Countdown to philly! Whos in?

I did the Oly last year, and am again this year.

I don't know about the parking situation, because we stay in a hotel downtown and bike over to the transition area, but I can say that it's almost impossible to get anywhere close to transition in a car.  My wife just ended up walking approximatley 3 miles each way from the hotel to transition.



Edited by TriMyBest 2009-06-17 12:55 PM

I'm in and parking isn't too much of a problem if you follow their prescribed routes. Traffic gets pretty bad if you don't get there early though. You've got a bit of a walk from parking to transition as well.

Did the sprint last year, doing the Oly last year. I know a good parking spot and I'm not sharing it with anyone .
Actually, the area they suggest around the Please Touch Museum (where packet pick/expo up is) is pretty close to transition. Getting in and out is tricky but if you go early enough you should be good. I'd avoid the Schuylkill.

I'm in again.  Maybe for my final time, as I'm not convinced that bike course is going to be as fun with 2300+.

Parking is not a big deal in my experience, but get there early since you have a decent walk to transition and you need to catch a bus to the start.

I'm in for the Sprint! It will be my first tri, and I'm getting very excited. I just hope we have decent weather... I swear its done nothing but rain in Philly for the past 2 months!

The congestion on the bike course is the reason I am not planning on doing this race again.  I raced the Olympic last year and crashed on the bike.  It took the medics a long time to get to me and then to get me off the course.  The medics had problems getting around on the small side streets/hills.

As far as parking, make sure you get there early and you won't have a problem.  The later you arrive and the farther you will have to walk to the transition area.

I really dont know philly at all, what road should I park on??

2,300 on a double-loop bike course looks a bit overloaded. Lets hope for the best.

In... did the Sprint last year, Oly this year.

Parking around Memorial Hall (now the Please Touch Museum) is good if you get there early enough.

I'm just hoping the seemingly incessant rain we've had for the last few weeks holds off so the swim doesn't get called...

I will be there for the sprint and possibly doing the olympic as part of a relay team (we are on the waitlist). Did the sprint last year which was my first ever tri. I want to see how much I have improved. Next year I am doing the Oly for sure. Good luck to everyone, enjoy the Schuykill Punch!

Parking has never been an issue for me, but like some of the others I arrive early...so can't say much about the traffic 30 minutes before the race other than DON'T WAIT SO LONG TO GET THERE.

As far as the bike course congestion, maybe I'm strange but I've never seen it as a problem. Since it's a closed course there has always seemed to me to be plenty of room. The biggest problem in my opinion, and I can't fault the organizers for this, is that people don't seem to want to ride to the right. I'll confess that I did a lot of passing on the right in this race but when you're riding down West River Drive and there is a bike riding slow with literally TWO OPEN LANES on the right...I'm passing RIGHT.

I hope the rain stops at some point so we won't be doing a Du!

Good luck to everyone!

Couple of questions-
How bad do conditions have to be for them to cancel the swim?? Right now they're calling for scattered thunderstorms for most of the next 10 days... will they cancel the swim only if its storming on race day, or will they also cancel it if these storms rile the water up too much?

Also, what are the hills like on the sprint bike course? Short, long, steep, gradual? I should already know this since I live close enough, but I'm looking for insight anyway :-) I'll try riding the course this weekend... if it ever stops raining....

I actually decided to call it quits after my own crash on the bike course last year. In all honesty, my crash was mainly due to my own stupidity, but course congestion DEFINITELY played a roll. Be safe out there, everybody you really need to stay on your toes with all those bikes out on that course!

The swim risk comes mostly from heavy rains in the 24-48 hours prior to the race.  This washes debris into the water upriver and takes some time to "clear".  It really just depends how hard those rains are.

Of course, thunderstorms on race morning would be a problem (and not just for the swim), but just having some "normal" rain on race day wouldn't likely cause a problem for the swim.

The oly has turned into a du once in four races so far.  The sprint has had a swim each of its 3 years I believe.

For water conditions check out...
http://www.phillyrivercast.org
I am in for the OLY. Did it last year. Let's hope the bike course is safe with all those bikes.

What is the distance from the host hotel to the transition area? Is it walking/riding distance?

hoe long will run be if its a du?