Can anyone from the Bay Area recommend good places to open-water swim? I live in the Peninsula/South Bay Area. I rode by the Stevens Canyon Reservoir the other day but I see it and all the other Santa Clara park bodies of water are closed to swimming.
Also, does anyone have a source for information on the elevations changes and grades on various roads or cycling routes (short of examining topographic maps with a magnifying glass)? I’ve got lots of information on where to bike, but no information on how to compare it to the IM course I’m training for. Ideally I’d like to find some similar kinds of hills and practice on those sometimes (up and down).
In San Francisco you can swim in the bay on a 1/3 mile course at the dolphin club. Although you don’t have to pay to use the course for about 6 dollars you can have a locker for your stuff.
Del Valle in Livermore is open to swimming year round. Nice, clean water. Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton has a lane for swimming, but the water is … yeah. Go to Del Valle.
As far as elevation on routes, you need this software - it is great for planning rides out here. http://www.klimb.org/klimb.html
I used to live in Belmont and we would go to Coyote Point (south of the airport off of 101) to do open water swimming. Dont know if they still let you but its worth a try.
Dont know of any elevations for the bike rides but there are lots of nice places to ride on the peninsula.
As TriDan said if you can make it into SF Aquatic Park is a great place to swim and is packed with Triathletes come late winter/early spring. The water is pretty cold now. Dolphin and South End Rowing club provide lockers to the public on alternate days of the week for 6 dollars drop in fee although the Dolphin members are not big fans of wetsuits or those wearing them. Also swimmers out in the bay at China Camp in San Rafael at high tide although not enclosed so be careful if you are alone as the current can pull a bit on changing tides and there aren’t always people around.
Check out the swimming schedule at south-end.org for more info.
Here’s what I and a couple of others do in the East Bay for open water swimming:
Swim at Lake Anza in Tilden Park. Although Del Valle seems to have much nicer water quality, it’s a bit of a haul for us. Plus, I have this friend that swims outside the roped swim area once the lifeguards leave in the evening. She says its beautiful and peaceful and if you swim around the “No Swimming” buoys, you get a little less than a half mile circuit. If a Ranger busts you, just act sheepish and apologetic and they’ll let you off with a warning.
Swim at Aquatic Park like the previous posts advise. Got to get in the Bay at least a few times if you are signed up for Alcatraz events.
I’m scouting a open water course near the Richmond Marina or Albany Bulb area. When I test them out I’ll post the results here.
For road elevations, find a copy of Grant Peterson’s “Roads to Ride” (he is the owner of Rivendell Bikes). There are two volumes, one covering the Greater East Bay and the other Marin/Sonoma I believe. Also, there is a cool software map package available for just about any area of the US that you can use to generate road/ride profiles. It was used to generate the map for the collegiate nationals road racing course around Martinez a couple of years ago.
Finally, if you ride anywhere in the Bay Area while doing IM training, you will laugh when you get to the actual race. Dead flat by comparison excepting maybe Lake Placid or Canada. Try Wildflower Long Course or Worlds Toughest for a truly hilly experience.
You’re in a tough place to find some open water swimming venues…as the others with non-flip replies have noted, all of the recommendations are not on the Peninsula or South Bay—so, my advice would be to plan on a swim-bike workout on days when you absolutely have to get an OW swim in. I’ve swum in Shadow Cliffs, and it’s not great, but it’s not incredibly bad (especially when compared to the Bay) and you can start some long rides from the park there.
Ditto with Del Valle…certainly a cleaner lake, very close to Mines Road and some excellent riding, but is a good hike from your location.
Uvas resorvoir is in the Morgan Hill area, and I’ve swum there once in a tri (“South Bay”) but I don’t know if it is open for swimming at other times. Try a google search and see what happens, or perhaps someone else will post with more info about things closer to your home.
The Grant Peterson book mentioned by others is also an excellent resource.