Your list is very similar to my wife and my list 3 yrs ago. If sport is driving most of the thinking with regard to where to live, as it did for my wife and I, then probably the biggest question you need to ask yourself is "how much do I hate riding on the trainer?" and "how much can I tolerate riding outside in suboptimal conditions"

If the answer is like it was for Michelle and I... it narrows you down to milder climates. Santa Monica mountain area, Carlsbad, San Diego, etc, are prime options. But crazy pricey.

We chose to just live in an RV and follow the sun up and down the west half of the country. We'll be in Tucson soon. St. George is amazing especially if you MTB too. We also have liked SLC/Provo area, Couer d'Alene, Idaho, and Bend, Oregon, but each of them have their drawbacks.... namely, harsher winters and/or shorter warm seasons.

Citycompare.com is handy for general comparison.

Weather channel monthly average weather is handy.

How we ended up in an RV is: we purchased a cheap one for a year of race travel and also used it to travel to, and explore the cities we were interested in. The longer we traveled (never with the intent to live in an RV) the more we couldn't make up our mind because none of the places were what we wanted. Hence, we now live and work in a nicer RV full-time.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
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Madison, WI is awesome, especially for riding, but winter is a killer. West of Madison is some of the best riding you'll find with very, very little car traffic. That said, if you want warmer weather check out the Clermont Florida area....that's where I'm headed soon.

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Kiwami Racing Team

I'll second Madison. I am biased because I grew up and when to college there, but it is a great triathlon city. I then spent a bit of time in northern Chicago suburbs and the Appleton, WI area and learned what not-as-good triathlon cities are like. I now live in Boulder, which is also a great triathlon city. Quite different than Madison and they both have pros and cons.

Living anywhere on the west side of Madison from Waunakee to Middleton to Verona/Fitchburg will give you easy access to great cycling roads. Also not too hard to get out of downtown Madison by bike on decent roads to get to the good country roads. Running is good pretty much anywhere in the Madison area with lots of parks with woods, the lakes, and just good scenery in general. Plenty of swimming pools. The local race scene is quite good (at least it was 5 years ago) with great variety of local races within and hour or so plus Ironman Wisconsin and the 70.3 now. Winter is the one huge downside and is somewhat what led my wife and me to Boulder instead. There is fat biking and cross country skiing in the winter, and you can certainly run outdoors almost all year if you bundle up and choose plowed roads. However, the outdoor road biking season is about April/May until October/November, so depending on snow you may be going ~5-6 months without good roads. There are several indoor cycling studios though (SBR in Verona is the one I'm most familiar with) that offer group trainer workouts over the winter so that continues the group ride culture.

I haven't found Boulder too cliquey. Boulder Triathlon Club and Boulder Aquatic Masters swim team were a great way to meet people when we were new here. Lots of group rides and tech talks/social events from bike shops like Colorado Multisport too. Overall most triathletes I've met here are welcoming.

I think weather is the biggest challenge for finding a SINGLE best triathlon area. Places that are cool in the summer have harsh winters, and vice versa. Personally, I'd choose someplace with hot summers and temperate winters so that training outside year round is feasible.

With a nice budget, I'd have a main home somewhere south and a summer home in the north, like Boulder.

Or, like the other poster above, use an RV to follow the good weather and see a lot of places. Which is kinda where I am now. We have a large motor home and pull a Jeep behind it, carrying our bikes along as well. We spent 3 weeks in Colorado this past summer. The RV also allows us to bring our dogs along on trips.

Thanks so much. Super helpful. Yup warm weather is one thing I am most definitely looking for. Appreciate the help and advice. I’ll have a look at those suggestions.

Oh brilliant. I had never really heard of suggestions around Madison, WI. That’s really interesting. I’ll have to check it out.

Yea I’m a softy when it comes to cold weather that’s for sure. But if the warmer months are great then I might just have to look at that.

Ok cool, good to hear that about Boulder. Might have to give it a visit too.
Boulder, California areas are also pretty expensive but I suppose you are kinda paying for the area and all that it offers.

I appreciate your help and reply.

Yea that’s also one of my biggest considerations. Most likely during winter periods I’ll find a different place to base myself but 80% of the year haha I’d prefer to be in hotter climate

Yup, I'm interested in this as well. We are in the US and about three years away from the post-retirement move. So, we've been identifying places to visit as scouting trips. I'm a duathlete, so no worries about swimming/pools. My preliminary thinking is dominated by climate plus endurance sports community plus my spouse's interests (but TV is available pretty much everywhere :/). I'm interested in all of the recommendations here. We've visited Belize (I could do that, spouse not so much). Next trip (soon) is west coast FL (her choice). I'm up next, so I'd like to pick a place that might appear on this list as a recommendation...

Madison is where I am now and work at a bike shop part (sometimes full ) time now. Our mechanic has friends in CA and CO who call him and say the ridding here is the best in the US and I tend to agree when the weather is manageable. I've gone out for 4 hour rides on country roads and see 5-6 cars. The biggest issue is finding a place to replenish water ( I find remote small cemeteries a good option) as there are no cities or gas stations on my routes, and the hills get awesome the further west you go. Tons of running and swimming options as well, and a LOT of triathlete teams. Many people come from Chicago and Iowa to ride our roads. That said, weather.........I guess a good winter break is a good thing, eh?

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Kiwami Racing Team

West coast of Florida is fairly heavy with triathletes ( see the St. Pete Mad Dogs Tri team; largest in the US?), but for my taste, too flat for good training. Check out Clermont, which has the NTC training center, a HUGE group of triathletes and spontaneous races very frequently. The small burbs such as Winter Garden and Winter Park are pretty cool, and red hot right now. The best thing is such easy access to a very good and inexpensive airport (Orlando) should you need to fly anywhere in the world, and because of Disney, it's always cheap and available to fly worldwide. Summers are hot, but that's far easier to get used to than sub zero where I currently live. Have fun on your search....

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Kiwami Racing Team

Come on up to Phoenix. Hills. Flats. Trails. Pools. Lakes. Good roads. Lots of racing. 5-7hr drive to lots of places.

Great triathlon community. Still not ridiculously priced to live.

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http://www.TriScottsdale.org

Well, from a climate POV, I think that there are some places are will be uninhabitable (well, challenging/expensive to be habitable) in the near future. AZ is one of those places. Not your fault / the fault of Arizonians, but just my assessment of climate trajectory. And, not to get too political, I live in a state that I am embarrassed to reside in. Once I have a chance to choose, I won't be living in a state that is the equivalent of Orange Boy's 'sh!thole countries'. There are a few on my list that, even if they offered mutlisport/endurance heaven I would not choose to live in. In fact, I recently turned down a paid speaking engagement - easy money - b/c it was in a state that I find to have very objectional politics. Not to derail, but those sort of considerations might be also a factor for others (and I choose here not to ID those states that I find objectionable enough to rule out).

