and probably no chipotle:-)

I luck out: I live in a town of 9K but am only about an hour away from ABQ (500,000). I also have two pools in town and an active running club. Whodathunkit?

New Mexico is weird like that, though. There are a lot of sprints all around the state in smaller towns.

I live in Chicago, but I would gladly return to my rural southwest Michigan roots. I went riding there last weekend and it was fabulous. Hardly a car on the road. Miles without intersections.

Sigh.

"and probably no chipotle:-) "


No fast junk food chains in the entire area. Guess that's why I can proudly post that I haven't been to a McD's in eight years, the amount of time since I moved here.

SW MI here. Busy beach town in the summer and quiet bedroom community (but with a vibrant "downtown") the remainder of the time. Always great for training - I can be (i) in the middle of nowhere, (ii) on a wooded trail/park or (iii) on the water within minutes. Ask anyone of the 550 participants in the first annual Grand Haven Y Tri/Du held two weeks ago.

BTW, none of you may move here without my permission.

My thought exactly.....

I trained many of the local managers for the MN Aids Ride (Sponsored by Chipotle). No pay, but I rec'd good benefits!

http://www.redribbonride.org/

Providing you don't eat the tortilla sour cream, cheese or guac....it's a nice meal!

I used to work for a software company in Cincy and they used to take me to Skyline on my visits. EEEEK!!!!!!

can women ride alone? :D

North western Michigan here on the shores of lake Michigan. Hilly place to ride without a lot of traffic. Great places to run. Pools are a little bit of a journey, one is 10 miles away and the other is 15, but lots of lakes for swimming.

Good people to train with is a big plus, I just wish I had some.

Gar

---

"Why do they keep inventing new ways to celebrate mediocrity" -

i'm sort of rural in SW Michigan.

Kalamazoo is closest "big city" to home. i teach and train at the largest facility in the region with a pool, which is still only 15 minutes away. office is about 20 minutes from home. training however is right out the back door for the swim, and the area roads are very accomodating for long riding/running. large tri club here and a great LBS. i have more events to choose from within a reasonable drive radius its silly. hence, sort of.

Chicago and Detroit are only 2.5 hours either way. great for day or weekend trips. Lake Michigan is 45 minutes away. awesome trout and salmon fly fishing is also really close. hard to beat.

---

Train hard...race well.
www.jimmishler.com
"Jim, I happen to agree with you" DougStern

For real is your name Bob Parr? You may be a distant relative. My father's side of the family is from farmland in northeast Indiana. Angola area. Ton of Parr's around there, not so much down in NC where my family and I now live.

alicia parr

---

__________________________
http://www.aliciaparr.com/blog
http://www.performentor.com

Yes, I too am on Facebook. And LinkedIn. And Twitter. Which begs the question - do I exist in the physical world? Do I?

I live in a town of 1,000 people in central Vermont. Nearest decent pool is about 30 minutes away. Beautiful running and riding, though. Also, a regionally known tri shop/fitter is 6 miles away, and there are a surprising number of triathletes, including Ironman vets, in the area.

Cousin Alicia,

Alas no, Bob Parr is the name the Hero Relocation Program gave me. I do not want to blow my cover by giving out my real name on the internet.

Yours truly,

Mr. Incredible (oops)

---

"Why do they keep inventing new ways to celebrate mediocrity" -

Although I live in a very small town (Winthrop, WA pop. 360), it is a tourist town in the mountains so we have more amenities than most towns our size. There is a pool but it is only open from mid-June to Labor Day and lap swimming is limited to 1 hr. Fortunately, there are 2 good swimming lakes close by but, again, the season is limited.

We have 2 LBS's and a very active, but small cycling community - mt. bike races/tt's alternating Tuesdays from May to Oct. As you mentioned, the cycling is great in rural areas. I did a 100 miles Saturday with about 5000' of climbing with not 1 traffic light and just one stop sign.

The trail system (mt.bike/running/hiking/xc skiing) is 200K not counting forest service roads and has any kind of terrain imaginable. We have trail running and xc ski race series.

Franchises are not allowed, so the nearest McD's is 45 miles away. The quality of the local restaurants is much better than almost any franchise.

Downside. Without the internet, it would be difficult to live here. A lot of my tri stuff is bought on line because it is 200 miles to the nearest, fully stocked store.

