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Best triathlon towns to live USA?
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Hey Slowtwitch. Really need some help here please. Moving to USA and wanting some advice on which towns/areas are highly recommended.
What I’m looking for:
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.

I have currently been in Tucson for a bit and can’t really speak highly of the cycling because road conditions are shocking. It’s also a much older community it seems.
Heard Boulder is great but also heard it’s very clicky.
Other places I’m interested are Asheville, Greensboro, Austin, St George and The Central Coast.

But like I mentioned I really am not sure and unsure of the USA and the best place to base myself for my sport. I don’t need to be located in a downtown or in the city area and happy to be on the outskirts.

Thanks again and appreciate anyone who can help a guy out
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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.

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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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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.

Kiwami Racing Team
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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.
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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.
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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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.
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [jwmott] [ In reply to ]
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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.
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [dktxracer] [ In reply to ]
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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
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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...
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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?

Kiwami Racing Team
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [giorgitd] [ In reply to ]
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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....

Kiwami Racing Team
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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.

http://www.TriScottsdale.org
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [Sbernardi] [ In reply to ]
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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).
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [dktxracer] [ In reply to ]
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dktxracer wrote:
I think weather is the biggest challenge for finding a SINGLE best triathlon area.

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

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...
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [Mongo] [ In reply to ]
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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?
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [dktxracer] [ In reply to ]
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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.
Last edited by: Velocibuddha: Oct 13, 21 2:08
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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.

Team Zoot
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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Most of the pros seem to live in three places.
- Boulder, Colorado
- Bend, Oregon
- Tucson, Arizona
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [jeepguy2358] [ In reply to ]
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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
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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". . . 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.

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.
Last edited by: david: Oct 13, 21 4:48
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [david] [ In reply to ]
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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
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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.



"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
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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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.

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.
Last edited by: david: Oct 13, 21 5:43
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [Mongo] [ In reply to ]
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Mongo wrote:
dktxracer wrote:
I think weather is the biggest challenge for finding a SINGLE best triathlon area.

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


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...
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 :)

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
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Re: Best triathlon towns to live USA? [scb999!] [ In reply to ]
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scb999! wrote:
Hey Slowtwitch. Really need some help here please. Moving to USA and wanting some advice on which towns/areas are highly recommended.
What I’m looking for:
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.

I have currently been in Tucson for a bit and can’t really speak highly of the cycling because road conditions are shocking. It’s also a much older community it seems.
Heard Boulder is great but also heard it’s very clicky.
Other places I’m interested are Asheville, Greensboro, Austin, St George and The Central Coast.

But like I mentioned I really am not sure and unsure of the USA and the best place to base myself for my sport. I don’t need to be located in a downtown or in the city area and happy to be on the outskirts.

Thanks again and appreciate anyone who can help a guy out



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 :-)

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
Last edited by: Triingtotrain: Oct 13, 21 6:10
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