We now live 6 months of the year in Seattle (May to Oct) and 6 months in Sedona (Nov to Apr). Weather is sunny and mild almost all the time. Doesn't suck...

I hate you ;)

I love Sedona and have done some epic MTB rides there. I've also taken too many cactii needles to the leg (ouch), which is how I learned that the needles are barbed (double ouch). There are some good gravel roads in the area, but it didn't seem to be a great road cycling area. How's the cycling there?

I am from Tucson.

The roads are rough but I don't see why that is such a big deal-breaker. My biggest complaint is the heat for running and swimming. And the partner that has the AC turned up for 4 months of the year.


Phoenix does seem to have a great tri scene.

CA is too crowded and expensive. I think the same is true for SE.

I would like to move to Silver City, NM. There is no tri scene that I know of. But great weather and a huge variety of places to train.

I think you meant Greenville (not Greensboro). I’m in Greenville, SC and it’s pretty awesome. Flats - we got it, mountains - we got it. Pools, lakes - we got em, great running routes, trails - we got em. George Hincapie lives here, rides here and hosts a big event (Gran Fondo). Great tri series (South Carolina Triathlon Series). Very competitive but you won’t find a nicer, more encouraging group of people. Cost of living is still manageable but getting higher as we are on every “best place to live list”. Drivable races - IMFL, IM Augusta 70.3, IM Chatty, IMNC 70.3, IM Blue Ridge 70.3, etc. Can’t beat it.

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Team Zoot

Most of the pros seem to live in three places.
- Boulder, Colorado
- Bend, Oregon
- Tucson, Arizona

Haha 100% correct, Greenville. Thank you for the correction. You can tell I’m not from USA haha.
Ok yea brilliant I’m really glad to hear this.
And road quality is good right? Big shoulder? Or even quieter roads?

Always enjoy being able to ride or train train from your front door.

Thanks for the help and reply

". . . Asheville, Greensboro . . . "
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I'm in Winston-Salem - between those two but much closer to Greensboro. I can't imagine a better place and it fits pretty well with what you describe. I definitely have situational bias but I can't imagine better. Let me know if I can help you further.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Hey @David. Yes yes really interested to hear more please. Appreciate the reply.

Road conditions I’m assuming are great?
Quiet roads?
Weather year round is good? Obviously other than winter months.
Can you ride and run straight out your front door? (Location dependent obviously but which areas are great?).

Thanks so much David. Appreciate the help

You might consider Maui, as it is likely the very best place in the USA for what you are looking for, as it has very good roads with some of the best cycling outside of Europe (including new tarmac that is oh so smooth and many bike lanes to provide more room and better safety). From massive climbs to rolling hilly terrain and flat fast stuff, there is good riding everywhere.


There is great swimming at many beaches, and Kihei has a good pool as does Lahaina. The weather is near perfect year round. One can also pop over to Kona for a training camp for a slightly different experience.

I have a friend who just bought a home there, and outside of the major tourist areas, the prices are much more affordable, if that is a concern.

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
Sponsors: SciCon | | Every Man Jack

Yes - vast country roads to go as far as you like - up to the Blue Ridge Parkway out the door. On typical rides a good rule of thumb is 1000' climbing per hour of riding. Rolling around town, but mountains as you get further out.

I have ridden in a LOT of places. I think our country roads are great. The way out of town is typical of small cities.

Hot and humid in the summer. Last year I road/TT biked every weekend throughout the winter.

One of my rules is that I NEVER drive to the start of a ride (other than a race of course). I can go straight out my garage and then 5 stoplights and I am free! I also live exactly 2 miles from my office (never a traffic jam) in maybe the biggest business district out side of downtown (which is very close too). I think you can ride right out the door from any part of town . . . I have ridden every road here many times.

Let me know if you want to visit.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Michelle and I have been thinking of spending a good chunk of time in or near Sedona but have feared snow periodically through Nov-Feb. Is our fear misplaced? (We abhor trainer riding, and cold feet, and wet bikes. Yes, we're pansies, but we lived 6 in Bellingham WA (see: Canadian border) that we've just decided to move on from such things, where feasible).

We still spend summers north of Seattle usually :)

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub

Where are you moving from and why the USA?

I'm in the USA and was looking for the "perfect" place to live for triathlon life about 6 years ago but after extensive research nothing fit the bill for me personally. I am older now and decided that where I currently live (cold climate in winter but plenty of space) suits me best. But if I was 20 years younger, I would seriously consider many places in Europe instead of the USA. But that's just me. While there are plenty of great places in the USA, I could probably write a long multi page diatribe about why I don't like the USA anymore generally speaking. But I'll save that for the Lavender Room lol.....

If I could live 6 months anywhere during our long winters I'd go to the Canary Islands. That's where many European pros spend winter training :-)

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

We are a long ways off from moving but in 20-30 years we'll be in the 70-80 age range. Taking care of our off-grid land/property/home will end up being a burden someday. Or we will just be tired of it all and the 6 months of cold. We may someday sell our mountain homestead and become ex pats someplace warm and sunny. To still be active (swimming mostly and maybe some biking/mountain biking) we have considered the ABC Islands, Barbados/St Lucia (love them both for open water swimming), and the Canary Islands. Belize sounds interesting too. I would think you would be off-road/dirt road cycling? (which would be great for us)

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

I would not consider Austin in this calculus at all. The infrastructure for cycling is pretty meh and it's growing so fast without good planning around roads to support future growth of motorists let alone cycling. The lake path for running is pretty dope though.


If only Phoenix had extended the Rio Salado Trail along with the 202 extension to hit the Pecos Mixed Use Path!

Have to say overall we're doing pretty good, still some work to be done with cycling infrastructure, but the various towns seem to be listening. Also TTL wasn't such a cesspit and we could swim in it more often lol.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I think it's interesting that no one has mentioned anywhere in CA. Phil Gaimon claims Malibu is the best place to ride, Holly Lawrence seems to get along okay there as well. Wouldn't be my personal choice, but surprised it hasn't come up as an option.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

I don't think up north is a good place for triathlon. I vote for Houston. Warm climate, ocean is near by and triathlon community is big. I went there for a local Sprint tri and damn, 1000+ people showed up. They have a lot of lakes and ponds so it's heaven for OWS. I don't think people are friendly to cyclists, but they have a plenty of back roads you can take. They have group rides everywhere and every weekend. Only concern is no hills and rains a lot in some months. Mostly, scattered thunderstorms though. Winter is not that cold, so basically you can do outdoor activities year round. Gas is always cheap there if you care. Galveston is no Hawaii, but it's better than nothing. You can fly to Cancun, Cozumel easily and Cruise dock is right there in Galveston too.

where do you ride in tucson? some of the roads are not great, but this can be greatly mitigating by choosing better/different equipment/accessories. i've ridden bikes in asheville, blowing rock, north georgia, charlotte, rural virginia, tucson, and scottsdale. other than the blowing rock area, tucson had the best routes/options by FAR.

tucson is not particularly old, it is a college town. do you live in oro valley/marana? or maybe starr pass? those areas are older, demographically. to be honest there is no place in the US that combines a phenomenal cost of living with outdoor activity availability.

