Ironman 70.3 Syracuse : Official Thread (Page 7)

I signed up for this earlier in the summer. I'm a little worried about the bike course--for people who have trained on it, just how steep is it? If I can average ~23 mph for 30+ miles flat, what should I be looking to hold on this course? As of right now I am planning on doing 20 mph for the first 20 miles then re-assesing after that, if the course really is THAT steep though I don't know if I'll want to go out slower. Any advice from people from the area would be appreciated.

Can't wait to see all of your out there. FYI this is my first Tri ever, and I am super excited!

Here is the elevation for the 1st 21 miles.

You will not average 20 mph on this part.  And if you do manage to get close to that average, you will be dead for the rst of the race.  The first 2 miles are cruising, but as soon as you hit Sweet Road, you are in a constant climb for about 9 miles.  The next 11 are definitaley downhill and can make up some speed, but that little dip at the end is a big dip.  As mentioned in the post above, you can easily hit 45+mph on that down hill, then the uphill is pretty intense.  The last part of the course is where you are going to make your time up.  Again, read the excellent course description above, it's dead on.  See you out there. 

Do not focus on mph. Focus more on level of exertion for your pacing. From what people are saying, a 20 mph avg after the 20 miles will be near impossible due to all the climbing. If this is your first tri, just a word of caution --- don't go to hard in the middle and latter portions of the bike to make up for a slow start (due to hills). Biggest rookie mistake is going too hard on the bike. And as they say, "There is no such thing as a good bike and a bad run." If you have a fast bike followed by a bad run, 9 out of 10 times it's because you paced yourself improperly (too hard) on the bike.

Good luck and have fun! This is my favorite distance to race. Unfortunately for me, work really got in the way of my training Apr-end of June. I've been putting together solid training weeks the past few weeks, but it's too little too late and the volume isn't where it should be (it can't be where it should be, because then I'll prob force myself into injury). I'm just hoping to survive this one and have fun. I am expecting it to be an hour slower than my last HIM.

Was suppose to take the  tri bike up last weeekend but rain  stopped that from happening will go Saturday morning  and see already road the course once with the road bike want to see what the hills feel like on the tri bike.   So here is my thought process soem one let me knwo if i missed soemthing.

Road  Bike - better handling and much  better at climbing

Tri Bike - sucks at climbing  but better on the flats and in the wind 


Thoughts? What is everyone else riding?

I'm using my tri bike. From what I hear, aside from the beginning of the course, it's an aero course.

So is the first 11 miles of this course kinda similar to the last 11 miles of the 56-mile loop at IMLP?

There are a lot of places that will rent you a wet suite for the event if that is an option for you?