Ironman St. George : Official Thread (Page 11)

Bryan,

Are you familiar with that little loop deal as Red Hills Pkwy turns into Snow Canyon Pkwy? It talks about taking a left on 1300 West, then a bike trail, then back onto Snow Canyon Pkwy.... I didn't understand that while I was out there?

lol - Don't you just hate it when courses have to get in that last little dig before you finish?  

Sounds like you're talking about the climb at Eagle Mountain (I think that's what the barn says right there).

I feel like its a steeper hard climb than "the wall". The wall is longer, but you're more able to get into a cruising gear and just bust it out. That Eagle Mountain thing though... steep, hard. On your 2nd lap its VERY hard. I expect to see a good number of people walking that thing. The only thing that has prevented me from re-gearing my bike is that its pretty short. I've done 2 laps around Veyo before, but not after having swum 2.4 miles.

To me... that shorter climb you mention is "the wall".
The actual "wall" is just a long slow grinder...

I'm toying with the thought of doing this as my first long tri since Leadman Vegas was shortened and rescheduled.  My training volume is pretty low right now, too, including no swimming at all for the past 4 months.  I think there's still time to get enough training in to do okay at this race.  I'm not sure what your goals are, but mine is simply to finish the thing, not worried at all about time. Take this with a grain of salt, as I have only done half IMs in the past, and never attempted a full IM.  I'm planning on 3-4 rides per week, two 1-hour sessions on my stationary during the week and an occasional 1.5 hour road ride, and one long ride on the weekend.  If I could pull off the following long ride schedule for the remaining weekends, I think it would be great.  I'd figure on missing one or two long rides due to unforeseen issues (weather, etc.), and probably substitute a shorter day on the trainer.  Anyway, I'll probably just try this for a month and see how things are going.  If my training isn't close to plan, I'll wait for another day.  Rides will all include some good climbing as I understand the course is challenging.  Maybe some with better experience can comment.

Long ride plan:

1/29: 50 mi. (~3 hours with some climbing)
2/4-5: 70
2/11-12: 90
2/18-19: 60
2/25-26: 80
3/3-4: 100
3/10-11: 70
3/17-18: 90
3/24-25: 110
3/31-4/1: 70
4/7-8: 90
4/14-15: 110
4/21-22: 80
4/28-29: 60

Little Cat,

Thanks for the clarification. I'll look for those side trails next time I'm down there.

After looking closer at the map, it appears that you don't go directly to old 91 from Pioneer Pkwy. You hit a couple of side streets first (400s) and then drop onto Old 91. I think that will put you beyond the very bumpy section of the 91 that launched my water bottle over the weekend, thank goodness.

One other thing is that Red Hills Pkwy is all tore up; Does anyone know if they plan on having that finished before the race or do they just shut down the road to vehichles. I discovered too late that there is not enough room for two-way traffic and a bicyclist (apologies to all the cars that were stuck behind me during that section of my ride ).

Hey CodRed, Redhills Pkwy will be complete late March. The rough section of Old 91 that you rode on is not part of the course. The section you described is to be avoided by all cyclists. As for the side trails. I live here in St. G. I ride double loops most Saturdays, raced IMSG 2011, and I'm still not sure where they have us go on those little side excursions on raceday. There is also one on the trip in from the lake before we hit the loops. I wouldn't sweat it. They were a very minor blip on a very long day. You are in and out of them in less than 2 minutes. I also thought they were well marked with lots of volunteers pointing the way and telling riders to slow down.

My opinion on the hills is this, and take it with a grain of salt. The bike course has 4 significant named hills. In order they are The Dam Hill(the climb up to the reservoir), Eagle Ranch, The Wall, and Veyo Hill. It takes me 90 seconds to climb each of the first 2, 7 minutes for the Wall, and 4 minutes for Veyo all at a slow easy pace. If I hammer away at them I can better my total hill time by less than 2 minutes.  That adds up to less than 15 minutes of climbing on each 43 mile loop which I can do in 2:15 - 2:30 depending on wind. I did 2 loops in 4:57 this past Saturday. ?I find that the false flats on this course are what really takes the toll. There are long sustained sections of 20+ minutes that are 1-2% grade that will just flat out trash your legs without you realizing it. Each of the first 3 hills are proceeded by at least 3 miles of 1-3% chip seal roads. People are giving these hills more credit than they deserve and underestimating the rest of the course. Veyo Hill is followed by a 3 mile long false flat that is far tougher than Veyo Hill itself. With the way the wind has been blowing the past 2 months I have been using the Wall as a recovery between 2 brutal false flats with head winds. Anyone who has ridden the course recently can relate.

