Ironman St. George : Official Thread (Page 9)

From what I understand that is what they did last year. I was told that that would be the case. Of course for me it is just a quick 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive.

Hope everyone's training and prep is going well. Me I cracked my all carbon handle bars on sat. so the bike is in the shop.

that's normal for full M-dot races - register 2 days before, T1/T2 gear check in day before.

race program says check in is going until 4pm.  They usually have this down so check in usually occurs pretty quickly.

Hey I'm still alive! I don't know about my foot for sure.... I've been doing alot of stretching/massage and it feels better.... The weird thing is it hurts about 2 hrs into a ride. Doesn't hurt when I run though, which is weird. Either way I'm not, not going to do IMSG so I've been doing as much riding as my foot will tolerate.  I'm going to check cleat placement on Saturday when I take my bike in to be shipped.  Just getting my game face on

#104!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes the drive to St. George is about 1.5-2 hr drive depending on how fast you want to go. I normally go about 80mph all the way up. I am not sure about restaurants though.

yeah, the drive is just 113 miles or so. at 75 you can do it in about 1:45. careful, i think LV is in a different time zone! that's what i heard.

downtown the place to eat is the bear paw for breakfast/lunch and pasta factory for lunch/dinner. both right downtown a block apart (it's a small town-easy to get around) and near T2 / Finish.

Note; check in is at the Dixie Center, whick is at the far south end of town right off the highway. You many want to go there first ccming from Vegas. Directions are on the Dixie Center web site. i think it's exit 6.

to weeds19 and others.

Friday will be a hectic day. you have to go out to sand hollow and check in your bike and T1 bag. That's 20 miles west of town. hopefully get in a swim. Then go to downtown and check in T2 bag at transition/finish. all between 9 and 3 (along with 1800 other racers). Registration/expo is in another location several miles away. Things here are pretty scattered so be prepared to do some driving around.

my suggestions

arrive thursday, check out bike course, drive loop. do a short ride on the CR3184 section (15 miles) which ends at Veyo (check gearing/shifting for some hills and the veyo wall) That section is all hills so use your discretion. Get a pie at Veyo Pies on the corner of CR3184 and U18/Bluff. they are fantastic!!

Go to Convention Center south of town in the afternoon. How late, depends on how much Expo shopping or mechanical help you need. Do that later because the mandatory meeting and pasta dinner are there starting after check in. Check in closes at 4, expo at 4:30 and dinner starts at 5:30 and meeting at 7:30 (as dinner ends). So, uless you want to leave and drive back to the center it might be best to hang out for the hour (4:30-5:30) and go thru all the stuff and prepare your T1 and T2 bags and special needs bags (subject to final review later) and go over any adjustments to the bike based on your ride or mechanical help.

Or you could check in and do the expo early (esp. if  coming up from vegas) and then drive the bike loop and/or go to sand hollow res. and return for the dinner and meeting.

Note: i understand it costs $10 to get into Sand Hollow Res. but it's free with an IM wristband you get at check in - so check in first thing.

Friday, early. if you need bike tech go to dixie ctr again or bike shop downtown. then get to sand hollow for bike check in and T1 bag and do a swim (i think it's open to swimming). you may want to bike part of the section heading out of T1. it's  22 miles to the begining of the loops. do what you think is right. it's hilly. this will take most of  the morning. be prepared for lines and traffic! make mental notes of swim exit (it's a long boat ramp), T1 bag position (so you can find it when you exit the swim cold and dazed), route to changing tent, route to bike location, T1 bike exit mounting zone. Do a walk thru and visualize. go thru changing sequence so you can do it blindfolded!

drive from sand hollow to downtown on the bike course. (using bluff/diagnal st).  note, the last part (about 6 mies) is also the run course (2 out and backs; 6x4=24; plus 2 loops thru pioneer park and two out/back at elks club). follow it into town and check in your T2 bag. go thru same walk thru/changing/visualization here.

might do a short run on the begining of the run course. the first 3 miles are uphill. it's about 5 to pioneer park (if you can have someone meet you there with the car). the park gives  a great vista of the entire town to really get a sense of it all. not a bad idea to stop there on the drive back to get the view. it's worth it. it's free.

if you didn't drive the loop yesterday do it now. if you have time check out the 'no pass' sections of the bike course. this is on the loop, just  past the intersection of U18/Bluff and Snow Canyon Pkwy. This is a potential danger zone as you have some tight turns going thru and underpass on a narrow paved trail. this is to get you onto the other side of the road, to do the loops, without stopping traffice to have you channge lanes. it looks like you are in the oncoming traffic lanes from T1 then switch over to the right side to go with traffic for the 2 loops, then switch again to get to diagnal st and T2. not as complicated as it sounds but at least check it out on google earth. it's a narrow path and a no pass zone so you don't want to mess up!!

The pasta factory for and early dinner. early to bed. even if you don't sleep, get off your feet.

drink water all day. put on chapstic and sun tan lotion - it's dry. it's hot. it's sunny.

Good Luck to everyone.

bb

Nice job tritobikeswimrun, really appreciate it! 

BTW taper sucks!

If you're interested in following the Pro race, I've posted the Pro Women's field for St. George w/links to their blogs/twitter here: http://bit.ly/if8z7Y

Will be a good race -- Jodie Swallow, Dede Griesbauer, Meredith Kessler, and last year's winner Heather Wurtele are probably the favorites. 

Going to post the men once I finish gathering all their sites etc. 

I sooooooo wish I could be there again this year!

A couple of quick advice questions from folks who have done the race before.

Did anyone wear arm warmers on the bike? Do they help after the cold swim? How difficult are these things to put on when you are wet?

I have a set of Zipp tubular tires but the spares are very heavy and I am not experienced changing them at all. I am leaning toward just riding my training tires because of the possible mechanical issues (I have two spares tires and I'm sure I can change them if needed but it may take a bit) and the high winds. Should I just leave these at home? Is anyone not riding their carbon wheels because of wind concerns?

Thanks for the replies to my previous post. I've been traveling out of town and away from the computer.

sure, if it's colder out, wear arm warmers.  

How deep are your race wheels (primarily the front)?  I own two sets of race wheels, but I'll probably just bring the 404 front and 808 rear (other set is an 808 front + disc) since I'm not sure how windy it will be.  I only weigh about 135 lbs. so riding an 808 front in the wind can be handful (although I have done it).

Relatively speaking, the chances of flatting are low, but you obviously need to be prepared in case it does.  I'm guessing your race wheels are pretty new if you don't yet know how to put on a tire.  You do have time to learn.  Also, you wouldn't bring more than 1 spare.  Overall, a carbon tubular race wheel with a spare should probably still be lighter than training clinchers with a spare tube.

Yep, last year my mom and I spectated for my dad and brother, and other than the morning out at the resvoir, we spent the whole day at that intersection where the second bike loop goes off to the left and the run loop goes off to the right.   There's a bunch of food places a few hundred yards down the hill too.

if i understand correctly.

spectators drive to the 'fairgrounds' which is not far off the highway (I15) on RT9 then get shuttled to the swim venue, about 6 miles away. after the swim cutoff is over they are shuttled back to the fairgrounds. they can then drive to I15 to shoot back to town or go to the vantage point they want. you can take I15 to St George Blvd and come into town and miss a lot of the road closings. another option is to bypass town and go south of the city and come up to a vantage point on the bike course.

since they don't get to leave the swim until all the bikers are gone they probably will not catch you on the first loop so will have to wait until the second loop to see you. so, parking in town and taking a shuttle to Ivins sounds like a good option. then take it back to see T2.

good luck