I guess that my plan is to consider traditional retirement needs, only some of which overlap with multisport (climate mostly, but maybe medical facilities :/). So, also looking for low cost of living, community of folks with similar ages, etc. We also like to travel, so good access to air travel has some weight. There are plenty of 'experts' making suggestions for retirement locations. I think that I'll look at the intersection of those cities with the multisport locations recommended here, then filtered by other, personal factors. I suppose that I'd prefer to be away from places that may not offer sustainable living in the future (just a semi-informed guess), but high summer temps and water resource concerns are potential issues that reduce enthusiasm for some otherwise interesting places. And I'm willing to train inside during some/most of the winter if too cold/wet. Overall, it seems like VA/NC might fit, or some of the warmer states if a location with some elevation fits. I'm not sure about two location per year living, but it's not out of the question.

I have a pretty good situation. With homes in Phoenix and Flagstaff, got great weather for the entire year and great training grounds in each location.

It's not Boulder but my wife and I just spent a few days in the Loveland and Fort Collins area just to the north. Our son is a student at CSU. Area seemed really nice, much more affordable, not as cramped as Boulder, and very cycling friendly and lots of trails to run on. Not sure about pools though as that's not my thing anymore.

I live in the Salt lake City area and I love it. However, you do have to deal with the trainer a few months in the winter. My dream location is St. George. No snow and reasonable temperatures in the early mornings during the Summer. You also have a lot of pools available, buttery smooth roads, awesome outdoor scenery and trails, and a community that is very friendly to all things endurance sports. I would look for a place in Hurricane or Washington, which is right outside of St. George proper. It's a mid size town but you are only 2 hours away from Vegas and 4 hours away from Salt Lake City.

I also would like to explore other options like Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not sure about the tri scene there but it sounds like a drop dead gorgeous place to live.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

Canary Islands are high on my list. Just a real pain to travel to from Canada. 24 hours in transit. Ugh.

I one skipped a winter by going to Adelaide. Highly recommend as well.

I think you just read my mind. Places in southern Utah and New Mexico could be absolute paradise with mild climates.

Yes, flights are not easy from North America. Right before the pandemic we had flights booked to Lanzarote. April 2020, we were supposed to fly from Boston to I think Madrid and then to Arrecife. Plus it's a 3-4 hour drive to Logan from our house up north. Very long trip! (ETA: we canceled trip due to covid in case that wasn't obvious)

But I do think the Canary Islands would be ideal for triathlon training and a nice laid-back lifestyle. Plenty of pools, the ocean, all kinds of road and mountain biking, trail running too. Ideal climate. My dream is to do IM Lanzarote someday.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

I rode with a couple locals last time in Maui and we had a discussion about riding the same routes all the time and they said they never get bored.
They told me Kihei/Wailea is the best place to live as a cyclist.
There are also pools in Pukalani and Wailuku as well and they're always free. However, limited options if you want to swim early morning or late afternoon. 10-4 is the norm.
The running is ok.

I ride a lot of gravel now and there are some insane gravel roads I can see on Tenerife and La Gomera I want to go ride.

If you get back out there to do some gravel riding, please report back. I love gravel riding!

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

You seem well traveled. Have you been to Aruba? I was looking into it for a while before covid. And it looks like if you go to the other side of the island (less touristy places) there is some good mountain biking. And they have a triathlon scene. Right now they seem to have some shorter distance triathlons but used to have a 70.3. And it also looks like they hosted some half and full marathons.

Or anyone else have input on Aruba? I think the sister islands might be more our speed but the ABCs are on my radar too for a future vacation or place to live in 20-30 years with an athletic scene.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

I live in metro Phoenix for 6-7 months a year and it is a great place for multisport training and racing. Excellent roads (maybe not so good in parts of the city of Phoenix), pools, and running options. Multiple running races every weekend. The mountain biking and trail systems are probably the best for any large metro area in the US. But the summers - way too hot for me. If I did not have the option to leave every summer I would not live here.

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Andrew Inkpen

Burlington, Vermont. Hear me out before you tell me how cold it is:

Great roads for riding - a very rural state with an immense road network gives a wide range of options. Some of the best gravel in the US. Lots of great pavement, longish and steepish climbs and long stretches of flats in the valley if you need it. You can pretty much ride comfortably from Mid-April to Nov 1.

Great running - year round, never run out of options. Beautiful mountain runs, easy bike path runs along the lake. Running in the dead of winter is a badge of honor and really fun.

Couple decent pool options.

Fantastic cross-training options with downhill and XC skiing, snowshoeing, skating....

And a fitness-oriented population with lots of cycling, running and try-clubs. Also great food and fun cultural activities - all in a town with just over 40K people.

But yes, it's cold in the winter.

I visited Aruba for vacation, and it's overwhelmingly crazy hot. And that way year round due to it being so close to the equator.

LOL, I would say no way since the OP is looking for someplace warm.

I have lived in Vermont on and off since 1988. I lived in the Burlington area for a solid decade. I now live off-grid in the NEK. I've lived in other areas too around VT.

I guess it's all relative but outside of Burlignton, VT the roads are not that safe in my opinion. As someone who used to do 5-6 hr bike rides every Saturday starting mostly from Richmond, VT, it really sucked. Yes it's pretty, but many people are not friendly towards cyclists. I've had so many incidents over the years, I no longer ride on the paved roads. I know plenty of triathletes who also got fed up with cars/trucks in the Burlington area and ride mostly indoors or on gravel roads/trails. And I also disagree on road conditions. The more rural you get, the worse the roads get in regards to conditions. Yes to gravel riding. We do have great gravel riding throughout the state. But unless that is your passion, I it's not a good reason to move here.

But right now VT is experiencing a huge influx of covid migrants from cities and climate migrants. Housing is crazy expensive and hard to get right now whether renting or buying. You will get into a bidding war with several out-of-staters for a home here. No joke. And it's insanely expensive to live here as well. Food, heating, clothing, everything is more expensive. And property taxes will be at least 4x what you would pay in the southeast of the US. My land is in current use for reduced taxes, but our modest off-grid log home costs us $14K in property taxes alone every year. Not to mention all the other taxes we dish out every year.

