Any STers out there from Perth? I am looking at getting transferred to your city and want to know what to expect in the world of triathlon. It seems like there is at least one Tri Club down there. Where’s a good place to live? I believe I will be working on St. Georges Terrace if I move there. Biking in the city? Please give me some ideas of what to expect. Thanks.
Hi Scooter,
“Welcome” to Perth.
There are plenty of triclubs here. Depends on where you end up living. Go to www.triwa.org.au for the local tri association, which has links to all the clubs. Plus there’s a local chat forum there for more info.
I live in the western suburbs. I’m fortunate that I have challenge stadium (www.challengestadium.wa.gov.au) 5mins from home (3x50m long course pools in one complex thank you very much. Stadium tri club is based there. One day I’ll get back into the swing of things and rejoin!).
St Georges Tce - perfect for weekday run training. You can walk one block down the road and you have flat runs around shared paths around the river. There’s no limit to how far you can choose to run. Kings Park is 1-2km away and has some trail running and more undulating. Google Kings Park.
Biking, well we can all complain about cars but we have it pretty good. Great network of bike paths. Plenty of group rides during the week, a lot meeting 1-2km from your work so you can drop your gear off, hook up with a group ride and finish on your work’s doorstep. Kings Park (again) offers some nearby hill circuit training (modest hills though). A LOT of people commute (me included, I’m down the eastern end of the CBD). For longer hills rides it’s about 15-25km to the scarp depending on which way you go. Once there you can get decent hills rides. For tri’s the bike path down the Kwinana Freeway (again commencing right in front of your work) gave you 50km out and 50km back. First 20km has a few minor interruptions but after that put your head down and hammer it (boring view but if you’re after long tt work then perfect). As of this weekend the extension to the freeway is officially opened and another 30km of path becomes available. That’s 160km out and back on high standard shared path. Very low pedestrian numbers, really just triathletes, roadies go to the hills. Tell me how many other places offer that? Again boring but safe (from cars) and very practical for tt work.
MrSwimSmooth also operates out of Perth (Claremont pool - also close by). I’m sure you’ll get more feedback, either here or through triwa, but if needed feel free to ask more.
Mike