Great Floridian Triathlon - Ultra Distance Race : Official Thread

Welcome to the 2012 race thread!

this'll be my first iron distance

Mine too! Perhaps a bit more fortunate than some folks training-wise in that I have plenty of rolling hills to bike on here. Training starts next month for me, though I'll have plenty of running miles under my belt before then. Should be interesting.

Just taking a look at the 2011 climatology between Louisville and Orlando (couldn't get Clermont), Louisville high temps run about 9-10 degrees more in August than Orlando in October. The highest max at Louisville was 97 whereas the highest max for Orlando was 87. Drop down about 7 degrees for the mean daily max temp. In general, our race looks more "comfortable" than Louisville, temperature-wise, though it can get up in the 90s in Orlando during Oct too. Humidity looks about the same with Orlando's mean coming in a bit lower for Oct than Louisville.

Still, probably need to train in the heat during the summer here. Did that for Eagleman last year where it has gotten quite hot in years past.

Edited by sbrdave 2012-03-09 9:41 AM

Louisiana will be hot all summer, perfect training for me. First Tri of the season IM 70.3 Galveston, Last Tri of the season Great Floridian Ultra! My first 140.6. Sweet!

I would think that as long as everyone gets out in the heat during the summer, and trains on hills they should be in good shape for the Ultra. 3600ft is a good amount of climbing, but spread out over 112 miles it should not be too bad. Plus, with the course being three loops of the same course with the only exception being Sugarloaf Mtn (on the 1st lap), everyone should be able to guage the needed effort per lap. Of course, as with all Full's bike legs I would suggest "preview" the course on the first lap, and then build into your pace for lap 2 & 3.

I am also in for the full or Ultra.

Oh BTW, what is a chip seal?

Ah, gotcha. I have done a few races with that sort of road surface.

I live here in Lake County and ride these roads all the time. In general the roads are in good shape with few exceptions. There is no chip seal on any of the roads from last years GFT course. Occasionally the RD may vary the course, but I cant remember any really horrible conditions on any of the 4 or 5 different GFT courses I have ridden. Of all the roads, Buckhill is the worst - but this has not been on the GFT courses recently. What I think about as I ride in this area:

Using last years course maps as a guide, you have to climb a short hill out of transition into the town of Clermont that is a little torn up. The worst areas around Lake Minneola have been repaved. Next is a 90 degree left turn onto Jalarmy that has a short sharp climb that is covered with concrete waste stuck to the road. This is problematic due to the sharp turn, and climb - almost impossible to power up the hill. Cherry Lake road is largely repaved and in good shape. SR19 repaved a couple years ago and in good shape with a nice wide shoulder. Traffic is the trouble here. Also depending on wind direction it can be a wind tunnel. The right turn off SR 19 is where the flat section stops. It also leads to (surprise ) a short sharp uphill, but the road is in pretty good shape here. CR 455 and 561 are in OK shape, but there are some depressions along the right side of the road and an occasional crack may be encountered. All 3 laps have rolling hills from here on. LAP 1: The road UP Sugarloaf is a little torn up, but I'm usually sucking for air too hard to care. The road down the far side and back to CR 561A is terrible and there is usually sand on the turns. Recently the RD has had the turns swept before the race. LAPS 2 and 3: CR 455 has a lot of small depressions in the edges - some have been patched with asphalt that may be uneven. On 455 you go down the hill locals call "The Wall", and some nitwit has stuck a traffic roundabout at the bottom so you can't carry your speed very well up the far side.
The courses come together back where CR 561A and CR455 intersect. A mile or so up from this area up to the right turn in Montverde there are some cracks running parallel to the edge of the road that are just wide enough to catch a tire - not a lot, but keep your eyes open. Rigewood road is in poor shape - sand, cracks and heaves, and the turn at the bottom onto Fosgate will launch your bottles if you go through the middle of the intersection. I try to stay right or left. Fosgate has a lot of patchwork done, but once you turn onto Blackstill Rd things settle down. Just be careful going down the hills that you don't track to far over 'cause there is a dropoff of about 6 inches from the blacktop to the shoulder in a few places. The last stretch up Northridge is an easy climb followed by fast descent. The downhill road usually has a little gravel along the far sides, and looks worse than it is. If you stay in the traffic lane you should be fine.
Sorry its kinda long, but I hope it helps. Previous posters are correct - the hills, heat and humidity usually take a bigger toll than the roads. This is not an easy race and I think thats one of the reasons that crowds are small. Just my $0.02.

