SBR Utopia Season II - OPEN (Page 117)

Heh I saw one of the ruder comments on that thread about Bahrain being "a bunch of poor desert people" before the oil, and all I could think of was this...

I don't really know, we don't have any Rev races around me.   The independents we do have local seem to be surviving somewhat, but not getting bigger.   I agree WTC is powerful

I was hoping to do the Rev Portland 70.3 but they canned it for 2013 due to some road project that they couldn't work around or didn't want to.  Looks like it'll be up for next year:

http://rev3tri.com/portland/sign-up/registration/

Jordan Rapp called the bike course "brutally hard":

http://blog.rappstar.com/2012/07/deja-vu-all-over-again.html

Where did that link come from? I don't think they're actually having it this year, trying to remember from a post by Rev3 on ST, but pretty sure they decided not to. They've taken it off the map & event listing. Not sure if I would have done the event, but hate to see that happening. Seemed like it was being more trouble than it was worth.

I don't think the notion of WTC being rather powerful right now is inaccurate. They did just go through two championships, had added several new races for next year in much desired locations (Boulder & Choo), and had gone through several new ones this year (Tahoe & Whistler). The full distance also seems to draw much more attention than HIMs do, so it would be disappointing for them if they didn't have a lot with all that going on. Rev3 certainly has their work cut out for them. Hoping that some of their new races will help increase their market. I wonder how the Branson and Poconos additions will continue to do. They *should* be good events as they really fit the Rev3 style, but they'll have to work through a good deal of negativity from when IM had the races. Plus they'll also have to work in what seems to be the most competitive time of the year in September. There seems to be races out the wazoo that time of year. USAT certainly didn't do them any favors with the scheduling of Nationals on the Dells race. Rev3 actually checked with them on the date, but something either got mixed up or they were ignored. It does seem like a number of the pros are catching on to the Rev3 races. Not necessarily the fastest ones, but still rather good and in the 2nd & 3rd tier range. Still, I think they need the age group numbers to keep growing.

Was the double "s" intentional? Slightly different meaning. 

Rev3 has almost zero west coast presence so it'll be disappointing if they pull back and stop doing the Portland race.  I haven't heard any recent news about it.

Got a response on this from Strava. They don't currently show the lap info, but there is a beta version in the works that will once they release it to the public. The tech support guy I talked to was able to see the info using it.

I wonder if Challenge will really make a push into the N. American market over the next couple of years or if they'll be relegated to a few select races.

I have been in the sport since 2008 and have not done a WTC race.

I did Racine & Muncie before WTC bought them.  Racine was $99 and Muncie $149 I think for the HIM.

I may do Steelhead this year which would be my 1st but only for convenience, as it is close and a race I have not done yet.  I would also have free lodging with a friend their.

I suppose if I chose to do IM distance, I would likely go with an Ironman brand race for my 1st.  Racing for that long, it would be nice to race with lots of other people around and the finish line speaks for itself.  The non-branded (other than maybe Challenge) are not the same in that regard it seems.

Agreed.  I did Racine a couple times before it got bought out.   It was nice having a great venue at a "cheap" price.  But I must say, once it became a WTC event the "vibe" got a little more attractive to me and when I qualified for 70.3 Worlds there the entry fee increase was more palatable...although it still is a LOT of money.

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