So I am making a move to grad school next year and have a few options. I was just curious what the tri/cycling scene is in the areas. Obviously my goals for school are my main concern, but this is a part of my decision making process. Is anyone from any of these areas? I’ve been to the Grand Canyon, loved it. Drove through Salt Lake City, and from my very naive impression of it while passing through, it looked amazing. I’ve only been to LA/Santa Monica. Not sure how different Palo Alto is, but I wasn’t a big fan of the west coast.
I’d say all three are great for tri/cycling. Salt Lake City is great, and it wins in terms of outdoor activities in general. I’m not that familiar with Flagstaff but although there’s good cycling I have good friends from there that say it’s quite lame in terms of culture. I live a stone’s throw from Palo Alto and can testify that the scene is fabulous. Tons of clubs & cyclists, lots of beautiful rolling rural roads, lots of trails too (although many are illegal for MTB). It’s very different from southern California. Of course, Leland Stanford Junior College isn’t too shabby a school compared to SLC or Flagstaff. The cost of housing here is insanely high, but grad school will get you into University housing so you’re OK in that regard. When you throw in the awesome food and culture, I’d say Palo Alto wins.
Good luck!
Alex
I grew up in SLC and my wife is from Palo Alto and we visit there often. I love both areas, but we currently live in Draper (south Salt Lake valley) and have no complaints whatsoever. It’s hard to beat the outdoors/canyon access here in SLC–there are seriously endless riding options and trails out here. I work up next to the University of Utah (assuming you’d be going to school there??), and there’s great riding within a couple minutes from the campus (Emigration and City Creek Canyons). The racing/club scene definitely isn’t as big as it is in the bay area, but during spring/summer months there are plenty of races to choose from. Cost of living is great out here, too. I may be biased, but of the three places I think SLC would be my choice for outdoor-minded people (admittedly I don’t have much experience with Flagstaff).
SLC is great if you like smog…and traffic.
Do you dislike cold/snow? Don’t mind living close to some fairly douchey nouveau riches? Can you afford to pay upwards of $1500 for a single?
If yes to all 3, then Palo Alto is for you. A very expensive area to live for sure, but tons of cycling and running options. Ocean swimming is also a short drive away. Lots of amenities, etc.
SLC would be my second choice.
This should not even be a question. Palo Alto.
Yeah I live in LA and have family in SLC. Was in SLC for almost 2 weeks over the holidays last year and decided to bring the bike. Our race season in SoCal starts up right in January so I really didn’t want to spend 2 weeks completely off the bike. Let me tell ya - it is COLD there in the winter. Out in SoCal, you pretty much never need anything other than arm warmers, vest, head sock and some long-fingered (but non-insulated) gloves. Maybe a light jacket on a really cold day and some shoe covers/toe thingies when it gets REALLY cold (which SoCal riders define as 55 degrees or so).
But in SLC? Full tights, LS jersey multiple jackets, insulated gloves with glove liners, full balaclava… my relatives thought I was insane for going out there, and when I crashed the local weekend group ride, there were maybe 7-8 insane locals out with me. That’s it.
Palo Alto and NorCal will be a lot rainier than SoCal, but there is still a huge riding scene there that is basically year-round. Not so much in SLC.
With that said, I love SLC, but will probably leave the bike behind next time I am there in December.
I just wanted to echo the comment on the difference between northern and Southern California, I really do think the only drawback to Palo Alto is the cost of housing, but the bonus that goes along with a degree from Stanford(if that’s where you are thinking) would offset that in the future. I really do think it is a great area for triathlon and cycling
Don’t mind the cold…I grew up in Michigan so I’m not worried about that…I’m pretty big into just being outdoors in general and a pretty avid sportsman in terms of hunting/fishing. I guess money is not the number one concern, but obviously a plus if I don’t have to pay high rent and cost of living. I’m in Ann Arbor currently and the COL is fairly high here. Not a big fan of douchey nouveau riches…would rather be lost in a forest or trail somewhere.
Of those 3 Flagstaff without question.
Care to elaborate? NAU kind has the program that best fits what I want…but so far it hasn’t been ranked highly among the people in this thread
I lived in Arizona for quite a few years and graduated from NAU back in 2000. I think flagstaff is a pretty cool little town with great hiking and mountain biking… Not sure on road biking as I wasn’t into it when I lived there. One really nice thing is you’re only a couple hours from Phoenix if you want to escape the cold in the winter.
I lived in Sandy, UT for about 6 months and while I LOVED riding the canyons there (absolutely gorgeous) I couldn’t deal with the poor air quality and traffic.
Never been to Palo Alto.
Flagstaff would be my choice, but fewer folks know about it. I think a year ago or so, Triathlete magazine ranked it the #1 place to train. Might be a little bit of a stretch, but you could do worse. It is by far, a smaller community than SLC or Bay area. Flagstaff is about 75,000. Depends if you like that or not. Perhaps not ideal for cycling Nov.-April, but neither is SLC. Open water swimming is limited to Upper Lake Mary (20 minutes East of town), and it’s seasonal too (May-Oct.). However, you are at 7000’ and up, you’ll get a huge altitude boost from training there, tons of runners and cyclists, swim programs for Masters at NAU, and a really nice friendly community. Palo Alto is great, but very congested, same for SLC. If you need a lot of infrastructure around you for training and such, SLC or Palo Alto might be better. Big athletic scene in “Flag”, especially runners and “altitude training” visitors. Good Tri scene to the south in Phoenix and to the West in Las Vegas environs (2 and 4 hours away respectively). Summer multi sports events in Northern Arizona include Mountain Man and Deuces Wild Tri festival, both great events. Lake Havasu City has a good fall and spring racing scene. Flagstaff would be pretty close to ideal if your focus were Xterra, off road options Spring though Fall are incredible. I did a lot of road riding there prepping for IM Coz last fall and thought it was perfect. Had 3 or 4 great long ride options with very little traffic. Pay a visit to each of these communities and feel them out.
