middle distance, texas 70.3 ironman in galveston just a few weeks before ironman texas there in the woodlands. a lot of people use it for a tuneup race. the host facility has a hotel, you can walk from the hotel to the transition area / swim start. makes race morning very convenient.

there is a local full distance thats been going on for a while called the oilman, this year they had to cancel because the hosting facility changed ownership and contracts had to be redone or some such... hopefully it will be back next year.

also there is a half distance north of san antonio in kerville, late in the year.
https://kerrvilletri.com/

olympic in downtown austin put on by lifetime tri. freaking fun event, awesome course if you like downtown austin.
https://www.captextri.com/

houston has a few local sprints that are well put on and fun...
https://www.bayoucitytriseries.com/

https://www.katytriathlon.com/

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Maybe try Valhalla (how have a Houston contingent) or OutRival racing for tri clubs up that way. I plan on doing some outdoor rides now that the weather is nice, check out Bike Barn's website for group rides starting from their shop every sunday. The Chasing Watts app might help too.

Best bike shop hands down in Houston is Bicycle Speed Shop, though it's in the middle of town and a bit of a drive from the woodlands.

For online deals on bike or training equipment your best odds are Backcountry.com or clevertraining.com

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

Welcome to The Woodlands ... when you get here.


Damon referenced Oilman as a full distance, however, it's a half distance. Great race which I've done many times and was started (and continues to be run by) the current Ironman Texas (Greg Pennington) race director. As he mentioned it's not being held this year due to issues with the host venue but hopefully will be back next year.

The Woodlands is a great place to train and the area is generally cycling tolerant for the most part. Plus, there is several hundred miles of paved running paths throughout the area with a water fountain and/or bathroom within 1-2 miles in any direction.

There used to be a strong tri club up here but it has gone the way of the dodo bird with the rise of tri teams such as Finish Strong, Out Rival, Vallhalla and a few others.

For swim you've got several options ranging from The Woodlands Master Swimming, Magnolia Masters (run by SnappingT on here), coached workouts at the YMCA or Villa (high end club), as well as one associated with the Valhalla folks that I can't remember off the top of my head.

For the bike you've got the various tri teams that hold regular weekend rides, The Woodlands Cycling Club, the various bike shop rides (Bike Land, Bicycle World, Sun and Ski, etc.), Valhalla does some early morning week day rides, plus many other options.

For the run you've got The Woodlands Running Club with organized track workout on Tuesday nights and weekend runs, a group called Zero Dark Thirty that does 5am runs just about every day of the week, plus the various tri teams get together for runs but not as frequently as they do for the bike.

Your best deals are going to be online of course but some good shops in the area are Bike Lane, Bicycle World, Race Ready Repair, and Bike Land. They all have their pluses and minuses but you'll see and hear a lot of folks using Bike Lane (Go See Ken - google it).

Let me k\now if you've got any other questions about the area and I'd be happy to help out as would several others on ST that live in the area that are active on the boards.

Thanks guys, extremely helpful.

@damon.lebeouf - I'm actually already signed up for 70.3 in Galveston, but will definitely check out the others you mention.

@Callin' - Excellent, will take a look at those. Don't mind it being a bit of a drive as my wife's family lives south of Houston so can always swing by on the way.

@logella - That's exactly what I was hoping to hear and glad to hear it from someone who lives there. Want to get out when I can so perfect with lots of options. Now that you mention it, I do have a possibly random question.. We have obviously done a bunch of research, but are there any areas of The Woodlands that we should try and avoid flood wise? Not sure if that's even something that can be answered, but it's not really something that we deal with often on this side of the pond and my wife grew up south of Houston so she's not familiar with the area. We're currently looking at a few options in the Panther Creek area, but it's early days and could easily change to somewhere else (still in The Woodlands).

I’m actually in Panther Creek as well, about a block from the IM Texas swim start. Flooding-wise you should be fine.

Other than a few small pockets most of the area was not impacted terribly by Harvey back in 2017. I think the main area affected was the Timberlakes area (my daughter rented a garage apartment there and her house was under about 6 feet of water) which is technically not part of The Woodlands but most don’t even know that. There were some small pockets and isolated streets in the Creekwood area (next to Timberlakes) and the Creekside area.

Welcome. I’m from Houston area but in terms of race options it would be the same for us. I believe most people got it covered on the previous posts but wanted to add that on a ~5h distance drive there are plenty of race options both branded and non branded. Im quite sure you can buy stuff from wiggle here.

Outside the us, races on Mexico and Latin America like IMCZ are quite famous as well.

That's very helpful, thank you.

@rcb.tri - Thanks, yeah I figured as much but have only really looked at IM races previously which of course are pretty easy to find, but good to know there's plenty of options within driving distance.

you can also look at TriFind (https://www.trifind.com/tx.html) for events in the state.

If you're willing to fly to races, it's hard to beat the prices and availability from Houston. Note that Southwest only flies out of Hobby airport

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

The OP is landing in a great spot for triathlon training, in case he hasn't realized it. The only thing that seems to be missing is a good open water swimming venue. I would live up there except that it's way too far from downtown, where I work.

Couple of random comments to add to the above:


I did the Kerrville event this year for the first time, the sprint and Olympic distances. Very well run event and, as mentioned, they also offer a 70.3.

itrievents.com also puts on quite a few local races, including one 70.3 (Onalaska) that is up north near the Woodlands.

