Ironman Wisconsin : Official Thread (Page 14)

Good question.  The Dells course sure does sound tough.

I would guess that they choose locations first, and then the hilliness is dictated by the local terrain.  I've been told by a friend that Cedar Point is "pancake flat."

It's been an interesting week. Wednesday I took my bike to get tuned up, and later that evening went out with group ride. Not 4 miles into the ride my derailleur snapped off and got mangled in my tire in the middle of an intersection!! Ugh! Bent tire, broken chain, scratched paint, and at the time didn't know if my rear derailleur had any damage to it.

Today after feeling lazy all morning, I finally got myself out of the house to go swim and I walk into the pool and the Lifegaurd informs me that the lap pool is closed for another 20 minutes because they had to pull a TURD out!!! Gross!! I deceided not to swim today.

Hopefully next week is better.

Walinda

Outside of Cedar Point, they do seem to look for ... engaging terrain. The revised Dells course is going to a good one. Hope anyone doing it is prepared. That new hill is something. Be interesting to see what they do with the Florida one. Other newly announced ones will have some hills, and Portland seems to have been revised to add some in. I like it, so much more interesting. Flat courses would be like doing laps on a track. :p

And if anyone is looking to ride the course for workouts, I would suggest also looking just west*. I rode on the Horribly Hilly Hundred 150k (102 miles) today and it was something! Lots of good challenging hills in there to help get ready for the ones on the course. Same size to a little bigger than the 3 notable on-course ones, and more of them.  Except for Blue Mounds which is a lot bigger. Measured out 8,324 ft ascending using an Edge 800.  At 40ish miles I was just breaking 3500 ft, vs ~2200 for the Loop only of IMWI course.

There is a shorter 100k to start with. And there is also the Dairyland Dare just a little more over to borrow from as well, though I haven't been there yet. Seems to be great for building up fitness and getting used to the style of hills. Then ride the actual course late in the summer for familiarity with the specifics. Recommend having gearing that works for you down to around 5 mph or so. Strong riders will be a little above that, but will still be challenged very well.

* By "just west", the Eastern most section of this route actually goes the opposite way on Garfoot and some others in that same stretch.

I would guess some of the locals know some other terrain to check on as well. Saw some groups and individuals doing their own routes and some other route markings that overlapped what I did.

Wondering if anyone is wanting to bike the IM loop next Sunday (May 27th)? It will be my first time on the course. Would love to have some company!

Walinda

Hi Walinda

We'll be out of town for the Holiday weekend so I won't be able to join you.  Enjoy the ride!

Does anyone know what type of sports drink & gels will be served on the course this year?  I vaguely recall somewhere seeing that they are changing the types of gels they were providing.  I'm also wondering if they are still serving the Ironman Perform and what flavor (was it lemon lime?)? 

I had e-mailed RD and was told it is lemon lime perform on the bike and orange perform on the run.  Not sure about gels but didn't Ironman just go back to GU?

Just an FYI, they are putting down fresh oil and paving some parts of Old Sauk Pass starting today.  It hadn't commenced when I rode through there, but the signs were up and the trucks were out.  Not a lot of options to bypass either.

I posted this in the Rev 3 Dells forum too, but thought I would share it here as well.

If anyone is racing the half in preparation for IMWI I would reconsider this. Race is on August 12th, chances of the heat will be very high. I drove the run course today and it is brutal. Lots of steep hills, little shade, and very little flat sections. Even if you don't pace the race as an "A" race it will take A LOT out of your and you will need quite a while to recover, and then bam you are into your taper for IMWI, which might turn into a 4-5 week taper, depending on how you train going into Rev 3 and recover from it. 

Do you want your A race to be at Rev 3 or IMWI? Just some food for thought.

I've done the Rev3 bike course a few times (revised version) and run the run course. Definitely consider what he says here. It's not going to be a day in the park even if you back well off from race effort. Really think about your fitness level.

Yup, I never entertained the thought of taking on that beast with having to do IMWI less than a month later.  I know as a fact my body would not appreciate those races back to back.  However, Rev 3 does look like a race I would like to try one of these years, but definitely not in the same year MOOO!

Hello Walinda. I will be on the course on Monday,  am  running a half marathon on Sunday, otherwise I would meet up with you.

Nicole

No problem Nicole, I'm sure I will be down there quite a bit this summer looking for a training buddy. What an amazing course, I can't wait to get back! How did your half marathon go?

Walinda

As someone who lives in Verona and rides the roads regularly, I think the downhills are probably the best parts of the course.  You may be riding your brakes down part of Garfoot, but it won't be because of road quality it will be because of the curves.

Much more important to watch the road on parts of Hwy G, 92 and P during training.  There are a lot of potholes.

What the heck is a beer mile?

Thanks SS Minnow!