The deer population is almost out of control. I have yet to get in my car or on my bike without seeing a dead one along the road. Gardens and landscaping are constantly in peril. I see more deer than cars on many runs/rides.

We have other wildlife (bears, mountain lions, coyotes, wolves) but they do not bother us very often. Pets have been victims, however.

Not many single women. The town is totally dead in November and April. Even in the summer, everything closes fairly early. Nearest movie theatre is 40 miles away. Without a treadmill, computrainer and recently acquired Medallion Swim Spa, tri-training would be severely limited by the weather.

Due to the location, real estate is somewhat inflated yet it takes a long time to sell for the same reason.

Very few employment opportunities other than tourist related minimum wage type jobs.

All that being said, I moved here from LA and I would do it again in a heart beat. When my time comes, my ashes will be scattered from a nearby mountain top. In the meanwhile, I am overwhelmed by the scenery on a daily basis.

"You know you are getting old when you see your father in the mirror." anon

---

Dean Wilson
http://www.anaerobiczone.com
Bicycle Protection Indoors & Out

I live in a town of about 15,000 deep in the flatlands of South Georgia. Total population of our county is about 38,000. I'm two hours north of Jacksonville, Fla., and three hours south of Atlanta. Our local junior college has a brand new indoor pool, and I also live near a large lake. So I'm minutes away from a lap pool and open water swimming. I have a variety of lightly-traveled roads to ride on. Last weekend, I rode 95 miles from my house to my grandmother's house on two-lane backwoods roads with few cars and a lot of hills.

Unlike your community, we do have quite a few fast food restaurants to choose from, including a McD's. The advantages of my community far outweigh the disadvantages. I am within driving distance of races of all distances -- from sprints to Ironman.

Worst thing is the lack of a LBS. The closest bike shop is an hour away, but the one I consider "my" shop is 95 miles from home.

RP

I promise I won't tell anyone. ;0

A

---

__________________________
http://www.aliciaparr.com/blog
http://www.performentor.com

Yes, I too am on Facebook. And LinkedIn. And Twitter. Which begs the question - do I exist in the physical world? Do I?

Lots of michigan folks on the forum, good to see...I envy you, I grew up in Grand Rapids (Wyoming actually), and, after spending the last 10 years in SE michigan, dream of living on Lake Michigan for the rest of my life.

---

---------------------------------------------------------

"What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind and body can achieve; and those who stay will be champions."

Thanks. Michigan is a great State. I spend lots o' time around the entire state (save the UP). Call me for an application : )

Yeah, I spent the first years of my professional life in St. Joe Michigan after growing up just over the border in Michigan City Indiana. Left because of the winters but the summer and fall you just can't beat. Some of my best training memories are from those areas.

---

------------------------------------------------
Fight............Finish

That's funny as shit. BTW - wait till I tell Deeg you want some real training partners : )

That's a beautiful area. I actually kind of dig some of the winter months, it's the period from Feb - April that the weather is driving me crazy. I love the variety of the seasons though.

---

---------------------------------------------------------

"What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind and body can achieve; and those who stay will be champions."

I am an hour south of Atlanta. I live in a small mostly rural town. We love it. I still work in Atl so I get my city fix, but riding and running here is a joy.

Hometown is Citrus County, Florida...definately no Chipotle. The county is growing, but nothing like the hustle and bustle of an urban area. It's nice to be able to find a backroad and just ride with no one in sight.

I actually go to school in Annapolis, MD. Although it's the state capitol, a short 10 mile ride will put you outside of the "city" and into some NICE farm country. I was surprised in the change of scenery once you head out of the city...almost the best of both worlds as far as bike training goes. Not a lot of hills though, unfortunately.

Another from SW Michigan. I'm about 35 miles north of Jim; I can get to Grand Rapids, Kalamzoo or Battle Creek for a good LBS. About 10 miles to a super new pool. Live in the middle of Barry State Game area, so there are lots of rual roads with little traffic and lots of trails for mountain biking or running. For MI, it's a fairly hilly area for a variety of training options. A 3 min drive to a lake with no boat traffic for most of my warm weather swim training. Wouldn't move for anything.

---

Larry

Don't be afraid to ride too long or too hard. That's what cell phones are for. Rich Strauss

Look at Jack's bike split at Interlochen. This guy is not good enough to carry my bike pump to a race. And don't believe his bullshit story about two flat tires.

