Vancouver Triathlon

I did the sprint as my first tri last year, really liked it, well run, nice bike course through the park.  I'm planning on signing up for the Oly this year.

Newbie here. Working towards making it for my first ever sprint.  Watched a friend compete in this last year. Very well run and nice course.

Edited by roadcarver 2009-05-29 9:55 PM

Anyone that has done the race, just wondering what the bike course is like. Looked at the map and it looks like there are a lot of turns. Are they pretty sharp or can you hold speed through them? Are there many hills, big small or otherwise?

I am thinking about heading out there with my wife. Our anniversary is that weekend too. Any good spots that we should visit while we are in town?

I found there are 3 spots to be more careful, labeled #1, #2, #3.

#1 - Since you do the bike course 4 times, it means there are people coming out of transition merging into the bike course, which is a fairly narrow road. Also, watch out for pedestrians and eccentric people that think they are the king/queen of Stanley park.

#2 - The narrow'ish road continues and makes a fairly tight turn going under a small overpass.

#3 - Just another tight corner.

Other than that, you might want to practice getting comfortable going downhill at fast speed. Vancouver buses have a bike rack, so a good way to practice this is to take the 236 bus from Lonsedale Quay to the base of Grouse Mountain. Unload your bike and enjoy the ride downhill. Stop at one of the intermediate bus stops and repeat.

As for hills, there is one main hill. There are a few other 5 to 10 meter ascents here and there.

I haven't ridden in Stanley for awhile, so I don't know current condition of the road. There are most likely some rough parts here and there, the city doesn't seemed overly concerned about the condition of the road.





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Vancouver Bike Course.JPG (67KB - 34 downloads)

I've signed up.  This will be my first Oly after 2 Sprints earlier this year.  Looking forward to it.  Just hope I have the endurance to finish strong - I need to pace myself so I don't go out too hard at the beginning.

I've been doing some open water swims at Kits Beach in order to get acclimatized to swimming with the fishies !

Good luck to all participants.

I was planning on this being my first tri, but after driving over the bike course several times, I feel intimidated by the huge downhill section, with a few S-curves at the bottom. The road is pretty narrow. I feel like a dork about this, but I figure I'm going to need better bike handling skills for this course - still getting used to my fast tri bike.

What about the swim? How is the water at 2nd Beach this time of year? How deep does the water get around there? 

Thanks for the map. That is very cool of you. I appreciate it. Hope to see everyone there.

Guys,

For those who are familiar with the bike route. How important it is to take a ride there before the race ?

Ziv

Guys,

For those who are familiar with the bike route. How important it is to take a ride there before the race ?

Ziv

For me, personally, I like to ride EVERY course. No surprises, you learn where to drop the hammer, where to take it easy and understand the make up of the road (concrete, asphalt) and you get a chance to find the hazards like painted crosswalks which get slippery in the rain, cracks in the road, gravel, etc.... It isn't really required if you can't, the park is pretty clean and straight forward but all knowledge is good knowledge....it's also like my dad always says; "Chris, if you keep doing that, you'll go blind!" Nothing to do with racing, but I think you'll agree, sage advice non the less!!!

I did 3 laps of the bike route on Saturday morning.  The new paved part is nice, but just prior to that, there is a downhill section near the hollow tree, that has a lot of cracks, missing pavement, etc.  Its a bit of a white knuckle ride at 40kmph+, and that was with 2 buddies - not sure what it'll be like with 20-50 racers around me.

On the uphill section, there is a tight hairpin about 70% of the way up the hill.  You think your done as you come around the corner only to find a bit more hill.  But it's nice to have that long down hill strech to recharge the batteries.

Overall, nice rolling course.  Everyone says how pretty the course it, but honestly, the only thing I saw on Saturday morning was the pavement in front of me

Edited by tanasut 2009-08-17 5:28 PM

Hi all,

Did 4 laps of the bike course this morning.  Took it easy on the first lap to get a feel for road conditions, curves, hazards etc.  The climb uphill was pretty easy as it was fairly short with no steep sections.  
I found the course description from meepx2 to be pretty much bang on and definitely worth the read.
I felt more comfortable with each pass and was able to pick a good line through the downhill hill curves at speed by the fourth lap.
I think this will be a closed course so being able to use the whole road will definitely help find a good line through the downhill section.
I would suggest riding early in the morning on the weekend before traffic builds up.
Good luck everyone!

Riel 

Looks like it going to be a wet one ... good luck to you all.