If you've never seen it before, and are bored at work today, try findyourspot.com for a fun way to determine the "best" place in the country for you!

if you live in the south currently and are used to the heat you may be miserable any place north ... i would be , but i am sure its personal, maybe you like the cold. i would rule out Portland
and Seattle. it rains a lot from what i hear and stats probably back that up.

My list from fineyourspot.com was pretty much the same as the list I would make up for myself with some exceptions. The top cities are all cities I've wanted to try out:
portland (OR and ME), eugene, bend, tacoma, seattle, denver and boston (I'm here now and LOVE it).

I live in Orange County CA 1/2 way between San Diego and LA. Great area. San Diego is too far away from the mountains but awesome for training. We almost moved to Portland OR but it does rain far too much but very pretty. My mom lived in Colorado Springs (where the Olympic Training Center is) and it was awesome! Close to Denver...but not as pricy as Boulder. I love Colorado...second best to CA.

What about Tucson? In my opinion Phoenix is too large and there are too many Hummers (danger during biking). There is a large airport in Tucson and the temps stay about 10 degrees cooler during the summer too.
There are some very good biking groups in the area and the Triathlon community is expanding every year. Good links for the area:

Tucson Racing
Tritucson Races
and TriSports.com is based there

Personally I like the Seattle area (for obvious reasons) its never too hot or too cold. I can pretty much count on running in shorts most of the winter (only switch to long tights when it's 40 and below, but thats just me). Lots of trails for running, and cycling lanes as well as back roads once you get out of the city. Once in a while I wish for more "summer heat" and think of Phoenix ..since I lived there years ago. There are some great places to run/ride along the canals there as well.

I've got to speak up for Austin, where, BTW, Lance still lives and trains. He's building a house about a mile from my house, so I've been thrilled twice by the site of him hammering down the street. To see his focus and determination up close and in person is awe-inspiring.

Austin is an outdoor paradise (okay, IF you can take the heat/humidity doublethreat). It's got a good-sized competitive community because of our wealth of training areas. You've got many many mountain bike possibilities; lots of flats and rolling hills for road bikes; the shady, gravelled and always busy 10-mile Town Lake trail (shortest loop is 3 miles); 68 degree Barton Springs for chilly dips year 'round, plus numerous masters' programs. The possibilities for training are truly bountiful and mostly beautiful.

And then there's the music. . .and the theatres. . .and more music. . .and the galleries. . .and the university. . .and the cool vibe. . .and many great gym facilities. . .and the fairly accessible international airport. . .and yet more music. Of course, there's also the high property taxes close to town and the legislature every two years, but, I suppose we can't have it ALL the way we want it.

Now I'm gonna go to 'findyourspot' to see if I'm living where I should be living!

Salisbury is on the Eastern Shore about an hour from the Chesapeake and less than an hour from the beach (good for swim training either way). I went to school there and now live about an hour north in Delaware. Not a bad place to be, lot's of nice long country roads to train on. And there is an ironman qualifier (Blackwater Eagleman) less than an hour away. And Salisbury is home to one of the flattest centuries around. Biggest hill is the bridge to the beach rest stop.

Okay, Craigvu, after 3 whole days (!) of feedback and contemplation, your neighbors want to know: where are you considering moving NOW? And. . .does anyone else want to move now that this discussion has come up?

I'd like to move... I can only stand eight months of winter for so long!

Where to live for triathlons?

Hawaii. You can do them year round, and they are never more than an hour away (unless you want to go to one of the other islands).

Did I mention no winter.

Jeyradan - if you can stand 9 months of summer, then Phoenix is the place to be ;)

Hey Virturace!

Can you tell me a bit more about training in Arizona? Are Tucson and Arizona flat? I love my hills and I would like to have that option...
What do you do for open water swimming?

I checked out your business website...Awesome!

Thanks for any info you can provide...

