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Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train?
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We are moving to North Carolina and would like to ask for ideas on what would be the best town to base ourselves in order to enjoy swimming, biking and running. We are looking for good weather, easy access to parks and wild nature, cool cycling routes, swimming pools, maybe a good open water place (lake or ocean), and hopefully good services. We really don't care about schools or job opportunities.
It would be really great to receive you suggestions and we will appreciate them a lot. Thanks!
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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I don't think one town has everything on your wish list. But a friend who is a serious Ironman competitor moved to Asheville over a year ago and loves it. I know she does a lot of outside road riding and there are many routes. But I'm not sure about swimming pools or close/clean lakes to swim. We were looking into Asheville 6 years ago when looking for a warmer climate but decided to stay put as we like being rural and in a much less densely populated area (I'm probably in the minority on that). Also I'm sure it's very expensive now as everyone wants to move there. There are a lot of folks from NC here on Slowtwitch, so I'm sure you will have more responses with more insight into other towns.

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
Last edited by: Triingtotrain: May 7, 21 10:13
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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My experience:
  • Asheville: would suck to ride there in the winter. Great hilly terrain, but probably sub-optimal training conditions for year-round training.
  • Durham: some nice bike lanes, some angry drivers due to minimal shoulders, not too bad, and generally low-traffic. Little rolling hills everywhere. Great opportunity for heat acclimatization training in the summer. You'll sweat putting on your kit, given the humidity. Good winter riding. Rarely freezes.
  • Coastal/OBX: my favorite beaches I've ever visited for playing in the water. Wonderful temps for swimming for a good chunk of the year. Flat, flat, flat. Good luck not getting bored on the bike. Great for seeing fast average speeds. Boring after that.


Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [Triingtotrain] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks a lot!
We googled Asheville some time ago and thought it could be too cold in winter time.
Will give it a second chance. Appreciate you took the time :-)
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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IgnacioV. wrote:
Thanks a lot!
We googled Asheville some time ago and thought it could be too cold in winter time.
Will give it a second chance. Appreciate you took the time :-)


Depending on where you are moving from, Asheville winter temps will either be nice or too cold. They get a mild winter. Asheville is at a higher elevation so their summers are cooler than many places in NC. So that is something to consider too if hot steamy summers are not your cup of tea. I followed the weather in Asheville off and on after my friend moved there and it seemed that summer was sometimes cooler than where I live which is close to the Canadian border. (I get extreme cold and summers are getting hotter!!).

Hopefully you can spend some time exploring and spend time in different towns before settling down.

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
Last edited by: Triingtotrain: May 7, 21 10:45
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you DrAlexHarrison!
When we googled Asheville we found it too cold in winter time.
Durham sounds like a good place to be and also there is a small town called Cary, pretty near by. We plan to visit it as one of our options. Do you have any references regarding the town of Cary?
OBX looks beautiful, the only problem as you mentioned, is that it can be a bit boring after a while. We plan to check out Wilmington as well, do you know that place so you can give us some insight about it?
Thanks again!
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [Triingtotrain] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks again Triingtotrain!
We are moving from Santiago, Chile. So yeah, Asheville seems a bit cold in the winter and steamy summers will be no problem at all :-)
We have like 1 week to travel around before settling down, so it would be ideal to get there with no more than 3 options to explore.
Thank you once again and I hope you have a great weekend
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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I am in Winston-Salem . . . don't know how it could be any better! I can bike right from my back door, I live 4 minutes from my office, and the pool is a mike away. This past year I biked outside every single weekend. Mountains are bikable from home. Great cultural activities - ACC sports, NC School of the Arts (ranked top ten in every category with some sort of show almost every day!) Honestly, I'm not sure how logistics of my life could be better. Let me know if I can help.

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.
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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I only lived in NC for 6 months, right between Durham and Chapel Hill, so I'll have an "outsiders" viewpoint. That viewpoint is that Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill were all somewhat indistinguishable as a cyclist, possibly because I spend so much time clinging to my wife's wheel and barely able to take in the surroundings. We didn't spend much time in the downtown area in any of these, just in the surrounding areas for riding and running. All seemed the same. OBX was definitely different. Asheville was different. Winston-Salem would definitely put you closer to the mountains if you wanted to venture out for some big gravel or MTB rides. My wife and my favorite gravel ride ever was in the nearby mountains of Virginia in the fall. (fall colors were amazing)

