Fred D Mentor Group - Part II (Page 30)

They may have finally found the limit of what people will pay.

When are you getting to MT?

It's probably because people have many other races to choose from at half the price.  Sadly, if they marked all races up to $1200, I bet it would sell out as fast as it did last year.

We changed our plans and aren't arriving until late wednesday now.  We were originally arriving on Monday (today!) but I had to use a bunch of my vacation leave at work with my wife's accident and surgery so we cut it a bit shorter as a vacation.

ETA, I probably wouldn't have done a loop either.  I'm trying reeeeeally hard to follow my plan to a tee and there will be a 30 and 15 min ride only while I'm there.

Edit #2 - What I may actually do is ride the Duplessis out and back on Thursday.  That will be a longer than 30 mins but my plan calls for some 90 second intervals on Thursday so the hills along there should serve that purpose well.

For sure but if it takes 3 months, at least it makes them think.  If it was an instant seller I'm sure they would be going up again significantly next year.

Let's talk Cyclocross, I know a few of you have mentioned it.

I'd like to get into it a bit, looks like great fun.  I know nothing about the bikes though.  If I were to start looking into buying one, what should I look for in a bike?  Weight, components?  Are there things that are an absolute must while others are just fluff?

Great timing - I am very interested in this as well.

Geez you guys talk a lot!! Away for the weekend and a whole lot fo reading to catch up on.

Those swim times for IMNYC were crazy fast, like others said I'm sure this helped a lot of people for later in the day.  The Olympic I raced this weekend was also in a river and my times were about :10/100M faster than my last race, so I figure the distance was maybe a bit short since we went out and back effectively cancelling the benefit of the current.  It was a different start with each racer going off in 5sec intervals - never done that before, but it gave you loads of open space.

Managed third in my AG so I was happy with the result, and now it's just 4 weeks to go till Muskoka!

Question - how much difference do most of you see between your Oly 10K race times vs an open 10K?

I do not have a problem with it.  I am all for capitalism and if they can sell the race out then why not. 

I have never done an IM branded race and could care less if I ever do.  I have never done a HIM for over $200, and I have done 5 and all on different courses.  The only way I would do the IM brand race closest to me (Steelhead) is if my only intention was to try to qualify for Vegas. 

Just pointing out there are plenty of cheaper options with good competition and nice courses...at least in my area.

Good morning!!!!

I got about 113 miles in on the bike this weekend, 2 pretty good 3 hour rides Saturday and Sunday.

my buddy Travis Funk took 5th in his AG m30-34 at IMNYCNJ and locked down a Kona spot, very excited for him!!!

Colin Cook from BT here, came in 9th in the same AG, not sure if he got a roll down, he would have been first alternate for the AG.

weight was 213, 5 lbs down in 2 weeks. need to start doing more during the week

Fred.....don't be a Rudy, start slow and ramp up!!!!

My only thought is that those all sound like amazing vacation/race venues.  I don't know that you can go wrong with any of those choices.  I've been to both Nice and the Canary Islands (but it wasn't Lanzarote), and both were awesome.

Nice job Neil!

For an Oly 10K IMO if you are within 20 to 30 seconds per mile from your open 10K pace that is very good.  I ran 38:19 open this year and just ran 40:07 in an Oly and was about the best all around race effort for me.

I should tape this to my CPU for my HIM.

Cyclocross, i know a little about that, heh.

Basically a cross bike is a road bike with more tire and bottom bracket clearance, to keep it simple.It also uses cantilever or mini v brakes, compared to road brakes for clearance

you will not need or really want more than rival/centaur/105 level components, aluminum bikes are pretty cheap and readily available. The bike should be the  same size/dimensions as your roadie, but you will set it up differently.

you have a plethora of tire choices, but if you want to try it out, i would recommend a good open tubular tire such as Challenge Grifo, Clement PDX or something along those lines, there are soooo many good tires out now.

Must haves, cross frame, cross tires, mountain shoes.

fluffs, tubular wheels and more than one wheel set, anything higher than rival/105 components, carbon frame.

Cyclocross is supposed to be as grassroots as it gets, it was meant to be used as additional time on your bike while not being able to ride on the road, it has morphed into a very competitive, gear junkie discipline. But the nature of the sport still allows you to be competitive on a 2nd hand bike and gear. It is more about bike handling, fitness and power than its road equivalent, drafting is a very small part of racing, there are no wheel suckers that sprint past you at the end as they sit in all race, they are shot out the back quickly. It is a true test of your fitness, and will show your weaknesses immediately.

let me know if you want more info

Oh man, I'm out!  Haha  

Thanks for the info, that's great!  I'll have to do some shopping around after MT.

check out the Peleton section here, it has a bunch of ex and current triathletes that race cross, and some are very good.

w/kg is more important than pure power, you also have a lot of hard accellerations and short rest periods, the style of racing could not be more different than long course Tri. But your Tri fitness will certainly help you maintain pace throughout a race.

I still there there are A LOT of people from the surrounding area that are willing to pay that for a big-name event without the flights, hotels, car rentals, etc.

My money is on it selling out.