leaving sunny florida and heading up to cape cod next tuesday for 2 weeks, complete with racing and training - problem is…where can i swim?? i graduated from BU, and know their pool is great, but driving all the way back into town just isn’t worth it. anyone out there know of a cape pool near falmouth? thanks!
Why not the ocean? There’s a sprint tri right off the tip of falmouth coming up:
http://www.timeoutproductions.com/Falmouth/falmouth_index.htm
----edit
there’s also a resort, Seacreast - indoor and outdoor pools.
You gotta swim in the ocean. If the surf gives you the willies, swim on the bay side. it’s often calm as a lake.
You can swim in the bay, at least in the Brewster area, anytime the tide is high enough. Best open water swim workouts I have ever had were in Cape Cod bay. You can swim parallel to the beach for miles. You may want to bring a wetsuit, not sure how cold it is this time of year.
You can also run on the beach, on the bay side, especially at low tide. The sandbars are firm enough that you don’t get that awful pain in your calves. You could also run on the cape cod rail trail, but that’s not as fun.
It’s almost not worth it to even bring a bike though, IMO. But the swimming is awesome and the running is pretty good. There is a pool in N. Eastham, near the Wellfleet town line, but I don’t remember the name.
There’s a pool at Sandwich High School (http://www.scslearn.org/exec/sandwich/pool.cfm?publicationID=152), Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, and the local Y in W.Barnstable (www.ymcacapecod.org). I know some falmouth tri people swim out at Old Silver Beach in W. Falmouth and Grew’s Pond in Goodwill Park. The pond is small, but you can cross it a few times without being too far out.
Also check out www.capecodcyclist.com for local rides. There’s something going on almost every day either from the Hyannis Bike Zone shop, the Mashpee Bike Zone shop, and Dennis on Sundays.
Shoot me an email if you need any other info, I’m near Hyannis and swim at the Y.
Hey-
I’ll be in Falmouth most of next week as well. I know the rec center has a pool. There’s also a rec center in Hyannis and Sandwich as well. You have any ideas of places to ride? I was thinking I was going to do loop after loop after loop on the CCM course.
Rick
thanks so much for the input everyone! ocean doesn’t bother me at all, but the cold is tough! im a florida girl with gulf waters…so, i will be bringing my wetsuit:)
rick - id love to meet and ride. last summer i kinda just experimented and found some nice roads, but the ccm course always works. im planning on going to routeslip or mapmyride and finding some loops. ill have some longer 3,4 + hr rides if you wanna get together. pm me with contact info:) ill be in on tuesday afternoon.
I am headed up there next month as well for about 7 days- first time visiting the area and will be in Wellfleet. So how is the cycling? Why do you say not to bring the bike? Is the cycling no good? I always like doing a few rides on vacation but is the traffic bad, etc?
Anyone local to Wellfleet that can chime in?
Also- how about the cape cod rail trail for cycling? on their website it seems like a good spot to ride ( 28 miles each way starting at south wellfleet)… but perhaps on a beach cruiser only?
thanks so much for the advice!
I grew up on Cape Cod, and visit my parents down there several times a year.
Swimming in Cape Cod Bay - if you want warm water, check the tide tables. If you get high tide around mid day or afternoon on a sunny day, the water is warmed by the hot sand. Very nice for swimming.
Rail trail - very crowded in the summer, with loads of little kids swerving across it. Biking in general is challenging on the Cape, with high traffic, narrow roads and impatient drivers. Best to ride early in the morning.
Yeah, I ould go with the beach cruiser only, if anything. The swimming is awesome, and running on the beach, especially at low tide, is a blast. But the biking is definitely, as xraycharlie said, “challenging”. I would have said “sucky”, though it’s true that you could work out in the early morning. The rail trail is nice, but crowded, and both of the roads are full of tourists driving erratically.
Swimming and running in the bay are both so nice, I’d just leave the bike at home.
can’t help you on the cape cod thing but HI!!! haven’t seen you here in awhile.
tc
thank you guys for the inside scoop-- most appreciated. maybe I will just leave the bike at home and do the swim + run schedule. that will give me more time for the beach too I suppose…
as far as swimming in the bay near Wellfleet- are there any better swimming spots, or is anywhere good?
Hey There,
Have spent every summer of my life on the cape. Here is my advice for what its worth:
Swimming: Aside from the pools ther have mentioned, there are many nice warm lakes/ponds you can swim in. Go to this website to see where all the ponds are. I swim in them regularly for training. I am not a big fan of swimming in the ocean, either. But swimming at Craigville beach on the south side is resonable. No tidal issues.
http://www.town.barnstable.ma.us/GrowthManagement/PropertyManagement/BarnstablePonds.pdf
For running, no problemo. Find a nice beach road, and go for it. The timeout race route in Falmouth is great!
For riding, agree riding on the Cape in the summer is iffy. The locals are impatient, the tourists are idiots, and the roads have narrow shoulders. That said, BikeZone in Hyannis has Thursday night group rides (safety in numbers). The service road that parallels route 6 is god place to ride without much traffic. I think there is a bike zone in Falmouth, perhaps they can hook you up with a group ride closer to you.
There is some god stuff here on the cape, you just need to know a local to find it. Good luck and have fun!
TT
A few other thoughts:
Craigville beach: Swimming in the surf here used to be one of my favorite things to do as a kid. Good place to get a taste of moderate surf swimming for anyone who has some ocean races coming up. Best to go in the afternoon, after southwesterly sea breeze starts blowing.
Running/swimming: There are some great trail networks that aren’t really well known. Some of my favorites are in Yarmouthport. You can park at Gray’s beach (free parking, I believe - if not there, then nearby on Alms House Road), then run on trails through the salt marsh and woods out to route 6A via Kingsbury Way. (All of these places are on Google Maps, though the trail doesn’t show up very well). Continue west on the 6A sidewalk to the Yarmouthport post office. There’s another trail system behind the post office that goes around Miller Pond - loop trail, if you want to do laps. If you hop the low fence at the cemetery on Summer St. (fairly obvious from the trail), it’s a quick jump over to Dennis Pond - nice beach, great place to jump in and cool off on a hot day. (Resident sticker required for parking, so that’s why it’s good to run there.)
Very pleasant, isolated feeling to these places. Just the thing for when the crowds are getting you down. Don’t worry about getting lost - you’re never too far away from the roads, even though it feels like you are. Be sure to check out the old parts of the cemeteries on Summer St. and Ancient Way, not to mention the Gray’s Beach boardwalk.
There are other routes like this, but this is by far my favorite run when I’m down there.
Another vote for swimming the bay side or Old Silver Beach. I’m pretty sure the Gus Canty Rec Center in Falmouth has a pool. If you do bring the bike, get out early in the a.m.; CCM course has good rolling terrain especially through Sippewisset going towards Woods Hole, plus riding past Nobska Light as the sun is rising can’t be beat. : )
Make sure you hit Betsy’s Diner in Falmouth for breakfast!