The perfect tri city

Dec 30, 03 13:27

Post #1 of 36 (5510 views)

Alright, so on my way to work today I stop off and buy the winning lottery ticket for the $200 million plus Powerball set for Wed. night. Since I know I'm going to win, I started thinking that I'd like to move to the best city on the planet for triathlons. My suspicion: San Diego, but that�s based mainly on the weather, which is my main criteria. (If it snows/freezes, it�s off my list).

Then I start wondering how my home town, New Orleans, would rate. Here�s what I came up with (keep in mind that I�m really lazy and if something is more than a 5 minute drive, its too far away):

Positives

- great winter weather

- easily accessible bike paths that are protected from traffic

- no hills (I hate hills)

- great running paths, both asphalt and grass (St. Charles Ave)

- multiple public 50M pools

- open water swimming is available

- active Masters programs

- wetsuit isn�t need after April

- large number of triathletes

- active tri clubs

- active runners clubs

- high number of road races in the city, including a marathon

- world renowned restaurants and bars for when you want to break training/reward yourself

- 4 - 5 Sprint distance races within a 45 minute drive

- approximately 30 Sprint and Olympic distance races w/in a 4 - 5 hour drive

- at least 2 half iron distance races w/in a 4 - 5 hour drive

- IMFL is within a 4 - 5 hour drive

Negatives

- summer temperatures and humidity make training difficult

- summer sun is bad on the skin

- need more tracks to run on

- not any local tri specific shops, though the LBS are knowledgeable

- No hills (I get crushed in hilly races)

- world renowned restaurants and bars that tempt you to break training

I�m sure I have left out some significant negatives/positives, but those are the ones that come to mind. Overall, I�d give New Orleans a B minus.

So that I can make my plans on where I'm going to move, how do you rate your city? What do you think is the best city for triathletes? Why? What criteria are important to you?

Last edited by: ktw70115: Dec 31, 03 13:35

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 14:06

Post #2 of 36 (5487 views)

Tucson is the place for you.
Great bike paths
mulitple 50m and 25yd outdoor pools to work on your winter tan.
good masters program
great running and cycling community a somewhat fragmented tri community
multiple group rides 7 days a week
group runs 2-5 X week.
several road races and bike racecs
mountains to climb on the bike to make you very
strong.
very close to SD and a much more reasonable cost of living
3 tri's, 8-10 road races and 8-10 cycling and cyclo cross races all in town.
lots of trails to run
my freshly painted house will be for sale soon on the major E-W bike path
good university in town
tons of bike shops, at least 15 in town
you can go skiing or rock climbing on the mtn.
negatives:
a bit warm in the summer but start at 5:30am and no worries

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 14:32

Post #3 of 36 (5464 views)

Though the downside of NO tris is that they involve swimming in Lake Ponchatrain. (Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!) I live east of there about an hour NNW of Panama City Beach. Pretty much the same pros and cons, though there are good tri shops in Ft. Walton Beach, Pensacola, and Orange Beach, AL, and if you go inland a bit you can find limited hills for bike purposes. I'd give the Florida Panhandle a B.

Though the long range plan is to retire to Tampa/Sarasota because it gets too cold in winter here.

Re: The perfect tri city [FLA Jill] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 15:06

Post #4 of 36 (5433 views)

My vote is my little burg of Kailua on Oahu. the pros include:

Weather ain't bad, unless you like anything other than 72-88 deg F

Nice muni pool, master's program, and of course 82 deg Pacific ocean

Easy access to Kamehameha Hgy for long bike rides

Slightly hilly in sections, nice trail running in the Koolau mountains.

Cross training: windsurfing, surfing, paddling, mountain biking.

Disadvantages: real high cost of living, low average salaries, traffic, cost of traveling to mainland races

Always wanted to live in Arizona, though! Why are you selling your house?

Re: The perfect tri city [ssn759co] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 16:43

Post #5 of 36 (5380 views)

My wife and I have been living in different cities and countries for work. But she is now based in phoenix so I transferred up there.
I'll really miss tucson and plan on visiting every 3-6 weeks to ride mt. lemmon and run on the hilly trails.

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Re: The perfect tri city [desert dude] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 16:50

Post #6 of 36 (5372 views)

It kills me everytime someone says this. As I dependent spouse I go where my wife goes and she turned down a job in Tucson to go to New England. I'll probably print out your post and stick it on the fridge just to giver her a hard time . . .