Honestly Vermont is the last place I'd recommend moving to with so many downsides. Yes it's pretty, but it will cost you. And it's not as liberal as one might think (another reason people want to move here) And winter can last almost 6 months a year. This October is strange that it is 70F and I'm still swimming outside, but usually it will start snowing in the higher elevations in about a week. And it snows until the beginning of May.

I would move myself for all these reasons but I'm unique in that I don't like the general population and need space from other people. Vermont is a lightly populated state which is good for me. I don't do well in densely populated places. I'll endure all the other downsides to live in peace and quiet. Unless you are a grumpy hermit like myself who needs to live alone in the woods, pass on Vermont.

ETA: the tri scene is pretty weak in my opinion. Nothing at all like Boulder, Tucson or any other place known for triathlon. There is one triathlon club but I never joined as they didn't do much as a group. And it seemed kind of clicky. The same small handful of people in all the photos. I'm a 4x Ironman with podium finishes and I felt snubbed. Also an accomplished masters runner. But the GMAA (running club) has nice folks and do host some good local races.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Some international locations have been mentioned, so I'll mention one of my favorites - Loutraki, Greece.

Loutraki has mountains, flat lands, swimming beaches, and an aquatics center. It has Malibu geography and climate but with Bakersfield real estate prices. The Athens Airport is about an hour away by car. Athens commuter trains operate to a station on the outskirts of Corinth about 10 kilometers away.

The ETU Triathlon youth European championship was held in Loutraki in 2018.

We clearly have different perspectives. Is Vermont expensive? relative to Nebraska, yes. Relative to Mass or California, no. You can buy a decent 3-bedroom house in Chittenden County for under 350K. Prop taxes on that house will be ~7K.

While there are bad drivers everywhere my experience is that drivers here are far more courteous to cyclists than Boston, SFO or Austin. I put in 5-7K miles per year on roads in this area and feel safe - and the data about incidents backs this up.

I'm not about to get into a pissing match about Vermont. But take a look at Zillow right now. You can't touch anything decent for $350K in Chittenden County. Maybe 7-8 years ago. If you have a home where the value dictates $7K in property taxes, that same home in the SE would be probably 1/3 of that. Most nice homes in Chittenden county will run you $10-15K a year in property taxes. I actually have lived in Southern California and many costs were less than Vermont.

A friend and former neighbor who is a Kona Ironman and Xterra World champ stopped riding on the paved roads after her good friend was killed by a speeding car while riding in Hinesburg just doing a normal bike ride. I used to ride out to Charlotte on the same roads where a doctor was killed by a drunk driver just doing a regular training ride. There have been many other examples of this in Vermont. Maybe you don't mind that most people only give you a couple feet as they zip by you. While you may be the best rider in the world, you have no control over those around you and it just takes a second. I understand the risks, believe me I do. It wasn't until recently where I just decided it was not worth it anymore and I'm so much happier on the gravel roads. Someone we both probably know who has done many Ironmans has been hit 7 times by a car in Vermont but this person is fearless and will never stop riding the paved roads. I guess we are all wired differently. Good luck and stay safe.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

That is terrifying and infuriating and disappointing. So many cyclists getting hit and often killed, and the motorists typically facing little to no consequences. I don't love grinding away on a trainer at all, but the risk/benefit of cycling on shared roads is ever shifting more and more away from taking the risks of the road for me.

My wife and I are moving to New Hampshire or northern Mass in the next year or two, came here to see more love for the Northeast!

I appreciate your post. I wish things were different. I am not a fan of sitting on my trainer doing 5 hour Ironman training rides inside. At least I have the gravel roads and mountain bike trails to supplement my training.

I felt compelled to say something about the riding in Vermont because this person's view is not shared by many here (of course we are all entitled to our own opinions). So many other triathletes share my feelings about road safety in Vermont. And the tragic incidents I mentioned above were not some random events that happened over a 20 year time period. We had several road cycling deaths in Vermont within a small time frame of a few years when I was training for Ironmans in Chittenden County Vermont.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

I’ll be a homer for NJ. Really. Try Morristown, NJ

1.Great cycling roads and routes. Road conditions must be really good. - Good roads and mostly courteous drivers. Gravel and MTB very nearby.

2. Swimming pools - At least 3 Ys with 2 pools each very nearby. Lakes and the shore for OWS.

3.Variety running routes - trails, parks, neighborhoods

4.Good vibe town and culture. - check.

5. Road safety obviously - actually people around here are generally Ok about bikes on the road as long as we are not ourselves being a-holes.

6.Nice people - generally yes and several running, tri, and cycling clubs locally.

Pricey? That’s relative. We are, as a state, functionally bankrupt but it is what it is.

As the most densely populated state and and a well-to-do area employment, athletic, cultural, and participatory sport opportunities abound.

Winters can be mild but for every snowstorm we seem to get we get a share of above freezing days (40s F) to compensate. A good winter we can have highs in the 40s and spring springing by the end of March.

I know you said you meant greenville SC and not Greensboro NC yet Greensboro would not be all that bad.

There are several pools/masters programs, lots of trails and roads to run, pretty solid tri scene, once you get out of the city the roads are pretty quiet, lots of racing within a 2h drive in every direction and big races within 4h of driving. If you lived in GSO you could race 3-4x within 20 minutes of city center throughout the summer.

NC has everything. Skiing in the winter in the western part of the state and the beaches in the eastern part of the state, tons of kayaking, lakes, mtn biking, hiking, rock climbing, and other outdoor activities. Good BBQ, a great craft beer scene, a rapidly growing (and imo quite good) whiskey scene, lots of decent riding once you get out of town (I've spent lots of time in the Asheville, Greensboro/High Point/Winston Salem (aka the Triad) & Raleigh (RDU) area training.)

There is a dedicated tri store in the area, several world class universities among the many, many universities & colleges in NC and the cost of living is reasonable. Winters have their bad days yet you'll be able to ride outside year round, just not every day year round. Summers can be humid and I get tired of sweating come September every summer I'm in NC. Yet you can train outside at lunch every day in the summer where as in Tucson you really need to be done riding & running by about 1030, maybe a bit earlier. The sunshine isn't nearly as intense in NC. Their summer sun is ~= to how intense the winter sun is in Tucson.

Housing prices have gone bonkers this past 12 mo in NC, at least the area I check. I've seen some neighborhoods go up $25k in 12mo in the RDU area.

Life moves slower in the Triad area and imo it's where the country meets the city in NC. Yet it has a lot of the conveniences of a bigger metro area without the costs often associated with a larger area.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

[/url][/url]
I'm in Illinois. Let's race towards bankruptcy. I think we've got you beat, but you are #1 in property taxes, which is an advantaged towards destruction.

