I will be in the Tampa/St Pete area for a week. I’m doing the Longleaf Tri in Seven Springs on the 19th and then the Suncoast Tri at Ft DeSoto on the 25th. I’m hoping to get a ton of training in the week between events.
I’m looking for suggestions on a good place to stay that is convienient to both locations as well as training opportunities during the week. I was thinking that I might just get an extended stay to save money but I know that sometimes they can be in bad neighborhoods. Any ideas?
you have several alternatives for training. fort Desoto park, the suncoast parkway trail(40+ miles woth few cross streets)with no cars, Flatwoods Park in north Tampa or the Withlacoochee Trial north from Hwy 50. There is also the Pinellas Trail with no cars but a lot of cross streets. The suncoast pkwy trail is probably the best and it is close to one of your races’ Lok for motels on hwy 54, 52 or 50 all of which cross the suncoast trail. Also see the stpetemaddogs web site. You are welcome to join us at the Wed night open water swim at PassaGrille. That however a 15 to 20 miles from the Suncoast trail. Do not recommend riding on the roads with traffic in this area. It is just a matter of time until you are hit.
Any idea how I could locate an extended stay in that area? Is it considered Tampa, St Pete or something else?
Check under “New Tampa” or near the area of Bruce B Downs road. Flatwoods park is near the Bruce B. Downs area and near the intersection of I-75 and I-4, a cross road near Tampa.
your first tri is closest to clearwater or dunedin(north of cleawater) the second is in south st petersburg. they are 25 miles apart here is a link to an extended stay in clearwater. http://www.extendedstaynetwork.com/Maps/Maps.cfm?LocationID=15972 you will find lots of other hits if you do an google search under extended stay st petersburg. I would also look under extended stay st pete beach(closest to Maddog wed night swim) st pete beach(the actual beach is probably the nicest beach in this area. It is also closest to fort desoto park site of your second tri. You can train at fort desoto park however there are cars on the road. It is also very flat(and boring) If you want hills do the part of the suncoast trail above highway 50(no cars) or do San Antonio)hwy 54 exit east off I-75(that however is a long way from st pete beach) San Antonio has light traffic but there are a few rednecks with trailers who under the influence of Red Bull and vodka can be dangerous. You do need to study all these locations on a map. If you decide to do San Antonio get local knowledge from San Antonio Cyclery http://www.sananncycles.com/
Would it make more sense for me to get a place closer to my first event and then move down to the St Pete area for the rest of the week? If so, where should I stay that gives me proximity to the best training with the least cars?
I decided to get a condo in St Pete Beach. I figure I can drive a ways to get to the good riding spots if it means getting to stay on the beach. Where specifically would you recomend starting the suncoast trail?
rive east to pickup I-275, take north then east to pick up the veterans expressway beside the airport. Go north, veterans turns into suncoast parkway. exit at hwy 54 and park on the west side at the park provided. You will have 25+ flat miles. Or go to hwy 50(park at park on east side—tirn left then left at first street, go south 1/4 mile then turn left 1/8 mile to park. suncoast trail north is more hilly. they are rolling hills not as bad as IMCDA
These directions will get you to the start of the Suncoast trail where you can ride car-free for 42 miles each way, but since you’re staying at St. Pete Beach, I wouldn’t drive that far to ride. It will take you at least 45 minutes to an hour to drive that far. You’d be better off to just ride on the pinellas trail or at Ft. Desoto. You can do a couple of loops around Ft. Desoto and be fairly safe from getting hit by a car 
The Pinellas trail is close, but as someone else stated, it has quite a few cross-streets that you have to stop for and that becomes kind of a pain.
i am thinking of resettling to st. pete area at least for a few years. am a distant member of mad dogs. what is biggest problem on the roads… minimal road shoulders or large % of seniors, high volume traffic or what? times i’ve been to st. pete it seems pretty easy going? where do the mad dog weekly rides occur? any parts of st. pete to avoid in terms of living?
Roads right around St. Pete aren’t bad. You always see a lot of cyclists so I think they are used to them more then in some areas & there are
bike lanes on quite a few roads.
The group bike rides in St. Pete start at North Shore Pool ( where St. Anthony’s Triathlon is at) There are group rides every morning leaving
out from the pool parking lot. Saturday mornings there is always a huge group of cyclists which there is someone there calling out the groups based on the speed they will be going.
The fast/ training group rides leave from the USF-St. Pete campus nearby on Tues & Thurs evenings & Saturday morning. You’ll always find a lot of Mad Dogs & triathletes around the North Shore pool area either swimming, cycling or running, so it’s a good place to network or hook up with other triathletes. The Mad Dogs have a group run in the winter on Weds nights at the USF-St. Pete campus Tavern.
Any good multi sport shops I should check out?
Any good multi sport shops I should check out?
Chainwheel in Clearwater has quite a bit of tri stuff. May be worth a visit.
Tri 3 Racing in Clearwater has some selection. He is also carrying the Gray wheels and framesets now. He also has an endless pool in his shop. I will be doing Longleaf also and hear the swim is pretty funky with the time trial start in a reservoir! (They call it a lake) I will also be at Suncoast but my 9 year old is doing his first sprint so I will be shadowing him.
Park
Are there places to stop for water on the trails you mentioned?
We’re doing Longleaf too (me-sprint, wife-Olympic). Looks like most of your questions have been answered already. I can PM you my cell # if you have any other questions.
Are there places to stop for water on the trails you mentioned?
The Suncoast has water stops every so often. There are stores and resturaunts located up and down the Pinellas trail.
recommend carrying water on the suncoast trail there are some water stops but very limited—I remember only 2 plus the washroom at hwy 50
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On the suncoast trail there is a series of baseball fields not sure of mileage markers water stop is there also as Gmellish stated a few water stops along way. When my wife and i ride there we usually do 50 miles or so and get by on 2 bottles with maybe one stop. Also be careful because while there are no cars on most of the trail there is two way traffic and with headdown on the bars it is something to be aware of.
i plan on going down to clearwater/st.pete area from nov 7-nov16. if you would not mind sharing your experience when you get back i would appreciate it. plan to watch the worlds 70.3.
i too would like to stay somewhere decent without spending megabucks as i plan to train quite a bit in the st. pete area (swim north shore, try and run with the maddogs, as well as bike with them or at fort desoto). just need good bed to crash at night.
i might do the suncoast trail on the way back home.
hope your trip goes well.