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 16:53

Post #7 of 36 (5370 views)

Tack onto your criteria access to altitude as that is a biggie to the pros. That is why Boulder, Bend and Tucson are so popular (or at least you are hearing about them more.)

I think Davis (Tahoe/Reno for altitude) is fairly overlooked but like the cities above none have good winter weather. Not sure how to solve that one, I guess that's why San Diego is so popular, but then you have no altitude near by...and then there's always Hawaii but that cost of living thing will get you every time.

Re: The perfect tri city [snepper] [ In reply to ]

....

Dec 30, 03 17:18

Post #8 of 36 (5352 views)

El Paso and southest NM are great.
Pros:
-great weather year round (rains avg of 20 days a year, 300+ days of sunshine)
-altitude
-hills
-real long climbs
-flat roads with no traffic, no lights, no stops
-shoulders on most roads
-trails for running
-very low cost of living
-quite a few races in the area
-many thinks the area sucks so not popular, so not crowded :-)

Cons:
-open water swimming is not very convenient (elephant butte lake is the closest)
-can get windy as hell and dusty on top of this (seeing the positive in the negative...if you go to Kona, you are ready!)
-tri community is not really a community...more small groups.

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 17:19

Post #9 of 36 (5353 views)

I'm going to have to chime in about Tucson - it's really wonderful here. There's a pretty large tri community - in addition to awesome weather year round and plenty of scenic locations for both cycling and running. In addition to all the great bike shops, we also have TriSports.com, where you can get pretty much any equipment you might need. California races are just a short drive away, and there's plenty of AZ races to pick from - plus the season is longer here - races go from February - November. There's a good number of athletes of all abilities - guaranteed you could find training partners.

Did I mention the incredibly LOW cost of living here? It's sort of absurd really, but I'm not complaining.

I'd lived overseas for a while and never thought I would settle in the US. But I've been in Tucson 4 years now, and there's no place I'd rather be.

I suppose in the spirit of full disclosure I should share the negatives: - it does rain about 12 days per year, and it gets really cold sometimes - I think we actually hit freezing a couple of nights each winter...

Re: The perfect tri city [AZTriGirl] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 18:34

Post #10 of 36 (5294 views)

Jeffj: You've been WRONGED by your wife for taking you to New England instead of tucson. The very least your wife could do is buy you new race wheels, a cyclocross bike w/ studded snow tires and lots of snow proof cycling and running clothes.

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 20:35

Post #11 of 36 (5237 views)

I'll have to say Seattle is pretty darn good. I've lived in California and Texas, but Seattle and Washington are superior.

Benefits:

1. You can ride almost all year round. Riding in the rain is no problem if you have the right equipment. Summers are not too hot and winters generally aren't that cold.
2. Lots and lots of well-organized races with a local points series (see racecenter.com). Close to Portland where there are even more races. IM CDA and IM Canada are within 5 hours driving. Pacific Crest half IM, Troika half IM, and Black Diamond Half are very close.
3. Lots of triathletes of all different levels (Danskin Seattle is one of the biggest triathlons in the world).
4. Its beautiful here (I mean really frickin beautiful). Riding through the Cascades or Mt. Rainer is awesome (and has some major altitude).
5. Lots of challenging bike rides east of Seattle (but lots of hills - but hey, this will only make you stronger).
6. Lots of good bike shops
7. Two great long distance bike races / rides: Seattle to Portland and Ramrod (Race around Mt. Rainer)
8. Two great marathons: Seattle Marathon and Portland Marathon
9. I live next to a high school and can use their track any time
10. Lots of good athletic clubs, and yes some have 50m pools (not mine though)
11. Lots and lots of lakes to swim in, but usually you can't until probably April or May.
12. Great food (except for some Mad Cows)
13. Traffic is pretty friendly with bikers (much better than Texas). I've had no major issues in 9 years.

Negatives:

1. Okay, it kind of sucks riding in the rain. It doesn't rain as much as people think though. I've rode a ton during December and I hate riding in the rain and the cold.
2. The traffic in Seattle Sucks (thats why I use my bike to commute to work)
3. Too many people already live here

I'm sure there are more negatives, but I can't think of any right now.

- Steve
http://bailey.sts.winisp.net

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 21:03

Post #12 of 36 (5230 views)

My only question is why a city? Who needs the pollution, conjestion, crime, high house prices, etc. Living in a rural area it's great to have unpopulated roads, trials and lakes for training just a few minutes away. Could never move back to the urban rat race now. I'm sure there is all kinds of rural areas that meet your criteria.

