Ironman USA Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 55)

Thanks for the feedback! Glad to hear that it WORKS!!!

I'm staying about 3 miles north of Dupont Circle.  I think my plan is to basically run down Connecticut, do a loop of the mall, then run back to my friend's apartment.  I did check out Rock Creek on a map. That looked good too but I wanted an "easy" directional loop so I don't have to stop and check where I am.  What would we do without smartphones?!?  I love running in DC - beautiful weather and great scenery!

I'm in Westminster Md, good luck in Columbia it's a great race. All of us in the Md area should hook up for a few training days in the next 2 months.

Just got back from a nice 80 mile ride. (3200ft elevation gain)

Intended to only be 70 miles but I got lost in Vermont and ended up doing an extra 10 miles.

And for the record I LOVE my new Speed Concept. Amazing amazing amazing bike.

I recently started using carbo pro as well and I've had nothing but positive experience with it.  My favorite part is that no matter how much powder I've dumped in so far, it dissolves like a charm.  Since I don't need much water in cooler temps, I use a much higher concentration of cals/oz and I've had no problems with it.  It just seems to make me burp more than usual, especially when swimming.  I also have some crystal light powder that I picked up for around $2 and just a few grains gives it all the flavor I need.

The pricepoint makes it the only economical source of calories for me right now haha

Question that popped into my head on the long ride today... Do you feel training for and building mental and physical endurance on a long bike is similar to that of a long run (like marathon training, for instance)... Anyone have thoughts on this?

Well finished my 5hr long ride today. Started outside, ended inside. I ended up splitting it because about 2.5hrs into my ride it started to pour. The wind was already ridiculous (again) and it was only about 6C...so cold...cold...cold...Ended outside at 3.5hrs and then drove home and finished the last 1.5hrs off on the trainer. Only about 20min inbetween when I stopped outside to drive back home...so I'm counting it as a single ride.

Fricking fracking wind and rain  Oh well...I guess what doesn't kill us can only make us stronger?

It depends largely on how strong a cyclist you are but from what I've heard if you run a compact crank, a mild cassette you be enough, but if you run a standard crankset, you might need a larger cassette such a a 12-27 or perhaps larger.

Since my Quarq is a standard and I plan on using it, I'm gonna go with either a 12-27 or 12-28 and hope that's enough.

Ideally I'd like to go 6hrs on the bike, but I'm a far cry from that fitness and I'm not sure there is enough time to improve that much.

I asked the same question about cassettes and, after a few answers and lots of research, the answer is that it all depends on how fast you expect to hit the bike split.

I'm not that fast.  My SHOULD split should be 6:30 (depending on how close the intensity of the hills are to my local rides).  I'm planning to run a compact crankset up front and a 12-27 in the back.  Currently on a 12-25 and want the extra bailout gear for LP.  The one consistent thing I've heard is is never a bad thing there to have an extra gear.  I was looking at the 11-28, but didn't like the gear spread as much since I like the 12-13-14-15-17 run.  It makes for some very smooth shifting to keep cadence on the rollers.

If you are a faster rider, you could get away with a much different setup.  I have a friend that rode it with a full size up front and 11-23 in the back with no issues - but he is a stronger biker than I am.

Also have a friend that did IM St. George and brought a pair of running flats on his bike - he jogged up the large hills with his bike and passed a large number of riders there lol...  Found it more efficient.  I guess whatever works, right?

Lot's of threads on this.  I have this one bookmarked.  It's a classic:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Gearing_for_IMLP_P1849439

You have to do with what you are comfortable with at the end of the day.  I've been training in the hills quite a bit on a 50/34 up front and an 11/23 in the back.  It was time for a new cassette and chain and I opted to go with an 11/25.  I rode it yesterday on some 8-10% grades to simulate IMLP and although I didn't need it, it's nice to have that extra gear and found myself much more comfortable spinning up able to keep my HR in z2 and not spiking my wattage too much. If you are on the edge I would suggest taking the more conservative option.

I see no downside to a compact and a conservative cassette choice even if you are planning on riding a top 5-10% bike split.

I have a compact 12/27. I suck at climbing hills... Its hard to pull 6'2 190lbs up a steep incline. I'm planning to use this configuration over a training weekend up there Memorial Day weekend. I think I will be ok with that setup but after that weekend I figure I'll know if I will need easier gearing.

I have an 11-28 that I bought for Savageman and I needed every gear inch of it. Haven't used it since then, and I have a 12-25 on both my road and tri bikes (compact front). I rode LP last year but had a triple at the time so it's hard to compare though I know I ony dropped in the small ring a couple of times and never went full on granny.

I'm sort of in the good-to-have-it-if-you-need-it camp so I may have the 11-28 at LP, or I may mix and match some of the gears to get a nice spread with some forgiveness at the top end. I'd hate to feel like I need one more gear knowing that I've got it sitting on my workbench at home.

Great job! Even without a swim that's still a stellar time!

Totaly agree. Rode my bike 70 miles on Saturday and definitely felt the "kick" from Carbo-Pro!

BTW, for the picture you use, my guess it was taken durinig the Mighty Man race. It was my first tri-race ever and I loved it!  

Happy to report: Carbo-Pro worked for me as well. Not a single complaint.