I need some good guys to race against. What do you have planned in the next few weeks? I am doing Mackinaw and then riding back to Petoskey. Alos going to do the Petoskey race. Thinking about Mark Mellon.

Gar

---

"Why do they keep inventing new ways to celebrate mediocrity" -

 

---

=======================
-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

"can women ride alone? :D "

My wife does all the time, especially in the summer since she's a teacher and has the summer off. Never had a problem. This is rural Ontario, not quite the same as Deliverence country.

What town do you live in? I thought an hour south of Atlanta was still Atlanta. I keep waiting waiting on Atlanta to swallow up Macon. :)

RP

I can't believe there aren't many replies from Texas. I live about 45 minutes NE of Dallas in a little town with a population of 3000. I can head out on a century ride from my front door and maybe see 2 dozen cars the entire ride. Lots of dogs, cows, horses, and llamas though. It's hotter than heck on some days, but you get used to it. Just bring lots of fluids.

I also have 2 full sized indoor olympic pools within 10 minutes drive from my house.

Texas is fun like that - huge cities but an hours drive in most directions from those cities and the popuation becomes sparse quickly.

I did see your bike split - very impressive.

Likely race schedule: Sylvania, Petoskey, Niles, Reed's and then GR Marathon.

Thank you, I cheated!

How bout that impressive swim I put up? I do not think I am suited well for this oly distance. I need shorter swims and longer bikes! In my defense, Jack was holding on to my ankles the whole way around and then outruns me to the mat to have a faster swim time - the big dickhead!!!

See you in Petoskey.

Gar

---

"Why do they keep inventing new ways to celebrate mediocrity" -

I'm in farm country central CA. Green Acres, Hooterville etc.

It sucks. Why? Hot, dry, dusty, smoggy, flat, crappy roads, no shoulders, dairy smells, farms smells, pesticide smells.

Good points: produce and houses are cheap.

---

_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

I live near Ft. Walton Beach, FL on the boundary of a smallish metro area (190K people total, 10K in my unincorporated burblet) and a wilderness area the size of Rhode Island.

Big enough to have a couple of different year round pool options if you don't want to swim in Gulf or Choctawhatchee Bay, 5-6 different LBSes, one of which is darn friendly to triathletes. Good running and swim stores about an hour away in Pensacola. Lots of small running races and a couple of tris without having to travel too far. And the folks involved in multisport down here are genuinely Good People. And you can do Gulf Coast or IMFL and sleep in your own bed that night if you want to.

Great food in these parts because of the tourist interests down by the coast. I joke about how I have to train because I like to eat out here too much. Low crime rate. The stores here will leave racks of merchandise out overnight without worrying about theft.

And it's an athlete-friendly place in a very low key sort of way. It'll never have that sort of uberfitness vibe that San Diego or Boulder has, but it seems like most of the time I mention doing triathlons to someone, they'll ask "yeah, do you know X then? He did the Ironman in Panama City two years ago."

Downsides- everyone in the county is squished into the fairly small bit of land between I-10 and the Gulf that the Department of Defense doesn't own. So traffic is worse than it should be for an area this size. There are a couple of popular riding roads through Eglin reservation, but once you get bored with those, you need to portage your bike north of I-10 for road variety. On the bright side, there are hills there. Cost of housing is higher than it should be because people keep moving here, and the area south of I-10 is effectively built out. Job market is weird- lots of service industry jobs, lots of high tech DoD rocket scientist jobs, and not much in between the two.

And if there is something you need that's big city, it's 4 1/2 hours to New Orleans or six hours to Atlanta.


I grew up just inside the city limits of Grand Rapids. Loved how I could go about a mile north of my parents' house and hit all kinds of fun bike riding roads through apple country once I got north of 3 Mile. Hated the seven months of annual slush, which trumped the seven weeks of totally awesome weather every summer.

We live about 7 miles east of the Oklahoma City/Norman metro area. That puts us squarely in the country surrounded by farms as large acreage homes. It is a really great training area with great roads, lots of options, and very little traffic right outside our door. Our biggest threat to great training are off leash dogs, and there are a lot of them. Otherwise it is much, much, MUCH better for training than Seattle or Long Island, and a little better than San Jose (san jose has nice bike lanes to get you safely out of the city. You still had to ride a ways to get to enjoyable riding though.)

