Ironman 70.3 Syracuse : Official Thread (Page 5)

yes...IT IS NOT THAT BAD!!!

you will do fine.

I do suggest if you dont have a compact to get a 12-27 or 11-28 cassette.....

my wife has a 12-25, with compact and 650 wheels, and she got up fine, but she was wishing for 2-3 more gears.  so, she is getting a 12-27.....

It is so short, that you will be fine.  the steep parts of Bush Road are under .2 miles long....

wait, another course change?

did they take out bush road?

Maybe I missed this along the way somewhere, but why has the course been changed so many times?

I am getting all my info second hand through the tri club.

The original bike course was determined by the DOT to have an unsafe crossing @Apulia rd and route 20, and since then they have been trying to find a suitable alternative.

Bush road is NOT in the latest proposed course.

Here is the course that is pending approval:

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ny/jamesville/193128049809254116

In May a train went through the Buffalo Marathon course and stopped runners. However, the scary part was the people that cut infront of the train to beat it...luckily nobody was hurt or killed!

doubtful, though maybe.

also, this is the exact location where I crashed this year.  Those tracks do not cross the road at a 90 degree angle like most tracks do.  Its at a steep angle.

Plus, there is a HUGE gash in the track where wood has rotted away.  My front wheel decided to follow into this HUGE gash, which was fairly easy since it is not a 90 degree crossing.

This is also a fast section of the course, I was going around 23-24 when this happened.  luckily it was very cold and very wet, so I had lots of layers on.  Had I been in race kit only, it would have been UGLY.

my suggestion to those doing this race is to be mindful when you come to these tracks.....

Unless I am reading the new route wrong, which is possible, the tracks are at the start of the course and you are heading uphill.

depnds how transition is set up.  It is not uphill when you leave transition....it is flat, and canbe fast, unless the tracks are immediately as you leave T1 and there is not enough distance to get any sort of speed.

first climb does not start until you take the first R, about 2-3 miles in

I guess i will ride the new route tomorrow morning and hope for the best!

My review of the cycling route:

Route: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ny/jamesville/193128049809254116

Directions:
N on Apulia rd @ 0.1 mi
Watch for the train tracks right outside the park, also gets bumpy the last few hundred meters as you come into the town of Jamesville.

Right onto Rt 173 @2.0
A small downhill before the first climb of the day. Enjoy the view of the county jail on the right. Some ups and downs as you get to the next turn.

Right onto Sweet Road @4.8
Let the hill begin! Long, gradual slope and good road condition. There are several peaks and false flats as you climb up to Pompey; know that you are not done climbing until you see the traffic light in town. This is so early in the ride, be mindful to not burn your legs out.

Continue on to Rt 91 @11.2
One last climb after the traffic light then you are rewarded with a very nice long downhill section. The shoulder isn't very good, I had to ride to the left of the white line for a good portion.

Left onto Rt 80 @16.3
Rt 80 is well maintained and relatively flat with a few small ups and downs. There is a nice large downhill followed by a decent climb about half a mile before the next turn.

Right onto East Lake / Resevoir Rd @21.4
Breath a sigh of relief because you don't have to continue on 80 over the next hill! East lake is nice and fast, low traffic and small shouldered.

Right onto South Lake rd @24.8
More of the same. There is a general store here if you want to stop for a snack or water.

Left onto West Lake Rd @25.6
West lake has been recently repaved in some sections (maybe since last week even, not sure) so the road surface is good. There is a long, easy downhill section followed by another good climb, shorter and not as steep as the Rt 80 climb.

Right onto Rt 13 @29.3
Here you will likely be facing the wind, and there is more traffic. Road and shoulder are in good condition. Don't miss the sign for Rt 91 in Truxton!

Right onto Rt 91 @35.6
Back to the North now, shoulder is rough in places but overall decent. Small ups and downs, nothing major.

Left onto Rt 80 @44.0
Same as before, Berry is the first right. Watch your speed it is a slight downhill.

Right onto Berry Rd @44.3
Berry Rd is okay. Here is where I can't review because we missed the turn onto Clark Hollow Rd and continued to climb up Berry for a few miles until we realized we were off course. We continued up Berry to Rt 20.