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: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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I live in Brevard, just south of Asheville. Coming from a NY State climate, we have mild winters. Our county is about 2/3 national forest. Lots of trail running options. Plenty of road running. Swimming: only 1 pool in our little town, but a few lakes to swim in. Other Asheville communities have much better pool access. Our neighborhood has a 10 acre lake, so I can OWS almost year round. Biking: I primarily gravel bike when riding outdoors...50% of the time on pavement, 50% on gravel. Love going up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to ride. There was only 1 week this winter where I couldn't gravel bike due to snow/ice on the forest roads. 35-50 degrees F. And if mountain biking is your thing, some of the best terrain in the country in Pisgah National Forest. But as others have said, lots of good locations in NC. I run into David from Winston-Salem 1-2x per year at various races. His location is very nice too.
Regards, Tim Shea

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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [david] [ In reply to ]
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Hi David, this is great input. Thank you very much for sharing.
I'm doing my research about Winston-Salem right now :-) and it looks like you have great weather there.
Can you swim in the Belews Lake or at High Rock Lake? Is there any specific area of Winston-Salem that you would recommend?
Thanks again!
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks!
If Winston-Salem is more like a gravel/MTB destination, then it is not what we are looking for. We only ride TT or normal road bike. This has been very useful. We are being able to select which towns match our preferences and we will be able to relocate successfully thanks to these advices we are receiving.
Many thanks
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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Oh... plenty of roads there. Just was commenting that you'd be slightly closer to mountains. Definitely not saying it's NOT a road/TT suitable location. Sorry for confusion there.

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: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IL2tri] [ In reply to ]
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Hi Tim and thank you for your input.
How do you like this part of the state (Asheville to Winston-Salem) in comparison to Wilmington?
I can imagine there is pros and cons to each part but it would be super useful to understand them from your point of view.
Thanks again for sharing!
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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Oh! great to clarify that... Winston-Salem is back on the list now hahaha
I think we already have identified 4 options for us:
- OBX: which looks amazing but we will have to continue reading as it looks like one can feel bored there living permanently for a long time. Maybe it is more like a holiday destination than a permanent residency or maybe we just need to learn more about it.
- Wilmington: which we will love to learn more about from someone who has ever been there.
- Cary/Durham/Raleigh are: which looks like the area with more town life to offer.
- Winston-Salem and the pre-mountain section: which is cool by being closer to the mountains.
Appreciate your help a lot!
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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Just curious- how did you decide on North Carolina as the place you want to move to?
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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I’m telling you, this is a wonderful area. From my house I can bike to Belews Lake. My daughter and I did open water swimming there until mid December, without a wetsuit. No problem.

I would book in the Ardmore neighborhood and westward. That is a gross generalization. A couple stoplights and you were out in the country. Heals, or whatever you want.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have more questions or need help. Best wishes!

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.
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [Zissou] [ In reply to ]
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Hi Zissou,
We need to be on the East Coast because of work reasons so that was the first filter.
Once there we founded out that we wanted to be south from Virginia, otherwise the winters are too cold for our lifestyle.
Then we realized we had to be north from South Carolina, otherwise the summers are too warm for us.
Finally, we like to be no farther than 2 hours drive from the beach.
That's how we got to NC.
Happy to receive your feedback on this :-)
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [david] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you so much David!
This is very kind of you. I will continue my research on the area and will contact you directly if we are about to travel to Wiston-Salem. We have a week to check-out some places before settling down, so I hope to connect with you before driving to your area.
Thanks again!
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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Since this is a question I ask myself often, I'll add that there are several threads on moving to NC that may be helpful.

I've lived in both Asheville and Raleigh during the summers to escape the Tucson summers.
In the RDU area you'll often drive to bike. I found it frustrating to drive for 20-45 min each way for a 3h ride. Most of the pools are indoors which after swimming outside year round for the last 2 decades made me cry. Great for my cycling tan lines though...trade offs. Traffic has increased...drastically in the last 5y in the rdu area. As you get out of town what used to be empty roads are now full of suvs. You've got to go further to get out of town, maybe an extra 3-5 miles. Also the only place where I've had random people pull up to me and tell me to have a good ride. I mean who the F does that? Running is great in the area. One summer I lived by the ATT and did hundreds of miles on that. Never got tired of it. The next summer I was there I was near Umstead, again never got tired of it, the black flies well...can't win them all.

