Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas 2012 : Official Thread (Page 34)

#342

#435.

#732 for me.

1818 for me!! oh crap the nerves.... HEEEY HAAA!

1498, now if only spring break would end so I can get the kids back in school and get back on track. Thank goodness it's a recovery week.

#854 for me. 

I like your number! Easy to remember!

Number 589.  Shocked they are up so early.  IMFL is like the week before.  Grossly undertrained for this one.  At the worst it will be a catered aquabike for me.  At best it will be a catered aquabike with a long walk.  Who thought this was a good idea?  Nice warm up for IMFL I guess

Now if I was only 18 again my self. I might even settle for 36

A fun ride around the course this morning but the wind was strong from the South. I am interested to hear the impressions from those riding the course for the first time. .... There seemed to be lots of roadkill! So much so I thought we could play roadkill bingo. I saw deer, snake, squirrel, skunk, turtle and furry bug. Do I hear 'Bingo'?

I am interested in hearing about the new section off 1486 and the new roads entering the woodlands. I went to drive it this afternoon, but ended up eating mexican food instead.Can someone tell me where water stops are on the run course? I am looking to run it next Sunday. I want to run on some flat ground as opposed. We live next to lake Conroe and our neighborhood has some elevation changes that will get your hr up.

Edited by TriPatrick 2012-04-14 6:04 PM

I really liked the new section with exception of the 2 wooden bridges that you have to cross.  It was shaded and rolling hills.  I'm a climber though, so if you hate climbing you may not like 2 of the hills in that section.

Oh yeah, and I ran right over that damn dead snake, didn't see it in time.

Better dead than alive. Last year at this time I rode the north portion every weekend and I saw my fair share of live ones. I do not like snakes!

BINGO!! The two dead deer were the worst. Lots of unidentified furry pancakes too.

I didnt like the new sections they added on. Im familiar with Flintridge I live just one street over. It isnt bad but at that point you're almost done & you just want flat & fast. Especially after the wind yesterday. I dont like the one off 1486, I'm not a climber and the road is rough. My water bottle kept popping up.

But it was a great day, I felt good, nutrition went well and Outrival put on a great ride!

Outrival Racing put on a top notch FREE ride! I was highly impressed with the start, SAG wagons, aid stations, marked turns, mileage signs, and how nice everyone was who was volunteering for this FREE ride! Seriously, minus roads not being manned by some police, and port-o-johns, it was like a bike rally. Really great stuff. There is NO WAY I would have been able to ride the course without them doing this. I surely would have gotten lost out there in the country!

All right, so about the course... Going out of town was... interesting. More like scary. It's going to be a bugger on race day with TONS of cyclists on the road. Once we were in the country, it was better. The course is weird... in that a lot of the hills are false flats. Doesn't look like a hill, but your cadence slows down and you have to work harder... so it is a hill. Hum.

The first half of the ride was awesome. Easily rolling 17-22+ mph. Oh yeah, the tailwind was our friend! So nice.

Then we had to turn around. Sweet mother. I'm already not a strong cyclist, so get me into a headwind, and my speed drops down to 10-13 mph with my HR in zone 3. It was a grind. I had a friend riding with me, but we refused to draft, because we can't draft on race day. So basically we rode for 56 miles into a headwind (up hills) or into a crosswind. BRUTAL. One section was so bad, it took us 25 minutes to go 5 miles. BRUTAL.

Yep, lots of dead animals. At one point my friend stated she had seen more dead animals than alive ones! Ha! As were were coming back on FM 2978 there was a dead dear and two huge black vultures eating on it. They didn't flinch as we rode by.

Now, I did see some horses, mules, and cows on the course. It is pretty desolate out there in the country though. The chip seal section of the course (into the headwind, of course) wasn't THAT bad. I've been on MUCH worse chi pseal. There is this one cut through road on the course (not sure which one), where it is pretty much nothing but cracks. Should be interesting on race day dodging cracks and cyclists all over the place.

The one nice country store out there, Richards, was packed when we rolled up. I bought a Coke and had hoped to use the restroom (no other stores out there)... but they were "out of order). Hum. A gal in line told me they do that so the cyclists can't use them. Nice. I went past the sign and used the restroom. Luckily I didn't get caught. My friend did though! Ooopsss!

So, just now, a guy who was running the SAG wagon called me (I had called him Sat. morning and he called back just now Sun morning to see who called), and he said that yesterday's winds were really bad. While there will be wind on race day, it hopefully will be the typical wind that doesn't blow as hard, and without gusts. He also just told me that some of the strongest riders he knows called it a day 20 miles out from the finish and SAGed in. And we did see bikes being taken back in, in the backs of cars. My friend and I felt pretty darn good for still being out there!

Going back in FM 2978 was scary. A 3 foot shoulder, with cars flying by at 55+ on our left. It was basically a 2-lane highway with a shoulder. SCARY. I can't imagine hundreds of bikers fitting on that shoulder on race day. Should be interesting. So we see this cyclist dart over to make a left turn in a sub-division. Hum. We stop. My friend is adamant we MUST get off this terrifying road. And we are turning too. Then she realizes it is the left turn we need to make. On the map it said the road was Windfern Place, the name of the road was actually Greenmore. My friend looked up the route the night before and recalled that this road had been labeled incorrectly on the race map. This explains why all these cyclists missed the turn and were coming from the other direction. Some even passed it up! Unfortunately, all the signs Outrival racing had been picked up by the Woodlands.

So we made the turn and then followed the map back to the start. We made it back without adding extra miles. Other cyclists, not so much. My other friend got lost and added 5 miles. Ooopsss! But I did call and give him the name of the street (Greenmore). If other people got lost, they weren't looking at the map we were given before the ride.

Overall a great ride. While the course isn't hard (super hilly), it isn't flat, and the wind going back into town will be a challenge. Get ready for it.

I asked earlier but didn't get any responses: anyone using a swim skin/speedsuit? Still haven't decided if it will be worth it.

I can not justify the cost, but If I had one I would. Now you have me thinking.

Not me. Never even thought about one. I will either be in a swim suit or a wetsuit.