Have a job opportunity in Birmingham, AL.
Any advice, info on the tri/endurance scene, info on the area in general would be much appreciated.
Will be moving from northwest Ohio.
Thanks.
I don’t live there but I visit family in B’ham and I have done a little riding out there. There is some pretty good cycling, It’s easy to find rolling terrain or flat ground, but I don’t remember lots of wide shoulders. I went for a ride with a large group and got dropped like a bad habit. There are plenty of fast people to ride with.
I did a sprint called Buster Britton out at Oak Mountain State Park and it’s a really great tri venue but I don’t think they have any longer tri’s in the immediate area. I believe the Powerman Duathlon is out at Oak Mountain as well but I haven’t done that race.
Good masters coach out in Vestavia, I didn’t have to hunt to find a good pool as my family lives in Vestavia.
B’ham is pretty spread out, my experience is around Veatavia, Mt. Brook, Homewood. I don’t know too much about other areas.
Hope this helps
I’m in Nashville, so obviously not B’ham but I can tell you that Team Magic puts on 1st rate events in the region, you should have plenty to choose from.
Do you mtn bike or trail run? Oak Mountain, in Pelham is AWESOME! Just the golf course area is pretty good for riding/running your tri/road bike, but if you do offroad at all the trails there are fantastic.
Lots of training and racing in the area… Plenty of competition as well.
Bike Link is your go to bike shop. seriously those guys rock
I use to live in Birmingham and there are some nice area surrounding the city. Vestevia and Homewood is my choice. Stay away from the Hwy 280 area because of traffice going into downtown.
The road cycling scene is pretty good. A good amount of strong riders.
Also, their is Oak Mtn if you like mountain biking & trail running. Still one of my favorite places to visit when I am in the area.
As someone mentioned before get ready for the heat and humidity. It is going to kick your tail if you have lived in Ohio your entire life.
Check out Team Magic for the local tri scene. They put on races throughout AL and TN and are very well organized and attended. As someone else mentioned the Powerman Dua is at Oak Mtn as brings world class athletes for this event.
Normal weekday rides from different bike shops that you will find in every city.
Birmingham is a great place to live. I’m in LA (Lower Alabama) now but spent many years in Bham. Several good bike shops. Don’t know much about the current group rides. People think of the South as being relatively flat but Bham actually has some pretty hilly and varied terrain. While there are not alot of tris actually in Bham you are centrally located to some great races over in the Atlanta area and up toward Chattanooga, Nashville and Menphis (all about 2 hours away). Alabama beaches will be about 4 hours and there are many good races along the coast from IMFL/Gulf Coast in Panama City, several races in the Pensacola area as well as the Grandman in Fairhope and Alabama Coastal in Sept. at Gulf Shores. I suspect there will be plenty of training opportunities in a city the size of Bham. You may want to look up “Team Magic” they conduct alot of races throughout this area (including Powerman and Buster Britton) and do a good job.
Many people choose not to live in Birmingham but rather in one of the smaller “cities” that surround the city. Vestavia, Mountain Brook, Homewood and Hoover are some of the “more affluent” areas are are all pretty close to the downtown area. UAB and its Medical School take up a big chunk of the downtown area. Lots of options for housing depending on what you are looking for. There is some serious old money in Bham…take a ride through Mountain Brook and you’ll see where alot of it lives.
Good luck
Randy
Did you check Strava??
Cahaba Cycles near Oak Mtn State Park. Throughout the country, Oak Mtn has some of the best Mtn Biking I have experienced. Cahaba cycles is a really large bicycle store there, too. Not sure about closer to B’ham. Ironic, I just flew into Maxwell AFB today…
Been here in B’ham 23 years and did first tri the summer I arrived in 1989. I’d say there is a good tri scene and community, given the size of the town. Those from bigger metro areas will be disappointed with the number of local races. Birmingham is getting more pedestrian and bike friendly, but is still far behind other areas. A realtor can give you good tour and idea of areas to live; however, if you like to run or ride from your house, there are many areas that would be awful for biking and running because roads in general lack shoulders (bike lanes are practically non-existent) and if you are in a subdivision that can be accessed only from busy road, then you’ll be driving somewhere to start your bike ride (which is the practice of many, if not majority, of riders here).
Google the three main bike shops: cahaba cycles, bob’s bikes, and birmingham bicycle company. I think they all have ride maps listed on their websites. This will give you an idea of the popular bike routes in town. There are many places to live where you have easy access to these routes. Generally, riding east of Highway 280 is decent, and that is where you’ll see most people riding. West of 280 is bad (Hoover is awful and most of Vestavia is just a little better) because generally you can’t ride anywhere without having to get on a road with no shoulder and lots of traffic.
There is a local tri club: Vulcan Triathletes. They are not very active posting on their website, but there are many good friendly folks in the club who will give you a hand.
Good luck.
Thanks for all of the input, it’s nice to have a common starting point when moving to a new area.
Ill be sure to post with any more questions and am looking forward to learning how to race in the humidity.
Generally, riding east of Highway 280 is decent, and that is where you’ll see most people riding. West of 280 is bad (Hoover is awful and most of Vestavia is just a little better) because generally you can’t ride anywhere without having to get on a road with no shoulder and lots of traffic.
You must be riding in a different place than me. Hoover is one of the best places to ride in town, unless you are scared of hills. I did a 90 minute loop through Hoover on Thursday and got passed by like maybe 5 cars max.
