The Nation's Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 3)

hip82 - 2009-09-04 7:24 AM I noticed this on the site as well:

Is that unusual to wait to give out chips on the morning of the race? Seems to make things even more complicated.

piperfl - 2009-09-04 7:17 AM

Most races I attend give you the  race chip the morning of the race.  My guess is you show your wruist band and then get the chip...some races you have to carry around your race bib. Less chance of misplacing it over night...

kcb203 - 2009-09-04 8:41 AM This race is going to be a complete cluster****.  I heard that it was crowded last year with 3,000, and they've doubled it?  Given that the swim start is spread over 90 minutes and that the average rider will take about 90 minutes (but considering that the leaders are faster and some swimmers are slower which will spread things out a little bit, figure about 4000 riders spread over 25 miles at any given time during the race.  That's 160 riders per mile, or 33 feet per rider.  The drafting zone is about 22 feet long.  There will be no way to avoid drafting at times unless everyone is perfectly spread out (which won't happen). 

drcherrybomb21 - 2009-09-04 10:10 AM Well my bike time will be closer to 2 hours.  I hope for safety's sake people at least call "on your left" when they fly by me.  If the speed demons don't do that with 6000 people out there it will be very dangerous.  I'm looking forward to this race less and less.  I just need to come home in 1 piece.

drcherrybomb21 - 2009-09-04 10:10 AM Well my bike time will be closer to 2 hours.  I hope for safety's sake people at least call "on your left" when they fly by me.  If the speed demons don't do that with 6000 people out there it will be very dangerous.  I'm looking forward to this race less and less.  I just need to come home in 1 piece.

Daremo - 2009-09-04 9:58 AM I believe it was hot last year and the bike has had a lot of turns.

ropkins - 2009-09-04 5:54 PM Last year's times were slow because of the heat, somewhere in the mid 90's. The worst thing about that is my drinks sat around in the heat until I got on the bike around 8:15. Accelerade is hard to stomach at that temperature. I started in the next to last wave and didn't find the course that crowded. The roads are closed for this event. This year it will be crowded.

Daremo - 2009-09-05 6:21 AM



That is why you don't put your bottles on the bike until race day!

And its an oly ...... you only need one bottle at most.

trakie - 2009-09-03 3:08 PM id like to complain as well about the waves, im going off at 8:06, male 24 and under, this happened last year as well when my AG went off after about 3-4 waves of older females and all i can say is it was crowded out there.  im a FOP swimming and ive been spoiled in the last 3 races ive done because i was in the first wave, but now ill have to deal with all the people in front of me.

brobinson - 2009-09-07 1:45 PM

It is the same for a strong cyclist, as the roads get pretty crowded, so the only solution is to go pro and start up front or remember that we are all out there for fitness and fun and nobody except the pros are relying on this to feed their families.  Also remember that all of your competitors are facing similar conditions, so the playing field is somewhat level.

If crowded courses are a concern then one should really stick to small races.  The big races have some drawbacks, but they are also really fun events.

Lets all hope for good weather and a fun and safe race for everybody!  This is my third year racing this event, and the past two have been great, I am hoping for the same this year.

Skazi - 2009-09-07 9:21 AM Well final week now, weather looks good. High 81F, let's hope the rain stays away so river stays nice and "clean"

raka - 2009-09-10 11:47 AM newbie question:  what is oly?