Do you live in a 'tri-friendly locale?

People or geography?

In Central Wisconsin:

No OWS within 50 miles

It snowed yesterday.

No bike lanes and limited bike baths

I would like to think so:

• Great weather year round.
• Ocean and lakes for open water swimming.
• Running and biking trails over varied terrain.
• Good number of local events.

Yep!  10,000 lakes so OWS is easy to find

Lots of good shops, groups, etc.

Yeah, the weather is crappy most of the year but it's more than made up for in June (or I keep telling myself...)

From my Arlington, Va., home, it's an 8-minute walk to an open lane at the local high school pool and 250 yards to a 45-mile paved trail.

I almost feel obligated to tri.

Yes.  Yes I do.

Hmmmmm.  Good question.  Here in New England (Mass Bay on up north, at least):

The ocean is cold, even when it's "warm."  Ponds go from freeeezing to hot quickly, then back to freezing.  Tons of roadie only, running only, even single sport fish types around hogging roads and pools.  We have weather that is, um, different from say San Diego.  Aggressive, not particularly open minded drivers (one screamed a horrible moniker at me recently because I was wearing spandex, I think, although why that would bear on my orientation is beyond me - and I was hit by a car while running this winter), aka "Mass-holes."  Windy, narrow, pot-holed roads, covered in sand until late April or early May.  There are a lot of very (hyper?) competitive AG types, even given all the above.

THEREFORE... there are a ton of tri's around to do.  We have an ocean to swim in most of the year, if you have the gear - and it's one of the most beautiful shorelines in the world.  Those narrow roads are gor-geee-oso in season for riding and running.  Most of the single sport folks are at least tolerant of tri types (even if they do like to bury you more than burying their single sport friends - good training incentive!).  You can always find a run or ride to do (again, thanks to our more focused friends).  The local tri folk (at least in my first season) have been truly terrific to hang, drink, talk, compete, BS, race, recover with.  There are great competitors having fun in most races, as well as LOTS of people "just" having fun.

So, it depends on how you look at it.  For me, the only thing I don't like about where I am is riding and running on ice.  Otherwise, it's pretty sweet here!  Heck, if I weren't an optimist (a cynical one, but truly an optimist), I don't think I'd be racing tri's.  

Hope your glasses are at least half full, too.

Matt

(Edited to change AND to THEREFORE above)

I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, but I work, and often train, in Iowa City, Iowa.

I would consider it very tri friendly, though this past winter has been a bit of a slog.  The weather is really the only downside--the cold and wind can be a grind for a solid 5 months of the year.

Highlights:

• Great LBSs--Geoff's and World of Bikes
• Great LRS--Running Wild (they put on good long runs and speed workouts)
• U of I has great training facilities including two good pools (SCY and LCM) and very affordable memberships and the town has four other good pools, 3 of which run LCM.
• 3 tri teams in the area--Trihawks (UI team) has some freaky fast kids on it
• Local sprint and oly, and lots of tris that are within a three hour drive and relatively inexpensive
• Many options for OWS
• Very strong cycling community--lots of TTs in the summer, plenty of road races, MTB, cyclocross, etc, very fast group rides if you want them and can hang (I can't)
• Easy access to great riding, though we still have our share of a-holes who like to harass cyclists.
• Quite a few exceptional, nationally competitive athletes--very motivated, fun people.
• Easy to find training partners, if you want them.

OP here - maybe I'm just not with the times and trends, but I'm impressed by all the non Westcoasters or FLoridians who are doing the tri thing. 

I lived most of my life in NY, BOston, and upstate NY, and not once did I ever contemplate taking triathlon seriously - very little exposure to it. 

Then I moved to CA, and triathletes were invading all the running events and races - you couldn't help but getting curious about it! I would absolutely not be a triathlete today if it weren't for my move to CA. 

But judging from here, it does seem that other people got bitten by the bug in the East coast and other less than obviously tri-friendly locales!

Here in Southwest VA there are no bike lanes, crappy sidewalks and poorly enforced leash laws.  We have nice trails though.  Friendly?  No.

jami

NO! But it probably beats somewhere like Afghanistan.....

*Pools: The only reliable one is at work, with one hour of faculty swim most days. All other pools feature crowds of leaping children, often unsupervised, no lifeguards, and no designated lap lanes/times. Basically, I bribe a guy to do his job so I can swim.

*Open water--don't even think about it unless you want cholera.

*Bike: Insane traffic from 6 AM onward, street lights unreliable. No clubs that ride a pace I can keep up with for more than five minutes. Most clubs don't allow women, those that do--ride 35-40 kph. Once I get to Chrissie's speed, I can join. The go-to place to train for local cyclists is a 6 km loop around an industrial park.

*Run: Okay but boring. Some residential neighborhoods are "reasonably" traffic free. I have a 6-mile loop that can be repeated as needed. No track or running trails, street lights inadequate/unreliable for running in the dark. I use a riverfront promenade (but increasingly crowded) or our school fields for short runs and speedwork.

Weather: Hot and humid almost year-round, 6-month rainy season makes outdoor training a crap-shot much of the time. Thus my gym membership.

Nutrition: Food is cheap and lots of great tropical fruit, but tough to find whole grains and stuff without added sugar. No electrolyte tabs in country.

Supplies: Basically, can't buy anything tri-related here. I haul it all in.

Plusses: Food, beer, and massage are very cheap. I get a weekly massage session at home for $8. It's never too cold to train, and you don't need any cold-weather gear! We have a solid group of people at work who run, bike, do adventure races and the occasional tri, so I have some moral support.

Yes lots of small Lakes less then 20min away, and 2 Great lakes within 45 minutes drive, over 100KM of multiuse paths in the city, access 2 minutes from my door, and nice countyr roads with 2M wide paved shoulders less then 5 minutes from home. and active tri club with 40+ members and 3 certified tri coaches, a very very active running community College & university town 4 major hospitals, 3 running clubs and 3 cycling clubs in town, so a very active community overall. I also have multiple  wooded running trails about 30 + miles worth  3 minute run from my front door or 1min from my Office, so I run trails a lot in the hot weather.

OMG!!! I am so jealous!!!

Depends on how you look at it.

Very rural so:

No LBS, LRS, actually the only store in town is the Piggly Wiggly, so no sports stuff period except Gatorade :-/

BUT I do have high speed Internet (thank God- most here only have the option of dial up) a LBS, LRS, and the beach are only 1 1/2 hours away.

There are not many adult cyclist around here.  I took a new route last week and some kids in their front yard pointed and said (hear this with a Southern drawl) "look it's a lady riden a bike" lol

The closest (and only) lap pool is 30 miles away.   There are not local coaches, lessons, or masters programs.

BUT everywhere I run or bike is breathtakingly beautiful. Horses, trees, the bluest clear sky. There is very little traffic no matter where I choose to ride. plenty of open water swimming options. It is almost never too cold to workout outside. (lets not think about too hot, that is comming)

I would say Central I is pretty friendly. I joined a club in a town a few miles away with two other Central IL clubs I am aware of. My club puts on a great sprint, and there is a great sprint in the town I live in. Even a few OWS events with a really good Olympic not to far away. Several LBS, organized bike rides and runs. Even a couple good indoor lap pools.

Cant complain!