What graduate school are you planning on? Honestly, I would think you would be crazy to pass up studying at Stanford. It opens up doors professionally. I am biased since I grew up in palo alto, still live there, and am a Stanford alum. Housing prices are high but does it matter as a graduate student? You’d be the richest grad student I know if you could afford $1500 a square foot. YOu will most likely live on campus or close by and rent. You can’t beat the riding. I cycle around the world new zealand, france, london, ireland, tuscany, crested butte, banff, and you will be hard pressed to find better climate and better riding whether it be mtb or road. Stanford has world class amenities. I swim there every day and now you have two choices for places to swim thanks to the new west side campus pool. There is the largest climbing gym of any university, there is awesome weight center. Cultural amenities are not like NYC but the new Bing Entertainment center is world class. I’ve all ready seen Yo Yo Ma perform here and the acoustics were incredible. Lang Lang is coming this year. Post graduation you can’t beat the employment opportunities either. You are in the center of the tech universe, world class health care organizations (UCSF and Stanford), all the big law firms, big hitters in biotech, basically whatever industry you want. You’ve got SF, Carmel an hour away. You’ve got Lake Tahoe (3 hour drive) and Salt lake city (1 hour flight away) if ski/snowboard is your thing.
Is there a nouveau riche douche bag element here? Yes. But I tell you, the truly rich are very understated. You would never know that they are worth tens to hundreds to thousands of millions. They fly under the radar.
If you happen to visit…pm me and I will try to hook you up with people in the area to ride with. But honestly, you should be focusing on which program is going to develop you professionally. That is why you are going to graduate school…right?
Palo Alto is best. Probably by a fair margin for tri unless you love snow/winter (which isn’t really trifriendly, imo.)
The huge drawback - you will pay for it. You’ll be horrified at housing costs in/around Palo alto.
LA/Santa Monica CAN be awesome for tri, but you really have to live there to know the where allthe great stuff is. As a triathlete, I spent almost all my wknds in the Santa Monica mountains, and zero time in LA proper.
I grew up in Colorado, lived in Sacramento for a few years and now lived in Salt Lake for the last 8 years. Salt Lake for me is by far my favorite place to live by a long shot. You do get 4 full seasons and yes the winters are normal but nothing super crazy. Unless you’re a die-hard you won’t want to bike during winter. You can still run and swim though. There are some world class climbs around here for biking. Most of Salt Lake is around 4500’ above sea level and some of the climbs get up to 10,000’. The cycling, running, swimming and Tri communities are solid and active. It is of course a major city so yes there is the typical traffic and air pollution but nothing like Cali. Family life, sense of community and schools are all top notch.
First of all, smog, cold and traffic?..yeah, some of that might be valid. I’ve lived in SLC my whole life and we get a couple of stretches in the winter of some smog that will last 5-10 days but it’s not typically socked in for weeks or months on end. Is it cold in the winter? Yes, it can be. But it’s not like Minnesota or Canadian cold…not even close. Bad traffic? That’s a new one on me. Whoever tags SLC as a “bad traffic” place to ride is riding on the wrong roads or riding at the wrong time of day. I’ve ridden my bike every month of the year for most years outside - granted in Dec-Feb it is hit/miss and I do a ton of trainer riding. But there will be days where it will warm up and be sunny and with the right gear you can get out and ride. Buy a cheap cross bike and you’ll really be in business.
Chose to live near the East Bench in SLC and you’ll have access to 6 major canyons you can access one after the other on any given day. No staging (driving your bike to your ride)…just walk out your door and start riding. Popular routes like Emigration Canyon are loaded with cyclists and runners going up/down every weekend (and every day) - point being the community is very athletic-minded and endurance sports are important. Epic climbs like Big Cottonwood canyon over Guardsman Pass into Park City (see Tour of Utah Stages 6 & 7 routes) offer a tough workout with amazing views. Head south over Suncrest into Utah county and do the Dave Z. favorite ride around the Alpine Loop…you’ll swear you are in the Alps. The ride combinations are endless.
I don’t have any data but I suspect triathlon has grown in the last 5 years. That said, Utah has struggled with full Iron-distance events in the past because of venue and weather issues. Of course there are half, olympic and sprint distance tris all summer long in northern Utah.
I can’t speak to the other cities. Seems they have their own benefits too. Good luck making your decision.
Flag is a great place. High altitude (~7K ft) and a good scene. Lots of top-tier and Olympic athletes train there in the summers. It is bitterly cold in the winter, but Sedona is a short drive away and winter training can be done there (or further south in Phoenix). Many of the local racers do this. The disadvantage is that there are limited places to train (roads are relatively scarce). There is also a 50M pool, but I’ve never used it.
The AZ bike racing season starts in January and runs through ~June or so. The Tri season goes throughout the year in various parts of the state.
SLC is beautiful and has a lot of great places to train. It’s in Utah and there is a lot of Mormon culture and influence, which some may see as a disadvantage. The bike scene is also good there. I don’t know much about the Tri scene. I’ve been told you can train there year round outside, but I only go in the summer.
I don’t know a lot about Palo Alto except that it’s California, with the taxes, traffic, people, etc.
What are you studying? I’m also a grad student.
Salt Lake is at altitude, and that has training benefits.
Palo Alto = Stanford, right? If so, you suck, they’ve turned me down twice.
Look, you can find outdoor adventure and quality training at any of those three, but the lifestyles are much different.
And, I have no idea what you are studying or for how long. So, I’d recommend you visit them, decide which school program is right for what you want, then what lifestyle or area seems right for you, and the rest will follow.
That’s it.
j