Pool is 7 miles away at the University of Oklahoma. 50m outside in summer, 25 yd indoors in the winter. Nice track there too.

Plenty of races and triathletes nearby too.

---

----------------------------------
Justin in Austin, get it? :)

Cool races:
- Redman
- Desoto American Triple T

Which lake is that? Can you park & swim, or do you know someone who lives there? I'm tired of the MAC pool.

---

king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

Whereabouts, jh? My parents live in Aubrey and it's awesome there. The Denton Natatorium is 5 mi. away. Red River Greenbelt 2 mi. Lake Ray Roberts. And you already know about the roads. Much to be desired in the way of hills, but plenty of brutal WIND.

It is Deep Lk and accessed from the Deep Lake Rustic Campground. I swim from the boat ramp off to the right and then do a full length and back which is about 1 mile. Usually it is cool enough for a wet suit, but with this hot weather it's too hot. Gets deep real quick, but if you swim the perimeter you can stand up in a stroke or two.

Let me know if you need more info - assume you are doing Great Lake Tri on Sat?

---

Larry

Don't be afraid to ride too long or too hard. That's what cell phones are for. Rich Strauss

"Good people to train with is a big plus, I just wish I had some.

Gar"

-Geez, you take a guy who was big fattie and couldn't even run to the fridge to save his life.

You slow down on every run for two and half years so you don't blow him up.

You pull him pissing and moaning through his first ironman (well, technically, he was two minutes behind me).

You impart 20 years of endurance training and race knowledge (only 3 years of tri's) into his feeble little mind.

Then he insults you on a forumn that is read by ten or fifteen people almost everyday.

With a friend like that, who needs an enema?

(Did I mention he was two minutes behind me at IM-Moo last year?)

I'm in NE Wisconsin in a town of 2,500 so I have quick access to country roads. The high school pool is open 3 mornings a week from 5:30-7:00. Not much available for training partners locally, and the lbs I prefer is just over 30min. away. I can't complain.

We live in West Carthage, NY. Not really rural but it is a small village near Watertown. Everyone knows each other and there are only a couple gas stations and a grocery store. No problems riding on the back roads up here as long as it isn't the middle of Winter!

Michael

PS We love heading up to Ottawa to get our "city" fix on occasion.

---

---

Drafting is for the weak...

Tri2Hover...making flat coke since September 9, 2006.

"Good people to train with"-- Did you somehow think that Pinchflat would let me miss this.

After putting up with your inane banter for almost three years- silently plodding along in misery as you blah blah blah blah blah about the stupidest shit- you pull this crap?

This deserves serious reprimand. I hate that it has come down to this, but I am left no other choice. With my recent tapping to serve the US Supreme Court, I have the power to depatriotize your ass from N. Michigan. You are hereby banished to wile the rest of your days with lame ass "trianthes" of Grand Haven. His lack of any witty or intelligent banter should result in your shooting yourself within about a month. Don't even think you won't miss my morning wakeup call of "how ya doing- and by the way, in case you forgot, you're a f*&king idiot."

Well, I live in Brunei, which is pretty far out in the boonies. Nearest decent sized town is a 2 hour ride by jet and it's Singapore.

Advantages for cycling: Not that much traffic
Disadvantages: Not many roads and most of the traffic is trying to kill you.

Advantages for running: Big long beach
Disadvantages: Not much else except the road through the camp.

Advantages for swimming: Empty pool most of the time I want
Disadvantages: That's all there is, as the lakes have things in them that will eat you and the sea has things that sting badly. You overheat training in a wetsuit too.

Nearest shop that sells decent bike gear: Singapore
Nearest shop that sells gels etc: Singapore
Cost of importing anything: Stupid.

Advantages of weather: It's hot, so no cold weather to deal with.
Disadvantages: It's hot, too hot, every day. There are no seasons.

That's about the lot.

I live in a country where rural areas and big cities are the same. Great roads for cycling on your doorstep and plenty of swimming pools (only badly managed).

Wyoming... need I say more.:)

It's 3 hours to a decent bike shop, 5 to a shop that would recognize a tri bike if the aerobars poked them in the ass.

