Anyone Racing up at Harriman this Weekend?

just make sure you are in your easiest climbing gear before you hit the sharp u-turn @ the bottom of Lake Welch Pkwy.

OMG!  You are sooo right!  I've done the bike course a few times now and then first time I was in high gear going downhill when I hit the U turn I didn't realize the hill started immediately after.  I managed to change gears somewhat quickly but I definitely ground the gears pretty badly.  Kind of reminded me of the one time my Dad tried to teach me to drive stick.  One time was enough for both of us!  LOL!!

You guys are scaring me with all this talk of terrible hills.  How would it compare to the Harlem Hill in Central Park?  It sounds huge - does anyone walk their bike up?  I think I will be OK but I want to know what to do if I start going backwards! I do not like hills but I liked the idea of a triathlon close to New York city.

You are gonna be climbing for a good 3+ miles. Not to scare, just to give you a heads up. Good luck!

Harlem Hill is about 3% grade and Harriman has climbs up to 7% or so, but I'm not sure what the actual course offers. Just take them slow, in your easiest gear and you'll be fine. Most long climbs have little plateaus so you get a mini rest on the legs. You can usually feel the tension lighten up and when that happens, rather than try to move forward faster, slow down your cadence even more and enjoy the little break, then go back to the spin to get up as it continues to increase. Good luck!

Does anyone know of a map my ride or google map of the course?
I may do a Harriman event next year but I'd like to ride the course on my own first.

Here you are (this is mapped clockwise):
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ny/stony-point/19412482...

The worst part of the bike course is right after you make the U-turn and start going up Tiorati Rd.  I've done it several times now and counted 13 steep climbs with little plateaus in between each until you finally reach the summit.  What stinks is that most of the course is on at least a small grade but there are a few thankful downhills and a couple of flats.  But I'd say a good 70% of the course is on a grade.  But hey, if I can do it then anyone can!!  Seriously!  I'm great on a spin bike and fine on flats and small grades like on the North County bike trail but Harriman is no joke!  Down shifting and just keeping my legs moving has gotten me through each time.   Oh, and some colorful words and a few shout outs to Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Thanks for the link!

Thanks everyone for their comments. I'll tough it out up the hills.  It will be a good experience for me I guess.

Now if only a sprint triathlon was 5km swim, 5km ride, 5km run.  That would be ideal for me!

Tomorrow's the day!!!  Good luck to all racers!  I'll see you there

I'll be there. I'm looking forward to going up Tiorati Rd. to get an idea of how good my training has been

If anyone wants to say hello, my number is 327.

Todant: Good luck and have fun at your first tri. Just remember, hills don't seem quite as steep on race day!

Good Luck 327!  I'm 74.  I sincerely hope the adrenaline turns Tiorati Rd. into one big FLAT! ~Nicole

I was up there today cheering on a friend for the SBR Tri, and they reported the water temp @ 77 degrees. You are gonna have a good swim!

Anyone have a race report coming for SBR or NYTri at Harriman?

Well I did it.  The hill was even worse than I expected.  Indeed this is not a tri for first timers.  I found the fast downhill a bit scary as well.

It was a beautiful day and it is a gorgeous venue.  I was actually a little bit cynical about the 77 temperature of the water.  It felt warmer than that but I'm sure they didn't want to annoy 98.7% of the crowd that had wetsuits with them.

Congrats TriTime1!  We both made it!  I agree that the water felt really warm.  I kept wondering why all those folks had wetsuits on but I guess they wanted the extra buoyancy?  All in all it was a great group of people, very friendly and supportive in general.  I thought there could've been a bit more organization but all in all a good event. 

And special thanks to #327, Mr. Anthony who not only came over to say hi and wish me luck but was the first person to officially call me a triathlete!   

If anyone is interested here's a link to my race report from the blog on my website.  http://newnicole09.webs.com/apps/blog/.  There are some pics too and a few colorful words to describe the terribly wonderful race!  Enjoy!! 

Well done Nicole!  I read your blog, excellent recap.  That was an awesome effort for your first tri.  I wish I had taken down your details and said hello. I actually found most of the crowd friendly.

Don't worry about people overtaking you on the bike. Just take it at your own pace! I'm a swimmer so the first part was easy but I dropped so many places from the swim to the bike that entire day was being overtaken!! I just think of it as my own race and don't worry about others.

Great job!

Congrats on your first finish! You tackled a very challenging course the first time out, everything else will be easy. I rode in Harriman on Sunday and those are some serious hills. The fact you did it on a hybrid is even more impressive, very nice work. You looked so incredibly happy in those photos.

Don't be discouraged by "on your left" calls, they aren't to put you down or tell you to move over, they are for safety and you'll hear it in every race. It's just to be sure you don't decide to dodge a pothole, puddle or other cylist right at the time someone is passing. I'm slow on the bike so I get passed a lot, you can't let it get to you!

Thanks Kristin!  A friend of mine who also does triathlons but is not very fast says the Beyonce song that goes "To the left, to the left" is her theme song!  LOL  

I have to say that you 2 picked quite an event for your first race! That is the hardest bike of any sprint I have ever done . Congratulations!

 

I was very glad I got to meet you and your family. I had a little didfficulty in my race, but getting to see a first timer (especially one who smiled so much) made it a great day for me.
 



I read your blog, and found it very entertaining. I also like your bike a lot. I have a Trek Hybrid, and I love it.

Anthony

Haha, I have a friend here on BT who has "On your right" in his sign line. Love it.