We're a measly #2. Property taxes range from 2% of house value up to 7% in certain areas so for a $500k home somewhere between $10,000 and $70,000 a year with an average probably being $15,000 for that home.

Btw I wouldn't recommend Illinois for anything except for craft beer as the Chicagoland beer scene is innovative and kicking butt.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

Hah. I think it's because EVERYONE knows that Norcal SF Bay or Los Angeles or San Diego and most of the places in between the coast are awesome places to train year round - but come with insane $$$$ housing costs and often some real tradeoffs (traffic, density.)

Even on these boards, I bet it's disproportionately tilted toward more posters from CA and the Bay area (most well frequented forums seem to attract the online-comfortable crowd in SF Bay area, to be fair.)

Riding here in CA is year-round, for real. I'll be wearing shorts on a 1PM ride in the first two weeks of January - it'll be cool/cold, but sunny and good for riding.

If it weren't for the money/housing issue, I think CA would actually top the list in the US for true, year-round triathlon training and an active tri-endurance community. There are better places for various things at various times of the year, but CA is probably the best averaged year-round, if you can afford it.

Hey Brian. Yea maybe I actually had meant Greensboro haha. Not entirely sure. Thank you so much for this info. Wow an abundance of information. I am definitely going to have to come and check out the “triad” as you called it. Never heard of that term.

That sounds great as well from a cultural point of view and sounds like lots going on and a vibey place to be situated. Once again thank you and hopefully if I’m in the area next year in the beginning of the year might have to catch a bike ride.

I think NJ will, in the near future, reap the whirlwind of its fiscal profligacy as a result of Covid because Covid accelerated the acceptance of work-from-anywhere.

NJ is underrated and has so many great amenities but they come with really high income taxes.

Anecdotally, the number of people I know who have recently become (~last 18 months) 181 day residents of no-income-tax FL or other low tax states is amazing. Warm weathering here with a tax home somewhere else is a winning move.

holly lawrence would make riding anywhere seem amazing! ::swoon::

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

Well HP/GSO/WS wouldn't be the epitome of cultural, this is more the area where the country meets the city. You'll have more to do in the RDU area as far as entertainment, going out etc.

Typically I'm in NC in the summers and would love to catch a ride w/you. Also I'm in Tucson during the winters so if you want to catch a ride here lmk.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

I live in Southern NH and have lived in the area north of Boston my whole life with the exception of Colorado for a few years. I think it's a great area for training. I'm in Hampstead. I'm 20 mins from 2 pools and in my town are 2 smaller lakes I can swim (town beaches). Run and ride right out my door but I'm about 15 min drive from a rail trail that is great for running if needed. Lots of schools with tracks. I can do a 30-40 mile ride with only 1 stop light and very little traffic on side roads. Good elevation on rides, just cruising around probably 750-1000' gain per every 15 miles. Winters suck but it is what it is. There are a couple tri clubs around, I haven't been active in any but you see them around quite a bit.

I know we have had some dialogue about the risks of riding in outdoors and for me I put it into the category of humans have a tendency to over react to risks that are actually quite small. Its really hard to put it in perspective if you know of someone personally who has been hit or killed, but the data shows there is no increased of cycling on roads today than other times, in fact there are less deaths on bicycles today than there were in the 70s.

Not to thread drift but a different analogy would be that people buy guns for home protection, even though statistics show you are at a lower risk of dying in a violent home invasion by a stranger than you are by being killed by your lawn mower. People over react to small risk probabilities. We all perceive risks differently.

I live in central - northern NH (near Plymouth) and here are the pros and cons of our area for tri lifestyle considerations:

Pros:

• Great road riding in all directions, with choices of riding mountains or flats, very safe from a traffic standpoint right out your door
• Great Mountain biking, truly epic areas where you can do miles and miles of flow trails, rake and ride, MTB parks
• Hiking and trail running, White Mountain hikes within 10 minutes of home
• Gravel galore, not as much as VT but NH has way better paved road riding
• Top notch nordic ski community with 3 big nordic areas and lots of former Olympians / expertise in the area
• 3 Ice arenas with plenty of ice time for skating and pick up hockey
• Incredible OWS, clear cool lakes where you can see down 30 feet
• Rock and Ice climbing galore within 15 minutes from home
• 3 Alpine ski areas within 20 minutes of Plymouth
• NH has no sales tax, no income tax, and property tax is town dependent and can be very affordable, so if you have a high income and live in a more modest house you will have 15-25% more discretionary income than any other place you could live
• Small college town with places to eat
• Cool temps and long days in the summer, the best summer weather in the US as far as I am concerned

Cons:

• You have to do a winter sport, which for me is Nordic but it would be hard if you don't have one
• Riding is indoors from Dec- through end of March (this is why you must ski)
• November and April are the worst months, November has cold but little daylight and snow, April switches from winter to spring weekly and can be wet and muddy in the woods
• We only have two kind-of sad pools and due to energy costs and lack of county governments its not probable that any more will be built
• There are triathletes around, but I would not say its a huge community, but there are people to workout with lots of athletic people but all doing different sports
• Housing is expensive ish and there is no inventory now anyway because so many people moved here during covid

I cant stand the heat so for me I would rather live somewhere with a cold winter than a super hot summer, but we all have personal preferences.

Yep, we've covered road cycling safety on ST many times. Here is an article that hits home literally. I was living outside of Burlington Vermont during this time frame where we had multiple cycling fatalities while I was trying to train for Ironmans. It was really distressing. My husband and I would do our long rides every Saturday and my biggest fear was not dying myself but my husband getting killed and me having to live a life w/o him. One woman lost her husband while both were cycling around the Middlebury area. I found that so sad and upsetting. Sometimes I would feel sick to my stomach with worry when we would get up at 4am to get on the roads to have a few hours of peace before all the assholes got out onto the roads. And I do agree this fear is not healthy and can make one feel much less safe than reality. But again, it is like playing Russian roulette with your life. Those cyclists who got hit outside of Houston just recently (a current thread here on ST that has been a hot topic) probably thought they were safe riding on their normal training roads.

Then a few years after this article a few more cycling deaths occurred in my old area. Maybe statistically speaking I'm still probably less safer mowing my lawn, but at least I have some control over my fate as opposed to some random idiot in a big car/truck who purposely or accidentally runs me over.

I don't know if it's because I'm female, but when I have been alone on my bike, I've had some strange, scary encounters but that is a conversation for another thread. I feel like I've derailed this thread a bit already.

