Tawas Triathlon Festival - HIM : Official Thread

I'm using it for my IM preperation and looking forward to doing the race.

Were talking about camping right at the city campground near the start of the race.  Where are you camping at?

We'll actually be staying at the state park in a few weeks to hit the bike course and just get a good feel for the area.  We travel through the area but haven't stayed in Tawas.

I am tentatively planning on it.  I have Spirit of Racine HIM in July and want to see how that goes and the recovery afterward before I pull the trigger on this.

The bike course sounds like a great ride - be sure to tell us how it is rottie when you get back.

Ryan

Ryan I rode some roades in the area last summer when I camped north of Oscoda in Harrisville and found alot of very good roads in the general area with light traffic and have heard the roads are pretty decent from other racers.  I'll post an update later in July when we return on any pertinent info.

Just returned from a little camping adventure along Lake Huron.  While in Tawas I rode most of the bike course on a couple of occasions.  I couldn't tell from the map I had where it went through town there were some rough streets the rest of the route isn't to bad.  There are a few hills but nothing super tough.  The first climb is about 4 miles out of town, then the road surface changes and there are some divots in the road, not big pot holes by any means but still something to keep an eye on, there mainly along the white line.  Easy enough to avoid.  There isn't much to look at but road and pine trees out here.  I didn't ride the entire route down River Rd, but from the few miles I did do it was nice.  The spur that heads off River Rd towards the damn has a couple of good hills, which had some sand and loose rock in the curves on the downhills, care will be needed but provided you don't have to avoid anyone you should be able to fly down here, but then you gotta climb back out.  Enjoy the views along this section as it was real nice and breaks up the monotony of the trees.  Traffic was pretty light on the roads for the most part.

The swim looks to be shallow and was rough the day we had an east or maybe it was SE wind otherwise when I swung by there with the strong NW winds the water was pretty calm and very swimable.

The run is just along a path with plenty of decent views, but also plenty of driveways in some spots where there are cottages and homes, but should be nice.

The city campground appeared to be a trailer park for seasonal campers.  I didn't stop in the office to ask as I was normally sweaty and stinky while in the area, but will call them sometime to ask about openings come Sept.  I didn't see an open site on my travels through, the state park is only 5 miles away and probably the next closest option for campers.

There of course is the race hotel which looked fine, or plenty of other small cabins or small motels in the area.

Parking is limited in the area right around the transition area, but there is plenty of free parking in East Tawas just a block or so off of US23 and easy walking distance.

Just signed up for this race. I did steelhead two weeks ago that was my first HIM. Have any of you guys done both? I was wondering how these two compared in difficulty. Steelhead was a very flat course. Also where is everyone staying at? Everything was pretty much booked for that weekend I got into the Tawas Bay Beach resort but got stuck in a smoking room which sucks. But i guess the hotel is right across from transition.

I wondered this too.  I signed up last week and was curious if I would have any company in the BOP since the friends I'm going with are AG contenders.  Although, if there are only 60, then nearly everyone will be a contender.

That's pretty much my goal, except I'm a mid to BOP swimmer.

In Steelhead I finished 7:04 - so I know under 7 is doable for me.

Yeah, the winds might be a concern. The roads are pretty tree lined up there, so unless we get a direct westerly or northwestly component parallel to the road, we ought to be good. But, the trees also might channel the winds into the roads, making it worse.

The weather is the deciding factor for my finishing time. Too cold and I might go too slow, the morning will suck because it will be like 52-55 degrees or so, and it might be 65 by the time we finish.

Kinda of a confusing read, we must have rode different courses.  I can guarantee you that you'll be going up when you leave town on Monument, there's an area that descends around 8 or 9 miles but otherwise it's up.  Kinda of hard not to when you leave the shores of Lake Huron and end up a couple hundred feet above the AuSable river at the Lumbermans Monument.  Mapmyride shows the elevation graph pretty good and a 325 foot gain along Monument.

And as mentioned in my previous post there are some divots along the white line and some in the lane on Monument after going up the first decent hill around mile 4, you can't miss the change in the pavement.  But overall it is in good condition but I surely don't want to be hitting them.

I just pulled the trigger on this race - probably be the last race of the year for me.  I also managed to pick up a nice little cottage for rent on Lake Huron about 3 miles south of town so that should work out good as well. 

The venue sounds like it is very good - crystal clear swim, good roads on a great course, and a flattish run course should produce some fast times I imagine.

Ryan