. Smart.

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

Penticton???? huh???

NO way the BEST place in Canada for triathlon has GOT to be OTTAWA!!!! HUGE tri community...check out www.trirudy.com and get on that mailing list. This year they are sending more people to Kona than any other region in the world. I used to live there and I miss it. There is awesome riding inthe Gats..the Gats are like an adult theme park for triathletes...just 15 min from downtown you can swim outdoors, ride, trail run, ski...and there is a TON of people there who are supportive and do tris...great pools, facilities...and plus super fast cool STers Rick Hellard and Dev are from there and live and train and support others there....

OTTAWA has got to be the place! Ottawa is the tri centre of Canada for sure. Also they now have an Ironman distance race in Sept, along with various distance races loacally through out the year....and where else can you do a WINTER tri? skate/ski/run????

Hey Scott....

Heather and I have been spending time in Vernon training. The riding between Vernon/Kamloops/Salmon Arm/Sicamous is much better than most people realize. Loads of quiet nicely paved country roads.

There is only the one pool. 25m. Not a bad facility, but you can only swim at certain hours.

Open water: Kalamalka lake is incredible. OK lake is available too. Shuswap is a 1.5 hour drive if you want.

Temps are just as good as the south of the valley, with just slightly more rain.

X-C skiing: 20km from downtown Vernon is Sovereign Lakes world class facility... or go another 2k at your at Silverstar for downill.

Ottawa:
- high humidity
- BRUTAL winters...

I loved living there, except for these two things.

"Ottawa:
- high humidity
- BRUTAL winters... . "



. . . . perfect training enviroment for sending more people( 17) to the Ironman World Championship than any other city in the world. What's that they say? - "What does not kill you, makes you stronger."

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Scott,

Having lived in Vernon for quite some time I would agree that it is a great place to live and train but I would certainly give Penticton the nod anyway. Longer training season, better OW, more riding options, and likely more training partners. If you are into xc skiing, Vernon is among the best in Canada but there is also high alt. skiing at Apex.

p.s. I believe I went to OD school with your sister Tracey.

Syncro,

You went to Vernon to train and didn't call myself or solymosi? Man, that's cold.

robert

So far it's Ontario vs Alberta vs BC. Ottawa sounds compelling with the seemingly supportive tri community. Calgary sadly lacks much for open water swimming unless you have an in at one of the private lakes in the area. Part of how you'd rank the places is dependent on your values. Heck, if you don't mind running on a treadmill, doing most of your rides on your computrainer and installing and endless pool in your house KAMSACK SASK could be the place to move to (a nice place will run you less than 100 G) - - that being said however My vote for best training city... would be the Fraser Valley of SW BC. Having been here for 4 years now, I found you can:

1) Open swim mid April to early October and when the water's too cold you can check out the T/R/Sat Master's swim at the local (Mission) pool for under 5 dollars.

2) Bike year round, since there is rarely snow here the roads don't get hammered with salt and gravel that will cause early-season punctures. Yeah there's rain but it's better than 3 hours on the computrainer.

3) Run... well you can do that outside too.

4) Coffee - a reasonable selection of java joints to be had =-)

anyone else??

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

I like Penticton... but at times.. at little too.. redneck? Vernon just seems more class....

I'm likely going to end up living in Vernon next summer... we'll hook up! First.. a little trip to OZ is in order...

Question.. does anyone ride thier road bikes the full length of Trinity Valley Road? I went up from the Lumby side and it turned into nice hard packed dirt road.. looked ridable... but I turned around. Was thinking you could do the Vernon-Lumby-trinity-enderby-vernon loop?

I'm heading back out East for a trip next summer... maybe I'll check it out again. My buddy keeps trying to get me to move to Brockville...

This is true. Ottawa. The Gats is awesome for riding.

[reply]Penticton???? huh???

NO way the BEST place in Canada for triathlon has GOT to be OTTAWA!!!! HUGE tri community...check out [url "http://www.trirudy.com"]www.trirudy.com[/url] and get on that mailing list. This year they are sending more people to Kona than any other region in the world. I used to live there and I miss it. There is awesome riding inthe Gats..the Gats are like an adult theme park for triathletes...just 15 min from downtown you can swim outdoors, ride, trail run, ski...and there is a TON of people there who are supportive and do tris...great pools, facilities...and plus super fast cool STers Rick Hellard and Dev are from there and live and train and support others there....

