Big Creek Tri

I will be in Iowa this weekend and plan to bike and run the course. I will give you feed back. It looks like the course is pretty flat.

Mike

Swim - Large triangle swim with right turns. Murky water with very low visibility. Likely to be wetsuit illegal due to water temperature.

Bike - Flat to mild Iowa rolling hills. No major climbs or hills. It's an out and back that should be a pretty aggressive course if you like to go fast.

Run - All withing Big Creek Park on the road or trail adjacent to the lake. Again, it's mostly flat with several minor undulations. The second half will have most of the rollers.

My biggest concern for BC Tri, is the potential for heat. It can get nasty (hot & humid) and that makes for a miserable race for everyone. Unless you enjoy that environment. It sucks the life out of me.

Thanks for the info. This will be my first Oly, so as long as I finish it will be a PR My concern is the swim. I bought a wet suit but did not know if it would be legal. Is there any place on the internet to get water temp? My father fishes Big Creek daily, so I guess that I could ask him.

This race was wetsuit legal last year.  I'm guessing the water temp is more dependent on the week of weather we have leading up to the race.

Disturbed275 is right. Don't necessarily count the wetsuit out, it will ultimately come down to the weather. BC is has a few deep spots (down by the dam) that help keep the temp down. If we see temps plus humidity in the mid 90's for a few weeks, it won't look good.

I hope we can use wetsuits, because it appears I swim 3 minutes slower (1500m) without it. Hy-Vee Tri taught me that one a few weeks ago!

I dont need a wet suit to help me swim fast, I need to so that I dont sink! Rocks have a way of doing that. HA!!! I think that I would be faster if I did a dog paddle. My goal is to finish and enjoy the show.

Anyone know what the water temp is at Big Creek? Last week was low 70's, so I am assuming that it has not gone up much. Did my first lake swim last week. Great experience, but need to work on sighting. I found that swimming in a lake is much different than in a pool.

Cant wait for next weekend!!

Earlier this week, the race directors said the temp was 81 degrees and not to hold your breath for it to drop much. This week has certainly been much cooler though, especially at night. I'll probably throw mine in the car just in case. Too close to call.

Either way, it'll be a fun race! All the best!

I'm crossing my fingers that those few 50 degree nights will have brought it down enough.  I hope everyone has a great race.  If you see a guy standing around before and after the race in bright orange shorts and a green shirt don't be afraid to say hi.