SavageMan Triathlon 70.0 : Official Thread

When you come into Westernport, there is a Subway Sandwich shop that opens early in the day.  I've gone in there for the bathroom/water/and they sell Powerade I believe.

Later, after Savage Mountain, there is a stretch of really nice road for about two miles before you turn right to go up Otto's Lane.  At the turn, there is a gas station and mini mart on the left side of the road.  I've stopped here before.  The guy is really nice -- and extremely talkative.  I think the first time we stopped here, we ended up doing a 30 minute pit stop because we didn't want to just ride away while he was mid sentence.  Super nice guy who knows the area and the roads, and super talkative.  In addition to water, Gatorade etc., as I recall he also had some Clif Bars or somesuch in the shop.

I haven't seen the roads since the race last year but may be headed up there a few days after you do your practice ride.  My boss goes to Deep Creek Lake for vacation and I use his house as a base-camp and the two of us try to ride the course.  Regardless of the pavement, take it easy on the descents.  The roads are open and motorists up there aren't always expecting cyclists.  I've never had a cross word from a driver...but, basically you are on country roads and are not expected by the drivers.

Ha - I've talked to that same guy. 

Thanks for the tips.  I'll make sure to plan on extra time at the mini mart

I have to agree: this was my first time doing the course  so I don't know what it's been like in the past, but there was a few bands of gravel you had to ride through (about 3 feet long) on Spring Lick Rd., and a good amount of gravel just before the sharp turn on Spring Lick.  I think I was riding my brakes on all the downhills (general caution and a tri bike were a big reason for that, mind you)

WOW, the wall looks like a mine field.  Don't know how people were able to make it up (I fell 1/3 of the way up, I think I landed in a rut b/c I went down suddenly and hard), but a number from DC Tri club were able to do it. (I took some pics the next day of the Wall, I'll see if I can post them in the next day or 2).

There was a lot of loose red gravel after Big Savage, got a rock lodged in between my front tire and fork up one hill (insert very annoying rubber grinding noise here), had to stop and spin the wheel backwards to get it out, then go back downhill a bit to get some speed.  Luckily Killer Miller was relatively clean so I could do the newspaper boy switchback all the way up.

Glad I got out there, though, and I can't say I was disappointed overall in the course: the road conditions are doable, and it's an incredibly beautiful course when you look up from the road.

I think that's the understatement of the year

Athlete's Guide is up.  http://www.savagemantri.org/Athletes_Guide.html

Looks like I'm in wave 2.

I'm in wave three.  I see there is no mandatory bike check this year.  One less detail to get taken care of in advance of the race...

The condition of the roads might be better by the time the race comes around. 

I did the Diabolical Double at the Garrett Co Gran Fondo this year (now THAT is a savage ride; same sadistic organizers as Savageman), and the day before the event a nasty storm came through and many of the roads were apparently blocked by tree debris etc. As of 12-hours before race start they were still considering re-routing. But the county road people did an amazing job overnight, so that on the day of the ride you wouldn't even know that anything had happened. My impression of the Garrett Co roads was generally quite positive.

I'm bib # 268, stop by and say Hi in the transition area Sunday morning, I'd love to meet a few BT'ers.

Good luck to everyone this weekend!