I will be moving shortly from the South (Tuscaloosa) to Rochester. So, my questions are the following: Is there a masters swim program near? Are there good group or clubs rides in the summer: Are there organized group runs/track workouts? Who is the representative triathlon club that someone in Rochester could contact for more information. Best gym? what/where is the best pub for a beer?
I am orginally from Cincinnati so I will be somewhat familiar to the winters. Anything else that you want to share about the area would be great!
I’m sure you’ll get several more specific responses since there are quite a few Slowtwitchers regulars in Southeastern Michigan. Just keep this post on page one for a few hours The general answer is that its very good (at least as good as any place can be with cold winters).
There are several tri clubs but I’m not to up on the tri club scene as well as some very serious triathletes.
I’m a little more up on cycling groups. The metro Detroit area in general and the Rochester area in particular are great for cycling. There are lots of cyclists here and once you get someone to show you some routes, you can ride as far as you want without too much car traffic. I live a bit south of there so my group rides turn around in Rochester (Oakland University is a very popular cycling destination and part of several regular group ride routes) rather than start there so I can’t point you to specific group rides in the neighborhood but I know there are several. The local cycling clubs are the Wolverines - http://www.wolverinesportsclub.com/ which is the biggest club although there main concentration is a bit south of Rochester. One club that is more in the Rochester area is The Flying Rhinos. http://www.flyingrhinocc.com/ Both have lots group rides and the Wolverines have a pretty active racing program.
Age group swimming is huge in southeastern Michigan (huge in a relative sense . . . ) and that carries over into the masters scene as there are a boatload of aging swimmers here who still train and compete. There is a masters team that trains at Oakland Univeristy which has a great indoor 50m pool. There are several other masters teams in the area as well.
I will be moving shortly from the South (Tuscaloosa) to Rochester. So, my questions are the following: Is there a masters swim program near? Are there good group or clubs rides in the summer: Are there organized group runs/track workouts? Who is the representative triathlon club that someone in Rochester could contact for more information. Best gym? what/where is the best pub for a beer?
I am orginally from Cincinnati so I will be somewhat familiar to the winters. Anything else that you want to share about the area would be great!
Thanks!
I swim with a group of friends at Great Lakes Athletic club every morning at 6. Not a masters group though.
There are some group rides out of American Cycle fitness in Pontiac on Thursday nights. Tuesday night there is a Cat 1-3 ride out of Birmingham but no aerobars allowed and you better be ready to work. The flying rhino cycling club out of clarkston is riding almost everyday. Many triathlete’s go to Stoney Creek and ride alot too.
As for tri clubs I really dont know of any, I am sort of a loner when it comes to training. You could get ahold of Bonnie Karas from Oakland University and talk to her she is also a coach.
As for running clubs and group run’s check out hansons-running.com. They are always having group runs.
Best gym, I would say Great Lakes Athletic club in Lake Orion. They have 2 pools 1 indoors, 25 yards 7 lanes, and 1 out, 25 meters and 7 lanes with diving and blocks.
As for pubs I dont hang out in Rochester so I couldnt tell you.
I used to live in Rochester Hills so here are a few answers:
Best gym - Lifetime fitness (several around) and have a pool
Best Pool - Oakland University (I joined the alumni association so I could swim and work out there (50M pool,decent gym, indoor track)
Cycling - For the few months the weather is good there are plenty of places to ride north though I found the public fairly intolerant of cyclists even out in the country. I rode with the Wolverine Sports Club and they have plenty of rides though not very many triathletes when I was there.
Running - Paint Creek Trail (20 miles or so right through Rochester). Flat as a pancake but great even in the snow.
Tri Club - Oakland University had one run by students and fairly unorganized at the time but worth checking into.
In general the economy there is awful, housing has imploded, traffic is brutal, and the weather couldn’t be much worse from a training perspective. Good luck.
But they do have something close by that a lot of places don’t: A velodrome. Bloomer Park. I definitely recommend that during good weather. Living on the Ohio border, the drive is so cumbersome it may as well be a million miles away, but you’ll be on the right part of town to make the drive.
I live in Rochester, and it has a good variety for training. Many rolling hills, but this is MI so compared to many other places still relatively flat. I swim typically at Lifetime Fitness (indoors) or Stoney Creek (small lake). Best gym is either Lifetime Fitness or the YMCA is not too bad, and is a little cheaper.
Riding is good at Stoney Creek Park, or any of the roads heading north and a little west. I typically train alone so not sure about the cycling clubs other than those already mentioned.
Running is great. Paint Creek is limestone trail, 20 miles, roudn trip and pretty flat. Besdies that most roads in the area have an asphalt path along side, which go all over the rolling hills. 2nd Hansons for running groups, real big in the area.
Stoney Creek has a tri club, called Infinite multi-sport out of Fraser Cycle.
Rochester had a few good pubs in the downtown, and Irish pub and a brew pub, but they are more laid back. For more lively night life you need to go to the other popular spots, such as Royal Oak, Ferndale, or Detroit.
This is where I grew up. During the summer, Stoney Creek is the prefect training grounds for triathlon. You can do it all (including an open water swim) at Stoney. Also, they have a great running club at Stoney Creek. And to top it off…can you say Velodrome! Yeap, Rochester has one of those too. There is also a new rails-to-trails that runs through Washington, MI. Painted Creek is great for trail running.
The downer is that you have to be tough to train year-round in Michigan. November thru mid-April is rough; additionally, it is about as grey as it gets during that time period (save Alaska and maybe Washington state).
I hope you’re not coming to work for Chrysler unless you work in the BK business…Plenty of nice houses on the cheap. I’m not sure where you grew up but Rochester is one of the nicest 'burbs of Detroit, not a bad place to be transfered…although if you are a warm weather person you won’t like it much…
Edit: Former childhood town of Madonna and Dita Von Tease
The downer is that you have to be tough to train year-round in Michigan. November thru mid-April is rough; additionally, it is about as grey as it gets during that time period (save Alaska and maybe Washington state).
I am surprised this thread has not generated more responses given the number of Detroiters that post here regularly. Then again, it is 45 degrees and sunny today and I’m sure a few folks are playing hooky since its the first nice day we’ve had in about a month and its supposed to be back down in the 20’s this weekend . . .
I am west of you, so am not real familiar with the goings on in Rochester, but, that being said, there is a very strong triathlon community/scene in Michigan.
We’re primarily a triathlon club with members spanning a range of non-racers to sprinters, to multiple Ironman finishers, competitive cyclists, marathon and Ultra-distance runners, etc. We have monthly meetings at the Rochester Beer Company (see our website for calendar and details), so that should tell you that we enjoy the social aspects of our club as well. We offer weekly group trainings, led by our members, for athletes of all abilities - all are welcome to participate and take on as much of a role as they would like. We are a very competitive group at all the local races put on by 3Disciplines and EliteEndeavors, with many agegroup and overall wins.
Please visit the website, have a look around, and contact us with questions. We hope to see some of you at the next meeting or training…we do a ton of training at Stoney Creek Metropark year-round, which is right in your backyard!
The general answer is that its very good (at least as good as any place can be with cold winters).