Columbia Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 2)

A very quick mapping of the bike course.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/md/columbia/735123773347682801

There are a TON of people that ride this course on the weekends -- it's a very bike friendly area ... wide shoulders and drivers that are used to cyclists everywhere

There are also several people who have added the Columbia course to this site.  Just go to "routes" and search for Columbia.  At a minimum, I know ras26 uploaded it 2 weeks ago.

Edit: Here's a link http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/map.asp?routeid=81831

rolling is one of those words that just makes me laugh. i have come to realize that it usually is a code word for "mountainous".  the reston century  is another one that is billed as "rolling".  usually during the race i find myself saying something along the lines of "&%^% rolling, my #$@%"

i, too, am doing both columbia and eagleman.  such amazing races come out of that group!  i feel so unprepared for the bike as of yet.  i will definitely need to alter the program i am using to bulk up the bike presence.  this will be my husband and my first tri season married.  we are hoping for a decent showing in the married division

So now that we are 41 !!! Days away who else is excited/nervous/tense? 

How is your training going?

the swim is really calm, i don't think there is anything to note (no current, waves, etc).  it could just be cold (was low 60s i believe last year).  a wet suit is a must (impo).

just an out and (a little beyond) back course.  deep water start (not really deep, but deep enough that you are treading).

i don't know of anything locally for ows, sorry.  good luck, and get in the pool!!!!

The swim isn't too bad.  No real current at all like the other poster said.  If you find a nice little spot to stand on in the beginning then your in luck.  Nasty water though.  "clean" becuase they shock the water with about $10,000 worth of chemicals.  But still yucky. 

Not sure about any open water swims either.  My tip is to workout in the ppol with some longer distances.  I'm sure you will be fine! 

http://www.tricolumbia.org/Columbia/images/maps/Bike_Map_Columbia.pdf

really!?  $10K of chemicals?  how do you find out about this stuff? 

I used to work at Centennial Park (location of the race) and they used to "shock" the lake twice.  1st about 3 weeks out and then a week from the race.  The lake usually has a lot of algie (sp?) beginning to grow especially in the shallow areas. 

But yeah they dump a lot of money into that lake and area around to make it ready for race day. 

trishie - 2009-04-06 3:07 PM

mrbbrad - 2009-04-06 2:08 PM I am getting excited. It will be my first race of the season. Anyone have elevation or grade profiles?

bike course:



I rode it for the first time in a while yesterday !

How was it a lot of people out?

figure I'd bump this up!

Yes the Ulman cancer ride I think we going on.  But still you'd be surprised how many people ride that course on a nice day.  You almost get tired of waving to everyone!

I don't see a thing on the Princeton Sports website about their weekly Columbia Tri course rides; does anyone have any info on that?  The rides used to be really popular, but then I heard they were canned because it just got too dangerous to ride at rush hour.  I emailed them a month or so ago and they said to check the website for updates, but the website never says anything.  We aren't too far from the race and in years past they would've started the rides long before race day.