I will say I've cycled in NH many times and have found drivers there to be a bit better compared to over the border here in VT. The roads are much nicer too generally speaking. Your mountains are prettier too :-)

I'm just glad I have the gravel roads and nice mountain biking. I'm actually now closer to the Kingdom Trails and the Craftbury Outdoor Center. It's a paradise for outdoor adventures here in the NEK of VT. But I would not recommend it for anyone looking for a triathlon scene. I'm definitely the only Ironman athlete I know of in my area. I have to drive far to get to a pool. And the Burlington area pools are not nice in my opinion. One actually just closed and that was where I swam with the masters when I was living in the Burlington area.

And I totally agree April and November can be rough in Northern New England in regards to weather and training.

Sharp Increase in Vermont Bicycle Fatalities – Bike New England

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

I find this interesting. I'd understand not wanting to live in a place where the dominant politics are the opposite of yours - but turning down a paid speaking gig? Even deep-red states like Utah have something like 35-40% of the population that are liberal - and states like California or NY have similar percentages that are conservative. The point being, that there are vast numbers of people that live in any state that are unhappy with the dominant political group, and that may be a receptive audience if your speaking gig relates to politics in any way.

"You'll have more to do in the RDU area as far as entertainment, going out etc."
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That sort of depends what you are interested in. For example, in WS we have the School of the Arts which is the only college in the country to be in the top ten in filmmaking, set and design, ballet, drama, AND music (I think); and, they have more shows than there are days in the year. Not sure you could possibly have more/better entertainment than that if those areas appeal to you.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

No, not a political talk. Better to move this to the LR, if you are really interested. I can't effect change in other states by voting there (because I can't). But I can withhold my involvement there, if I am, for example, choosing not to spend $ in that state/supporting their economy or choosing not to carry out actions that might promote their success.

I know it wont convince you but what happens in 1-2 years doesn't make a trend. The article said no fatalities since 2005, then a couple of what sound like quirky abnormal bad years, what has happened since? Whats a longer timeline look like? What is the normal pattern? That article was not very scientific or valid in the way it presented the data, just a journalistic piece. I can agree to disagree with you.

I've heard Noosa's nice

Not quite USA though

1.Great cycling roads and routes. Road conditions must be really good.
2. Swimming pools.
3.Variety running routes.
4.Good vibe town and culture.
5. Road safety obviously.
6.Nice people.

__________

The most common answers you'll hear, in my opinion, are southern California, Boulder CO, or Tucson, AZ. I agree with what you've witnessed re: Tucson. My wife is from Boulder and we've spent a lot of time there. The area is incredibly expensive in and around Boulder proper, but you could still live 20 - 40min outside of town.


My wife and I just moved after living in Salt Lake City, Utah for four years (neither of us is Mormon / LDS) and it is by far my favorite place I've lived. Absolutely incredible cycling (both road and MTB). For road cycling, look up the Alpine Loop, Big Cottonwood Canyon, and Little Cottonwood Canyon. For MTB, look up the Wasatch Crest as a classic example. There's amazing running including beautiful trail running singletrack. It's high desert weather that's consistently very sunny.


Downsides - like many places, buying a home is becoming prohibitively expensive close to SLC. I have never met a Mormon that I haven't liked, but LDS culture (though this is changing) permeates the area and is a legitimate consideration. Still, that means half your neighbors will stop to help you fix a flat tire, hand your suitcase up to you on a tram, or are generally nice and super friendly.


If you want to ride during the winter you can drop down to Moab or St George in the South.


I would happily retire there.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCNl-PJXAlI&ab_channel=VisitUtah


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKn0wOk4R68&t=518s&ab_channel=BKXC

I'm a numbers person myself who analyzes data for a living so I get your point. But for me it's very real and has happened too close to home. And yes, we can agree to disagree :-)

Just be glad you live in NH and not VT. Aside from cycling deaths, the harassment and intimidation I've experienced on the roads from cars/trucks has been bad enough to keep me inside on the trainer or on our quiet gravel roads. I dealt with bad behavior from the 1990s to 2019 (then finally got off the paved roads). And I'm a super courteous rider, staying close to the right side, always single file with another rider or two, obeying all traffic laws, stopping at stop signs, doing every thing possible to not provoke any anger or annoyance from drivers. Anyhoo, digressing again.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Are we comparing apples to apples?


The early 1970s saw a huge increase in bicycle commuting by inexperienced riders because of the energy crises.

I just dug up this old nugget of a thread I started back in 2015 when I was laid up with my first stress fracture (only one so far knock on wood!)

Funny looking back and seeing what was important to us over 6 years ago. Lots of good recommendations on this one that might still be relevant today.

Best places to live for triathletes: Triathlon Forum: Slowtwitch Forums

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Boulder turned into very expensive town with parks overrun by "people experiencing homeless" that run bike chopshops right there. Just go a bit north to Niwot (very small, very expensive) or Longmont. All the best bike roads for road cycling is as far from Longmont as from Boulder. Ironman 70.3 Boulder bike course is more Longmont than Boulder really.

Or go further north - Loveland and Fort Collins. FoCo is especially nice – better downtown than Boulder, more restaurants, much better city cycling network, lots of good roads for road cycling, gravel cycling. Big Horsetooth Reservoir where you can OWS. Gyms with swimming pools.

I would not live in Malibu, but the Santa Monica area is great for cycling. Easy access to the coast/climbing routes, 2 swimming pools, great weather, a huge cycling community, etc. I live in the Burbank area which is inland, but we also have a fantastic nature preserve next us, tons of mountains, 2 swimming pools, mostly ok roads, bike trails that are being expanded/extended for the Olympics in 2028. The cost of living here is high and the politics are not... for everyone. But nonetheless this is a great place for the fitness oriented lifestyle.

PS - I should add that if you're into hiking, the LA area is absolutely top notch.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Well... In Sedona proper, and the nearby towns (Village of Oak Creek & Cottonwood), the MTB and Gravel riding is probably better than the road cycling. The road routes we have are fine, but there just aren't all that many of them. I ride with a local cycling group when I'm there. A decent amount of repetition. Not sure the local area is optimal if you were just road cycling.

That being said, Sedona is not that far from Flagstaff, where there's lots of good road cycling (that is, spring/summer/fall - not so good in the cold/snowy winters there). And, in the winter, you're not all that far from the Phoenix area, where there's also lots of good weather/riding in the winter (as someone else here noted in their post about splitting time between Phoenix and Flagstaff). And, beyond that, Tucson is still doable for further riding.

Lots of great places to run, especially if you are open to trail running work. And the Sedona Community Pool is a spectacular location, with lots of swim times available under their Masters program.

Sedona is at about 4,500 ft. That seems to be just below the line where snow comes. In a typical winter, Sedona gets a dusting of snow a few times. And, in most cases, it's melted off same day or next day. Unlike Flagstaff, which is only an hour away (but is at about 7,000 ft) -- lots of snow in Flag.

