Let's make a triathlon - CANCEL. (Page 6)

I wanted to make sure this post didn't get lost in the shuffle.  I also think that body marking is a must. 

FYI....a few of us are going for an OWS at Island Lake-Trout Lake THIS SUNDAY at 9am.  Break out your wetsuit and join us!  Seriously.

Should be there.

hamiltks10 -- Kristen 
yeats -- Ryan 
jazz82482 -- Alaina 
ericcooper -- Coop 
sigepbrad -- Brad 
ethompson -- Erik 
jgrindle16 -- Jason
cbs125--Corey
girl1with1nose --kimm (volunteer to help, if needed.  if not, bring it on!)
non-BT chick-- Kimm's friend, kathy
yorkee -- Elvin (maybe with Mrs Yorkee too!)
saci -- Saci (probably with wife and 11 year old who can help, if needed)
m-mcclain -- Mike

Rottieguy-- Steve

I am out for the tri as I am hosting a charity event in Howell that day (you can come on out afterwards!) but I MAY be up for an OWS this Sunday at 9AM.   MAYBE.   We shall see what the man thinks of it.  If he is OK then I am out there getting cold!

Are we doing this at Island Lake or Kensington?  Based on the courses you've laid out....is it possible to swim and bike the olympic but run the sprint? 

(Really, I'm just trying to create my own category so I can win it.)

hamiltks10 -- Kristen 
yeats -- Ryan 
jazz82482 -- Alaina 
ericcooper -- Coop -- Olympic
sigepbrad -- Brad 
ethompson -- Erik 
jgrindle16 -- Jason
cbs125--Corey
girl1with1nose --kimm (volunteer to help, if needed.  if not, bring it on!)
non-BT chick-- Kimm's friend, kathy
yorkee -- Elvin (maybe with Mrs Yorkee too!)
saci -- Saci (probably with wife and 11 year old who can help, if needed)
m-mcclain -- Mike
Rottieguy-- Steve--Olympic
curegirl -- Cheryl
non-BT husband -- Eric
jboeve-- Josh]
spartn1 -- Christopher

hamiltks10 -- Kristen - Sprint
yeats -- Ryan 
jazz82482 -- Alaina 
ericcooper -- Coop -- Olympic
sigepbrad -- Brad 
ethompson -- Erik 
jgrindle16 -- Jason
cbs125--Corey
girl1with1nose --kimm (volunteer to help, if needed.  if not, bring it on!)
non-BT chick-- Kimm's friend, kathy
yorkee -- Elvin (maybe with Mrs Yorkee too!)
saci -- Saci (probably with wife and 11 year old who can help, if needed)
m-mcclain -- Mike
Rottieguy-- Steve--Olympic
curegirl -- Cheryl
non-BT husband -- Eric
jboeve-- Josh]
spartn1 -- Christopher

ericcooper - 2009-05-10 2:09 PM

hamiltks10 - 2009-05-10 1:17 PM

Are we doing this at Island Lake or Kensington?  Based on the courses you've laid out....is it possible to swim and bike the olympic but run the sprint? 

(Really, I'm just trying to create my own category so I can win it.)

Its going to be all held at ILRA - start and finish is at Spring Mill Pond.   And ya, you can mix and match whatever you want in order to ensure that you win

To keep things from getting complicated, I'll stick with the sprint.  : )

Individual Training Day, Sunday, May 17

Location: Island Lake Recreation Area, Brighton, MI. You will need a DNR pass, available at the booth as you enter the park, for a single day ($4, I think), or a season ($24).

Location within IRLA: Spring Mill Pond Parking Lot, at the very end of the parking lot (far West side of the lake), please park in the area circled in BLUE on this pic.  It has trash cans, bathrooms, picnic tables, bbq’s, and a shelter with additional picnic tables. And a sandy beach.  Follow all park rules and Michigan cyclist rules, found here and here.