I run a standard front with an 11-28 rear. I weigh 182. 

I hope this is helpful.

Good stuff.  Are you riding it with a road or tri bike?  What wheels do you run?  As it relates to the winds, I know they can shift, but over the 43 mile loop, can you estimate most typical head/cross/tail wind percentages?   

I'm on a TT bike with ENVE 45 wheels. Will run a disc cover on rear come raceday. Great question about the wind. This time of year the wind blows out of the north. Cold and nasty. This makes it a headwind while negotiating the climbs up through Gunlock Reservoir. Gives you a tailwind up the wall, Veyo hill, and the false flats across the top before the drop into St. G. Wind will usually die as you approach town. In May the winds come out of the southwest which really has less effect on us because the only time we are headed in that direction is when we are down is St. George and it's usually fairly sheltered down there. Will encounter cross winds across the top, but usually not enough to effect speed too much. The later in the afternoon you are out, the stronger the wind. I predict a calm loop 1, with increasing wind on 2nd loop. It's the way it usually works around here and that is exactly what happened last year.

That's really solid info you all are sharing about the hills, false flats, wind, etc. It is very appreciated by folks like me who won't be able to see the course until race week. Thanks!!

I've ridden CdA and all the steep hills around my home with my stock 50-34/11-26 and I've had plenty of gear. I know every course is different, but if I understand what I'm hearing from people here, that should work fine in St. George. I will be hoping for a light wind day though.

Brad

PBman,

Thanks for clarifying road conditions, winds, course etc. That was a TON of help. I will be down again in February a couple of times, and again in March and April. I was going to ride the St George Century, but I think I will do the ST IM course that same weekend. Do you have a group that you ride with?

PBMan is a great help. I got to ride with him for a bit a couple months ago. Strong rider... don't get 'spent' on race day trying to keep up with him

I have a question while we're on it 'Pb'... I can't quite tell from the IM info, how do they have you going from the top of the Hurricane hill down to St George? Do they close off a lane on the interstate? Or (hopefully not) the super hilly bike path that parallels I-15?
I haven't figured out how they make that hop over toward SG without getting onto the freeway...

Codred, glad to help. There is a group of us that ride the course most Saturdays. We park at the softball complex/fishing ponds on Snow Canyon Pkwy. It is located about a quarter mile past the turnoff onto 2000N. It's exactly 2 miles down from Hwy 18 on the right. Hard to miss. We always meet at 9am. Convenient stop to replenish supplies if double looping. Let me know when you'll be in town. Company always makes 86 miles go by faster.

Glenn, just past the top of the Hurricane Hill we will turn left onto Telegraph St. 2-3 miles on Telegraph and we take a right onto a road that will take us over the freeway and then onto the frontage road that takes us into St. George and over Red Hills Pkwy.

There are a couple of good threads going on over at Slowtwitch about the IMSG bike course. One on "wheels and gearing" and the other on "tri or road bike".

I'll take you guys up on the Saturday ride. Will be back in the USA in a couple weeks and plan on spending a couple weekends in St George riding since it will be snowy up in Park City area.

I'll take you guys up on the Saturday ride. Will be back in the USA in a couple weeks and plan on spending a couple weekends in St George riding since it will be snowy up in Park City area.

GW, 

It seems you have the life....  Mexico, Park City and able to crash a few weeks in St George.... how would it be?

Well, when you do get into St George, I'll see if I can get down there for a few days. Like PB says, company has to make 86 miles a little less painful.

Cody

How is everyone's training coming along?  Just about 12 weeks left until the race.