Re: The perfect tri city [snepper] [ In reply to ]

Dec 30, 03 22:40

Post #13 of 36 (5211 views)

<< I guess that's why San Diego is so popular, but then you have no altitude near by

that's a big misconception, at least on your part. Boulder is surrounded by 10 - 12,000 foot elevations. An hour from my doorstep in Carlsbad is guess what...10,000 foot elevations. Slowman's house, a 90 minute drive from my doorstep has several 9 - 10,000 foot elevations. Not to mention several dozen climbs in the 5,000 foot range. The difference being, most of these climbs start off close to sea level so the actual verticle is at least the same, maybe even more in most cases. Again, if you want to live at any kind of altitude, it's not that far from the coast.

I can add a lot more in defense, and against North County/San Diego, but that will have to come after I finish some more work first.

Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 5:14

Post #14 of 36 (5165 views)

a B-????? are you kidding me? all those positives and you gave new orleans a B-???

ok... try moving to southeastern PA.

- no bike path longer than 2 miles within 30 miles of my house.

- no tri's within an hour. (i think the closest is 1:05)

- best bike shop is 1/2 hour away.

- shitty winter weather.

- no open water swimming within 2 hours? (still haven't found a place!)

- no tri shops (at least that i can find... anyone?)

- there is an underground tri following... but, it's very underground.

- one good running club.

- no 50 meter pools anywhere and the 25 meter pools either cost an arm and a leg or only have an open swim 1 hour out of the entire day.

- no swim clubs

and, i'm sure there are a bunch of other things but i'm getting too depressed to go on. be thankful for what you have... which appears to be very triathlete friendly.

Re: The perfect tri city [Mike Plumb] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 6:28

Post #15 of 36 (5120 views)

Mike has a good point. We live in Escondido which is the North County of San Diego. Great area for training and not far from anything you need, hills, flats etc. I guess this is why after spending 4 years in SE Georgia I pushed Navytri to get me home - San Diego.

Re: The perfect tri city [thisbetc621] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 6:51

Post #16 of 36 (5094 views)

Move! Move Now! Before it's too late. Just kidding ... but not realy.

Lived in SE PA for 12 years and had to move. Not sure where you are, but I got out of there and moved down to the beautiful Eastern Shore of MD - EagleMan Country. Might not be suited for some who are looking for more of an urban lifestyle, but I'm with CVGuy on this one. Went out for a run the other day over lunch - 90 minutes. Passed by 2 cars, saw 4 deer, two fox, and enough geese to count. No hills, but you can ride for hours and not be passed, stop off at some destination places for lunch or a beverage.

Just a small group of multisport guys/gals, but we are close and dedicated - practice tris about every third Saturday at several venues.

Four major airports within 90 minutes. Open water swimming in the Bay or Ocean within 30 minutes each. Low cost of living. Annapolis, Baltimore, DC, Philadelphia all within about an hour drive. Superb public schools.

Travel all the time for work to all the places mentioned here. All are great, but rural is the way to go for training. At least for me.

Steve

Re: The perfect tri city [cerveloguy] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 7:05

Post #17 of 36 (5086 views)

In Reply To:

My only question is why a city? Who needs the pollution, conjestion, crime, high house prices, etc. Living in a rural area it's great to have unpopulated roads, trials and lakes for training just a few minutes away. Could never move back to the urban rat race now. I'm sure there is all kinds of rural areas that meet your criteria.

You have good points. I live out in the woods and rarely ever see another runner or cyclist. My main gripe about living rural that has not already been covered in this post is finding training partners. At this stage of my life my main objective is getting faster and this would be much easier if I was not the fastest cyclist and runner within an hour of my house any direction. I have found it much easier to improve living on a steady diet of ass kicking (mine being the one being kicked). That is my main complaint of rural living and makes me the most jealous of people in Tucson.

However, even though I complain I would be hard pressed to give it up. I kind of like not being able to see any other houses from my house.

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 8:49

Post #18 of 36 (5037 views)

A few more positives for Phoenix:

1) The race season is now 12 months. There was a tri in December (using a pool) and there will be an off road tri in Mexico in January.

2) The opportunity to race in Mexico. There are now 3 tris in Rocky Point Mexico, about 3.5 hours from Phoenix. The Olympic distance race is on Slowman's party list.

3) Off road tris - there will be an Xterra race plus at least 2 other off road races in Phoenix this year.

