first Xterra - need newbie help

I was going to post the exact same thread today!  I just signed up for Xterra Lake Tahoe at the end of August and have many questions too!  Like you, I'm not new to tri but have never done an off road tri but am so excited to do one!  I'll be watching this thread!  What distance are you doing?  When is it?

1500 swim

15K bike

10K run

Laguna Beach, this weekend.

Most of your questions are very specific to the venue.  

T1 & T2 may be in the same place, maybe not.  

It's harder to get elevation profiles (running or riding) for off-road courses.  It's possible you can get this info from the race director.  

I'd say it'll be more "spectator friendly" than an IM race.
For an off-road tri, you probably aren't looking for 1 of 2000 athletes during the swim.  
For an off-road tri, the bike course is usually multiple loops and there may be vantage spots where you can see them multiple times per loop.  
For an off-road tri, they're usually biking much more slowly than the 16-20 mph on a road course.  The down side is that the clear viewing distance may be pretty small. 
For an off-road tri, you may be able to watch from a shady spot (but bring bug spray)!
For an off-road tri, they may have multiple run loops and again, there may be vantage points where you can see the athlete multiple times.  

My very SECOND tri was an off-road tri.  I'm not a great mountain biker and have a heavy, steel-frame bike.  Still, I was able to keep the rubber side down and all the other bits and pieces together as I watched far-more experienced people on much nicer rides carry their mangled bits off the course.  I finished ahead of all of them (but well behind the top finishers).  

for those of you who wanted to know - Xterra Laguna Beach Triathlon race report.

its in the books. my first ever. it was a rough and taxing event, thats for sure. be prepared to climb, climb, climb!!!! oh man, and then be ready to climb some more!

Laguna Beach Tri was a lot of fun, but man i was unprepared for so much climbing (being as mountain bike was not my strong point - compared to road bike). today i have muscles that hurt in areas that i didn't know i had muscles!!

the swim is awesome. nice beach. nothing that most of us probably haven't already done. its a wave start for everyone in the long course. your swim time is stopped once you enter bike transition away from the beach (ankle chip). 

the bike is like an action movie that starts strong early and does not disappoint. you hit the first hill almost immediately. it is miles and miles of climbing.  lots of room for passing (or getting passed). only one section that is single track and technical (if you have not pre-ran, watch out, there are some large rocks that want to eat your wheel for breakfast). the "elevator", as everyone kept calling it, is a fast steep downhill section. make sure your brakes are up to par for this one, and if you have your choice on where to fall ,do not make it here. i do have conflicting reports on the elevations. strava says in the range of 2500 feet or so, but my garmin says 3300 feet.  my legs said they were both full of crap and we climbed hundreds of thousands of feet!! 

the run was fun, kinda. kinda because my legs were so friken over it after the bike. my quads were protesting and had closed the doors to let the hams come in. it took about 2 miles before the hamstrings were finally allowed to attend the party. i felt good enough to run (not speed walk anymore) after that. nothing exiting about the trail run, just graded roads. i recorded 1100 feet of climb in the 6.7 miles we ran.

sitting at home writing this, legs sore, really sore, i would totally recommend it to anyone wanting to try it. i was totally undertrained on the hill work, but still managed to finish and smile for the cameras. 

Ricardo