IM 70.3 St. George Bike Course?

The climb up through Snow Canyon is much tougher than "The Wall". Snow Canyon is a 4 miler that just keeps getting steeper as you get closer to the top. Grade near the top is over 10%. It will be a brutal climb come race day since we will hit it at about mile 45ish.

This is a repost from a local triathlete named Rory Duckworth in UT:

I have identified the 5 climbs for the St. George 70.3. Here they are: Sandhollow Hill 1.2 miles at 5.5% (same hill for the BBSC St George Tri and Kokopelli) http://app.strava.com/segments/1395712, Dump Hill .40 miles 4.5% http://app.strava.com/segments/860785, Maverick Hill 1.2 miles 3.6% http://app.strava.com/segments/969102, Red Cliffs hill 1.3 miles 3.0% http://app.strava.com/segments/1548514, and the mother of the race Snow Canyon 3.9 miles 4.2% http://app.strava.com/segments/1201565. If you live in Salt lake here are some great hills that have similar characteristics of the two hardest ones Sandhollow Hill 1.2 miles at 5.5% and the mother of the race Snow Canyon 3.9 miles 4.2%. http://app.strava.com/segments/2665, http://app.strava.com/segments/738361 Hope this helps everyone and happy training

Just wondering, how is St. George weather around mid-March?  There's a possibility that I would be in St. George the weekend of the 15th and I'm contemplating riding the 70.3 bike course.

Thanks!

Is there a possibility for it to be moved on the 16th....  

QUOTE]johnyutah5 - 2013-02-19 11:34 AM You should be able to ride mid-march. We are planning to ride the course the first weekend in March.

I'm also looking out for riders possibly riding on the 16th.  I'm from Socal and born and raised in a ropical country. Cold is my enemy.

Hey JZig, Are you doing St.Geroge half Ironman?

Did anyone who rode the course also do the full IM?  If so, could give a comparison of the 56 mile course to maybe the full IM bike course through the first loop (~65 miles)

Snow Canyon is the true killer, I was worried about the purgatory hill but rode that several weeks ago and wasn't too bad.  Snow Canyon comes at the end of the bike ride about 45 miles in and is quite steep (we do hill workouts on it, I am hoping we are on the road and not the trail as the trail is brutal moreso then the road).

If you get a chance to ride it do, and do the Snow Canyon portion, nemesis out by Sand Hollow is tough but its a shorter hill, as is the Red Cliffs hill, the purgatory hill is longer but more gradual.  Snow Canyon is long and steep.

I rode the 70.3 course, and then the next day rode the two loops of the old IM course.  To me, the IM course seemed harder.  As I was doing the loops I wondered a few times to myself, "How did these people run a marathon after this?"  

Ryan,  the descents are fly down tucked in as much as you can get.  No reason to get out of aero unless there is a lot of traffic.

This course is going to be fun.  When I drove it before I rode it I was pretty worried, but it didn't seem as bad while riding.