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Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like?
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So, I just found out that I will be reassigned from DC to Charleston this summer!! We are all very excited about this move.

I am likely going to live in Mt Pleasant for the schools (for my kids) will be working in North Charleston but may have to go back and forth to the downtown Charleston site. So, I have a lot of questions and am seeking comments from anyone here lives or lived in the area recently:
  1. How is the area for training?
  2. I was advised that it is not feasible to bike commute to work (North Charleston) because it is not a very bike friendly area; is that slowly changing for the better/worse?
  3. Are there any tri/running clubs?
  4. Are there many tri's or road races throughout the year?


It would be nice to meet up with ST members to train with or drink some beers on the weekend. I'm sure I will have more questions as I get closer to moving.

Thanks,
-Nick
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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You won't want to bike commute, especially from Mt. p to north charleston. Its feasible to ride from mt p to downtown, but not necessarily ideal.

Trek Bike Store in North Mount Pleasant is your best resource. lots of group rides in the area. There's a 70.3 triathlon in mount pleasant. There is a sprint tri series on james island county park.

Lived downtown charleston for ~2 years. enjoy!
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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1 - it's ok. Great for running. Weather let's you be outside nearly all year. Super hot and humid in the summer. Not very cycling friendly. Best and safest routes or outside MtP in the forest (sewee/doar roads). Swim at LTP or Jones Center for masters.

2 - you cannot bike to NC. I lived there nearly my whole life until moving a year ago and cycling still isn't widely accepted. It just is what it is. Ride outside of town and you'll be fine.

3 - there are a few run clubs. The tri scene is kinda weak.

4 - James island sprint series is good and been around forever. Setup Events has a lot of sprint/oly events around the state that are easy to get to and fun to race.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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Nick, great to have you down here
I moved to Charleston from europe 7 months ago.
I swim in the morning at MLK, great 50 m pool with very few swimmers (at least when I swim there around 9 am), it becomes an outside pool I believe in march/april until november.
I ride with coastal cyclist 3 or 4 times a week, the rides tend to be always the same and it is very flat so be ready for some fast ones. The company is great as there are always from 6 to 20 riders on the week end to go cycle with you and with all kind of pace.
I run alone but I know there are plenty of meetups especially in Mount Pleasant.
It s kinda dangerous to commute outside of town so that s a no go.
There are plenty of races especially the 5 or 6 charleston tri series (S), the kiawah tri (M) I dont know yet about the other ones but will find out this coming season.
See you soon.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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We would move there if we had the opportunity. We lived there for a couple of years while I was in the Navy and my wife and I were married there as well. Lots of runs if I remember but for biking, Charleston was ranked 4th city in America for worse drivers. Something to think about while planning your bike routes. Quick search shows the state is still ranked up there, 3rd, and North Charleston is mentioned in the article. We lived in base housing, Goose Creek, so I rode on the base, out towards NPTU, and down Bushy Park road past all the Industrial buildings. Seemed nice and quite.


http://www.postandcourier.com/news/study-ranks-south-carolina-drivers-third-worst-in-nation/article_c9779a80-b669-11e6-958f-cf5db67f00c1.html

Than being said my wife and I plan on visiting some friends there and doing the 70.3 race. It's a beautiful area with lots of history. Once you find your routes I think you will love the area as the positives far out weigh the negatives.


Here is a link to our friends son in North Charleston who is training to ride across America.


http://events.watermissions.org/site/TR?fr_id=1511&pg=entry


Links don't work. Not sure what happened or how to fix it. Sorry.






http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com
Last edited by: alien: Jan 31, 17 5:14
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [RDL] [ In reply to ]
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RDL wrote:
You won't want to bike commute, especially from Mt. p to north charleston. Its feasible to ride from mt p to downtown, but not necessarily ideal.

Trek Bike Store in North Mount Pleasant is your best resource. lots of group rides in the area. There's a 70.3 triathlon in mount pleasant. There is a sprint tri series on james island county park.

Lived downtown charleston for ~2 years. enjoy!

I think the 70.3 tri in mount pleasant is no more. this year they only have the sprint and international distance.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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weather allows for year round running. depending on where you are in mt pleasant there are some trails in laurel hill park and up and down park west blvd as well as throughout park west communities.

ravenel bridge is good for some hill repeats both bike and run.

as others have noted, most of longer cycling is up in awendaw throughout roads in and around francis marion forest. lots of forest/service roads if you like gravel riding.

others have mentioned best locations for masters swimming. if you're not swimming with masters hours at some of pools can be sketchy since kids swim teams eat up most of the time. I usually swim in evenings at mt pleasant rec park west pool but I need to be there and ready to hop in as soon as swim team is done since they go until 7:15 or 7:30 and pool closes at 8:15 so there's no dilly dallying around. LTP is outdoors but this winter they went without bubble cover and the hours are even sketchier since they're closing it when it's too cold.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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My wife and I are also looking to move to South Carolina possibly the Charleston/Mount Pleasant once our house sells in Massachusetts. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. Our eldest daughter lives in Mount Pleasant so we are somewhat familiar with the area and our youngest is a freshman at Clemson. Was wondering other than the Francis Marion State Park where else is there to bike in the general area that is safe? Other than Charleston/Mount Pleasant where else would one recommend living in South Carolina because we have flexibility and could move anywhere. I just want to be able to bike and my wife wants to swim, bike, run and board her horse somewhere. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [2brokenhips] [ In reply to ]
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horses, bikes, swim, run first thing that comes out of my mind is the Awendaw area just 20 miles from downtown and not as expensive (yet) as Mt Pleasant)
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [def] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you. We have been looking in Awendah and actually would like to move there but there is virtually no inventory and what there is either extremely expensive (at least in our opinion) or not appealing.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [2brokenhips] [ In reply to ]
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2brokenhips wrote:
Thank you. We have been looking in Awendah and actually would like to move there but there is virtually no inventory and what there is either extremely expensive (at least in our opinion) or not appealing.