Time: Anytime. If you want to go off en Masse, something like 10AM may work, Optional 9AM if anyone will run a transition clinic, or do the clinic after. 

Body Marking: (optional) But if you do, no numbers. Just pictures and words or foodstuffs, ahem, Nutrition.

Timing and Nutrition: You’re on your own, if you even want to keep time.

Awards: Pat yourself on the back. And have a cookie.

Swim / Guidelines: The swim can be in Spring Mill Pond.  A few things to know about the pond:

·    First and foremost, anyone who swims is completely responsible for their safety and well being in the water. It is ‘Swim at your own risk’.  The items below are for your knowledge only, should you decide to swim, and are based on past experience, but do not necessarily reflect how the swim might be on the 17^th. Again, it’s up to you to know the lake and make your own decisions as to whether to swim, and if you do, where to swim. 

·    Spring Mill pond is an oval pond on the west side of IRLA.

·         The lake has a beach area, shallow around the edges, with a sandy bottom in the beach area. The beach area covers 1/5  the circumference of the lake.

·         The water is clear, you will likely be able to see bottom at most places in the lake.

·         The lake has small / med sized fish in it.

·         The lakebottom has weeds, but in past swims the top 3 feet of water in the lake was weed free. The beach area is weed-free.

·         Saturday, measured in very shallow water, the water temp was 54 degrees.

·         The ‘swim area’ buoys are not in the water yet, and I confirmed with park rangers that the lakes are open for swimming, but it’s ‘swim at your own risk’.

·         There may be fishermen, bathers, scuba divers, families with small children, or other people in the lake or on the beach. Please be courteous of them, and if necessary, route the swim around them. We need to be good IRLA citizens, and respecting the other folks in the park is paramount.

·         To best mimic a tri, I’ve given two possibilities for a swim, or you can swim however you would like, or not at all:

o   A ‘sprint’ swim, which laps up and down the beach area, and will enable the novice swimmers to stand up at any point during their swim.  One Lap (up and back) is roughly 300m.  Two laps = 625M. See pic here, the lap is highlighted in GREEN.

o   A swim for people comfortable in open or deep water.  It will be a triangular course, starting at the beach, going to the far east end of the lake, back across the lake to the west end, then back to the beach.  One Lap (the full triangle) will roughly 625m. Two RED TRIANGLES triangles PLUS one GREEN LAP =1550M. See pic here.  

·         Both swims will start at the extreme west side of the beach – this is away from the vast majority of the cars.

T1: Exiting the swim, you will run up the beach, through some scrub grass, and across the parking lot to the grassy area opposite, circled in YELLOW on this pic. Approximately 50 yard run. No bike racks, just lay out your transition area on the slightly downhill slope, with bikes lying in the grass. Run your bike to the ‘mount line’, which is the 2^nd Green Painted parking thing.  Eric Cooper will show you the transition area, plus the mount line.   

Ride / Suggestions: Two rides are laid out for you peeps, one 12.6 mile-loop, and one 24.8 mile loop, both fully contained within IRLA.  Again, you can ride wherever you want, but this will come close to being a real tri distance.   

·         Again, first and foremost, all riders need to observe park rules (e.g., speed limit, signage, etc) as well as the State of Michigan cycling laws. Links to each are here and here.

·         Always ride on the right hand side of the road, no more than two abreast.

·         You may draft if you want to cheat. Just kidding, draft if you want.  

·         For the 12.6 mile course:

1.    Leave the parking lot (0.2 mi).

§  NOTE: There will be other cars in the parking lot, PLEASE be careful as you navigate your way through the parking lot.

2.    Turn left. Ride until the end of the road, approximately 2.1 miles

§  NOTE: about 100m before the end of the road, there will be train tracks.  

3.    Go to the end of the parking lot, turn around.

§  NOTE 1: There will be other cars in the parking lot, PLEASE be careful as you navigate your way through the parking lot. 