There are no races closer than 3 hours drive. Lots of empty roads, hills, trails, etc. We love it here...:)

Lehmkuhler

I live outside of Billings Mt..................Have you ever come over to Montana for any races.........Peaks to Prairies,Big Sky State Games, Beartooth run, Bridger ridge run run ect......

my backyard

---

----------------------------------------------------
Striving to have sex more than 66 times per year

Newnan.

Looks familiar except the hills.

Greeeeeeeeen acres if the place to be...

---

_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Just out of curiousity, what carnivorous beasties inhabit the lake waters of brunei? Crocs?

---

_________________________________________________
That is just one more group of people that should be thrown screaming from a helicopter- George Carlin

How about this.

3 hrs from denver (drive time) the past week has been 100 degrees or hotter have had no rain for over 21 days now. usually 90 degrees by 9 am. pool only open May to August and they let me swim with summer kids swim league. great roads, the best. All Fast food, so we never eat out except subway. hot dry windy. in may we had a few days of 45 mph winds with gusts up to 68mph. I rode home after work 8 mph downhill.

running dry county roads a few dirt trails that follow water canals for farmers, and boring flat roads. running is tough and thats my strength. No climbs I can ride 50 miles with an overall gradient of 1% but count less than 10 cars round trip.

I am solo in training, in a solo sprot, and man It hurts sometimes, Most of the time.

Come visit when getting ready for Hawaii. (did I mention hot and windy?)

---

Jim Hallberg
USAC level II
USAT Level I
http://www.d3multisport.com
WATTS UP!!

I live in south Mississippi. Town of about 50-60K with a surrounding population of 120k or so. Plus side, we have a 45 mile long closed paved bike trail....3 pools with a 4th and 5th coming, so lanes aren't a problem. 2 bike shops, one good and one totally freakin' clueless. Running club, small cadre of triathletes. Not a bad place to train, but the local race is defunct after the dam broke last year. Only a couple of races within 2 hours, everything else is a more serious drive.

---

_________________________________________________
That is just one more group of people that should be thrown screaming from a helicopter- George Carlin

Yep, crocs are the problem. They've been seen in the only decent sized lake there is hereabouts.

Does a rock in the middle of the ocean count as rural?...kj

---

---------------------------------------
Awww, Katy's not all THAT evil. Only slightly evil. In a good way. - JasoninHalifax

Yup. Far eastern Ontario, 30 miles east of Ottawa. You've got the advanatges and disadvantages about right. For me, though, a further disadvantage is I'm in an extremely flat area. I need to drive at least an hour south to get to the edge of the Adirondacks, or about an hour and a quarter to get to the Gatineau Hills. Today I drove about two hours to get to Gananoque where I rode the K-Town Long course a few times (5-hour ride). Nice shoulders there, unlike where I live - the only shoulders are the ones made of gravel. Nevertheless, as you say it is just a matter of right out the door for a basic ride or run.

See you next week at K-Town??

"See you next week at K-Town?? "

We'll be there. Also doing Brockville and Ottawa.

doc gotta love the longleaf, my sister lives there in town and we come up from LA ( not lower alabama) to take a spin. The only issue on the trace is the local recumbent folks ride 3 wide from time to time. that is the price to pay for no car traffic.

Dang it, working late tonight- bored.

Fine, Bob Parr- aka Gar Atchison- I'll give it to you- this is a funny post

Dude, you should give me a shout next time you hit town. We can hit the trace for a ride (there are some hard rides too if you like). I know what you mean about the recumbent posse. They don't know how to move over either. Just ride side by side down the trail (although a couple of times we had a large paceline pushing the higher side of 35 mph that passed them and they sure moved over then)

Lance

---

_________________________________________________
That is just one more group of people that should be thrown screaming from a helicopter- George Carlin

Which Ottawa one - next week before K-Town, or September 3? And if Sept. 3, which race? I'm doing the full iron, getting to, uh, "enjoy" all 12 out-and-backs of the bike! I'll also be at Brockville. I have a first-generation P2K, red. I'll try to track to you down at K-Town.

Just doing a few sprints this year. I had a bad lung infection/cough in May/June that lasted six weeks. My wife has done four sprint tris already while I missed them. My training has been very sporadic this year, mostly confined to the bike and some swimming. Hardly been running at all. See you there.