Yep. Awendaw is still rural (hence great place to cycle) and it's either really expensive or just a lot for sale or trailers/not great condition homes. I'm on the north end of mount pleasant in Park West so it's about a 6 mile bike ride to Awendaw. And Carolina Park development is building non-stop. But if you're looking to board a horse on your property these certainly aren't the communities for you.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [TriTamp] [ In reply to ]
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Actually trying to get away from the 24/7/365 noose around our neck of boarding horses on our own property and so we have freedom to do spontaneous things without worrying about the horses. My wife found a barn where she would like to board her horse while she was down there in November doing a home inspection on a house we had under contract in Dunes West. In retrospect it was good the house had too many issues and we decided to pass. We decided to put our property with 30 acres on the market instead and once it sells we can then figure out where we would like to live. Worse case we could move in with our daughter till we found what we are looking for.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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DC to Charleston, huh? Me too!

We bought a house in Moncks Corner last summer. We're slowly transitioning from NoVA (near Dulles). At the moment we're only down there 1-2 weekends per month.

I've joined the Blue Sky Endurance Tri Club on Facebook, but haven't met anyone in real life yet. The FB group is fairly active online, and they have multiple activities each week. It's based out of a shop in Mt. Pleasant.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/...ps/1124198631002414/
Shop: https://blueskyendurance.com/

There are lots of lakes around. I'm legitimately worried about alligators. Don't laugh.

Separately, the East Coast Greenway just added new mileage right in our neighborhood: http://www.greenway.org/explore-by-state/sc

I'm good at bikes AND beers. I'm certain we'll cross paths soon!
PJ

I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [pj_haas] [ In reply to ]
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This is a lot sooner than I wanted, but I think we've found a house off of Rifle Range and Six Mile. My realtor advised that the spring market can get really crazy and if I can find a house that I like now and for the right price, it may be worth jumping on it now.Looks like it is a little far from parks, but at least it is not too far from the beach. Does any have any good bike/run routes in that area? Looking at a map, I didn't see any nearby tracks for speed work.

I am not sure about bike commuting anymore, but hopefully it gets a little better and safer so I can have that option later on.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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I live off of the Isle of Palms connector which is a block up form Riffle Range. I love the area! The location is great, you have close proximity to the beaches, stores like Lowe's, Target, Harris Teeter, and a great area for training. There is a bike/running path that takes you to the IOP connector bridge and once there you can run/ride a long the bridge to the islands with a huge buffer from traffic. I do all my training out there at this point. Its safe and you can get a lot of miles in without repeating many roads. I'm not sure about tracks, I do most of my running on the road. Are you training for any big races? I'm looking for a training partner to keep me honest while getting ready for Ironman Chattanooga.

Also, I can confirm the housing market is nuts down here! Best of luck with the search and move!
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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Hey, Did you ever end up making the move? Just wondering how you like Mount Pleasant.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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I live in Mt Pleasant, right on Coleman blvd I'll be happy to take you on a couple rides and show you the lay of the land when you get here.

1. It nice and flat. Summer is brutal because of the heat. Not a lot of trail running, riding but being from DC you probably aren't used to that anyway. I ride past the ocean on about 90% of my rides.
2. You wont be commuting from Mt. P to North Charleston, not even an option because of the bridges.
3. The are more groups than clubs, the Summerville YMCA has some type of "club" but again, more of a group.
4. There is a 5 race sprint tri series that's a lot of fun, well ran races and short. There are some bike races but I haven't done those. Lots of running races from 5k to marathons.

Feel free to ask away if you want any other info.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [def] [ In reply to ]
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You do the Barn Jam rides on Wednesdays?
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [bujayman] [ In reply to ]
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I'm in Savannah, GA. 90min S of Charleston. Chas is kind of Savannah's big sister, it's really a nice area. As mentioned, there's a bunch of well done Sprints and Olympics in the area. I wouldn't worry about the Summer heat too much, you just have to get up early to do your runs. Cycling in the middle of Summer is fine, just keep drinking fluids.

Books @ Amazon
"If only he had used his genius for niceness, instead of Evil." M. Smart
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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Your best bet for a track is either the town one off of Houston Northcutt (a lot of people meet there on Tuesday nights) or the one at the Park West Rec. Facility. For running routes, there is not a lot from where you'll be. You may be able to run over into the Snee Farm neighborhood across Hwy 17 from your house. There are some great trails at the Park West Rec. Facility. It would be worth driving there most days that you run. You can also do some good routes in Old Village and along the bike path that goes out to Sullivan's Island.
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [brownnugen] [ In reply to ]
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I know this is an old thread but I read it before spending 5 days in Charleston last week. Just wanted to say that the MLK pool is a good public facility. 50 meters, friendly staff and only $4 per day for visitors. Probably the best value in all of Charleston.

On another forum someone commented on safety of the location. I had zero issues. In fact, another swimmer left her hatchback open for about an hour with her bags inside the car and nothing was taken.

I may not be fast, but once I get going, it is hard to stop me...
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Re: Moving to Charleston, SC; what's the tri scene like? [BigPat] [ In reply to ]
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MLK is great. I go there a few days a week and agree there aren't any safety issues. I wouldn't want to walk there from certain areas of town but if you drive you will be all set.
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