OTTAWA has got to be the place! Ottawa is the tri centre of Canada for sure. Also they now have an Ironman distance race in Sept, along with various distance races loacally through out the year....and where else can you do a WINTER tri? skate/ski/run????[/reply]

Penticton...

well I went to IMC once, and for the life of me could not understand the big deal, and why everyone is so crazy to do it. I must have really missed something? But I decided after IMC2003 Id never ever go back, and now a zillion people want to get in....???? I didnt think IMC was anything that great, in fact I wasn't all that impressed, and I feel that just by saying this I may be somehow barred from any IM , anywhere, ever, as everyone seems to say this is the best besides Kona and I may have been blasphemous in saying this. Oh well, I didnt like it. There were more pawn shops PSI than in Vegas, I thought that weird I could not figure it out. Definitely not a place Id like to live, or even visit again.

anyway, so maybe Im not the best judge of western canada..but ..Ottawa...humid? what? I also used to live in London, Ont. Now that place was humid.

I agree. Penticton.... great place to train, not the best to LIVE.

I think most IMC athletes should visit Penticton outside of race week... the race fever tends to blind people a bit.

Very cool that you went to school with my sis -- I was training in Salmon Arm for a couple weeks (joined the tri club for a few workouts) two winters ago. I was super impressed by Salmon Arm too,...but didn't get a feel for the biking as it was too cold then. I love the fact that it's on a big lake. But am I crazy for not being driven by need for open water swimming???? I don't know,...perhaps I'm addicted to chlorine...or feel comforted when it's embeded in my skin.

Calgary's great, as they have 2 great 50m pools - with a National Swim Centre. Driving to lakes for swims,...not a big fan.

As far as Ottawa's huge tri community,...not a big seller for me (but I can see how it would be a BIG draw for a lot of people). Perhaps I need a little LESS emphasis on socialization -- group rides and runs aren't my thang. Call me a loner.

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

y'all said, "Definitely not a place Id like to live, or even visit again. " Coming from Ottawa, the 30 M by 10 M picture of Stockwell Day welcoming you to his riding probably scared the HELL out of you =-) If you ever come into Pent. from # 97 heading N into town (from Oliver) you can stop at a viewpoint that traces the name Penticton. Translated from the native Salish folk there it roughly means "a place to stay forever" - this take on the area from folks who were around even before Tom Demerly first posted on ST. What's not to like about a place that has plus 30 temps for three months of the year, 2 beaches, wineries, well I guess there's more to life than that... but.

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

". . . . perfect training enviroment for sending more people( 17) to the Ironman World Championship than any other city in the world. What's that they say? - "What does not kill you, makes you stronger."


Any thought that being a city of people employed by the government relates to enough people with money to go? ...just kidding,...

mostly.

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

Another thing that might attract people to vote for Calgary is this fella (2005 Ironman Canada's top agegrouper)

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

Scott,

I'd look at both Vernon and Kamloops. Both awesome for training summer and winter, as I'm sure you're aware, and both very centrally located. We're in Kamloops now and it's a 2 hour drive to Penticton and 3 1/2 to Vancouver. I'd say the riding in Kamloops is better than anywhere and the pool is awesome with 2 new running tracks in the complex. An outdoor 400m and indoor 200m!

I'm sure there's room for another chiropractor, if you're planning on working too!

Greg.

Well to be honest , I can see alot of the benefits that you are speaking of but if your speaking on a global perspective , I would have to disagree.

I would rank the number 1 City as a venue where you can:

- Safely cycle outdoors with rolling terrain , headwinds the occasional long climb , 365 days a year.

- Run in comfortable (10-25C ) temperatures.

- Swim outdoors all year around and have easy access to ocean and lake swims.

I would say the coast of North East Australia: ie: Brisbane , Cairns , Gold Coast.

My thoughts only :)

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn

I have to weigh in in favour of Victoria. Its an obvious choice for National Road and Tri training centres. Can't beat the weather (we get much less rain than the lower mainland), nor the availability of quality, low-traffic roads for year-round cycling. Awesome network of trails for running, cross-riding or xc mountain biking. 35 minute ride from anywhere and you are out of the city with endless kilometres in front of you. Scenic, deceivingly hilly and we get wind too. Plenty of near-by pools for 50m swimming, great open water in the summer.

While we do get a couple or three months of miserable grey weather, if you got what it takes (k, that is a plug for the film), you get out on your bike anyway. Plethora of superstud triathletes live and train here. We might not produce the highest volume of uber talented age-groupers, but those same guys (like the one in the picture above) come here for winter training camps.

As far as coffee goes: we have Cafe Fantastico, you don't, 'nuff said.

