Cultas Anyone?

Do you figure a wet suit is required for Cultus at that time? I was looking at the race so...don't know for sure... might be a bit early in my tri career for open water.

It'll definately be a wetsuit swim. Don't let the open water scare you, it's really not that bad - you just have to know where to start if you're a newb (like me!).

I'm excited for it - thinking of heading over to Sasamat soon to check out the temp. of the water and get in a few swims since it's only 3 weeks away. I LOVE lake swims!!

Edited by VanCityJ 2007-04-23 11:10 PM

do you guys have any good tips on Wetsuits? Sports Junkies, new used, do it make a difference? What should I pay? What is this rash on the inside of my leg? So many questions!

This is going to be my first time wearing a wetsuit, so I'm going to rent one.  They are $40 for the weekend at Speed Theory.  Besides I still have a few more pounds to lose before I get down to my race weight for Ironman Canada. 

I wonder if they sell suits there, I am all over second hand cheepos. Have oyu spent much time training in a wetsuit? Delta this weekend was my first time even wearing a swim cap and it drove me nuts being all constricted, can't wait to see what a suit will feel like!


Edited by hazmaster 2007-04-24 6:48 PM

I've never even tried one on.  I am planning to pick it up Friday, and then do some open water swim practice on Saturday before the race on Sunday.  I'll probably head up to Harrison Lake and swim in the lagoon. 

Not I, too damn cold.
Last year I jumped in around that time with a wetsuit on and my face felt like a million little knives were slicing it. Not that nuts.
I may come cheer you on though with the kiddos.

I bought one of the rental suits in the fall time when they were selling them off. They were only open for a year so the suit didn't get used that much - it was a $400 suit for $150. They definately take some getting used to, I used to wear one water skiing and I still had to get used to this one.

I second the renting one, you might want to book now though to make sure you can get one. Speed Theory does a good job at making sure you know how to put it on and it fits you, etc. I'm not sure if Tri 3 Sports in Port Moody rents them or not, you can check them out too(they're on St John's).

For what it's worth, if the Running Room on Denman (or White Rock) has your size in what Orcas they've got left (the biggest they had when I was there over Easter was a 7 and I'm 6' 210 and it was a bit too small), get a 400g box of Vector and take the 20% off coupon and buy one...they're on clearance + a coupon = stellar price.

I'm trying to weigh whether I could in fact be ready for this open water swim!

The only OWS I do every year is the Thetis Lake 5k, but it's on July 30th so the water is nice and toasty, and wetsuits at the 5km level are prohibited (water is warm + no one has died of hypothermia I gues :P).

I also don't know if I'm in the biking shape for it, 3 weeks probably isnt enough to up the mileage from about 40km a week to 70-80? :P

We'll see!
Now cmon, there has to be more people doing it!!

Thats plenty of time.
I am thinking..thinking of doing the sprint.
And I have not trained at all.

Well, I was in Sasamat today (May 1) and at first I was thinking "What am I getting myself into?!" But after a couple of minutes, your exposed parts get fairly used to it and it's not SO bad. Was definately not warm, but it was bearable (sp?). - Glad I had a neoprene cap though...

Edited by VanCityJ 2007-05-01 11:39 PM

I'll be there ..

First open water tri...

Went to Sasamat last weekend and with the exeption of a couple of cold spot and a brain freeze at the beginning of the swim the experience was ok even without a swimming cap... To be quite honest I prefer the cooler lake water than the temperature of a swimming pool..

On a related subject any suggestion for open water swimming on the lower mainland that won't involve crossing bridges from the South Surrey side..?

Marco

Is everyone driving out morning of, or is anyone staying out there? I don't really feel like spending extra money just to stay close, how long will it take to drive from Port Moody? An hour?

muli - to answer your question on OWS near South Surrey, the only place I can think of is Crescent Beach. There's really no lakes or anything (except ponds) until you hit Cultus, from what I can think of anyways.

Edited by VanCityJ 2007-05-07 12:26 PM

This user's post has been ignored.

I was up there this afternoon for the package pickup and pre-race meeting.  I did a quick 15 minute swim in the lake.  Its cold at first on your bare parts, but it didn't take too long to get used to it.  They were recommending double swim caps to prevent brain-freeze.    I think its going to be an awesome race.   Joe Dixon, the race director, is a super organized guy.  From the meeting, it sounds like he's thought of just about everything.

So, how'd everyone do at Cultus? I came in around 2:13 (5th in AG) and I really enjoyed the day. There's a lot I could've improved upon, but I had a good time none the less.

The biggest problem for me was that I couldn't feel my feet for the entire bike leg, and then up to half way through the run, I was getting the feeling back but it wasn't a "good" feeling - the ankles were definately sore now!

But, nice course, well organized, not too many people.

Here's my RR:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

I was out there cheering my buddy...you may have seen me with a group of kids in blue shirts when you were running from T1 to get on your bike. By the way, that swim course was short a couple hundred meters.

And not only that, where was the Prize money? My buddy came first in the Sprint and got zilch...expensive tri, relative to others (75 for a sprint) and a promise on the website of 1500 prize purse but nothing! I am very disappointed in their dis-honesty.

Edited by ancientdude 2007-05-14 2:05 PM