WHY EUGENE IS THE NEXT BIG TRI SCENE

There have been plenty of times… especially during the dreaded, rainy, chilly… no... bone-chilling, cold long rides where I can successfully convince myself that I loathe where I live. It was always inevitable that the warm water availability of the shower never quite made it to de-thaw your body. It was that bad. But then again it wasn’t…

The brave, die-hard cyclists would still show up at 8:30 AM every Saturday morning to face whatever kind of weather to ride the hammer fest together. With that type of camaraderie, the rainy days didn’t seem so bad. It’s not as god-awful as it seems because it's all about the attitude and culture exhibited from the athletes in Eugene, Oregon. We all have the drive to play hard outside, rain or shine. We are all out there together either having a blast or suffering together. Who cares about the weather?

And then gradually some additional retrospective thoughts about Oregon knocks some sense into me to further clarify my selfish pity-party attitude. It’s really just the WEATHER and not Eugene that makes it unpleasant at times. You have to pay for the greenery somehow- that means rain during the winter and the spring. Just when you think it'll never break, the clouds start to part, the weather gets warmer and the rain goes away. You see why the rain was worth it. You can see how Oregon (Eugene) is pretty much a triathlete’s dream playground.

Eugene might be known for holding the title Track Town USA, but there’s way more than just a running culture, it’s an outdoor junkie’s dream environment. Eugene is in close proximity to the coast, the mountains, skiing, national forests, vineyards, the Boulder of the west coast Bend, big city Portland. Oregon is just a step up from Cali that offers pretty much every type of landscape you could want. Oregon has the true vibrant green you can only get in the Northwest.

My training here is unlike anywhere else. Here are a few highlights Eugene has to offer:

• Being able to get anywhere on my bike: bike lanes and bike paths galore
• Pre’s bark trails along the river
• It’s home to the University of Oregon giving it the college town feel and making athletics an dominate part of Eugene
• Getting to train on Hayward Field, need I say more?
• The Multisport Advantage offers a GREAT triathlon training shop
• Super close open-water swim opportunities at Fern Ridge or Fall Creek
• Plentiful amounts of hills that will redefine your definition of a mountain
• Thee Thursday Nighter and CSC weekend rides
• Healthy food stores + fresh fish and seafood
• The mass amounts of traffic, crack and debris-free roads to ride and maybe hit 2 stoplights in a 5 hour ride (Courtesy of my Garmin to map my fav long ride out)
• Being able to run on one of the best trails in the world- the McKenzie River trail
• Amazon’s 50m outdoor long course pool
• The huge cycling community that supplies tons of racing and training opportunities.
• The lack of corporate America’s chain stores and instead dotted with many unique, one-of a kind stores
• And... No sales tax
• The satisfaction of breathing fresh air
• 242 Scenic Highway provides 1.5 hours worth of a straight vertical cycling climbing and 30 minutes of pure adrenaline descending
• The spirit of Pre and living in the heart of the running culture
• The lifestyle: liberal, yet full of people who care about their bodies and their environment

I’ve visited San Diego, lived in Tucson for the winter and used to live in the Midwest, but all I can say is it’s going to be tough to make me leave such an amazing, convienient, friendly, training atmosphere that Eugene creates. I mean, it didn’t take long for Triathlete Magazine to list Eugene, Oregon as one of the top 10 not so obvious tri-towns in an article. They know what I know.

Yes, I might leave again for the winter for a couple weeks and head back down to Tucson or someplace warm to escape some of those HTFU mind-insanity cold, rainy rides, but I will always call Eugene, Oregon as the place that turned me into a professional athlete and has helped me test my limits. I’m in love with the city.