General Discussion Triathlon Talk » anyone doing (or have done) the toyota desert triathlon in la quinta, CA????? Rss Feed  
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2008-08-24 12:58 PM

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Subject: anyone doing (or have done) the toyota desert triathlon in la quinta, CA?????

I am thinking of doing the toyota desert triathlon in la quinta, california. (20 minutes outside of palm springs.) the tri in in april of 2009. the website isn't all that great...i'm a little worried about doing a tri in the desert.

when i looked at average temperatures for that area, it's hard to get a good read, because it gets so cool at night in the desert. i wanted to know how the water and air tempterature for that low elevation at that time of year.

 THANKS!



2008-08-24 3:18 PM
in reply to: #1624033

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Melon Presser
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Subject: RE: anyone doing (or have done) the toyota desert triathlon in la quinta, CA?????

Hi, Andrea--welcome to BT!

Several BTers have done this race--you can look up their race reports by clicking on the Races forum button at the top of the page and looking that tri up.

I jockstrapped (supported an athlete) there and did a little volunteering at the L.A. Tri Club booth, so I managed to get a bird's eye view of the course and the race.

The weather really depends on the year. Rarely is it blistering hot in April. This year the weather was perfect. The main weather things that can happen at that venue is high wind (can stir up a chop in the lake and be tough on the bike) and heat, but we're talking like '80s and very dry, so quite tolerable.

The water is perfect and sometimes even runs in the high '70s. I swam in it and it was cool, but would have been warm with a wetsuit. 

The course is flat, flat, flat and very fast, and it's also a "short" Oly with the distances at 1200m/24 mi/6 mi (instead of 1500m/24.9 mi/6.2 mi). I heard from some people who ran with Garmins this year said the run course was even shorter than that, 5.8 or so.

It seems like a very fun, supportive tri that has fairly ideal conditions.

2008-08-24 6:19 PM
in reply to: #1624161

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Subject: RE: anyone doing (or have done) the toyota desert triathlon in la quinta, CA?????
thanks so much for the great info. we're also considering the napa valley sprint triatlon, but need to make a decision fairly soon. thanks a ton!!!
2008-08-24 8:28 PM
in reply to: #1624033

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Camarillo, California
Subject: RE: anyone doing (or have done) the toyota desert triathlon in la quinta, CA?????
I did the race from 2004 to 2007 and the weather is fine. The water is a bit chilly (most people wore a wetsuit.) Then for the rest of the race it stayed at about 75-80 degrees. The bike course is totally flat, and the run is also flat around the lake you swim in. Its a fun race.
2008-08-24 11:14 PM
in reply to: #1624033

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Champion
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Northridge, California
Subject: RE: anyone doing (or have done) the toyota desert triathlon in la quinta, CA?????
I did the international distance this year and my wife did the sprint. Very flat course (bike and run)...I didn't find the water cold at all...some folks _didn't_ opt to wear wetsuits, actually.

The weather usually isn't bad...the race is early enough in the year and starts early enough in the morning that it tends not to be that hot. Can get very windy as the day progresses, though. Pretty race site.


<--- (avatar is from that race, coincidentally...)

Edited by tcovert 2008-08-24 11:15 PM
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