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No body plans to fail...
ostomyathlete.com

I have a feeling that my wife and I will be settling somewhere in the Okanagan -- seems like a lot of STers are in agreement that it's a great place to be. Jonnyo was telling me how he would just pick and eat peaches along the way during his long runs in Penticton (of course from trees where the owners offered free pickings). I thought that was very cool. And where else can you buy road side/fresh peaches and apriots for 25cents/lbs?

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

why do you want to leave calgary? I'm in kingston right now doing grad work, but if I do a PhD I was thinking calgary cause the university has great funding and the weather is alot better than kingston - most sunny days in canada!!... having also spent time at the NTC I also love vic, but the university for grad work is so-so..

[reply]". . . . perfect training enviroment for sending more people( 17) to the Ironman World Championship than any other city in the world. What's that they say? - "What does not kill you, makes you stronger."


Any thought that being a city of people employed by the government relates to enough people with money to go? ...just kidding,...

mostly.[/reply]

I would say that since Ottawa is a Gov't city, they prob have lots of free time to kill and at least 6 weeks vacations. The rest of the country is hard at work.

Just kiddding... not

I would have to say Victoria has the quietest roads for a city, and less red necks (except Langford) but lots of 80 year olds behind the wheel, but we usually pass them on the bike. [reply]

Don't let the sunny days fool you. When the sun starts to drop, it gets cold... fast. Most summer nights you can't wear shorts. BOO.

Calgary gets an average of 5 days over 30C each year. 5. That sucks. Anywhere in the Okanagon, it's probably closer to 45.

I personally believe Calgary is a hidden gem as far as large cities go for pure triathlon training. I've mentioned to a few of the pros in Canada that they ought to consider coming here to live or at least come do a training camp. So by all means, I'm a big fan of Calgary - you should come if you're considering it. But I'm looking at leaving, because thinking beyond triathlon I'm looking at setting up a permanent residence somewhere that has more than what is necessary for excellent triathlon training (ie. pretty things like trees).

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

so you don't think its a great place to raise a family etc? (my draw is I hate cloud, and love sun, (don't care about temp so much))
Obviously triathlon is a focus, but so is a career/family etc..

Rossland, BC.

If you can find it, it has everything!

If you like sun and don't care about temperature,...then it's a great place. The summers are especially nice, with sun from 5am to 11pm (or close to),...and AWESOME hiking within an hours drive. Lots of active people - pushing baby carriages etc. And the air is clean,...something that tons of Calgarians take for granted (as SUVs and BIG trucks are popular here).

But Calgary is a little backwards,....ie. it's about 10years late to mature compared with the rest of the country (eg. their smoking laws, there is currently no curbside recycling, and no plastics recycling -- I have to drive to Canmore to recycle my plastics). The lot sizes for homes are small,...and the homes look like they all came from the same mold within their respective neighbourhoods, the downtown core is a ghost-town after work hours. I've met tons of great people and families too -- they are healthy, happy, and active people,...but alike who you'd find in any city I guess. In particular to Calgary, which plays to a strength is the youth swim clubs -- my oh my! They are HUGE and so many of them,...loads of active young swimmers coming through the ranks.

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

My vote is for Penticton but I am obviously biased :) The reasons are far too many to list and most of them are not triathlon related. PM me and if you want to chat and we can set up a time for next week.

Tom

Tom -- thanks for replying,...you know it would be cool if we became neighbours and training partners one of these days.

I trust you're in Hawaii now -- everyone from Canada will be cheering loudly for you. You have real potential to break through on the world stage (not that you haven't already, but you know what I mean). I send you my best, you big stud you.

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

Synchro,
glad to hear you are coming this way. happy to have you.

Trinity Valley road would be a little rough on a road bike I would think. Although it is nice and wide, it gets lots of logging traffic and ends up covered in washboards. Might be a shaky ride. The other side of the valley is far better. Vernon towards Falkland, Salmon Valley road towards Salmon Arm, over the hill to Caravan Farm and on to Enderby then back via 97B. Little traffic and pretty good roads. Total trip around 80 km I would guess.

robert

Greg,

And a great new tri shop soon to open, right ;).
How was the move up from Port Moody? Glad you finally made it and hope you get settled in and down to business soon.

robert

I thought it was you, TIMEMACHINE,...you are a timemachine! Neat that you're in Kamloops -- setting up a new bike shop?

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

Scott,

Riding in Salmon Arm is great if you like quiet roads, lots of hills, good variety of terrain, yada, yada. Same for the running. Very good XC skiing as well. Great place to raise a family too. Not sure about the chiro market.

good luck with your decision. sounds like you need to do some travelling to check out some spots before you make a final decision. let me know if you need a spot to crash for a few days.

robert

Canada Games pool is awesome. Best Pool in the OK region for sure.

