Rumpus in Bumpass International : Official Thread

I did too, signed up, but whimped out last year.  I used the excuse that my A race was my IMCDA and didn't want to wreck the bike on the wet roads, so I sat on my trainer and watched the rain from my garage!

Well I had a flight the next day so between that excuse and AG nationals in VT being my A race last year I figured a wreck would be bad....glad I wasn't the only one!!

5 weeks!?!?!  This is a season kickoff for me too, I hope we have decent weather, can be iffy this time of year.  How's your training going?   I biked 54 miles outside today, got caught in some light rain, cold feet and a litte hailish stuff. 

Less than a month away now!  Hopefully we will have a nice day like we've had this week for the race!

+1 on that one!

All right Teemoe! You'll have a blast. OWS makes me nervous. I've done 2. It's okay to be nervous and for most people it goes away a few minutes in.

Skippy74 is right.  This swim course basically curves around a peninsula so you can always use the land as a benchmark.

Everyone is a little different in their first OWS but just remember, all you have to do is take ten strokes, relax, repeat.  You'll be done in no time.

Will land be on left or right?  Thanks.

If the course is the same as in '11 and '10, you can see land from all points of the swim and usually on both sides.  However, the little spit of land where the bikes are set up for transition remains on your right until the last 50-75 meters...at which point you are only 30 meters from shore but swimming back toward swim exit with the transition on your left.

I just follow the line of people who are in front of me.  Not the best strategy and one you should adopt at your own risk.

I can only speak to the last two years.  In 2010 and in 2011 the official water temp on race morning was 66 degrees.  I swam them both with a sleeveless suit and didn't have any trouble.  There was a wide assortment of gear.  Neoprene caps, booties etc. were all in evidence.  There were also a handful of folks who skipped the wetsuit and went straight for it without anything but their shorts.

I think it comes down to preference and availability.  The air was colder than the water due to wind and rain at start time.  Re: Availability.  I own a sleeveless and therefore I race in a sleeveless.  I also have a bit of natural insulation and raced at about 200 pounds...so there is that.  If you naturally are a person who gets chilled, you might want the full suit but I don't think it will help all that much with your body...it might help with a positive frame of mind which is very important.

Warmer than normal air temps will help, but the power plant has been off line since the earthquake (IIRC) so no help there.