Lakeside Weekend (Page 2)

From what I remember the Lakeside roads are better than the Guelph roads. Not quite the smooth blacktop of Welland but not too many potholes.  The terrain is mostly flat with some mild rolling hills.

But like with any road in a farming community watch out for the occasional clods of dry mud off of tractor wheels. I also recall some strong 'farming' odours - you don't want to be ingesting a chocolate gel at the exact same time as you enter these areas.

And AMEN to cold weather. I always feel faster and stronger when the weather drops below 20C.

If you are doing the sprint, there shouldn't be much in the way of cow odours.  The first 5K or so is that massive gravel pit and then the trailer park.  The last 5K before the turnaround is through farm land, but they have corn on this year so there shouldn't be any mud clumps on the road and no manure smell (unless there is a strong wind bringing scents from elsewhere. (I bike up that way most weekends).

Awesome!  Sounds like this will be a quick bike course in the weather I like!  I was out yesterday from Elmira through Yatton, etc. and in this area I'm very used to the "farm" hazards!    Maybe that will give me a cutting edge?

Great bike route I was told about a couple months ago by another triathlete here in Elmira:  Elmira through Yatton, to Conestogo Conservation area and back.  Huge rolling hills with some long runs on low grades, killer on the legs.  Virtually no traffic except for farm vehicles and mennonite horse and buggies.  Roads are in great condition.

TheCrownOwn,

Still looking for a runner?

Not anymore.  I didn't hear back from ya, and dropped my cyclist and signed up for the sprint solo.

That being said, we are tentatively thinking the Olympic Relay at Guelph Lake I next spring if your interested.  Your run time seemed fairly impressive!

Yeah, that'd be fun.  Lets discuss next year.

Good luck next weekend!

Freshjive,

Sorry we do not have the Olympic CT course but we do have the 30km bike. The first 10km of the bike is relatively flat and it is the last 8 to 9k where you will find the challenging rollers. You can fine the CT course link here:

http://www.multisportcanada.com/computrainer.html

I hope that helps.

Anyone know the water temperature?  It can't be any colder than milton was in June, right?  ... right?

Edit: Just noticed the post in the other thread saying wetsuits were mandatory last year.  Suddenly I really care what the water temperature is.

Edit edit: Just noticed on the event page that you're expecting optional wetsuits, and it is 66F.

Quoted from the MSC website as of yesterday (Sept. 15):

Water Temperature in Lakeside

Water temperature in Lakeside 19C or 66F. At this temperature it would be a Wetsuit OPTIONAL swim. With the cooler air temperature you might want to consider renting a wetsuit. Details on wetsuit rentals.....

I don't know what Milton was like but it could be a chilly one if the Sun doesn't peek out today.

Did everyone have a good time this morning!  I had a blast except for the being cold part.  Managed to finish 2/29 in my age group.  Still not sure how that happened? 1st place was like 11 minutes faster than me .

Who was it that I met at the registration this morning?  I swear I was half asleep at that time

Volunteering tomorrow morning.  It is going to be an early morning!

That was a fun race.  The bike course was weird - it appeared to be the exact right distance, but it seems that everyone (including me) was a bit slower than usual in the results.

The mandatory wetsuit swim was a surprise, but at least it forced me to finally buy a wetsuit.  What a difference that makes for speed!  What a difference it makes in T1, as well :-(

Nothing like feeling the feet go from numb to tingling to burning to normal during the course of the run.

The cold was actually fun to race in.

This race was my first MSC race.  Did the Sprint Triathlon on Saturday.  And overall I loved it. It was chilly before starting, but a few hundred metres into the swim you didn't notice it anymore!  Hanging out in the water was actually warmer than on land.  Your feet didn't freeze in the water!  

The bike ride was nice.  A little windy but manageable and the air was not as cold as I think we all feared.  It was actually pretty comfortable.  Roads were in good condition.  There were a few choppy areas but small and isolated and nothing you couldn't really ride around.  Ya, it was a strange sensation jumping off the bike and realizing "hey, I can't feel my toes! none of them! lol!)  For the first time I actually wore socks for the run.  A little into the run had thawed out!