Kamloops riding seemed a little dodgy.. but I didn't get a chance to explore much.

I believe I met your wife at Prestige... she had me running scared for the last 4k, barely edging her to the line.

Santos, São Paulo, Brazil.

Cheers, Marcos.

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http://www.marcosapenedoamaral.blogspot.com

I would say the complete opposite............I lived in penticton for 4 years and my dad lives in vernon............vernon is way more redneck............. As for the best city in canada I have trained in is by far Kamloops...............3-4 different valleys with climbs everywhere..........drier than hell, hotter than penticton...........wicked downhill skiing at sun peaks...........wicked cross country skiing at lac le jeune................canada games swimming pool of 50metres...................Way better training than penticton, but way more rednecks if you are worried about that............more than a few times I was chased off my bike growing up in the "loops". I have hosted a couple triathlon camps here and also do some in Penticton and much prefer kamloops because not everyone is trying to put a camp on in kamloops............in the summer penticton is crazy with camps

"I think most IMC athletes should visit Penticton outside of race week... the race fever tends to blind people a bit"

Indeed, people thinking of moving to Penticton should visit outside of IM race-week. It has a very different feel to it. It's still a great town, in an outstanding location if you like outdoor sports and recreation of any kind, but it's a pretty quite and sleepy place for 51 weeks of the year.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

not even close here: SLO, CA

not even close

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All you need is a dollar and a dream..and a severe f*&%ing beating!!

I was in Rossland last weekend. Seems like a great town with awesome mtb, hiking, climbing, downhill and XC skiing; but for triathlon training it seems like one would be spending a lot of time on the computrainer from Nov-April. Talking to the locals it sounds like Rossland sees much more white stuff then even Trail.

How long have you been there? Tell me more.....



As far as Scott's original question goes I think the biggest issue in Canada is riding through the winter. You can put in the hours on the computrainer or XC ski, but, Vancouver Island is really the only place in Canada where you can go on 5-6hr rides consistently, all 12 months of the year. I rode my mountain bike all year long in Calgary (did you know that the freehub freezes at minus 35C), but road riding is less than enjoyable for almost half the year.

Looking at "the bigger picture" the Okanagan certainly has a lot to offer. I'm certainly not a local, but it seems that the riding in Penticton is better than in Vernon or Kelowna??

Seth said, "but, Vancouver Island is really the only place in Canada where you can go on 5-6hr rides consistently, all 12 months of the year." Well, like I said earlier the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley is pretty much the same - did Victoria/Sidney get any snow last year. We had some off and on for about 10 days and that was right around x-mas when the days are too short to ride anyway (unless you aren't working that day). How long is the swim season at that lake where they do the New Balance 1/2?

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Elk Lake (the NB1/2IM lake) usually isn't used much for open water swims for triathletes. The National Centre triathletes usually use Thetis Lake and Durance (sp?) Lake -- not sure how long this season is.

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http://www.bikeforest.com/scott

Robert,

I'm not 100% up yet, but hopefully by next month. I'm going to take my time finding a place for the shop, as I'd like to take a little break and learn to ski.

Hope your training is going well and I'm sure I'll see you a fair bit next season.

Greg.

Well, shouldn't you be thinking about moving back to Kamloops then?!

Greg.

Yes, you probably met her there. I lost track of all the races she did last year!

As for the riding in Kamloops, I've barely scratched the surface but, so far there seems to be more options and variety than anywhere I've been. I think cycling will definately be my top priority next year.

Greg.

Robert,

I was in Vernon w/ synchro... I rode Vernon to Salmon River Rd., 97b to Deep Creek Rd. and into Armstrong. Got rescued here as the sun was setting. It was, hands down, the most beautiful ride of my life. The valley in Salmon Arm looks amazing right now, with all the deciduous regrowth after the fire ('99?).

Deep Creek road had much less traffic than 97A/B as well.

Does West Side Rd. go all the way to Westbank now? Or is it still not joined?

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Maybe I should put something nice here.

bigH,

Glad you liked it. There are even nicer spots to be seen and some more climbing if you are into it as well.