I ride with a local road cycling group when in Sedona. They have rides 3 days/wk. They're spoiled, and when the forecast predicts rain or snow, folks stay home. I can probably count on one hand how many times over the winter that rides were cancelled. Temps can be cool, but it's generally sunny. You might need a layer or two at the start of the ride, but then tuck the gear away before the ride is done.

We've discovered that in Sedona the air temp feels about 10 degrees warmer than in Seattle (or Bellingham) due to the lack of humidity and the consistent sunshine. 55 degrees in Sedona at mid-day can be "shorts weather"...

If you love triathlon then you MUST swim. Relying on facilities to provide that for you can fail (pool closed). So the best place in USA for triathlon I learned during the full nationwide shutdowns.... is florida. Yes I still swam during those times. No worries about freezing your self to death all year. For some reason I personally cant live there. Too boring - lack of variety in culture through out the state, everything looks the same.

If you want a mild year round climate, and don't want to live near the CA coast, then southern NM and AZ (even some parts of SW Texas!) are the best. It's sunny (sunniest winters in the US), and the rainiest part of the year is the summer. Pretty dry all year though. Most of these are pretty small...

Town - Jan/July avg high temp

Alpine TX - 60/90
Ruidoso NM - 50/82
Silver City NM - 53/88
Las Cruces NM - 60/95
Bisbee AZ - 59/90
Sierra Vista AZ - 60/93

Las Cruces is a decent size (100k), has a university, and is close to a major airport and larger city in El Paso. Housing is cheap, and it's growing fast.

I was browsing your instagram to try and get an idea of where you were training in Tucson, but there's no real great indicators. In general, I'm curious to hear more about the areas of town you are riding in and the equipment you are using. To put it simply, there isn't a better place in the US than southern Arizona to be a pro triathlete in the fall/winter when taking into consideration cost of living, pool options, and running/biking options. Have you been doing the group rides or just riding solo? Do you have any networking there to connect you to better/different ride options? It wasn't until I started riding with a good crew that I really discovered the breadth of what Tucson has to offer (and I barely scratched the surface since I never rode more than 130mi).

This is awesome info and my wife and I will be strongly considering a move up there for a good chunk of this winter.

The group riding sounds awesome.

And you're totally right. We always try to explain that humidity phenomenon to our families and they give us looks like we're crazy.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Road quality is good overall! Shoulders are ok but we have lots of country roads that have very little traffic. Sorry to assume you meant Greenville. We are on so many best places to live / retire lists, I just assumed. My bad. Sounds like Greensboro must be nice too. The southeast is pretty nice overall.

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Team Zoot

I'll be honest. Bend Oregon shouldn't be on this list.

Yes, pros live there, but once pros move there, their focus is not on racing that much anymore. Bend is more like the retirement home for professional athletes.

The nearest lake is 50 minutes away. The only water in town is a river that hovers around 58 degrees. The local pool costs $7.

Training for swimming sucks.

There are no roads in town that are more than 1mile without traffic controls. Outside of town, there are 3 or 4 ridable roads. Two of those are just giant hills. The rest of the roads are all chipseal and travelled by diesel trucks still flying trump flags. The road riding sucks in Bend.

Trail running is excellent, but that is it.

There is no triathlon community in Bend. There used to be a club in central Oregon, but it doesn't seem to exist anymore.

There is only one in-town race and the swim is downriver and lasts 8 minutes. The other races that pop up all use the same courses and there is very little variety.

Everytime a triathlete moves here, their focus shifts from training to building a post-race career.

In juxtaposition, Just east of Seattle, you can get a 60 mile ride in with minimal street crossings on the burke Gilman trail, and you have three triathlete-used swimming lakes in 15 minites from each other. There are several clubs in Seattle.

Bend Oregon kills triathletes.

Not quite sure what trails you are referring to (Sammamish? Centennial? Some other?), but you aren't getting 60 miles on Burke-Gilman, unless you do multiple iterations. Per King County website, it's only 20 miles. And, from experience, your dodging lots of crowding (bikes and pedestrians) along the way...

This.

I'm from the east coast, did my first trip to CO last summer. Spent some time in foco and boulder, couple other spots. If I was gunna move out there I'd pick foco 100x out of 100.

I'll add another positive review of the Greensboro/Triad area. Decent to good weather all year, active local tri club, plenty of local running and sprint/olympic distance races, a great open water swim race series at Jordan Lake, non-Ironman branded 70.3s within short distance that are really well run (Belews Lake, White Lake), easy driving distance to a handful of Ironman branded races, and dirt cheap cost of living.

Add in geography (to the east you have lowlands, flat, and eventually the coast; to the west you have elevation and mountains; no more than 15 minutes until your biking on empty roads next to cows; plenty of options for trail running as well), and it's a great place to live and train.

Where in Florida were you? North Florida? That I can see. If you want culture, then you need to come to experience south Florida. Yes the terrain is much the same (flat, green, and palm trees). But there’s a ton of culture in south Florida (Orlando area and specifically palm beach county and south).

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blog

The sammamish trail links to the burke Gilman trail the in Marymore park.

I used that trail regularly for 70.3 training. There were only a few congested areas that are a concern.

Swimming at Idylwood and doing an out and back to Bothell landing with a run is a great brick workout.

Compared to Bend Oregon chipseal roads, it is a godsend.

lifejustice wrote:

The sammamish trail links to the burke Gilman trail the in Marymore park.

I'm not sure quite where the disconnect is, but your statement above is not correct. The Burke-Gilman Trail runs from Ballard area to Bothell, passing thru UW, Northeast Seattle, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, etc. It doesn't come anywhere even close to Marymoor Park or the general Redmond area. It actually does link to the Sammamish River Trail, but that link is up in Bothell, not at Marymoor Park. My best guess is that you are referring to the 520 (bridge) Trail, which runs from Seattle across Lake Washington, through Bellevue, and does link to Marymoor.

https://kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/trails/regional-trails/popular-trails/burke-gilman.aspx

That being said, I agree with the general point about the availability of cycling routes in the Seattle area that do not have vehicle traffic. Loops around Lake Washington, "bridge loops" (out via 520, back vis I-90), Sammamish River Trail and Lake Sammamish loops, Centennial Trail from Snohomish to the Red Barn and back -- and the much underused connections among the south Interurban, Green River, Sumner Link and Foothills Trails (which go all the way from Seattle to Buckley - and, hopefully soon, to Enumclaw and beyond...).

However, those routes get much less enjoyable starting around this time of year and lasting until late Spring (due to our weather conditions here). Most cyclists and triathletes I know spend the bulk of their time for those winter months on the trainer riding with Zwift.




