big favor, if it is possible, could you please copy that list of ten climbs from strava and post it here? But if the content is copyrighted, please don’t. (I’m not a strava user, and even though it is free, as a general rule I avoid websites that only give you info if you register first – maybe I’ll break down on strava, but I’m not there yet.)
Going to be in Birmingham next week, for a few weeks, my office is off of 459, between I65 and 280… where do I swim, bike, run?
Thanks for any help…
You are right in my neighborhood. That office on Acton Rd? Anyway, for swimming, a brand new lifetime fitness opened in that neighborhood two weeks ago. I drive by it daily to see my kids and they got a big outdoor pool that is pretty empty. Another option is Wald Park Pool (home of Birmingham swim league where M.Phelps coach worked for a while years ago) and about 15 minute drive. They charge $5. Call and make sure there are no teams or lessons going on when you want to visit them.
Running and biking: you need to be careful selecting routes as many of the roads have so much traffic they are just horrible.
Running: you can run around the neighborhoods behind time life fitness. Not too much traffic on those roads.
Or take 280 toward city, get off at Lakeshore, head west toward mall and park your car near Target. There is a trail along Shades Creek. It runs 2.5 miles west (at the end you can add about one mile more by going through the small parking lot by the water fountain and then turning left and running down a straight little road. Or leave Target and run .5 mi on sidewalk toward East. After going under 280 (no good trail or sidewalk but plenty of room on this stretch) you will come to another trail that goes 1.5 miles.
Biking: a popular bike route runs through Cahaba Heights (right near your office). You can study the map here. However, the Northeastern section of this ride runs on highway 78. I would avoid that now since I-20 eastbound is closed for repairs and all the traffic is now going on 78. We don’t have any real local bike path or trail. The closest thing to that would be to go out to Oak Mountain Park and ride the roads thought the park (bike lane and limited and slow traffic).
If you want more info, send me pm and I’ll reply with my phone number.
WOW! great info. that should get me started for sure! Thank you!
WOW! great info. that should get me started for sure! Thank you!
Just sent you a PM.
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.
If people are too lazy/stupid to drive to the good riding areas, they will complain, that is true. Training in the B’ham area is pretty awesome and there are some really serious hills nearby–especially if you are willing to put in an hour drive. The daily traffic can be debilitating so avoid it at all costs. And the roads to UA and Auburn are surprisingly crowded on Saturdays when games are being played in the fall while the city is left virtually deserted.
The weather in Birmingham is really hot in the summer and pretty cold in the winter. It’s right on the edge of the weather patterns so it gets a lot of wind and tornados frequently crop up but usually don’t do much damage unless you live in a trailer–then you have no chance.