I like the cold weather much better...maybe not the 6 celsius the day started out as...but definitely better than the +30's!   Everyone was friendly, I moved through registration at lightning speed, lots of great goodies in the bag, my 4 y.o. appreciated the free chocolate milk, and I found overall it was pretty organised, and spirits were great.  Oh, next time, 6 portable washrooms are not enough...lol!  Maybe double that next time! A minor inconvenience, but when your scared your not gonna make it into the race in time waiting in line it seems like a bigger deal i guess...

I believe it was John Salt who was at the finish line and shook my hand.  If it wasn't him, my bad....but I thought this was a really cool jesture.  That actually meant something to me, and was that little extra high after finishing a race.  Really cool practise.  Don't know if he does that every race, but for me that spoke a lot.

My one critical comment:  The lady who was watching the dismount line off the bike.....should be stripped of her job forever...or made to right 1000 times "I will actually do my job next time."  I saw they guy just in front of me get off his bike over 2m past the line....and she did nothing.  I had family at the dismount line waiting for me, and apparantly it happened a number of times.  Not a lot compared to the overall number of atheletes, and no one kept count obviously...but  over 10 times people just flew by the dismount line with no recourse from her.   There was a lot of grumbling from the spectators according to my wife. One guy jumped off his bike 5-6m after the dismount line...all this lady did when she saw looks from the crowd was shrug her shoulders.  It's like she either didn't care, or didn't know what to do....  That kinda left a sour taste in everyone's mouth according to my wife....if I knew that the dismount line wasn't going to be enforced, I would've just sailed past the guy in front of me who ignored it and dismounted at the bike mount instead!   I jest of course....

But as for the one useless official who couldn't do her job, everything else went great.  It's a year away, but definitely will be booking this event again, probably the Olymic Distance though.  I dare say I might try a couple more MSC events next season if this is the high caliber they provide!

Thank you very much for your positive comments about the race. We try and differentiate our series as being customer focused that has a positive and upbeat atmosphere. It would appear from your post that you felt that vibe and for that I am happy. Yes, that was me at the finish line who shook your hand. I do it at every race. I believe it is important that you know who the RD is. It is also a way for me to gauge how our athletes felt about the race experience we provided. Again, it sounds like we did a good job in your eyes.

I cannot post without suggesting that you try and understand the complete picture as it relates to the "official" at the dismount line. That woman was not an official, she was a volunteer. She was at the race site both days at 6:00AM and worked as a volunteer for 10 hours on Saturday and for 5 hours today. I am not exactly sure what recourse you felt she had or what she should have done when these athletes went past the line.

The OAT official usually moves between the Mount line and Transition to ensure things are running as they should. If the OAT official missed being there for some of these dismounts all I can say is I am sorry that it was missed. I can also tell you I spent a great deal of time at the dismount line on both days and, when I was there, I saw volunteers working very hard a doing a great job. 

I would also suggest that you or anyone else is welcome to volunteer. It might give you a different perspective on just how difficult it is at times to get an athlete who is in the "racing zone" to follow the rules.

Once again, thank you for you very positive comments about your experience with us. I hope we see you again next year and when you do race again please introduce yourself. Of course if you would like to volunteer we would love to have you there as well.

Of course there are always differing opinions. I just thought you might like to see an excerpt from an email I received from another athlete. He wrote to tell me he had a great time and also comment about the stand-out volunteer at the mount/dismount line in Lakeside. 

"The other stand out was the lady at the dismount line~her loud, clear voice, enthusiasm and clear instructions COMPLETE WITH gestures was welcome to a newbie...there was no doubt about where to get off my bike, and I appreciated it!"

Thank you John for another great race. The volunteers were great and it's good to remember that these people are VOLUNTEERS giving up their free time to stand in the freezing cold for many hours at a time.  Our races could not go ahead without them and it is unfair to criticise.

I would suggest that if the spectators have problems with the skill level of the volunteers that next time they volunteer themselves.

I decided to sign up for Lakeside a few weeks ago and finish the season off with my first sprint race.

Not sure about the sprint distance swim, so I decided to go for the sprint duathlon.

I'm really glad I did.  A great race, very well organized and an overall great event.

I also thought that John Salt's executive decision to hand out medals in 5 year age groups (rather than 10 yr) was a class act.

Although I wound up being 4th in my age group, its a big motivator for the off-season to train harder and make it to the podium next year.

I will definitely be back next year.