The Nation's Triathlon : Official Thread

This will be my first time on this course as well. I know I will have to get the swim over with in a timely manner, the bike route is pretty much flat and the run course as well is flat. I have been doing 1 race per month since March of this year to get me ready for this race. I'm pretty sure you would do well. Good luck!

Now that this is my "next race" I was poking around the site today....

Observation #1: Swim waves will be going off from 7am - 9am.  I really hope I get good swim wave karma this time around and get to go early.

Observation #2: Course closes at 1pm.  Um, HELLO...you have people going off at 9am and you close the course 4 hours later?  Bad plan.  I don't think I'll be out there...but I think a LOT of people could be in that 3.5-4+ hour range, especially if they have some kind of mechanical on the bike or what not.  Seems like a bit of an unrealistic cutoff.  Not to mention that their chances of being ON TIME with a field that big are quite low.

Otherwise, I was supposed to be doing this race with a friend from FL and we were going to carpool.  Looks now like she is backing out so I was debating which car to drive.  I was going to drive my truck so we could fit both our bikes inside.  However, if it's just me, I was thinking about just taking my Honda.   I guess my question here is...how is parking?  Parking my truck can be a nightmare in any major city.  Parking my Honda is easier.  But my truck is a more reliable car and better for long road trips.  But if I won't be able to PARK it, reliability won't help me.

So, what are the chances of being able to park my big arse truck during the expo/race?

RE: Parking.  All of the parking down near the race course will be taken up quickly.  There are a few lots, but they are restricted.  

Last year, nearly everyone rode buses down to the start/transition area from the 9th and H Street area of DC where there is plenty of parking.  I parked right on H Street at about 5 a.m. without a problem.

What is different is that now the start and finish are at the same area so there is no good way to get to the transition in the morning unless someone drops you off or unless the organizers run shuttles from the downtown area.

If you are alone, and there are no shuttles, you may want to park on the streets near a hotel and then just grab a cab from the cabstand.  For five bucks, it is not a bad deal.

Based on your description, I'd bring the truck.  DC is always a parking mess...you'll have a hard time with the Honda and a hard time with the truck.  Might as well have a better trip.

Isnt, the transition in East Potomac Park?  Why is the official Hotel so far away?  I just want to make sure that I was fairly close to the race site so I booked a room at a Marriott on 13th and Penn...  Isnt this closer to the transition or have i just totally misread the maps etc...

2 Weeks!!!  I'm ready!

It was cool to see a DC-tri; club member on Beach drive today riding.  I knocked off 43 miles today.  Time to start tapering.

If the weather is like today, it will be awesome.