triangle area tri club

Hi and Welcome! This is a great area for triathletes!!

I don't know of much in North Durham, maybe some other folks do!??

Here are a few groups I know of in the area.

Hillborough based tri club. Very nice people.
http://www.midcarolinamultisport.com/

Raleigh club lots of other group stuff in Raleigh area (most activities in downtown area, so not convenient for me). I have done the IOS tues/thursday rides from Cary. Aggressive group ride where everyone tries to drop each other. This can be good if you are in top shape and can stick with them (or almost in top shape and want to get there). Otherwise, it will be a solo ride for you.
https://www.iostriclub.com/

Masters swimming in Durham, did this back when I first started, now I usually swim solo b/c I cannot wake up early. Nice people!
http://www.dukeaquatics.com/Home.jsp?team=ncda

Carolina Tarwheels - chapel hill cycling group. Nice folks, and you do not need to be a member to do the rides:
www.tarwheels.org

Tri store with some group stuff, North Raleigh (brier creek area), never done these, but have work buddies that do.
http://www.trilife.co/calendar.html

Holly Springs area cycling club (kinda far, but super nice people!)
http://www.teamcbc.com/

Found this by googling, never heard of them!!
http://www.bikedurham.org/event-calendar

Lots of nice mountain bike trails are here if you are into that!
http://www.trianglemtb.com/

Good luck!! Let me know if questions!

Thanks for the information! I'm checking all of them out now. Do you know if any of them do group swims in the local-ish lakes? I've seen hints that people swim in falls lake and jordan lake, but I haven't found any details yet.

There's also this meetup group, they do Raleigh stuff, so have not gotten together with them:
http://www.meetup.com/RaleighTriathlon/

I don't see Falls lake swims there.

I am pretty sure the IOS group does group swims at the lake, but none yet (it is still early in the season).
https://www.iostriclub.com/calendar.html

Oh, I forgot about the Grasshoppers. I think they do group swims. They are in Holly Springs, again, far, but nice people, and they'd be swimming in Lake Jordan.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/211671288866550/
you have to ask to join their fb page.

Lastly, as soon as the weather warms up a bit more (very soon) I'll be starting my bike/swim/bike rides down to Ebeneezer beach on the weekend. I live in Chapel Hill and it's an 18 mile ride down there. Biking in is free! I'll put a post in this group in case anyone wants to join, and can meet somewhere along Farrington Rd.

Edit: Oh, and I forgot about the Eno Quarry. Very nice place to swim, BUT, it's a 1 mile hike through woods from parking to get there, and very limited parking, so I don't do that one. Also, snakes.

Edited by triblogcarol 2015-05-25 8:06 AM

How are the roads up here for solo rides? I haven't seen any bike lanes. I'm used to riding in Miami and that was either in a bike lane or on very secluded farm roads. Are cars used to bikes on the roads? Are there certain days/times that are safer? Are there certain rides that are safe to stick to?

I mostly feel safe riding solo around here. Drivers are for the most part friendly. There are definitely the occasional stories of jerks harassing cyclists, but that is the exception rather than the rule. I do avoid these common sense times/locales :

* rush hour on weekdays as folks are going to and from work
* school dismissal time near local schools - soccer moms are the worst! I'm usually working then anyway.
* weekends after noon around the lake (boaters are terrible, too).

I am pretty lucky to not live too far away from the country roads. So, I have about 5 miles of riding through neighborhoods before I get to really nice country roads. Dairyland area in Orange County is fantastic. Might be worth checking out heatmaps on Garmin to see popular spots where you live , if you have a Garmin connect account??

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/723547395

If you get a chance triblogcarol can you check out that route and let me know if its good for a weekend ride? I'm not sure if you'll know the roads because its the opposite direction from Chapel Hill, but maybe you will. I tried to build this based off of strava heat map. I can't find garmin heat maps.

I've only ridden around those areas once back a few years ago, here https://connect.garmin.com/jsPlayer/94034635
Comparing to yours, it's similar areas, so your's is likely a good route! The only skethy part of my ride was getting across 70 from the Brier Creek location where we met. All the rest of my route was nice country roads, so yours looks comparable there.

I think you have to be in player mode in Garmin to see heat maps. Look for the little layers icon next to the map button, click and hold and find heat maps under Bicycle. Heat maps on GArmin look just like your route from Strava, so I say go for it! Good luck!

HTH!

Thanks!

Your bike route reminded me of the falls lake swim group which I had searched for earlier, but couldn't find. They meet somewhere around where Falls lake crosses 98. I swam there a couple times long ago but it was just too far of a drive, so now I go to Ebeneezer beach at Jordan.

Anyway, I think I found the group here:
https://racereach.com/mtl.php?page=grp_groupcalendar&groupid=2&app=&...

I also found and evening Falls lake OWS group
https://racereach.com/mtl.php?sub=rrc&page=grp_groupcalendar&groupid...






Edited by triblogcarol 2015-05-30 10:03 AM

Hi Lupy,
That is pretty much my route on the weekends with few minor exceptions. I live in brier creek and start from there. You will see tons of cyclists on that ride throughout the day on the weekends, but obviously more in the morning hours. Only think I would change is that eastern stretch on 98. Turn off on (I think) Mount Vernon, then left on Peed. That cuts down your time on 98, although traffic isn't really bad in the early morning. I don't typically do the point on the northeast corner but do know the roads there and you should be fine.

What part of N Durham? I work in Treyburn Industrial Park and will occasionally commute or do a short loop north through Bahama. Don't typically see many cyclists though.

As for OWS, Trilife does a mock sprint the first Sunday of the month at Falls. It's on Meetup I believe. There is a group that swims at Beaverdam on Sundays and Wednesdays I think, but I've never met them and don't have details. My wife has swam with some people over off of 98 and said it was fine.

Hope this helps.

And def make a trip down to Carborro. Some great riding there.

Sorry for the late reply! I leave near the west point on the eno. I can get to a trail from my community and run 1.5 miles on the mountain to sea trail and get there. It's amazing to have such nice trails so nearby. I've done a few rides with trilife, but I haven't done their mock tri yet.