Beginning my 20 week training plan Monday. Drove through Clermont Saturday on the way home from Disney. Crazy Hills, I will have to train on hills. Oh, swim and run allot too.

Hi All, someone referred to the bike course as having 'crazy hills'.  Does anyone know how I can get an elevation map of the bike course?

In this thread it says there is about 3600ft of climbing on the bike course.

I have not looked for an elevation map yet. I stopped looking at those years ago, because IMO they did not help me any. I will post up a link if I find one.

Edited by Coldfire 2012-08-23 1:29 PM

I just looked through all of the maps on mapmyride, and someone correct me if I am wrong, but it appears there is around 2,000-2,200ft of climbing on the 112 bike course. There are some slight differences on the total climbing depending on which map you look at, but in general they all total in the 2K-2.2K range. Is that correct, as it was thrown out there was 3600ft of climbing?

Thoughts?

Sugarloaf is a CAT 5, so that should get the blood flowing early around mile 18.

After a quick google search, I found the full route, and found out my math sucks.

112.81 miles
2,070.21ft climbing
145 ft start elev
318 ft max elev
gain 2,070 ft

1 - Cat 5 (sugarloaf Mtn)

That is confirmed by a second mapmyride route, with the same distance/climbing/etc.

Soooo, with less than 5 weeks to go, how is everyone doing? Into heavy weekend volume workouts myself now, plus a bit of interval and hill work during short weekday sessions. Although I hear the taper drives some people nuts, I think I'll be ready for mine after spending so much training these past few weeks.

I've been reading more about the bike course and a tad bit concerned about road conditions and the climb/descent at Sugar Loaf Mountain. I'm reading a short 17-20% grade on that climb? Plus folks essentially getting up to 50-55 mph on the backside with the road not being the best. Anyone have previous experience and thoughts? I'm not the best climber (though I've gotten better lately) and will have a 27 tooth cog in my cassette, but a 39 for the small chainring. I've been training on 10-16% grades with effort in the higher part of that range. So, like I said, a bit concerned about the climb. Now, I'm okay with relatively straight and fast descents too (hit 45mph a few times and love 40 mph), but not sure how my bike will react to anything greater or myself, especially if the road isn't the best. I'd like to just go for it and zoom, but I also want to get to the run in one piece too

I'm still very much looking forward to the race, but appreciate any intel to help me prepare since I do have hills here to train on.

Hope everyone's training is working out well!

Thanks!

My thoughts - (rode the course this weekend, mostly in the rain) Relax. You will do fine!. Sugarloaf is way overrated. The apocryphal descriptions of 20% grades are mostly fantasy. There is a short section in the early part of the climb of about 1/4 mile that will test you - I think it is closer to 13% grade. Gear up to your 39/27 and spin and you will do great. The back side road is pretty tore up, but not unsafe. I am not a strong cyclist, but routinely hit 38 - 40 mph safely on the backside. Get up on the brakes if you are uncomfortable and slow down a bit.

I think you are much more likely to get worn out by the relentless nature of the small rolling hills. Nothing scary but certainly they just seem to keep coming one after another. The majority of the road surface is not problematic. Rough sections are short and easy to negotiate. Some of the worst has just been resurfaced with beautiful new asphalt.

Trust your training, race your race and you'll be ok. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks Joseph!! Plenty of rollers here that I've been training on (heck, that's nearly ALL we have here, plus a few mountain climbs too), so not as concerned as long as I do what you said in your last sentence which has been my plan all along. I just noted as such in my log after I read what happened to someone in the 2011 race.

I welcome any more intel and perhaps someone else could use it as well. 2 more weeks of high volume training for me and then slow taper the final 2 weeks. I'm already getting a bit excited to race and really am looking forward to it (though it may not have sounded that way)!

Hope everyone's training is going well!

Dave