i moved here two years ago, and i think it’s more or less been raining every day since. honestly, it’s supposed to be the middle of summer and i can’t remember the last decent day we had. add to this the fact that my grant money runs out in september, and it’s enough to make me think about actually finishing my thesis and moving somewhere else.
so: where should i do my PhD?
-mike
edit: when it’s not raining, it’s winter (which lasts about 7 months at -40) or i’m out of the country.
duh!
Austin, TX
Melbourne, Australia.
Your right, Edmonton does suck… that’s why I live in Calgary. 
It took you that long to figure it out? I left shortly after you arrived. (Sept '02 - Feb '03) I didn’t even bother finishing my thesis - it just wasn’t worth it in my field.
Talk to anyone born in Edmonton and they’ll tell you how great it is in the summertime with all the festivals and partying on Whyte Ave. Talk to anyone else and they will tell you it sucks. I had trouble getting over the “Whyte Ave is great” thing. To me it was an annoying street filled with fat people wearing too few articles of clothing, drunk people acting like morons and Harleys so loud that conversation was impossible.
The only thing I miss is the 50m pool at Kinsmen and the running trails along the river.
i live on the whyte. i’m typing this about 50 meters from 109 and 82nd right now, crying tears of slient rage.
-mike
You could move to Illinois.
Rumor has it, we are about ready to get this drought named as a “National Disaster.”
sadly, i lived in melbourne for a year. studied at melbourne uni and it was incredible. i cocked things up by getting into the wrong sports while i was there: i got super into climbing while in australia, and only rarely trained with my tri club (which at that time had luke bell and mitch anderson on it). then when i moved to edmonton, i started getting back into triathlon, and only climbed rarely. back-asswards, frankly, and i think i need to go back and do that one over again.
-mike
Move to Ottawa and complete your thesis here. We have a tri/multisport race every weekend from start of May till end of Sep. Running races pretty well every weekend all year. XC ski races every weekend all winter. Great training facilities and a great local tri scene (>70 racers at Ironman LP alone, plus another 50 or so doing Ironmans in Penticton, Madison, Panama City, Frankfurt, Roth and Klagenfurt.
Oh yeah, its F’in cold in the winter, but by then you should be on XC skis or speedskates anyway mixing it up.
In Calgary, you can climb and do triathlon. The weather is better than Edmonton, but if I had the option to be anywhere in the world, it wouldn’t be here. If I had the choice of any big city in Canada, it would be here. Ottawa would be nice too, but my parents live there.
yeah dev, got into the nordic skiing here and did the birkie last winter; i think that saved my sanity and made me heaps fitter come spring. i think you have to have a good winter sport in this city (or really, everywhere in canada except victoria) if you want to stay on the good side of crazy.
-mike
p.s. - how would you rate montreal vs ottawa? u of o/carlton aren’t quite as hot for what i’m doing as McGill.
I would agree we were there this last weekend for the Masters RR and TT. Not the most impressive city I have visted.
did you race the tri? That lake looks nasty!
I used to work in that area. When I arrived I was amazed at how different it was from Calgary. After three years in and around Edmonton I was so happy to leave. Much happier in NYC, haven’t been back for 10 years. Either transfer schools or stick it out, graduate and never go back.
You could move to Calgary, but you’ve already been tainted by E-town, so we don’t want you.
(P.s. flames rule)
I was just up there for the Masters World TT. I thought it was quite nice. Everyone I met was extremely pleasant and polite. I felt the same way about Calgary. Very nice places to visit, at least for 3 month out of the year. I suspect it’s not so nice in say, January. This business of secrect cameras taking your picture when you speed is also a little bit scary to me…
– Jens
did you look out the window today? it’s 24 and sunny…and supposed to be like this all weekend.
but yes…there is some shitty weather.
i pick…oregon or colorado.
or hawaii.
don’t kid yourself brother - this is just another tease. i’ll finish writing around 5 or 6 and it’ll start to rain as soon as my second cleat hit the pedal.
-mike
you’re doing your thesis…work @ night…that’s the beauty of grad work…it doesn’t rain till everyone gets off work…so if you’re training before they get off work…you’re golden.
not that i care about the weather that much…i’m off to denmark for 2 weeks as of monday, then bc for 2 weeks mid month, then ontario for almost 8 months (school)…so i get to miss most of the shitty weather too…it’s been mid 20’s to 30’s in kingston while it’s below zero in edmonton for most of oct-nov and even as late as january (+15 one year mid jan)
i say again: why the hell do i live here. . .?
-mike
oil money
and the country girls…
and of course…b/c it’s not ontario.
hmm…texas doesn’t seem so bad.
What the hell, you don’t like the 40kph winds when it’s not raining? Geez, you want everything, don’t you ;-)!
Actually, I’ve lucked out with the weather in AB this year. Having said that, I raced the Sylvan 1/2 this past weekend. Boy, did that rain ever suck! I could barely get my helmet off in T2.
Don’t move to the coast, I lived in Vancouver for many years, and I’d much rather have the cold of the prairies over the shitty rain for 7 months straight. Plus it really messes up your bike. I’d recommend the Okanagan. Nice and warm, and not too harsh of winters. See if you can do your PhD remotely through OUC!
Chris