i did read it and what a joke that montaulk LI was on that list !! i used to live on long island. montaulk is where the avg price home is 3 million dollars and hollywood elite have homes. i am not sure why it made that list.

Bend made the lsit, as it did every other list now a days. Was in NG Adventure and Outside. It is good, lot sof good riding but the winters can drag on and you're definitely on the trainer for a few months. But if you're into winter cross sports like nordic stuff then it's good. I do prefer it over Norcal. More snow but less rain.

Did Southern California make it in the top 10? There are a lot of decent sprints throughout spring to fall around Los Angeles.
I'm a little surprised San Francisco made it up there... I don't recall too many races there except for the Treasure Island one in November.

I don't think any other California cities made the list besides SF and SD. I think they were trying to be "fair" to other parts of the country, and maybe to surprise us a little (like with that Long Island thing).

I am a tad bit surprised the Carolinas/Piedmont vicinity didn't make the list though.

SF because there are so many athletes in the area. Marin, SF, East Bay. And races within a couple hours, Vineman, Wildflower, Escape, San Jose Intl.

Not sure how much research they did on the cities. Was kinda of page filler. They listed the club in Bend as the Bend Bike N Sport shop. They are the local Tri shop, but don't have a club. The club is Fresh Air Sports.

Would have like to see stats like triathletes per capita, how many pools (olympic? masters programs), what about coaches, massage therapists, nutritionists, races in certain proximity. etc. Something that quantified the choices. Don't recall reading anything like that.

St. Louis is very good. Lots of places to swim/ride/run, lots of people to train with, several good clubs, and most importantly plenty of very good events within easy driving distance.

Tops in the midwest!

I find Sacramento and surrounding areas of inland Norcal great for training and tri's..

Good variety of tri distance races pretty much year round, fairly mild climate for year round training (although central valley winters are usually damp with fog), a few good tri shops, several tri clubs, variety of training terrain (flat lands to coastal hills to high mountains)..

Outside of Sactown there are lots of small, uncrowded rural towns to train in..

Where I live (rural Sutter County) there are plenty of wide open roads and trails to train on...

I noticed that St. Petersburg, Florida was listed.

Pros: We can train 365 days a year due to terrific weather. It can be chilly for us thin-bloods in the winter (40 degrees) in the early AM, but its hotter than hell this time of year. So we're ready for those "hot" races...though I personally can't imagine any place hotter than Florida to race. There are the St. Pete Mad Dogs tri club, of which I'm a member, who train together throughout the week and have lots of fun partying too:D Lots of races of all distances throughout the state year-long (including running races). Gulf swims are the best...no wetsuit necessary for bouyancy.

Cons: There are NO bike lanes anywhere. There are some local trails, but you end up playing Frogger with granny or the rollerbladers or the mommys pushing strollers. The rednecks here can't stand bikers, and drive as fast and close as possible in their big-@$$ trucks when we're on the road. There are few hills....the closest are a half-hour north of Tampa (and when I say hills, I mean rolling, short-climb hills). The state motto of Florida is "Let's have another beer" (i.e. "why don't we get drunk and screw?") and the state flower is the marijuana plant...oh, and Hurricane Parties are very popular this time of year.

Not many fit people out and about...makes me wonder where they all come from on race day! However, tri seems to have sparked some interest with the stay-at-home-moms...