What's the triathlon scene like in Pittsburgh PA and Charlotte NC?
There's a high chance that I may be moving to one of these two lovely cities in the next few months. I was just curious if anyone from these cities could provide any insight about the amount of interest and access to facilities, clubs and local shops there.
Where I live now it's starting to pick up but it's still not quite there. So I was just curious what I could expect when I get there.
* **swimming:** Finding pools with lap times are hard, especially on days I have long workouts. They are either super overcrowded (not always with people training) or there is an hour here or there before swim teams get the pools back. This often results in me having to cut my workout short. How accessible are lap pools, more specifically olympic sized, or open water swims in your city?
* **cycling:** It is hard trying to ride around my current city as there are zero bike lanes. (I have already accepted the fact that the winters of Pittsburgh are more likely then not going to be mainly trainer workouts). Aside for leaving town for long rides what is it like riding throughout town?
* **running:** This is relatively accessible and adaptable thus its not as big of a concern for me as you can run anywhere and that's why I love it. That being said what's it like training for this aspect of the sport; hills, flats, track access?
* **groups/clubs:** The last big thing, for me atleast is that there arnt many groups to train with. One of the things that draws me to the sport is how great the community is, the willingness to help, teach and learn from one another is awesome. Working out with others makes it so much more fun as well as pushes me to improve. This is starting to improve around here but it's in the infant stages and isnt consistent. Another small issue I have with the groups that are around is that they normally consist of an older age group then me. I mean no disrespect and have met a lot of cool people but it would be nice to workout and meet people around my own age (25-30ish). Are there opportunities to join local clubs/groups to train and meet new people?
*edit: spelling and formatting*