The Woodlands also puts on its own sprint event, which is very well attended and has a fast bike course.

Bike Lane in the Woodlands has a huge selection of triathlon bikes in stock, the largest I've ever seen.

This place is sneaky with how great the training options are for endurance sports. I was completely skeptical when I moved here from San Diego almost 7 years ago, but it's completely blown us away. Amazing people and top notch facilities, the community feel here is second to none.

There are a few weekly rides taking place in The Woodlands. HERE is a link to a popular early morning ride that takes place 3x's/week. HERE is a link to what's dubbed Tuesday Hammerfest which takes place every Tuesday evening with 4 loops of Woodlane (as safe a road as you'll find around town).

There are some fantastic clubs depending on what you're looking for. Most have some type of coaching tie in. Others are purely social with no coaching affiliation.

You can't go wrong with the two main triathlon focused swim groups in town.

Tim Floyd runs Magnolia Masters with daily practices in both The Woodlands and Magnolia High School.

Gemma Hollis runs PushGlideKick in The Woodlands.

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Lars Finanger
Odyssey SwimRun

Btw, Gemma’s swim group that Lars mentioned is the one I couldn’t think of this morning.

I see that logella and Valhalla and others got you sorted on some details. I’ll just add my hello and welcome and will also send you a PM with my contact details. Lived in The Woodlands since 2001. It is a fantastic community for endurance sports with some great training areas, facilities, and people. Raised my kids here as well. Summers are tough but winters are mild AND way more daylight that the UK!

I also lived in the UK for a few years so know the challenges of moving and finding info in new place. Met some people through tri talk and they taught me some routes in the Surrey Hills and helped me with some of the race information so happy to pay it back if I can be of assistance. Also, if you need to borrow a trainer or other gear just let me know - seems like always something needed that is on the container!

Again, welcome!

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I miss you "Sports Night"

I'm fairly new to ST, but I'm amazed by the response and helpfulness. This will all make it a lot easier to settle in knowing where I need to go. I will definitely be looking at the various options, especially the swim sessions as I'm a very slow swimmer. I gathered from research that it's a great place but getting all this input from you guys living there makes us very excited for the move.

Thank you, I'm looking forward to not being cold when it's raining! And having an actual summer, even though it can be tough, it something I'm looking forward to as that really doesn't happen where we live. It is really windy and rains a lot though.. Appreciate the offer on the gear, I'll hopefully have most things in place by the time we get there but these things rarely go to plan.

There are a bunch of non-branding events around the houston area. oilman has a great 70.3 in November, there are also 2 different groups that put on a series of Olympic events.

Just something to consider when moving to texas and tri. The summer (may-->October) can be around 90+ all day long, so for scheduling MOST events take place in early spring or "fall". So if you are coming in May there may not be a longer distance even till September.

Yeah, change is fun to experience new things. I do miss the U.K. summers of getting home at 7pm at night and riding for two hours in sun or rolling out at 5am for a three hour ride and getting home as the family was waking up! But i don’t miss watching the sun start to dip at 2!

Safe move and pm’d you might contact info so when get settled send email or text and happy to introduce around to some of the routes, people, and places.

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I miss you "Sports Night"

Welcome to the Woodlands. I think the race schedule is fairly well covered. But there is a good calendar here.

When you get in to town, let me know. I've built up a range of discounts codes from a bunch of triathlon related products.

Groups not mentioned - Conroe Triathletes has a fairly active group. South Coast Endurance had a solid group that trained for IMTX this past year and they had some group rides. There's a steady group ride post Magnolia Masters Saturday morning swim. The pool is on the old IMTX bike course.

If you get in touch with me when you get settled, I'd be happy to introduce you around. We have 12 workouts a week in the Woodlands (8 swims) and Magnolia (4 swims).

Any other questions, let me know.

Tim

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http://www.magnoliamasters.com
http://www.snappingtortuga.com
http://www.swimeasyspeed.com

Thanks, really appreciate all the help here. My swim is fairly slow and my technique non-existent so that sounds great. If any questions come up I'll be sure to reach out.

You can buy from Sigma Sports, Wiggle, and CRC and ship to the U.S., however, there are some items I’ve seen on Sigma Sports that are not eligible to be sent to the U.S. Perhaps the other two websites have some restricted items, too.

Houston area has a pretty good tri scene and lots of events. Solid area for training but let’s be honest... the cycling kind of sucks. The Woodlands area gives you easier access to better cycling than if you were in Houston itself but it’s still nothing great.

As noted Oilman is not happening this year and I’d bet $100 that it’s never happening again. It’s a great race but it’s not that well attended. Less than 300 last year and has been trending downward for years. Add to that the host venue has new ownership and I just don’t think it’s coming back.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Wow Eeyore... you must be fun at parties. Be careful, the holiday season is right around the corner.

I'm sorry, what exactly did I say that was such a downer for you? Cycling around Houston does suck and there's probably zero chance Oilman is coming back. Would you rather I blew smoke up his butt and told him it's the greatest cycling this side of the Rockies and Oilman will comeback stronger than ever? I said the tri scene was good, lots of events, and a solid training area. It's not like I mentioned it was one of the ugliest concrete jungle cities I've ever seen, with horrible traffic, and oppressive weather for half the year. :-)

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

correction; MORE than half the year

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

Man oh man you must be fun at parties.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One