The tri/edurance scene is alright, but it’s probably not like bigger cities. The Vulcan Tri club is pretty active, but is more of social thing. They do a good Tuesday night ride as well as other group training sessions.
But really, what you need to do is swim with the simmers, bike with the roadies, and run with the runners…and you can do plenty of that in the ham. Birmingham Swim League is a very good masters program. 3x per week on MWF, outdoor lcm in the summer and scy in the winter with a bubble. Plenty of ex-collegiate swimmers there to kick your butt into shape. In terms of riding, most people give Birmingham a bad rap but in terms of terrain at your disposal it is pretty awesome. If you want flat/rolling terrain in the “country”, head east of town. If you want to climb, ride in the residential/low traffic areas of Hoover and Vestavia. I can easily rack up 6,000 ft of climbing in a 35-40 mile ride if so inclined. There are plenty of group rides to choose from throughout the week and plenty of fast roadies to ride with. The weekly “Tuesday Night World Championships” is a good one in the spring/summer/fall if you are looking to roll with the roadies. The Birmingham Bicycle Company has a good Saturday morning ride. For running, there are plenty of groups to hook up with. The Birmingham Track Club is pretty active.
As far as where to live with regard to training, Homewood is probably the most central area. If you are loaded with $$, Mt. Brook may be an option. In general though, I’d say live west of HWY 280 and south of Red Mountain (this mountain separates Downtown from the suburbs). Don’t live anywhere around HWY 280, just trust me on that one.
I hope you are single and don’t care about professional sports, because everyone in Alabama is married by age 21 and they only know college football. Also, traffic in the 'ham is a freaking disaster.
That said, there is a large group of triathlete in the area, the topography is killer with tons of hills and flats, the hot weather is great for training, the swim pools are solid and there’s lake swimming, mountain biking in oak mountain state park is good, and theer are some great running trails in English Village.
To me the best place to live is near the villages in mountain brook. But it can be expensive.
Traffic in Birmingham is NOTHING. Have you ever been to Atlanta?? Los Angeles? Long Island Expressway?? People in Bham complain about traffic and 280 if it takes 30 minutes to get somewhere. I live and work around 280 and so do lots of other runners, triathletes and cyclists. Traffic isn’t ideal, but it’s not THAT bad. I can be at the Oak Mtn MTB trailhead in 15 minutes from 280, some of the best trails in the southeast as mentioned previously. And if you are not a mountain biker, the trail running is excellent, we have a couple of 50ks there every year. Oak Mtn also has a good 7.5 mile road ride, with plenty of hills and rolling sections to mix it up. Bike lanes on most of it and bikers aplenty. In addition, we have a Wednesday night time trial departing from Mt Laurel on Hwy 41 (16 miles) followed by group runs put on by Gravlee Fitness (5k, 5 mile or 8 mile options). Of course this is all near 280 if you dare, about 8 miles from downtown. I have lived in Homewood and in the outer suburbs and like both. If I worked downtown I would stick to Homewood, if not there are other less expensive options. Check out cahabacycles.com and trakshak.com. In addition to all of the other things mentioned above there are big group runs in Homewood every Wednesday hosted by Trak Shak. If you are here in late July, we have a Tour de Cahaba large group ride with multiple distances. Birmingham loves multisport athletes! Welcome !
I moved there back in '04 for 6 months for a girl. It got cold. I moved back to Florida. Man…it was a cold winter.
I’m in Bham and would be happy to get you in touch with rides/runs/etc. Lots of groups out there for differing capabilities. Great terrain, as well. We don’t have huge hills - the largest climbs top out at ~500ft. of climbing. There are lots of hills, though, so lots of variety of length and steepness. You can easily get over 100’/mile if you wanted.
Lots of training and racing in the area… Plenty of competition as well.
Bike Link is your go to bike shop. seriously those guys rock
True dat - love the Bike Link guys.
Did you check Strava??
No point. Brian Toone (Bham roadie guy) owns Strava. Dude wins most of the competitions on Strava and rung up over 2 million feet of climbing last year. Proof positive you can climb as much as you want here.
Toone is a beast… I am not getting into a Strava swinging contest with him
I just moved back to Birmingham after 13 years in Boulder. I won’t even try to compare the two places, but Birmingham seems to have an enthusiastic multisport community. I’m still not convinced that riding a bike around town is safe but there is good rural riding nearby. We live right by English Village (Redmont Park) and it takes me 7 minutes to drive to my office downtown, which is one block from a YMCA. The Mountain Brook YMCA is two miles from my house in the other direction. A big plus here for me is that, unless you live out on 280, B’ham is an easy place to get around and that means a lot after I spent 9 years commuting between Boulder and Denver.
I’m still just getting settled in around here, but PM me if you have other questions.
I’m in Bham and would be happy to get you in touch with rides/runs/etc. Lots of groups out there for differing capabilities. Great terrain, as well. We don’t have huge hills - the largest climbs top out at ~500ft. of climbing. There are lots of hills, though, so lots of variety of length and steepness. You can easily get over 100’/mile if you wanted.
Actually there are quite a few climbs of >500ft, you just have to know what you are doing. Get on strava and search for Cat 3 climbs and you’ll see 10 of them pop up (there are more). One of my favorites is a Cat 3 called “Vesclub (Little Shades Creek on Morgan) to Vestavia Dr high pt”, it’s 837ft in 3.5 miles with several pretty steep pitches.
What I’ve figured out is that most people that ride in Birmingham do the same route every time through Mt. Brook, Irondale, and Leeds. These same people complain that the riding sucks but they never branch out to other areas.