HITS Marble Falls (Page 2)

Cool, I'd be interested too as long as the route is more or less following the half route.  I am bringing myself and at least 2 other riders.  Haven't settled on a time yet but we are doing the full exact route from the lake.  Then we are jumping in after the ride.

Do you know of a good local (non-touristy, *cough* Bluebonnet Cafe *cough*) place to have lunch after?

Wildcat (or anyone else), if you want to join us you would be welcome if we don't ride with Denise's group.  Haven't settled on a time yet.  We usually casually ride in the 15-17mph range.

Denise -- sent you a PM about the room.  Let me know if its still available?

I'm doing the half also.  I'd love to see the opinion of the course once you've ridden it.  I'm using this as a tune-up for CdA, so I'm kind of hoping the bike course profile is similar.

Steve

It appears this is also true for the sprint and oly courses.  Looks like only 2 minor hills for the sprint.  Oly has a small Cat5 on it.

Sprint Course

Oly Course

Did the Republic of Texas Tri Sprint today.  Bad wind the swim was cancelled the first half of the bike was brutal, but the second 5.5 miles I smoked.  30 mile an hour wind bringing you in helps.

I drove back to Austin did a swim at Zilker.  I am still wearing my wetsuits. (my blankey).   Will wet suits be legal at Marble Falls. 

Also, I will do a ride next Saturday.   The park at the lake 730?  Is this good?

Bike course review:

Just rode the full HIM course on Sat.  The 20-30mph wind made it brutal, but I tried my best to make a mental note of the course profile and try to ignore the wind as best as possible.  Here is my garmin profile of the ride, but ignore the speed data as the wind played a major role.  Rode with 2 others and we didn't draft at all.

Thoughts: It is a tough course.  Roads are very rough.  My arms were tired from all the shaking, plus really having to hold onto the bike in the wind.  I used a tri bike and there is plenty of time to be in aero, but also a lot of time you will have to get out of aero to climb.  First 9mi or so is a lot of up and down, and you have to climb out of the river bed from the start so don't go out too hard.  This also means lots of climbing in the last 9mi as well and 2 tough little hills that caught us off guard.  But the last 2mi is all down hill into transition.

After the first 9mi it levels out for a while.  A few long false flats coming out of Burnet around mile 17-19, and then the biggest and steepest hill on the course at mile 22.  Then it turns into rollers and more false flats until you get back on Mormon Mills Rd and into that last 9mi stretch again.

There are a few cattle guards and RR crossings to deal with but they were just fine.

In summary, I think the key will be not going out too hard.  Get through the hills in the first part of the course.  Try to stay steady and pick up the speed through the middle part (watch for the steep hill at mile 22), but save some energy for the climbing near the end.  Then use the last 2mi to stretch your legs heading into transition and prepare yourself for the run.  It appears the run course follows the bike route so it too will be hilly and a tough route.

I might try to take my road bike out and ride part of the route next weekend.  It's got better hill gearing than my tri bike, is lighter, and absorbs road shock/vibration better.  I'll compare the 2 rides and see which bike I prefer for the race.

I will probably ride out there on Sat so would be willing to meet and ride with anyone that wants to.  I need to do 40mi, so won't do the whole route.  We parked and rode from the lake, but it was a pain getting up to and across 281.  If you don't mind skipping the first 2mi or so it would be much easier to meet and ride from the Home Depot at the start of Mormon Mills Rd.

And yes, the water will be wet suit legal.  We jumped in after our ride and it was probably around 69 degrees.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions about the course.

Thanks for your thoughts on the bike course. I rode it a week ago and your description of the course sounds quite accurate!

It is a tough course, and I found that the rough road especially made it very difficult to stay in the aero position. I'm thinking to ride my road bike for the course.

Thanks for your post!

I plan to do a ride Sunday morning wheels down at 730 Olympic Course.  Anybody want to join the ride is welcome.  Will start from park. 

I can not do Sat.    Brad, want to join me and give me some pointers.

Thanks DC

Yes, the Oly bike follows the same route.  So for the Oly you will be climbing out from the lake for the first 2mi, mostly down hill the next 3mi, then a gradual uphill (with some ups and downs along the way) until the turnaround, and reverse that on the way back.  Oly shows 800ft of climbing so it is not too bad.  As for gearing, hard to really say.  I've got a 11-25 on my tri bike and some of the climbs are tough for me, but I am 200lbs and not the best climber.  My roadie has a 12-28 and what I usually use on the central Texas hills.

The oly/sprint run courses are different from the HIM/IM.  The Oly run looks to be pretty straight forward with only 100ft of climbing total.

Most of the roads once you get past the first 4mi or so are chip seal, but they are the worn down chip seal.  So there is not all that loose gravel but still pretty bumpy.  Oly might not be too bad, but I plan on wearing gloves just to help with the vibration and make it easier on my hands.

Ha, Denise beat me to it! Thanks, looks like we are in agreement about the course.

I did a 26 mile bike and run brick this weekend.  Two 1500 m swims.  Monday 1500 swim.  Today a light 10k.  Wed 18 mile bike. 

Thurs and Friday rest. 

Any recommendations for my first olympic of the season on Sat. How many days should you train hard before a race?

Cap Tex is next , Marble Falls in July.  Have not booked June yet.  Any suggestions? Anyone know a off road Tri where the bike is more trail ride than really hard mountain bike?

Wildcat,

I've heard XTERRA Magnolia Hill is a good place to start.  July 8 so you could still do MF.

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