It's a terrible place to train. I suggest no one go there...

kidding.


It's a great place to train and actually is very "hilly". (I'm not kidding on that). You can get outside of the city and find some really fun roads. Check out some loops around Sugarloaf hill (part of GFT).

NTC is a great option, I think it's $15 per entry from a friend who was there last week. Also bring a wetsuit and hit up the open water option in Lake Minneola. They have about 10 buoys roughly 20-30m apart lined roughly 50 yards from the shoreline to create a pretty cool venue to swim in lake.

Check out the world famous "clay trail loop". It's like a 10-12mile loop around the orange grooves on very soft clay surface. Just off Hwy 27.

Clermont has a couple of different housing options but just note how close/far you are to the true Clermont downtown area (where NTC pool is). There's a section of Clermont that is actually like 3 miles from Disney South on Hwy 27. Which means it's like 15 miles from Clermont proper.


We do yearly training camp there every March, and love it.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

ty--sounds awesome--does the NTC typically have availability in the pool or is it always crowded?

thanks again!

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

May have to call and ask them. I do know they are only short course now since covid hit to give more lane space.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Keep in mind, that by the time the you arrive, both Arizona and California will be democrat sates. I've heard no suggestions about lockdowns in Arizona, but things have been getting worse so a lockdown is not out of the question when the democrats take over.

The Gov in AZ is a republican and has shown no desire to do anything that will slow the spread or transmission. Many of the city/county gov'ts are republican. Several hospitals in both Tucson and PHX have gone to divert status at times in the last few weeks.

here in tucson/pima county we have a mask mandate, limited capacity in restaurants and things close by 10pm I think, well it may be later but who can stay up past 9pm....if I lucky.

It's true that we have flipped 2 US senate seats from red to blue over the last few election cycles. IIRC I think Dems have picked up a few seats in the state legislature as well. I'd hardly call AZ a democratic state....yet.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

you don't need to worry about the Covid spike per se, it's more a question of 'are the desert pools open and to what extent?'. I don't know the answer to that, but generally in SoCal the pools require reservations and a 45 minute swim limit. I have no idea what they are doing in AZ.

I am out in the desert regularly in January and Feb and you're right, it's great. I can't speak to Clermont unfortunately.

You can actually get a book of passes - I believe it is $100 for 10 passes - this may of changed but worth looking into.

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IG: NCGregory8778

As the democrats won Arizona, does that not mean they will take over on January 20th? Definitely no expert on the matter, so I could be wrong. I'm sure no matter what happens restrictions in Arizona will be no where near as strict as California. But there's pretty much a 0% chance of lockdown in Florida and higher than a 0% chance of a lockdown in Arizona.

Alternative suggestion - #StayHome

I know things are different in the U.S. with advisements and the like, but in Canada, all provincial Gov't and the Federal Gov't have a stern #StayHome message right now due to COVID-19. Now is NOT the time to travel . . . anywhere!

So we are. It's been a bit strange because both my wife and I had traveled EXTENSIVLY for work and personal reasons for the past 3+ winters. Not this winter. Sticking close to home. Jamming on the indoor trainers and reacquainting ourselves with XC-Skiing!

Both Tucson and Clermont had been regular destinations for us, for winter riding of our own, and hosting training camps for athletes my wife was Coaching!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Federal vs state governments
We have a GOP led state gov't
Our US senators aka national gov't are dems

Fleck has a pretty good idea as well. Staying home isn't a bad option. I agree that FL has a 0% lockdown chance and AZ has a <5% chance.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Fleck: we've thought a lot about this question as we have been extremely isolated for the past 10 months. We ended up needing to pick my daughter up from Kansas and decided to as part of that drive on to La Quinta. We stayed socially distanced (Instacart, deliveries, etc.). We did swim at the Palm Desert Aquatic Center which felt way safer than our indoor pool at home in DE. On balance including the trip out there, we felt safer from CoVid than we do back here (one advantage is we don't know anybody out there).

We now need to drive her back and the question is if we should go somewhere and if so, where. Given our lifestyle, cold weather is a big risk factor--mostly for CoVid but frankly for cycling as well....I know I felt safer in La Quinta then home...

So while I appreciate the spirit of your post (not so much the #) and support that spirit 100%, I still think intelligent cautious adults need to think for themselves about how to be safe. To be clear, we mask everywhere, test frequently, quarantine when appropriate, socially distance, avoid indoor places with people, etc.

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

As in the University of? How were things there?

FWIW - I just cancelled a February trip to Palm Springs. Numbers are too high in California for my comfort.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I'm on the way to Clermont area next week. We have an awesome Airbnb in Winter Garden, 4 bedrooms, small indoor pool and a path to ride over to Clermont where the good riding is. The city there is very cool as well. When were you going? I'd be happy to check things out if you'd like as we'll be there for 2 weeks. I'm not familiar with the other areas but LOVE the Clermont area.

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Kiwami Racing Team

Thanks--love to hear about your experience I Clermont--we'll look at Winter Haven--thanks for the tip!

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

iron: yep KU--she's a grad student there!

I share your concern about Palm Springs--cases are 4X higher than when we were there just 3-4 weeks ago....I think we are beginning to think Clermont...

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

Hey Randy, not sure if you've already gone or are still looking, but just back from Clermont/Winter Garden. It was really awesome and there were a lot of people out riding and saw a few swimmers in Lake Minneola. It's been cool but pretty dry but felt awesome to ride outside. I contacted NTC for swimming and they have daily passes for $15, week for $55 and 10 visit pass for $100. Bike shops are open but masks needed for entry and sometimes they meet you outside or at the door. Where we were in Winter Garden all the sidewalk Cafes and restaurants were open and treated people like adults as opposed to lockdown Wisconsin. Some shop owners kept distance without masks. Farmers Markets were open with masks and controlling how many were inside but we never waited and the produce was amazing. Great time, and I would highly recommend it.

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Kiwami Racing Team

Thanks--sounds awesome! We ended up getting our first vaccine shot and get the 2nd next week...and then we'll probably go somewhere--good news is cases are down a lot!

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

Yea, we’re also halfway through vaccinations. That said I felt really safe always and everyone was out and walking and training. I’m going back!

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Kiwami Racing Team