A friend of mine is looking to travel for a destination race and his wife really wants to do the 70.3 @ Monterrey, Mexico.
I am in the security and executive protection business so he asked me my thoughts.
My knee jerk when he first said Monterrey was Hell no. I had an expat friend in my company living there who said it was like living in a “compound” all the time where you didn’t go anywhere alone. We had drivers and bodyguards assigned to him.
I checked my sources at the State Department and they too had reservations about going there with a $6000 bike in tow screaming “wealthy American”.
My friend’s wife is enamored by the photo of the swim venue photos on the web page.
Both friends are lilly white and very American looking. My friend’s wife is also pretty, which may or may not matter to a scumbag kidnapper.
If you had one shot at convincing them to travel to a safer location with an excellent / beautiful race, where would you go? The closer to the US the better, but I don’t want to limit the geography.
A friend of mine is looking to travel for a destination race and his wife really wants to do the 70.3 @ Monterrey, Mexico.
I am in the security and executive protection business so he asked me my thoughts.
My knee jerk when he first said Monterrey was Hell no. I had an expat friend in my company living there who said it was like living in a “compound” all the time where you didn’t go anywhere alone. We had drivers and bodyguards assigned to him.
I checked my sources at the State Department and they too had reservations about going there with a $6000 bike in tow screaming “wealthy American”.
My friend’s wife is enamored by the photo of the swim venue photos on the web page.
Both friends are lilly white and very American looking. She’s rather attractive too.
If you had one shot at convincing them to travel to a safer location with an excellent / beautiful race, where would you go? The closer to the US the better, but I don’t want to limit the geography.
Thanks,
There’s a 70.3 in Puerto Rico . . . I know nothing about it, but it’s more “exotic” than Mexico. Anything in Oz or New Zealand I would throw in there too because I imagine they would be pretty.
I will also add that I have done the 70.3 in Puerto Rico and IM Cozumel, where there I also a half. I’d say Cozumel is more beautiful as far as scenery goes, especially in the swim, but both are great venues.
I’ve done San Juan 70.3, St Croix 70.3 and IM Cozumel (there is a 70.3 version also) and would say St Croix is the most exotic, downtown San Juan the most interesting, and Cozumel the most fun.
St Croix has Jump-up 2 nights before race day and is not to be missed. And if you aren’t afraid to drive on the left, then you must find the beer drinking pigs in the rain forest…too funny! Nice restaurants, beautiful beaches, and fantastic snorkeling.
San Juan is a beautiful historic city that is fabulous to explore with lots of interesting shops. The old forts, city walls, blue stone streets, monuments, are well worth the time to see. Take a Segway tour from the cruise shop dock area…a blast. Excursions from your hotel to the rainforest can easily be arranged.
Cozumel has lots of all inclusive resort hotels with a central shopping district that is very tourist oriented. World class snorkeling and diving are available (same at St Croix), and very pretty beaches on the unpopulated east side. Cozumel has some museums, dolphin encounter centers, and a variety of tourist attractions to help separate you from your money.
St. Croix. If they crave a nice swim venue it doesn’t get better Thant swimming in the Caribbean in the harbor of Christiansted. That race also has the historic element of being one of the true classics of the sport. There are a surprising number of really good restaurants on the island too.
St Croix, but the accommodations aren’t the best there compared to typical resort locations. No other race’s swim I’ve seen holds a candle to that one IMO and the front end and back end of the bike are breathtaking.
A friend of mine is looking to travel for a destination race and his wife really wants to do the 70.3 @ Monterrey, Mexico.
I am in the security and executive protection business so he asked me my thoughts.
My knee jerk when he first said Monterrey was Hell no. I had an expat friend in my company living there who said it was like living in a “compound” all the time where you didn’t go anywhere alone. We had drivers and bodyguards assigned to him.
I checked my sources at the State Department and they too had reservations about going there with a $6000 bike in tow screaming “wealthy American”.
My friend’s wife is enamored by the photo of the swim venue photos on the web page.
Both friends are lilly white and very American looking. She’s rather attractive too.
If you had one shot at convincing them to travel to a safer location with an excellent / beautiful race, where would you go? The closer to the US the better, but I don’t want to limit the geography.
Thanks,
monterrey is no longer as bad as it used to be and there are a lot of Mexicans richer than your friend with the $6k bike living there. that said, though the swim does look lovely and the mountains in the area gorgeous, if it is smoggy the bike will likely not be nearly as pretty as Coz or St. Croix.
Haven’t done a lot of exotic racing but I would second St. Croix. View from the coastal road is incredible along the bike course. Should also disclose that it is the hardest race I have ever done… Including Kona. Half as long but twice as painful.
