If you’re looking to “unplug†Aspen, Breck, & CO Springs, may not be your best options. It can get very congested there in the summer.
Durango is more arid high desert, not as lush as Aspen, Breck, etc. It’s a cool town, but the topography of Pagosa Springs (rattier town) is prettier, and you could thrash yourself on Wolf Creek Pass, which is a safer pass to bike on than Independence Pass (Aspen), & has wide shoulders.
Steamboat Springs might be worth looking into. I’ve done a lot of road riding out there, and never felt spooked by car traffic. And the pool in town will be just fine for swim training.
Another small Colorado town area to check out may be Grand County, Its a bunch of small towns: Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash. Not as touristy, so Aspen it ain’t. There’s an indoor pool at Fraser rec center that will be just fine. Berthoud Pass will be safe with wide shoulders for epic road climbs. There’s a YMCA on an old ranch that has tons of supervised kids activities.
The towns I mentioned are high elevation. But to unplug, train on safe roads, access to trails, see pretty stuff, and have fun with the kids in cool CO mountains, Steamboat or Grand County might be worth investigating.
Looking for some discussion on best place for a one month home base in August 2019 at altitude out west. Currently live in Greenville, SC. Need to unplug for a while (primary objective) and will be training for a race in early September
Plan to ride road and MTB. Envision long climbing rides on the road bike and getting lost in the woods for hours on the MTB. Some focused sessions on tri bike will be necessary too. Access to pool needed and masters crew a plus. Will run base miles mostly on trail and hopefully have access to a local track for some specific sessions.
There are loads of tourist towns with good MTB… but road riding is tough. The roads are there, but it’s just too dangerous (too much traffic, no shoulder, impatient drivers pulling trailers on winding roads). Definitely the case in Tahoe and Flagstaff. But MTB is not good training for Tri. Do really care? What is this race you speak of in Sept?
NM, AZ, and CO will be experiencing “monsoons” in Aug, with frequent afternoon showers. Would be good to avoid that. The west coast states are dry in Aug and in between it’s kinda mixed. Speaking of dry, there is a good chance for forest fires on the west coast that time of year, which can really screw things up if you are stuck with a prepaid reservation.
If you don’t really need altitude I’d look at Bend OR (it’s 3600ft). Climate is perfect then, good amenities, clean air, chance of smoke less than CA, awesome mountains to the west and plains to the east, great MTB and road variety. If you really want to sleep at altitude for the effect, you could probably find a cabin in the mountains nearby.
I have always wanted to spend some time in Oregon. Northwest forests remind me of Jurassic world. Going to race Xterra this year again as IM training puts too much strain on the family right now. Did one road tri last year in Cleveland to nab a slot for Lausanne, Switzerland. Thought it would be fun to parlay into some touring of the alps. Would like to get altittude acclimated, more to bone up for some epic rides than the training effect for racing, although that would be a welcome bonus. I think MTB/Xterra and Oly distance road racing kind of compliment each other from an energy expenditure and training standpoint. MTB make me a better overall cyclist and something about powering uphill over obstacles adds another level of strength that seems to make pushing a 56-11 on the tri bike easier. Good advice on the rainy season as that could put a damper on the whole plan. Keep coming back to the idea of Tahoe, although I want to look more into the road and off road cycling routes there. Maybe I should just rent a jet stream and be totally mobile.
Any area of the lake that you would recommend in particular ? //
All depends on what you are ultimately looking for. South Tahoe is close to a lot of stuff, including casinos. Truckee is more out there and has that mountain town feel. I think your best bet is to just get on VRBO and look around the lake for some great places, they will tell you how far you are from local eateries and such…
I used to camp there in vans and RV’s, so I would be between emerald bay and Truckee at an Indian held campground, forget the name… But I always wanted to be right on the water, to cool off, and an easy start to all my H20 activities, and of course the scenery. Something about looking at water all day, calms the body…
I would second the Tahoe area. Really nice location…a bit lower than Tahoe, but if you want to expand to Canada given that the Canadian $$$ is currently at 0.73 USD, consider the Canmore-Banff-Lake Louise area. Really awesome and terrific riders and trail running.
I also live in Albuquerque, but agree it may be a bit low for you. Consider Santa Fe? 2000’ higher than Albuquerque, and the riding is still pretty good. If you need more road selection Albuquerque is just an hour’s drive. Plenty of pool options, mountain biking, and neat cultural stuff for the family.
I didn’t see Mammmoth Lakes California in any of the posts. Not the easiest place to get too but has most of what you’re looking for.
Worth a listen as you are thinking through where to stay.
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Surprised no one’s mentioned Leadville. Highest incorporated town in US at 10,200 ft. Enough to do and see in and around town so your family won’t be bored.
If you want to unplug, I’d go to Mammoth Lakes!
How is the off road/single track there ?
I didn’t see Mammmoth Lakes California in any of the posts. Not the easiest place to get too but has most of what you’re looking for.
Another vote for Mammoth: sleep at 9000ft and 30 mins drive away train at 4500ft. Beautiful trails and roads. All you need in town.
Mammmoth running.
http://monicaprelle.com/...th-lakes-california/
Cycling
https://www.visitmammoth.com/crib/blogs/top-rides-eastside
Mammoth is pretty good, and it looks like they have a decent outdoor pool: https://www.townofmammothlakes.ca.gov/493/Whitmore-Pool
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My first thought before finishing your post was Breckenridge but that might be too high for me to do effective training.
When you were there how were the roads?
Dillion, Co, is in the same general vicinity as Breck, but won’t be as crowded & hectic. Condos are pretty cheap in the summer off-season. The biking in the area is phenomenal; whether you want to ride road, gravel, or trail. If you want long climbing rides, that’s the place. Want single-track trails that go on forever? That’s the place. It’s a bikers heaven. Last two times I was there on vacation, I swam laps at the Silverthorne Rec Center pool. It was never crowded; usually had my own lane the whole time. There’s supposedly a Masters group at Breck, but I never swam with them. There’s a track at Summit Middle School in nearby Frisco. The bike path goes right past it, and I don’t think there’s any impediment to access…as long as it’s not being used by the kids, anyway.
Most of our trips to Breck have been in the winter, but we were there September 2015 as part of a self/slowtwitch guided ‘tour of Colorado’ encompassing Denver/Boulder/Estes Park/Grand Lake/Breckenridge/Colorado Springs.
I got several rides/runs in but can’t remember how the road quality was.
I think the only road I questioned myself on during the trip was riding on the highway to get to Pikes Peak from our hotel in Co Springs.
Worth a listen as you are thinking through where to stay.
Based on the podcast, Park City seems to be the perfect location for getting a training adaptation from altitude. On top of that, PC is a beautiful place. I’ve been spending a lot of time there lately and would gladly call it home.
Park City does look like a good bet.
Good info, thanks for sharing. I could definitely consider park city/salt lake. Will check into weather pattern there in August.
Looks like tour of Utah will come through PC in August, which would be cool to catch part of.
Let me know if you know anyone that will be based out there in August of 2019. Would be nice to have a crew to link up with.