:eek: Wyoming????? You are insane! I don't know that I could or would want to live any where in Wyoming. :) This is coming from someone who was born and raised in Montana.

Jeyradan, I complete get where you are coming from. Montana is not as tri friendly as I would like three months of summer is just not enough. At least if I moved to CO I would have more mild temps and not has much snow. That I could handle.

Think of AZ as having 3 main islands - Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff (from South to North).

Tucson is about 90 miles from the South end of Phoenix (Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe), and Flagstaff is about 200 miles from the North end of Phoenix (Glendale, Desert Ridge).

Tucson to Phoenix is a very doable commute for races. It will take you about 90 minutes or so to get from the North end of Tucson (IMO the nice part) into downtown Tempe.

I have friends who do that, in fact.

I can and have chosen to live in the South East valley. I'm currently in Chandler, but have lived in and LOVE Ahwatukee which sits at the South base of South Mountain and runs along its foothills. I'm not a big fan of Tucson overall, although there are som beautiful areas and the housing prices are considerably less than Metro Phoenix.

I should explain, however, that my judgement of Tucson is more out of a life-long feud with the u of a (I'm a Sun Devil) which has fueled a deep-seeded hatret for the "Truck Stop" which is what we in my family call Tucson. - I feel like I needed to add that disclaimer. I have heard, however, that you CAN find homes with indoor plumbing in Tucson these days. :)

Austin is the coolest city in the world bar none....

The South East Valley.... NOOOO!!!!! :eek:
Come on Virturace Scottsdale is where it's at.
Lifestyles of the rich and famous baby...all those snooty people running me off the road with their Hummers and Mercedes. Getting to ride by all those multi million dollar homes and luxury golf courses. Where else can you go on a sixty mile GABA ride and then get a gourmet meal at AJ's afterward? :cool:
- T

It’s really fun when you see some high-school student driving her BMW to school while chatting on her cell phone, putting on makeup and drinking a Starbucks. HELLO…I am trying to ride my bike here! Seriously there are some really great places to train (and live) in the Phoenix area. There are approx. 15-20 Tri’s/Du's per year in AZ including the IMAZ and the SOMA 1/2 as well as a few Xterra races. Plus in the summer we have no daylight savings so the sun comes up really early. You can get a major workout in before most people are out of bed (except construction workers and landscape crews).
- T

na, guys. Let me tell you this. If you want to learn to swim, really well, then Vancouver is the place to be. From basically October to March you can swim in the streets AND train for biking and running all year long outside when it's not raining too. Jeyradan knows what I mean.
BBB

Great point on the car-is-oven factor of the Valley TB. Yes, Ahwatukee started as a small master plan for retirees and theres a few square miles in the North end of the town dedicated to that. The rest, however, is laid out across the foothills of South Mountain and goes back about 10-12 miles. It is land-locked on the North side by South Mountain and on the North by the Indian Reservation. You've really got to see it get it. Maybe I'll scrape up some Google maps of the area.

No, I'm going to be in Miami with my family for the holiday. I am, however, doing the 60 miler in the morning (sat 11/05) from Tribe Multisport on McDowell and Scottsdale at 7:00 am. This will be my first with Kevin and gang from Tribe. I am sorely in need of improvement on the bike.

My season as far as racing is over until the Rock'n'Roll Half. I'm trying to go back to zero and lay down a really solid base of power before next season. I finished this year with the SOMA Quarterman.

Thanks everyone for all of the great info...What are some other lakes (besides the Town Lake one) that allow open water swimming? Being from PA, I am use to hills and lakes...love 'em!
Near Chandler? Near Scottsdale? Thanks again!

Just watch out for the bees at Lake Pleasant.
Don’t forget Bartlett Lake, 30 miles northeast of Phoenix.
Great bike ride too, about 65 miles roundtrip from my house.
Coming up from the lake is a monster 14 miler mostly uphill.
I thought the Carlos O’Brien’s Tri around Lake Pleasant was tough until I did Bartlett.
- T