Longhorn Ironman 70.3 was awesome

I really have to disagree with a few points here:

• Decker Lake -- yep, a little weedy, but really not an issue at all except at Swim Out.  Otherwise, visibility is still normal lake visibility.  Heck, I could see slightly beyond my outstreched hand.  That's actually better than most lakes in Texas.  Keith also did a great job this year moving the start away from the boat ramp, which can get very slippery.
• Yep, the dust was bad, but I really appreciate that they had the grass mowed short on both the race course, areas next to the race course on Decker Lane where spectators could walk, and in the parking area we all had to use for bike dropoff.
• Anyone who compains about those roads is spoiled.  Overall, those roads were great.  Yes, there were cracks on some of them.  However, that is weather-related, and not nearly as bad as I was afraid.   Plus, the hazard marking of them was some fo the best I've seen at any event.
• I don't see how anyone can claim that the non-glass-smooth sections were "rough".  Have you never been on chip-seal?  I would describe this entire bike course as smooth.
• I won't comment on the buses, because I got there early and had no problems parking or getting on a bus w/i a few minutes.
• As to the various people I've heard commenting on the wind, two words -- perception bias.  It was not nearly as windy as most people have claimed.  Check out the graph of the actual wind measurements from the closest weather station:   http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KTXMANOR3&month=10&day=5&year=2008
• Short story?  mostly calm until ~8:30,  5-10mph until around 10:30, 10-15mph after that.  Combine that with the nice cloud cover we had, and I'll be one to say the weather conditions were great!

Agree with you on everything but the wind and perception bias.  It all depends on how fast you are on the bike.  The longer you were out there, the worse the wind got, or the more tired you got of it.

I totally agree that this was a great race, especially considering the jump in size from last year to this year. I felt this event went off smoothly, and Keith and crew rolled with the punches.

Yes, some of the roads were cracked, but they were well marked for the most part with paint, and I truly appreciated the volunteers calling out the turns up ahead and the arrows pointing out the turns. This really helped on such a crowded course. I think it's hard to find 56 miles of smooth road anywhere. It's not too bad to find a good section of road for a sprint or olympic, but it's much harder for a one-loop half bike, especially when getting permits, etc. from the city.

It was windy, but it's Texas. It's always something here, and I'll take windy over incredibly hot or raining any day.

I'm sure Keith is going to take our comments in stride and make next year's race even better. Sure, there were some growing pains with increasing the race to this size, but I'm terribly impressed with how well it was put on! I'll be back next year and can't wait. 

IMO the bike course was great. Compared to some of the roads I've ridden on it was about as good as you can find in Texas. The course has enough variety to make it interesting. There is always wind in Texas.

I'll take the bike course any day over that run course! LOL! Keith, could you flatten the run out a bit for next year? Perhaps give out an award for the person who goes up the hill the slowest!!!

There is only one thing that I would change about the race. It would be nice to have the athlete drinks (cokes-after the race) separate from the food line. That way if you only wanted a drink you wouldn't have to stand in a long line. I ended up buying a coke after the race because I was too tired to wait in the line for one.

Awesome race!  

Great race---a couple of logistical pieces that, obviously, Keith has already hit...but thankfully it didn't really mess with the race.  I had a phenomenal time.  The support from the spectators, the aide stations, the costumes, the team tents on the run course, the great post-race spread....I loved it.  It truly is an experience/festival and not "just a race."  You can tell that the RD's care.  I rode the bike course twice prior to this race and ran on the dirt portion of the run course and let tell you that they did SO MUCH to improve what mother nature dealt them as far as the dirt and road cracks.  Minus the road cracks, there was no part of that road that was nasty chip seal--at least not compared to what nasty chip seal in TX is and can be (ask some of the Dallas folks who have lost some routes recently due to it, or anyone that did the Athen's sprint tri...THAT is nasty chip seal)...the stuff we rode on was old, and while not smooth as glass like some of the asphalt, compared to many of the roads, I'm impressed EndorFun could connect 56 miles of that good of road together out here.  And the road cracks that couldn't get fixed were well marked---but man, lots of effort and work went on out there.  Dirt didn't phase me, and being from Central TX I'm used to the wind (I told y'all it blows from all directions here!!).

Congrats to all the finishers!! Keith--to you and your crew, AWESOME job.  To the volunteers, THANK YOU.  To the BT Tent Crew and Jockstrappers--y'all rock!! I think I picked up my pace each time I got on the tent crew road cause I knew I'd get to wave at ya'll soon!! 

The only problem with a race this great is it attracts great athletes...dang my AG was stacked...first time I've ever wanted to age up to the next Age Group to grab a podium spot!  

I'm always amazed that a group of people who live by the HTFU credo and moan about such little things in a sport that demands alot of you as well as the people putting it on.  The bus line was backed up so we walked to transition - no biggie.  Keith had enough sense to push the start back so everyone got a chance to get set up.

I saw the markings and fresh patches on the road and the fresh dirt filling in the run course and was amazed at how much attention to detail there was. 

Kudos to Keith and Endorfun!  As always!!     

Have heard nothing but awesome reviews of the race ... putting something on of this magnitude is not easy.  According to the participants I spoke with, they loved it.

There are some questions about the swim course running a bit short.  Looking at the swim times leads one to believe that to be the case ... there are a lot of 1:03/100 yd paces out there.

Any idea how short the course was?

This race was awesome!  The swim was great in the fact that I could see feet and bubbles in front of me to draft!  The bike course was very fast, especially the first 30 miles and then bad nutrition on my part I started to feel the effects and had to slow down.  The roads are what they are and as a triathlete one cannot expect perfect roads all the time!  The run was a tough hot run and the support was great from all the volunteers!  I enjoyed myself even though I was brought to a walk many times on the second run loop.  Race well done in my opinion!

Regarding the shuttles, my wife and I came in from the north (290) I think and we didn't run into any problems.  We parked around 5:30 and caught the first shuttle that came up. 

Mike

Can't speak to the road surfaces in NY, but for comparable road conditions in North Texas,(where David, I, and lots of others posting here live) this was a very nice course.  We are used to the state ruining our best routes with nasty chipseal.  Was there chip seal on this route, yes, but thankfully it was old, and not bad at all.  I would classify the road surface as smooth and fast.  It was not a factor to speed for more than a few miles at most.

that and it was a downhill swim each way... I drove the course the day before on a Jet ski and was amazed at how much elevation change there was