Lake Marion Triathlon : Official Thread

I'm in,  this will be my third year at this race. A well run race that's more technical on the bike than most would think.  

Went out and did the course yesterday, I enjoyed it greatly.  There are some good challenges, but also some nice areas to hammer it out. 

Shouldn't this quote be in your "crazy" thread? 

I'll be spectating. My wife and several people I train with are doing the race.  I'll cheer ya all on.

There are some hills, and some turns or windy roads with some speed.  Nothing bad, there is one hill that will require some fair effort: 

Looking up 185th from the turn

Partially because you come from a side street, take a right onto 185th, and then climb to the top to Kenwood Trail.  Kenwood Trail should be a lot of fun.  The shoulder is pretty good condition, and you could pick up some speed here.

Edited by jvanis 2010-08-09 11:10 AM

I just registered for this last night.  It will be my first triathlon in 2 years.  I did Lake Marion in 2008.  I am planning on wearing a wetsuit since the swim is my weakest discipline.  Anyone think this is a bad idea with the temps?

It's a two loop course which I think is kind of unusual for a sprint. The first half of the bike course is pretty easy depending on wind conditions for the day. Couple of slight uphills followed by a long stretch on the frontage road by 35. So you build up all this speed and then make a 90 degree turn through a residential area followed by a short segment, maybe 50 yards on a bike path..watch the pole in the middle on the exit side. Next is a short but steep uphill with a 90 degree turn at the top then a good downhill with a 90 degree left turn at the bottom. Then back up a hill with another 90 degree turn at the top, steep downhill with railroad tracks at the bottom and back up a steep hill with another 90 degree turn at the top. Now a few rollers where you can get some real speed going on the downhill sections with an eventual 90 right turn and another set of railroad tracks and your back at the start for another loop. Probably more detail than what you were looking for... but as you can see lot's of gear changes. Overall it's really a fun course to ride. We should try to get  the group of us together before the race it would be fun to meet some of the other BT'ers. My daughter has signed up and this will be her first tri, as well as a few of my neighbors.

Hope to see some of you this weekend! 

Well the webpage says typical temps are 78-80, I am not sure that we are in the typical temp range, but since its not USAT sanctioned, I would guess they will allow regardless of temps.  That being said, it can be an easy opportunity to overheat if the lake is warm.  Seeing as it is not a tiny lake, it may be alright.

My thoughts are that if they allow it, hopefully they will say the temps.  I am considering using my sleeveless, just because I do get benefit from it, but I also know that I have gotten extremely warm in a wetsuit before, and its not a good feeling.

I'd classify it as having a few rolling hills, and an annoying bit where you are kind of winding in a residential suburb farm and have to cut through on a bike path. And, since it's two loops, you do it twice. ;-)

It's not like Paris Roubaix or anything weird. Picture Manitou, but with an annoying neighborhood cut through.

Great, I'm sure you'll have fun! I was at the Lake yesterday and the water is pretty warm but didn't seem to bad once I was away from shore a little bit. I'll bring the wetsuit but might not wear it. Maybe some of this rain will cool it off a bit.