Seems like a paradise. Are there downsides? I get that it rains a lot. How do you deal with the rain for cycling training?
Thanks,
Jim
Hi Jim,
Bellingham is a cozy hippy university town (is that good or bad) with beautiful and long training days in the summer. Rain isn’t so problematic, but the short winter days are. Indoor cycling trainers are mandatory. MTB in the fall and spring. Ski in the winter at the best mountain in the state. Supplement with vitamin D. Being close to Asia is nice, if you work or play there, but you’re two hours from a major airport. The Softride guys are still there and might let you tinker. It’s not far from the UW wind tunnel. One of the guys you met at the Alphamantis Aero symposium is from Bellingham and could paint in More details for you.
Damon
Thanks Damon! Yes, I looked at sunup/sundown times and the winter days are really short. I guess its the price you pay for the long summer days.
Yes, hippy college town is good from my perspective.
Cheers,
Jim
Good weed, good terrain and relatively easy access to the best snowboarding in the world. Wait that is the non-endurance side of me talking.
Not much going on, but a great place if you can stay motivated on the trainer.
Howdy Jim,
Great riding up and around BHam, and a really good crew of local riders to train with. Weather is a little bit colder and wetter than Seattle, but the proximity to the indoor velodrome up in BC makes winter track racing an attractive option for the B-ham contingent.
The college team in the area has had a good run of fast riders the last few years - including a couple of folks working their way up the domestic pro ranks - and that’s pretty much always a good indicator of the riding character of an area.
Last but not least, the cyclocross scene in Bham has a pretty motivated promoter, and has been steadily growing, up to the point that there’s a consistent weekly training session in town. Great way to get a blast of intensity in every week when the motivation to get out is at it’s lowest ebb.
If you’re thinking about heading out to the PNW, it’d be great to have you around. Woulda’ loved to have been able to drive up to talk to you when you were helping us out at LeMond!
M
We love Bellingham for triathlon training. It is a 2 word answer. Lake Padden! A place where you can safely swim starting in mid to late April, run around ( a challenging but scenic 3 mile loops) year round, and cycle near for 10 months of the year. We actually drive the Lake Padden area of Bellingham from Canada (Mission, BC) monthly because of the venue.
Thanks for the tip on Lake Padden! Even I could probably force myself to go for a run on this trail!
This all sounds great Fredly, thanks! Indoor track sounds like a really good way to get through the winter.
Cheers,
Jim
Thanks! That schedule tells you a lot about how much use the track is getting and it looks really well used.
Cheers,
Jim
I have a friend in White Rock who rides there says its awesome.
My home track when I raced was Houston Alkek. Almost anything would be a giant step up from that (e.g. cracks in the track seep water and moss grows in the damp spots, the bump at the start/finish seam has made many a rider catch air, and lets not forget the ever so accommodating track manager Cathy Volski who assigned open track hours on the weekend in the summer as noon to four in Texas. I could go on). Strangely, none of that dampened my love for the sport.
Cheers,
Jim