Wetside rd comes out just over the floating bridge (at the top of the hill) between Kelowna and Westbank. As I told synchro it is a great route if you don't mind some rough pavement and the occasional 'close encounter of the RV kind'.

happy chemisting

robert

Greg,

good luck with the set-up and finding an appropriate spot. I'll be at Sunpeaks for the Overlander Loppet Jan 28. Get some ski lessons and try out the race. I believe it is free technique this year so you can either skate or classic ski.

robert

... or the native kind. (I'm going to hell, I know)

I grew up in Vernon, so I know the area fairly well. Definitely need to do some more exploring of back-roads tho. Climbing as in hill climbing or rock climbing? My sis and her hubby are still in V-town and are avid climbers - they love it.

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Maybe I should put something nice here.

We usually get a pretty decent four months out of Thetis, late May through September, and into early October. Chilly in May and going into October, but never neoprene cap type cold. August is non-wetsuit temps in the lake. Durrance and even Matheson lakes tend to stay cooler throughout the season, but you can get into them near the same times. Elk and Beaver, I don't even want to be in there come race morning, which I guess is incentive to get out in a hurry. We do some fun T1, T2 type race sims out at Matheson, nasty A$$ hill coming out of the lake, just to get the old HR up to max for a super hilly, fun 27-30K ride loop and a great trail network for running on.

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No body plans to fail...
ostomyathlete.com

big H,

actually both (climbing that is). there is a large rock climbing area about half way down SV road towards Salmon Arm. It is tough to find but lots of bolted routes and about 80+ climbs last time I was there.

robert

hey Seth, this is my fourth year in Rossland. I moved here after living all over western canada and really could not find a better place. there is definitely a long snow season here, but that is a big part of the attraction for me. we have a small triathlon community but a really great group of people. if you put a side the epic skiing and just talking specifically about tri trainning, a lot of the winter trainning is done in Trail. For a ten minute drive you can be on your bike until the end of october and back on in late feb. the rest is trainner. Running and swimming as well are best in Trail through the winter. Trail has a mild climate and I have never had a problem getting all my work-outs in. When the snow is gone the trainning is as good or better than anywhere I have ever been. The trails are endless and you will see more bears than people well running. The riding is amazing as well, lots of climbing but you really start to enjoy it, and you are always at altitude.

if you have any questions let me know,

cheers, dallas.

I feel obligated to mention my town, Grimsby, Ontario...

Nice country roads, tons of runners, and home town for a lot of race directors... Must be something in the water here...

<< perfect training enviroment for sending more people( 17) to the Ironman World Championship than any other city in the world

you must not be counting the 33 people from the San Diego area.

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

per capita

Ottawa, population of 1,145,500
San Diego, population of 1,255,540
as of 7/1/04

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

you quote san "diego area" for number of triathletes going, then san diego only for population.

Scott,

We're moving there more for lifestyle than work, so I actually hope to get out and train more. The last few years have just flown by and I realized one day that I'm starting to get kinda old! I've done no real training/racing the last 2 years so I will get back to it next season. Our Little Timemachine is 3 years old now, so we figured we'd move before he gets too corrupted by the big city lifestyle. So, the young studs better watch it, 'cuz I feel like I'm 35 again!

Greg.

Mike, where'd you get that figure for Ottawa's population? My search revealed, "Ottawa is the fourth largest city in Canada, with a total population of 774,072. The only cities with a larger population than ours are Toronto, Montreal and Calgary" I havn't looked at the numbers but am I right in assuming Leucadia, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Encinitas are SEPARATE from San Diego?

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

I got the numbers from here, http://www.citypopulation.de/

dug a bit deeper and found a better comparison of metro populations:
Greater San Diego, 2,933,462
Greater Ottawa, 1,145,500

even that is decieving though as San Diego County is one of the largest counties in the US at 4204 square miles (http://www.naco.org/...unty.cfm&id=6073)

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

That's a bogus search as the third biggest city in Canada is Vancouver, not Calgary. The 1.1 million figure for Ottawa would include Gatineau (home of Dave Harju and even more great triathletes).

Ottawa definitely rocks for tri training. As a previous poster said, the Gatineau hills (Gats) are absolutely unbeatable as a training ground. That plus the great coaches we have such as Rick Hellard and Dave Harju, plus the inspiration of Dev and TriRudy!

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"No more hurting people - Peace"

Hey Scott,

You should check out this city called Waterloo - I hear it's a nice place ;-)

Anyway, I would have put in a vote for Hamilton but noticed you specified "clean" air!!

So how are you doing nowadays anyway?

Hope all is well!
Dan

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Greg maybe I should open up a running store in Kamloops;) Nice talking to you the other day...........I hear an old guy is opening up a tri shop in port moody? Sounds like he's moving in as you vacate..........what do you think, can he make a go of it?



Sean