Keep left onto Clark Hollow Rd @45.1
We missed the turn, so I believe this should say 'Turn Left' instead of 'Keep Left'.

Left onto Palmer Rd @48.5
Missed this, so no coment

Keep left onto Rt 20 @48.9
Palmer Rd comes out onto Rt 20 at the bottom of a pretty large hill. Apulia Rd will be your first right on the other side of the valley, after a slight rise.

Right onto Apulia Rd @49.1
Home free! Apulia rd is generally in very good condition. Take a look to the right as you pass Bush Rd and if you want some extra training, go give it a shot! Otherwise, you can cruise down the last several miles of the course.

Finish at Jamesville Beach @ 55.7
enter T2...

Edited by steves_training 2010-07-31 2:13 PM

Thanks for the bike updates! I appreciate it! I believe some folks from binghamton will be riding the newest new bike course next Saturday. Time is TBA... any recommendations on where we should stop for lunch?

I noticed you did the route the opposite direction as well... interesting. I am glad the steep hills are gone, can't wait to check this route out! Thanks for the review!

Road the new course on Saturday.  I found the hills not to bad just one long one.  The hills are long enough that it affected my time.  The climbs at the beginning really affected my average speed.  I am glad I road the course it has made me rethink my strategy.  We were talking to some people  on the course that have road the new and old and said the old course is faster.  If they decide to stick with he old course I will probably head down one more time to ride it and see just how different it is.  It will be nice when they make up their minds.   we had 3900 feet of climbing.

Well, this last bunch of posts explains why all but 2 of the 50 or so folks I saw out on the course were riding in the opposite direction I was. Apparently I really didn't get the memo Saturday morning before I went out! It will be what it will be. As for the tracks outside of the park on the way back in to Jamesville, the angle across the road is funky and I have had a friend take a nasty fall there. Just have to be careful. The initial climb from 173 up across Rte 20 is a long one and will probably have me adjusting my goal time. We'll see.

Here is an e-mail from Bill Burke regarding the bike course:

Yes the bike course is changing and Bush Road is not on it. After months of having what I thought was the perfect course the State of NY DOT had other ideas at the last minute so we have changed it again. That new course with the correct description will be placed on the official web site in the next 2 days.

Thanks for all of your support and tell your training buddies that we are trying to get it right for everyone!

Bill Burke
Managing Director
World Triathlon Corporation
1525A River Oaks Road East
Harahan, LA 70123

Thanks for the update! Hopefully it will still be a good course!

Just found this thread last night - happened to be searching for info on an email that I received about a training clinic on the 14th running from 8-5 @ Jamesville beach (not sure if anyone else had gotten the email, but it was deleted from my inbox before I could get all the details)...

I am very glad that I found the discussion group, however, with regards to the bike course.... Good to know that my pretty much washed out effort at practicing the course ahead of time was now a complete and total waste of time (the only day I had to ride was Friday July 23 in the torrential down pouring rain (although I did see a few other cyclists out there) where I proceeded to completely miss Bush road, end up on Rt. 20, connect with Rt. 91 and decided to head back to the park because the weather was so awful.  

Based on what was written here I decided to write a note in the 'contact us' section of the official race website, of which I received an email today from Lauren Coyne the Athlete Service Coordinator for Ironman, who was more than helpful (not) in stating that:

"more information on the course will be available in the athlete guide.  Please check the official website for more information and updates"

Well thank you Lauren, since that guide is not yet published and for those of us who would actually like to train on something similar to the race course, it would be nice to know exactly what that course is 7 weeks out of the race.....

Hopefully the official change will go on the website sooner than later - and in the meantime I am going to attempt to find the  best 10 mile hill that I can around here....  

Happy training!! 

Great posts from everyone and thanks for the reviews and updates on the course changes.  I was just taking a look at the run course and I've got one question:  How can an out and back course be all downhill?  That's what the elevation chart on the website states.  Am I missing something?

It is a point-to-point run not an out and back.

The cooler temps, proximity to home and the downhill point-to-point run have me really intrigued with Syracuse.  I am really thinking of making the jump to my first HIM in 2011 and Syracues looks really good.  The wildcard is going to be the bike.  I am really interested to see the final course, how it works out (like if it looks like they will use it in 2011) and everyone's race reports.