Asheville. Spent 3 summers there. There are 80,000+ people that come there every weekend. You'll have 1 week in July where the temps break 34 and then barely. If it gets to 36 be shocked. The riding is great, especially as you get out of town. The running is great as well, a bit hilly and when I came back to Tucson my flat ground pace was often :30-:40 faster than in AVL. Swimming, well every spot has a weakness. The options kinda sucked. You have Recreation Park which is a LCM pool and it's BYOPC (bring your own pace clock) at least the last couple of summers I was there. In the spring/summer they have points races on the mellowdrome (an outdoor 1km velodrome). You can race 2-3x a night. Housing prices have gone through the roof. 8yr ago I looked at a 1400 sq ft house new build. Would have been in for ~$350k. Last time I saw it on Zillow it was listed at $895k. appreciated ~ $75k/yr. There is a tri nearby as well in the summer.

I found in both places you could workout anytime during the day in the summer but I also had been through many 38+ days before arriving. In the RDU area you just sweat a lot and in AVL same just less sweat.

RDU has a pretty good cycling and tri scene. Inside out Sports is the ride start for many rides as is the Apex Community Center, easier to get out of town from the ACC vs IOS imo.

I also train some around High Point bc my Dad lives there. It's close to Winston Salem. Half the time I was training into WS for masters swim, some rides and running around Salem Lake (which is a great place to run). There is a Tues group ride leaving from Lewisville and another group the rides around the Piedmont on weekends that I rode with. Forgot the name of the group. Again though being in HP i did a lot of driving to train which in Tucson I ride & run out my door 997/1000 workouts. HP has the Piedmont Environmental Center which is also a great place to run.

The racing scene in NC is pretty good. I think there will be less races in NC this summer due to various things covid related. Probably/possibly some of those races are not coming back. The racing scene has a few really fast dudes, then a few pretty fast dudes then the drop off is pretty step. At 50yo if I race there I'll still race in the elite/open category bc I'd rather lose to some really fast dudes and occasionally win a race overall than destroy the entire AG field if past history is any guide.

That should be enough to get you thinking a bit. If I was going to move back I think I'd also look into Boone, Black Mountain, WS/Greensboro, Raleigh/Durham/Holly springs/Apex/Cary/chapel hill/morrisville/hillsbourough/carrboro. Maybe even Saluda NC area.

Honestly even places likes rolesville and knightsdale which used to be waaay outside of raleigh are now just part of the 'burbs. Housing prices are nuts right now in NC though. I've seen $10-20k increases in prices this year from what neighborhoods were going for at the end of 2020.

I personally would not consider charlotte ymmv though.

Anyway search the archives for past threads.

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Last edited by: desert dude: May 7, 21 15:00
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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If you’re willing to slightly cross the border into SC, it’s hard to find a better place than Greenville, SC. Rolling terrain, several pools, plenty of trails for riding/running, and lower elevation than Asheville and it doesn’t get quite as cold. And it’s an hour to Brevard and Asheville if you want to get up there for training.
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [desert dude] [ In reply to ]
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Hi Brian and thank you so much for such a great review of the area.
I spent the summer of 2019 in Tucson, so I can understand your point when you look at the summer temp in NC.
You got me thinking a bit indeed.
I really like to ride out of my door, so having the possibility to chose any place within NC it should be possible to find that place.
Also, we are used to swim in a 50m outdoors pool and it would be "miserable" to start swimming indoors all the time.
Do you have any information about Wilmington? I can leave and ride with no climbs :-)
Thank you so much for taking the time. I did look for "moving to NC" but found no thread whatsoever. If you see any, would you please pass me the link?
Best wishes!
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [Vols] [ In reply to ]
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Sounds great!
Sure we are open to the north part of SC. It doesn't get too warm in summer I guess.
Do you have outdoors swimming pools there (hopefully 50m ones) and good cycling routes for road biking?
I'll be doing my full research on Greenville, SC. tonight.
Thanks a lot
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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I did my undergrad at UNCW and was on the swim team. I wasn't into triathlon at the time but a few team mates were and a few raced PRO for a few years after.
I will try to write more tomorrow.

Tiago
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Re: Moving to North Carolina. Best town to train? [IgnacioV.] [ In reply to ]
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Years ago, I attended a triathlon camp put on by the Bike Cycles shop (it’s a local bike shop in Wilmington, NC). The purpose of the camp was to review the SBR courses for the Beach to Battleship iron distance race. Only spent a few days there but I really enjoyed the activities. As far as swimming goes, we swam in the ocean. It was April so the water was cold but not bad if you had a wetsuit. A few folks who lived there said they ocean swim a lot. I enjoyed my few days there and definitely considered moving there at one time.

As someone else said, Greenville, SC is a great place. But, with any place that has become popular, there are a lot of people moving there with real estate prices going crazy.

Good luck with your search!
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