4) A new swim-run series in a new lake in central Phoenix.

5) Entrepreneurial race directors willing to try new things and charge reasonable fees.

6) Fabulous mountain biking in the city (probably the best for any 3 million plus metro area in the world).

7) Great opportunties for off road running. I never run on the roads, never have to drive to do a run, can run on hills or flats, rarely see anybody else running (most Phoenicians do not take advantage of the remarkable recreational opportunities here), and see lots of wildlife (coyotes, rabbits, birds, and the occasional snake).

8) Quite a few bikelanes in my area of the city (NW).

Andrew

Re: The perfect tri city [JeffJ] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 9:10

Post #19 of 36 (5020 views)

"I live out in the woods and rarely ever see another runner or cyclist"

I know watcha mean. Living in the boonies, the only other cyclists my wife and I ever see are DUI's!

There are some definate disadvantages of rural living. We don't have a decent pool or even a LBS in our immediate area. Still, I wouldn't trade it for the urban treadmill. The largest metropolis to us is Toronto (pop 3 million) and is about a three hour drive away. Whenever I get the small town blues my cure is to go visit Toronto for a day or two. The traffic, the people, the noise, the madhouse. I'm always happy to get the h*ll outta there and get back into the peace and quiet of the boonies.

Re: The perfect tri city [Mike Plumb] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 9:38

Post #20 of 36 (5010 views)

Mike you make a good point. Forgot about the San Gabriel mountains to the East. I live in LA and just am too lazy to drive out there plus I don't make altitude training a priority in my training. Not sure how many LA area coastal residents go out that way to train altitude. Do a lot of folks in SD head out East to train altitude? I wonder how many Davis folks head to Tahoe to train as well since I mentioned that. All the times I have been up there Tahoe struck me as pretty (road)bike unfriendly plus the part about Davis that I thought attracted people was the rural nature of the surrounding area and less traffic on the roads. Looking forward to hearing your comments on good/bad about SD / North County.

Re: The perfect tri city [snepper] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 10:22

Post #21 of 36 (4980 views)

a.i. I'll be settled less than more in the next week or so in phx near south mtn for now until I find a house. send me an email get_faster@hotmail.com
I'm always looking for people to train with. I know a few people in the area but the more the merrier.

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Re: The perfect tri city [ktw70115] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 11:34

Post #22 of 36 (4933 views)

Santa Barbara

Positives

moderate weather year round
local tri club (www.sbtriclub.com)
excellent masters programs
running races year round (http://www.sbrunning.org/)
two local races (Santa Barbara Tri in August & Carpenteria in September)
summer biathlon series (Nite Moves - 1km ocean swim & 5km run- www.runsantabarbara.com/nite_moves.html)
4000' mountains within 15 minute ride
Wildflower ~2 hours drive
tri-specific shop (Hazards)
lots of trails to run on
dog friendly

Negatives

home prices (i.e. 1000 sq ft homes go for between $650,000 and $800,000); however once you get in the market "you're in"; plus if you win $200m no problem
employment (hard to find professional type work - however good for defense engeneers, some lawyers and accountants)

Re: The perfect tri city [snepper] [ In reply to ]

Dec 31, 03 20:27

Post #23 of 36 (4807 views)

I'm an engineer and not a physiologist so I may well be wrong, but I believe the idea is to recover high rather than to train high. That is, you want to live at altitude. Given a choice, I believe it is generally preferable to train at low elevations but that can be difficult given the geography.

I think guys like Armstong spend their days riding around at low relative elevations and then a kill a few hours in an altitude tent or hypobaric chamber at night. "Legal EPO".

Re: The perfect tri city [snepper] [ In reply to ]

Jan 1, 04 13:07

Post #24 of 36 (4692 views)

Is San Diego the best place to live if you are a triathlete? I am not sure about San Diego proper as I live about 30 miles north of San Diego in Carlsbad, still San Diego county.

