Vineman Ironman 70.3

If you're ever in the area, just let us know.  I'm always up for a ride.

It's a nice course in terms of scenery but the road surface isn't the greatest in a lot of places....it was so bumpy that in last year's race the road was strewn with bottles launched from their holders.....I'd ride it at least once for familiarity but for further training purposes it won't matter that much imo. Russian river is very cold before they put the dam in which is quite late and close to race date....it is also very shallow at that point....I saw people walk around the turning point!

Any other Okies going out west for the Vineman 70.3??

Will be doing a Reconnaissance Mission on June 28th, 29th and 30th! Planning on riding Thursday (before the 4th of July Weekend crowd hits the area). Maybe a swim on Thursday afternoon. Friday will run part of the course just to stretch the legs and become somewhat familiar with the terrain....it is an out and back essentially. Saturday morning at 10:00 AM there is apparently an organized swim to familiarize with the swim course, but again it is an out and back....can't get too lost ...right?

Will share info when we get back.... I'm not worried about giving up any advantage.....I'm a mid-packer. My motivation here is safety. If I can share info that will increase all of our knowledge that will prevent injury, accident or even wrong turns, it is my way of "paying it forward for all of the help I've received from others.

Let me know if there is anything specific you want to know about the course.

Rich-
I would be up for joining you guys if you don't mind.

Also, madcat....was thinking of riding the course this weekend, I have a 3 hour ride scheduled on my half plan. Are you up for joining me for some or part of it? If you are too fast for me, no problem, it would just be nice to know that someone else is out there on the course

If there is anyone else in the Bay area up for a ride on the course this saturday, let me know!
Abbie

Hey Abbie!

No problem if you stand to be with a couple old guys that talk alot and can easily get lost (even with maps).

As we get closer to that weekend, we can firm up the details ...... I know that we definitely want to ride the course on Thursday.....we want to avoid the 4th of July weekend traffic ...... prime wine tasting weekend on starting on Friday and Saturday...... I hear the roads are not conducive to bike riders and lots of cars at the same time.

Based on my work schedule, I may only be able to get up there on saturday for the swim. I'm heading up there this weekend for my 3 hour training ride, I'll let you know how it goes!

Sounds good AbbieR! Let us know the condition of the roads..... I've heard they can be a little rough at certain parts of the course.

Hey is anyone going up June 21-24? I am doing the full Vineman on Aug 4th and I normally train alone but decided to join the training camp that weekend. The camp got cancelled so I'm on my own again. Just wondering if I'll be truly alone on the course that weekend.

Donna-
I am hoping to go up and train on the course every saturday this month. Let me know what your workout schedule is for the weekend you'll be up there and I'll probably join you. Just keep in mind I'm no speedster
Abbie

Oh Abbie!! My target time for the race is 8hrs. I'm no speedster either! I'm a usually a loner but it would be nice to know that someone was out there. Especially since it's not "home territory". My plan is to do a swim/bike brick. I'm going to the organized swim on June 23rd to do 2 laps (1hr 40mins) and then jump on the bike for one loop of the course. I'm thinking it'll be about 4.5-5hrs of riding.

Oh yeah, madkat I saw that you are a local in Santa Rosa THANK GOD you're here! I just "met" AbbieR on the message board. We are planning to meet on June 23rd for a recon swim/bike brick. She's doing Vineman 70.3 and I am doing the Full Vineman. I'm not sure what you're ability level is but we'll be there if you want to some new company to ride with.

By the way, I'll be there Fri- Sun (noon) where are some good places to local eat?

8 hours for the FULL?

8 hours for the half is my "goal."

Oh, do you mean for the bike portion?  Ahhh... 

I believe we'll be around the weekend of the 23/24, and a ride will be very nice!

 

 

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the roads and the traffic. There are only a few sections that might be a bit worrisome, but around here people are used to seeing cyclists. Really, I've NEVER had a negative encounter on a group ride. Ever.

 

A Thursday ride won't work for my schedule, as I'll have to work. As for the weekend before the 4th holiday, I believe we'll be around. We're planning on going camping, but I don't think we're leaving until the Sunday (camping from Sun - Wed in Mendocino).

It's a great bike course, with only a couple of moderate hills. The roads are mostly back country roads, but the pavement is still ok. Lots of "rollers" but those are easy once you know how to ride 'em.

 

Just let me know what you all want to do. We're back from our Yosemite camping trip, and we'll be around for the rest of June and most of July.

Edited by madkat 2007-06-15 10:25 PM

Yeah sorry that wasn't that clear huh? 8 hours for the bike portion of the full vineman. That will be awesome to know that two others are out in the wilds with me. Re: the local food? We are staying in Guerneville and we'll probably be doing some cooking but a nice quiet meal at a local place will be a great change of pace. So let me know if you think of a place.

Hi all-
I rode the first half of the course yesterday as an out and back ride. The road was not as bad as I had expected (although it is far from being a smooth surface), but had more rollers than I was planning on. The course has curves, but nothing too drastic as I was able to ride aero for almost the entire ride. The course is simply BEAUTIFUL! There's some decent shade in the beginning and general store along the way to pick more water and stop for a bathroom break. Towards the half-way point there is a great hill to zoom down, although since I was riding out and back, it was a b-tch to climb when I turned around. The weather was perfect, low 80s although I don't think we'll be blessed with these temps come race day.

