Rev3 Wisconsin - Half Rev : Official Thread (Page 2)

the only reason I say it can still be a bit fast then most think is that the downhills seemt to be more gradual then the uphills. But as you said that video can be misleading, I am hoping to get out on the course earlier then later this year as it looks like an awesoem ride!

Yes, you're right on a number of the downhills. I saw it more as "not quite as slow" than "being a faster course". As in it's still likely to be on the slower side.  There were ~8, maybe a few more, where I was high 30's or 40 mph for more than a few seconds. Half a mile or a bit more may not sound like that much compared to 56, but it does add up when there are more than one of them. They really led out well for carrying a lot of speed. I'm going to have an 11 on the cassette for it.

The uphills can still be something. Not epic, but they can do some damage if you don't pay attention.  I had ridden the Kickapoo Kicker (96 miles, 7,800 ft ascending) about two weeks before this ride and had left the gearing on because I didn't feel like changing it.  54x42 up front and 11-28 in back. And I used all of it. Will likely be at 11-25 or 11-26 by race time. I'd recommend most people have a decent bottom end unless they're rather powerful on the bike. Any questions about specifics from that ride (like setup), feel free to ask. My ride (and part of the run) are linked in the fourth post.

Do any of you know where there is a Garmin course file to upload for the bike?  I looked on Garmin Connect and there was no one that rode the course that titled it so that we could see actual course rise and fall.  

Also, can anyone tell me what the water quality is like in the lake?  

Ill be organizing a ride on a Saturday in May that I will post here. Ill bring a bunch of friends from the Chicago area.   Well do one or two full loops if anyone is interested.  Likely two groups one at 17.5 and another at around 20.  Everyone is welcome.    

Mark

In the 2nd post. I retitled it on GarminConnect also, so it should show there. Let me know if it doesn't work. FYI, think I slightly overshoot two of the turns.

The Oly run course is in that post too. I only needed to run that far. Bike course is the full 56.

Think I found the map melle is referring to. This looks about like what I see from mapping it in GarminConnect. If you search elsewhere, make sure it's the current one, mostly noted by two large peaks near miles 20 & 25. Previously this was one larger mound. I think now they  have us go down around, and back up on that terrain as there is a dip south in there.

Elevation on MapMyRide says ~2400 ft, and every time I've seen Garmin measure substantially more. I measured ~3,200 ft on the old map from riding the course last fall, and would have guessed it to be nearing 3,800 now by map estimates. This MapMyRide estimate has me thinking it could crack 4,000.

Rode the course again today, did the loop twice, so it was a rather bit ride. Have to start with the new hill on bluff road. That thing is a beast. Much more of a challenge than anything before. Strava rates it as a Cat 3. Can't quite see it from the turn, but you know it's lurking there behind the buildings. When you see the "Devi's Head" sign, that's the start. And there is no mistaking it. There is little consistency to the grade, so no chance to get into any rhythm. It actually goes almost to the s-turns on Tower, but there are some breaks in it before that. A few sections were it will flatten, but go right back up rather soon.

This is the one to plan the low-end around. Everything else is easier, or significantly shorter. I used a 23-11 gearset today because I really wanted to challenge myself. I also run a 42 small ring. I do not recommend this at all and will not be racing with this combo even if I make notable improvements to power between now and then. I was only at 50 rpm at times.

The new section exiting Baraboo wasn't too bad. There are several step up hills between Baraboo and DL, but DL is where it gets tough. It's not nearly as long as Devil's Head though.

If anyone wants to do course practice without doing the whole course, both of these are right at, or even in Devil's Lake State Park. The whole area is already starting to turn green, so should be rather scenic soon if the weather improves.

The Downhill just after DL has a caution and is rather fast. I was doing upper 30's with soft-pedaling and coasting. Going to 42 with a tuck only. There are turns on it, but they are larger, sweeping turns. Easy enough on the base bar. Not sure I'd do them in aero.

Off of Devil's Head is the same as before. A fast section to start with a strong left on it that requires braking. The rest is sweeping turns and depends on one's comfort level at speed. I was 35-42 after that one turn.

Hill 3 is over on the East side in Lost Lake State Park. It's a little sneaky on how steep it actually is. Throws me off every time. The sections after that on W & 33 are new (I believe). These were faster than I expected. Hills may look bigger, but the grade was low so I could ascend them with some velocity. On the downhill I just kept gaining speed. Sometimes I'd get up to 30 or so before realizing it.

Today's weather really stunk, so it's hard to tell how fast the course actually is, but the parts I said were fast, are definitely fast. It was 37F when I started and the high ended up being 41F. It was supposed to go 55-60 :/ . There was a lighter wind, but it just seemed heavy. My power was a little better than the earlier ride posted, and my position has improved since then (another ride last weekend confirmed this), but it was noticeably slower even before the hills. I had ~6,400 ft of ascending in 102 miles. A little less than I thought it might be. Would guess the 56 miles of course to be near 3,500 from this. Be interesting to see how accurate this holds up with better weather.

Road surfaces are generally in pretty good shape. The little bit inside Baraboo kind of stinks, but it's all flat there. Sections of the Devil's Head climb could use some work, but nothing there really bothered me. It's just rough and a little broken. Not massive potholes that could take you out. There are some rumble strips to watch out for at the end of W. This is one of the very fast sections, and I came on them at ~40.

I do have video of some sections (mostly the major climbs & descents), but am trying to figure out how to best edit them. Had to stand a lot with that gearing, so there is a good deal of wobble which will likely bother some.

To add to what to what brigby already posted, I went out and drove the cat3 hill on this course.  All I can really say is that if you don't have a cat3 hill to practice on I highly recommend you make at least 1 trip out there to practice. The hill is a beast.  If you drive out you can park right at Devil's Head and ride out from there.  I used mapmyride to map this section of the course.  Here's the link to the map.  When you get to the top just before you start the descent the view is amazing.

The downhill side of this hill will give you 5-10 min of 30-40mph with no pedaling.  There's a couple of sharp turns which will require you to slow down.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/81682897/

If you are not familiar with mapmyride in the lower left hand side of the screen click on the "elevation" button to see the grade of each section of the hill.

If the data is being pulled correctly, it took me near 12 minutes to get all the way up that thing with an overall power average ~3.6 W/kg. The first mile or so was likely breaking 4.0, before false flats started to break it up some higher up. And according to the video, it only took ~3 min to get down to the last turn before the small uphill to the stop sign.

I'm trying to work on editing the video, both shortening it up (~17 minutes long now) and how to add some text commentary. Only have iMovie to do this with, learning it just now, and I'm usually tired from training. It was a rather interesting day because of the fog. I *only* went up to ~35 on the first part of the descent because I couldn't see any farther ahead and had seen deer on the ascent already.

It's very easy to find where the hill starts. There is a big blue "Devil's Head" sign at the start.

Devil's Head Video

Hopefully I did this right. ~8:30 long. I hit FF from ~1:45 to 4:15, so it's not all agonizingly slow watching the view going up. It's very obvious where I was standing vs sitting. Sorry about that. Still finding my standing rhythm outside. Downhill section is included as well.

That is actually the front wheel, and it's on the tri bike. I'm amazed at how much movement there is too. The steering column is on solid. I think it's some play in the mount mechanism. I don't have it fastened really tight in the vertical direction, so I can move it up and down as needed (ie. to check if I pressed the button correctly).

The southern half of the course is where the biggest hills are at, and they make you work!

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.