Positives:

whatever kind of riding you want to do, it is hear, year round. Nice easy rides that are scenic, along the coast. Hot summer rides out in the east. Cooler summer rides nearer the coast. Tons of climbing nearby. So far, that I know of, I have 4 different 10+ mile climbs all nearby.
running: scenic roads, trails, flat, hills, have it all here. plenty of good tracks nearby
swimming: open water year round as long as you don't mind 58 degree water in the winter. THe LaJolla Cove is a very awesome place to swim, and great for Ironman training, it is 2.4 miles round trip across the cove. Plenty of great Masters programs to choose from.
great tri club, Tri Club of San Diego, about 850 members. Great monthly meetings at Roadrunner Sports, club training get togethers almost every day of the week. Free monthly club "no frills" race year round.
great weather: on the coast, rarely ever gets real hot in the summer, or real cold in the winter, pretty stable weather year round. Very few rain days through the year.
training partners, this part can't be beat, so much to choose from. Carlsbad Masters can be a who's who in the triathlon world. On any given day during the season you never know who will show up. Regulars include Jurgen Zack and Spencer Smith. Macca, Stephen Sheldrake, Cameron Brown. Further to the south, you can always hit Roch Frey's Tuesday Masters class in Del Mar, or the Masters workout at UCSD. Group rides are spectacular. Here if someone shows up wearing a particular team jersey, it's not because they bought it at the LBS, they are usually on that team. Lance, Floyd Landis, Axel Merycx (sp?), John Howard, Steve Hegg. The Satruday you never know who is going to be there. Smaller groups rides during the week, usually during the summer there is a 115 mile inland ride that I have done a few times with Jugen Zack, Norman Stadler, Spencer Smith and a few others. Friday night tempo runs with Jurgen and Norman. Tuesday night track workouts coached by Steve Scott (US mile record holder). Sunday long runs on trails in Rancho Santa Fe, again you never know who is going to be there, Heather Fuhr, Paula Newby Frasier, Lori Bowden, Carol Montgomery, Jurgen, Mathew Reed, you just never know who is going to be there. With so many workouts to choose from, you have to really pick and choose when and where to show up.
Tri SPecific shops: in one 8 mile stretch of road you have John Cobbs Bicycle Sports, Nytro and B&L Bike Shop. Plenty of other good shops around also, Hi-Tech Bike shop in the city, Trek Bike shop, Supergo and a lot of other smaller independant shops.
even though the weather is pretty nice year round, during the winter you are 90 minutes away from snow skiing at Mountain High or Big Bear. Mountain High is just above Slowman's house.

Negatives:

the biggest negative of all is the cost of housing here. In north county the lowest priced condo is about $250k and is nothing more than an apartment converted to condos. Houses start at $350k for a fixer upper. The further inland you go the cheaper it gets, but is still expensive. Its a hard pill to swallow paying rent to share a house that is double what my mortgage was when I lived in Mobile.
with so many training opportunities, you have to really pick and choose which workouts to do to ensure that you don't overtrain.
races: I'd give the local races a grade of C. Very few USAT sanctioned races and very high entry fees. If you don't mind driving better races are more readily available.
traffic: like any big major city, traffic is bad. I don't see how bad it is that often because I work from home and have most of what I need within a couple of miles. I do know that the heavy traffic here is still better than rush hour traffic in places such as LA, Boston or NYC.

In my travels the past couple of years, I have had the chance to really look at other places and evaluate the advantages and disadvantage of these places. I really feel that the housing cost will eventually drive me out of the area. I think that Tucson is probably one of the most ideal places that I have seen in recent times. I was there last weekend and picked up a real estate magazine. A 3 bedroom/2 bath house, double garage, backyard pool, $149k. I heard somewhere that Phoenix is the fastest growing city in the world right now. Don't know if that is true or not, but I find it very believeable. It is just a matter of time before more people discover Tucson and the prices really start rising there. Right now the two places that I see myself ending up in is Tucson or Palm Springs. Palm Springs is on the rise again and at this point is still affordable, to the point that I could buy a house there and still rent here in north county for 6 months of the year when it gets too hot in Palm Springs.

Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

Re: The perfect tri city [cerveloguy] [ In reply to ]

Jan 1, 04 14:27

Post #25 of 36 (4666 views)

I am going with the country life. I saw only 1 car on my 6 mile run today. I ain't far from IMUSA, 100 miles.The wildlife is great. Low cost of living. MY kids are in graduating classes of 28 or less. Easy to enter most races (like no lottery). I get CBC free on the TV (It's the Sat. night thing ) . What more could you ask for. NO trafic. I can ride hills or flat from my house.

Happy New year
Dirtball

Our Partners

transition-DOT-area-AT-slowtwitch-DOT-com

Advertise with us

©1999-2024 Slowtwitch, Inc., and Slowtwitch.com
Reproduction of material from any Slowtwitch.com page
without written permission is strictly prohibited.