Hello everybody,
a teammate and friend of mine here in the Netherlands attends International Business School. She’s spending next semester in Toronto, CAN.
She doesn’t visit ST so i thought i’d ask the questions for her:
-What are the Triathlon-hotspots in Toronto?
-Are there any (good 
) clubs?
-Where to do your triathlete shopping?
-What must a Toronto based triathlete definately know?
Other tips and trics are highly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Jacob
Here’s perhaps the single best reasource available:
Places to hang out? Endurosport is not a bad place to start. Many of the best triathletes in the city shop there:
http://endurosport.com/...urosport/default.asp
A Toronto based triathlete should know that the cycling in the city is terrible( heavy traffic, aweful pavement and a lot of lights and stops), but the inner city running, in the park systems that follow the Don and Humber rivers and also the Lakeshore trail, is perhaps the best of any big city in North America. There is also a decent selection of 25m indoor pools and an outdoor 50 yard pool down at the Beach. North of the city, starting at around Major MacKenzie road the cycling actually becomes quite good with an impressive number of options for long and shorter rides over a vareity of terrain. Problem is, it’s about a one hour ride from the downtown to get to Major Mac!!
Hope this helps.
Mostly what Steve said, but with a few additions:
Tri hotspots – the Toronto Tri club is a good place to start; it also depends where in the city she’s living and studying; it’s a big city. When is she coming over? The tri scene greatly varies due to the season (she’s not going to have a lot of luck riding outdoors if she’s coming in the winter, unless she’s on a mountain or cross bike with studded tires). But if she’s here before mid-September, there’s always at least one race on every weekend, and the fall brings on the road running series. Plus great riding in the fall (mostly north of the city, as Steve said).
See above.
My favourite for shopping is Endurosport or Running Free (for all tri needs/running gear), or La Bicicletta or Wheels of Bloor for bike-specific stores.
There are tons of pools in the city; each one has it’s own hours printed, so getting the schedules are key. Depending where you’re friend is living I can recommend a number of pools. Swimming is usually cheap (about $2.50 per swim). Many have Master’s programs. Oh, and if she want to ride with the roadies (doesn’t matter her level) she should hit the Donut ride.
Feel free to PM me with any other questions. As well, I have a few Dutch connections here – my buddy went to Business School in Rotterdam, and can likely assist as well.