Black Bear Triathlon : Official Thread

That is one way to ensure a PR on this course. 

im in. figured it would be a "good idea" to start the season out of shape with a hard race. everything else will be a lot easier, right?

FWIW, i rode the course last weekend. My impressions - hard, but not as bad as I feared. You pick up alot of speed on some downhills, only to come to a standstill about 1/3 of the way up the next hill. it was windy that day - hopefully that doesn't happen raceday.

Can't race that day, but have ridden the course as well. Like JohnnyK said, don't count on a PR. Like RunnerX said, there are some whopping downhills that if you have the guts to let it loose going down, will go a long way to getting you up the next roller but not all the way. There are also some long climbs without the momentum advantage. The wind was also blowing hard on the way out from the Park the day in March I rode the course so that didn't help. Good news is that there are some fast sections on the way back to make up some time (with that same wind behind you).

I would really recommend riding the course if you get a chance; the second time I did it I knew where to fly and where to not, and how to go about getting up the hills better.

I've also run in that park a few times; not sure which trails the race run is on, but it's very scenic and not as monotonous as your usual road run.