My only suggestion during training would be to do this as a group ride, so you can park one car at the start and one at the end. This way you ride the entire course point-to-point and there's no need to climb that hill. I made it up but was cursing that hill the entire way up. There's something about riding big hills for me....it forces me to swear like a sailor. No offense to any sailors out there

So how far did you go, 20 miles in? Just wondering because when I did the half in 2002 I'd never been to the course before. During the race I was dying going up this hill and when I got to the top I said (out loud actually) "Please tell me that was Chalk Hill." A passing cyclist heard me and seemed to genuinely feel bad to say "sorry, not yet." LOL I'll never forget it! Chalk Hill is like 45 miles in I think. Congrats, you got on the course! Good for you!! And the swearing? Hey whatever gets you up the hill!!

I started early yesterday and did a 73 mile ride/20 min run yesterday and ended the day with 60 laps in the pool! I did NOT feel like the swim but after it felt great!! My 2:15 run this morning was even better! A couple of my best training days yet!! I can't wait to get out on the course next weekend!

Edited by Gale4s 2007-06-17 6:32 PM

I was just shy of 30 miles in. Glad you had a great workout!!
Ab

Hey everyone! Sorry for this long post, but here is a Recon Report (from 6/28/07 - 07/01/07 training weekend) of the three course for the upcoming Vineman 70.3. Note: Mileage notations for the bike and run descriptions are approximations.

Swim:
Water Temp: 76
Current: None (or virtually none). No major water releases up the river, so the current is almost non-existent. Depths are reasonable. Bouys will be placed throughout the course with a neutral area inbetween the out and back lanes. Water of course shallow as you get closer to the river edge. I found that if you can find cool water, you are most likely in the channel where the water is deeper. The turnaround is about where the "sandbar" is located. You can get up and walk around the 20 yds. Sighting is fairly easy going back if you use the bridge pillars and keep them off your right shoulder!

Bike Ride:
Exit out of T1 will be carpeted over the gravel parking lot. When you get off the carpet, you make a right turn toward the street where there is a small little hill. If your gears are not set properly, you will be in trouble. (I plan to run the bike from T1 up the hill and then clip in to avoid disaster.)

Miles 0 -5: Just warm up..... You can get some reasonable speed, but again, just remember to take it easy...
Mile 5 - 15: There is a sharp right turn onto Sunset with a steepish (is that a word) short downhill and turn to the left. Be careful of traffic and hold your line if you are clumped together. As you go under the bridge, set your gears into small chain ring in front and easy gear in back. After the bridge, you turn right and take the center prong of 3 options. It is a hill that goes up fairly quickly. If you saw the official Vineman 70.3 update with an elevation chart, it is the first spike on the chart. After you get up this hill, you are almost continuously using your gears to take advantage of the terrain and your gearing. Don't push your legs.....Cadence, Cadence, Cadence in this section...... Side note on the conditions of the road: Someone has marked the rough road and there is quite a bit of it with reddish/pinkish spray paint. Couple of places that could launch some bottle rockets..... For everyone's saftey, I would suggest you call out "holes" to racers behind you. I only saw one place where there was gravel strewn across the rode.
Mile 15-20: Flat
Mile 21-25: This has some easy rollers until you get to Canyon Rd. Canyon has one decent hill and then a nice downhill all the way down to Highway 128
Mile 25-41: Flats, downhills, and some easy rollers just to add something interesting.
Mile 41-45: Chalk Hill has some downhills, a small hill which I call the "Fake Chalk Hill" followed by a nice downhill and then the real "Chalk Hill". Very doable with a small chain ring and cadence of 85 to 90.
Mile 46-56: Basically flat and GREAT road conditions. Can pick up some time here......watch out for traffic lights and traffic. Note: Plan to start spinning and getting lactic acid out of legs beginning about mile 54.

Run Course:
Miles 0-3: Flat....find your legs
Mile 3: Nice little hill....not long. Runnable with small steps ..pick up the knees/legs
Mile 3.25 - 4.5: Rollers and flats..... with one significant hill
Mile 5: Probably the most challenging section from a pacing standpoint....three progressively higher rollers.....There will be an aid station just after you finish this heading towards La Creme Winery.
Mile 6: Creamery
Reverse the course.............

Hydrate well during the run..... there is some shade, but if you start running 3 to 4 hours into the race, you will be at mid-day...... Ran the course beginning at 11:00 AM to simulate time.....temp was only 82 or 83 degrees. Imagine 5 to 10 degrees warmer. YIKES!

Hope this helps everyone that see the course ahead of time.... I'm planning on sweeping the course on race day.....EVERYONE have a GREAT RACE..... the course is beautiful and has the potential of being a lot of fun for everyone!

I went up and swam the course again today, just wanted everyone to know that the water temp was 79, so if today had been race day, it would not have been wetsuit legal. I swam it without my wetsuit and the water was great, actually did it faster without my wetsuit! Just an FYI. See you in 2 weeks!
Abbie

Looks like the water temp cooled down dramatically (like 10 degrees) since last week. My guess is air temp decreased, but most likely there was a release of water somewhere up the system that had cooler water. (Just an uneducated guess.)

So bring the wetsuits....looks like wetsuits will be legal.

The official e-mail this evening anticipates the water to be in the general temperature that it is now!

To everyone racing.....may you all have a GREAT and SAFE race.

See you in Guerneville!

Just wanted to check in on all you 70.3 racers!! How you doin!? Everybody ready!! I wish I could cheer you on in person however- I do believe I will be watching coverage on ironmanlive.com!