§  NOTE 2: the pavement is notoriously lousy in the parking lots…for both Note 1 and Note 2, it’s worth NOT coming into these areas like a bat-out-of-hell…use caution.

4.    Ride approximately 4.6 miles until you reach a stop sign (at the guard’s shack at the entrance to IRLA). Stop, and turn right.

§  NOTE: This is a dangerous intersection, please do not do a rolling stop through this.

5.    Ride approximately 1.5 miles until you get to the parking lot; ride all the way to the back of the parking lot and circle the dumpsters, going back out the way you came.

6.    Ride 1.5 miles until you get back to the guard shack, and are at a stop sign. Take a left.

7.    Ride 2.5 miles back to Spring Mill Pond.

8.    Turn left.

9.    Ride the length of the parking lot (carefully) until you get to transition. Dismount.

·         For the 24.8 mile course, do steps 1-7 above, but when you get back to spring Mill, go straight – don’t turn into the spring mill parking lot. You will then circle back to step 2 above, and complete steps 2-9.

T2: Again, dismount where you got on your bike, walk your bike to transition, change, and go.

Run / Suggestions: Two runs will be laid out for you peeps, one 3.3 relatively flat run, and one 6.2 mile-loop with a little more hillage. Sorry that the 3.3 isn’t 3.1, but I had to extend it a 10^th of a mile to avoid a turnaround on a relatively sharp curve. Again, runs are on pavement and fully contained within IRLA.  

·         Again, first and foremost, everyone needs to observe park rules (e.g., speed limit, signage, etc) as well as the State of Michigan DNR rules.

·         Always run on the right side of the road, running WITH traffic.

·         For the 3.3 mile course:

1.    Leave the parking lot (0.2 mi).

§  NOTE: There will be other cars in the parking lot, PLEASE be careful as you navigate your way through the parking lot.

2.    Turn left. Run approximately 1.45 miles to the Fluorescent GREEN MARK on the side of the road. Turn around.

3.    Run the 1.45 miles back to Spring Mill Pond. Turn right.

4.    Run the 0.2 miles back to transition. Done.

·         For the 6.1 mile course:

1.    Leave the parking lot (0.2 mi).

§  NOTE: There will be other cars in the parking lot, PLEASE be careful as you navigate your way through the parking lot.

2.    Turn left. Run approximately 2.1 miles to end of the road; turn around at the END of the parking lot.

3.    Run the 2.1 miles back to Spring Mill Pond but do not turn into the parking lot – run another 0.8mi to the Fluorescent GREEN MARK on the right side of the road. Turn around.

4.    Run the 0.8 m back to Spring Mill Pond. Turn Left

5.    Run the 0.2 miles back to transition. Done.

Last stuff:

·         We are guests of the park and have to share with the other folks there.  In addition to park rules, it means:

o    No littering.

o    Be respectful of others

o    Obeying all laws and park rules

o    Keeping the noise level and obnoxiousness down at tolerable levels when lots of other folks are around.

·         The entrance to Island Lake is off Kensington Road, just south of 96. However, if you’re coming from the east (from Detroit), the bridge over Kensington Road is out…you’ll need to get off at Kent Lake road, go under 96, and loop south and west, eventually coming north on Kensington road to the IRLA entrance.

·         I strongly suggest identifying a wrench (someone that has the tools and knowledge to fix basic bike issues, like a skipping derailleur or loose headset or handlebars or such. Usually Matt fits the bill, but I think he’s out.

·         I’d also strongly suggest that you conduct, either before or after your training, a ‘transition clinic’….there are enough new folks on the list that haven’t done a tri transition that I think it might be worthwhile. Steve, Jazz, Dave, maybe someone could step up.

·         I haven’t identified volunteers for watching bikes or watching people in the water.

·         I haven’t coordinated any foodstuffs for afterward – feel free to launch a coordination effort if you want a coordinated feast afterward. Or you can go to 23 (just west of IRLA on 96) and go to the big boy, that feast works too.