Yes, we do have a number of fine options for OWS in this area. Eastside swims at places like Martha Lake, Beaver Lake, and Lake Sammamish. Green Lake for those folks wanting a convenient option in Seattle. And for folks down south there's Lake Meridian and Bonney Lake area. Not to mention Lake Wilderness, the swim location for IM 70.3 WA.


However, again, given weather conditions, those lakes area really only a viable option for most folks from May thru October. Of course, I do see the year-round OWS swimmers on Sunday morning in the Sound off Alki, but those folks are much hardier than most of us.


In my opinion, Seattle area is an excellent place for triathletes to train for 6 months of the year (say, May thru Oct) -- and a not-so-good place to train (at least outdoors) for the other 6 months. Nov thru April is mostly pool swims and indoor trainer riding for most folks (which is one of the reasons, now that I'm retired, that my wife and I head down to the warmer, sunnier climate in central AZ at that time). YMMV.

Tucson has pretty nice roads for the most part, although there certainly are some bad areas. The area I'm in by Marana has the best roads I've ever ridden on. The newer parts of the city tend to have better roads. Patagonia Lake is the closest place to swim. I swim there until Dec. and then start again in March. Lots of great running trails in the city as well as the more rural areas.

When the Mayo Clinic said they'd be permanently remote for genomics I bought a 2nd house in the Tucson and really love it here. I suspect that more places will have to be remote when they realize how large of a competitive advantage it is in terms of attracting employees. I still go back up North for the summer, but Tucson is a great area for about 7 months. I've lived in the upper Midwest most of my life and can't really stand their winters for more than 2 weeks at a time now.

My advice would be to prioritize a city you think would be enjoyable to be in outside of triathlon though. The triathlon criteria should be the lowest on the list. I suspect that if you don't enjoy the city you'll regret your decision to move somewhere. I had already visited family in Tucson so I knew I'd like the city. If you're looking for just 1 spot central coastal California is likely your best bet that would meet your criteria. Super expensive, but pretty moderate weather as long as you're by the ocean. The traffic isn't as awful as what you'll get in LA/San Diego. In AZ, Sedona is a little hot in the summer but the area is beautiful. Winters are mild and snow only stays for a short period of time since it's pretty sunny.

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Professional interests in Genomics, Bioinformatics, Hardware/Software interfaces, sports interests are running from 800 to half marathon, sprint tri to half iron, cycling road races

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Beautiful put. I would add that the pros have the advantage of not working so they can benefit from training during not peak hours on weekdays. (Also, the flexibly employed who do not really need to work.) The smoke is affecting most of the summer now. Winter is unpredictable but most trails are snowed in and roads could be icy. Few roads to train on that allow for consisten pacing. Most local road races are run on sidewalks. And yes, as seen on That Triathlon Life, they spend their time on two roads with wider shoulders but benefit from weekday riding to avoid the hordes that head towards the lakes or the falls. I also would add that gravel may allow for safer miles in the future to avoid the inconsiderate compensating giant trucks that may sure to not give you three feet and speed up as they pass you on your bike.

I think there are two sources of the disconnect:

1). I did my approach from the east to the west
2) I haven't lived there in a decade and did not know I would be quizzed on the exact trail names.

That said, I regularly rode from Issaquah to Redmond on the East Lake Sammamish trail. I would take the Marymore connector trail through Marymore park to the Sammamish river trail. This trail goes from Redmond all the way to Bothell where it connects to Burke Gilman trail to the UW stadium.

Now...You'll see that this is all kind of moot because in Bend, the longest paved cycling Greenway trail is Skyliner trail which is .3 miles long. I hope you understand that I didn't consider the names of the Washington trails to be important when I am comparing them to a .3 mile greenway.(and I don't consider Old Mill ridable greenway)

There are two safe roads in Bend to ride. Two. One of them is only 9 miles long. The other is 20+miles, but comes with ~3000'+ of elevation gain.

I guess in short, Bend Oregon is pathetic for road riding compared to other places.

Alright. I'll bite. Many great places mentioned. As said earlier, not much mentioned in CA due to cost BUT I didn't actually see that listed in the criteria.

1.Great cycling roads and routes. Road conditions must be really good.
2. Swimming pools.
3.Variety running routes.
4.Good vibe town and culture.
5. Road safety obviously.
6.Nice people.

Sacramento - particularly the suburbs east such as Roseville, Rocklin, Loomis, Auburn, Folsom, and El Dorado Hills.

• Epic trail running (Western States course to name just one)
• About 8 months of OWS at Lake Natoma (no motor boats) and when full, Folsom Lake as well as the mountain lakes not too far away
• 70 miles (out and back) of paved bike path
• A lot of steep hills
• Many paved community running trails as well as the 12 mile paved running trail around Lake Natoma (single track as well if you choose)
• Gyms with outdoor and indoor pools to choose from
• Weekends definitely have that triathlete, trail/runner, outdoor enthusiast vibe.

Cons:

• Smoke-Season (particularly the last 8 years or so)
• Hot Summers
• Drought/Flood cycles
• Significant growth (like everywhere)
• Sometimes inconsiderate equestrians out on the trails ;-)

As I read this thread I realize my home up in the great white north is a pretty damn good place to do triathlon.
Plenty of reasonably priced public pools. I have three within a 10min drive from my front door.
Good trail and road running.
Huge amount of quiet country roads to train on with mostly good road conditions. The gravel is top notch too.
Several local triathlons and clubs.

Yeah, half the year is under snow, but that's what skiing is for.

Ha! We are under snow too for a huge chunk of the year! I live in the rural northeast of Vermont and I've learned to be content and happy here with 6 months of reasonable weather and 6 months of cold/snow. But I embrace the snow and snow sports. My home sounds similar to yours but I don't have close by pools, triathlon clubs and safe/good quality paved roads to ride. So I adapt. My pain cave is being overhauled in our new off-grid home. Our EP should be swimable next week (had it installed recently to find out a few parts didn't work UGH!!!), have trails being fixed and developed on our property, have a glorious mountain pond for open water swimming just over a mile from our mailbox accessible via mountain bike, good gravel roads and mountain biking. This wild landscape is not for everyone, but it's good for me.

I think many US pros are smart to live in places like Boulder in the spring/summer and head to Tucson or other warm places in the winter. But for those of us who can't or don't want to maintain two homes, I believe you can make it work anywhere if you really want to be a triathlete. Sometimes you just have to be creative and adaptable. (like put in an EP, build your own trails, get a fat bike/skis in the winter)


ETA: just thought of something, maybe a bit random. When my husband and I lived in the San Diego (Encinitas) area in the late 1990s we did miss the change of seasons and even a bit of snow after a couple years. Not everyone will feel this way but it affected my husband the most growing up in snow country

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.