Big Kahuna Triathlon (Page 2)

Hey everyone,

I know I'm checking in late, but I'll be racing this one too (my first HIM).

I'm a little nervous, seeing as I just blew-up on the run-portion of this past Saturday's long brick.  But, I'm trying to take it as a lesson in bike pacing and nutrition.

I'm staying at the Hampton's Inn (gotta love those Hilton points)! 

how's everyone feeling about the race?  starting into your taper yet?

I've been feeling a bit casual about this race and may as well start tapering.  With a 3-day weekend coming up though, it's just so tempting to cram in some big workouts...

has anyone scoped out the bike and run course?  any info for the rest of us?

anyone interested in meeting at the expo and/or getting together for a carbo-rich dinner somewhere early saturday evening the day before the race?

Had hear this bike route was flat.  Mapmytri.com seems to confirm this:

Looks like v-e-r-y s-l-o-w rollers.  No complaints here.

Family plans are still pending.  But, if they don't come down, then yup, sure. 

Three of us (Jesswah, my BF, and I) rode the bike course on Sunday. Both the bike and the run start off on a small (very small) hill. The bike course goes through some low-traffic residential neighborhoods until it hits Hwy 1. The next 14-15 miles are a little hilly: lots of up and down. After that it flattens out somewhat, but the road leaves a lot to be desired. No potholes to speak of, but the surface is quite rough, which slows you down. There's also a fair amount of gravel on the shoulder. So, it's hills on pretty good road or quasi-flat on crummy road. But it's super pretty. I would recommend arm warmers if you have them--it was in the low-to-mid 60s and overcast when we started out (~9:30am), and sunny by the time we finished (1pm).

FYI, the last several hundred yards of the run are on the beach. There's also a substantial run from the swim exit up the road to the transition area.

I have more or less started tapering. There's nothing in my plan that says "this is when you start tapering" (at least not to my knowledge), but starting today the workouts are so much smaller that I suspect I'm in taper. My feelings on the race keep doing the pendulum thing. They change hourly.

Not sure yet where we'll be staying, so I'll get back to you about Saturday. 

I'll be sure to wear my day glo yellow pearl izumi cap, so I'll be easy to spot!

how far from the water exit to T1?  it looks pretty far on the swim map?  sidewalk though, yes?  maybe they'll have some carpet laid down.

Great bike info everyone.  Flat and fast then.  sounds like same on the run.  I'm not sure what i'm going to do without hills since that seems like that's all I ever see on bike rides and runs.

Roughly 0.2 mi. Sidewalk, yes, not sure about the carpet. 

One other thing to remember about the swim is that there are sea lions out there!   About a dozen of us swam out there last weekend.  The last three had an "escort" for a while.  We could hear the screams of surprise from the shore!    :-)

They were just checking out those crazy TRI people.    Nothing to worry about.  My guess is on race day they will be long gone with all of the chaos. 

Indeed! We had a rather curious sea lion checking us out on Sunday morning. Toward the end of my last tri in the same area we also saw dolphins playing where we had been swimming! 

Big Kahuna Bike Course Heads-up (from Trirunner over at ST): 

By the way, on the bike course, beware of the train tracks crossing at about mile 12, just by the Davenport plant (look for the tall chimney). The tracks are at a 30° with the road. I have witnessed too many people take a bad fall on those. Veer to the right so that you can turn to the left before crossing them to be closer to an orthogonal angle. (One year they had laid plywood boards to help, but I don't know what the plan is this year).  The same holds true on the way back by mile 43 or so. 

Also keep an eye on your water bottles when you go over the tracks. The jolt is big enough to send loose bottles flying out of their cages.

I'll be there.  Not a member of the day-glo-pearl-izumi-cap club, but I'll find you guys and introduce myself.  

Weekend forecast:

Steve and I are going to be there, barring horrendous traffic on 17. See you all there! 

Here are a couple pix from Big Kahuna.  It was great hanging with jesswah, puellasolis,   Steve (puellasolis' BF), and rjl171.  Hope to see some race reports soon!

Before (at the expo) - (left to right) me, jesswah, steve,  puellasolis, rjl171

After - the half ironmen. 

More pictures on my web site here  

Good looking group!  Sorry I missed ya'll.  We (family and I) arrived early at the Expo (about noonish), and were told the 3pm Race Info Meeting was cancelled.  I was planning on coming back to attend.

I think I saw jesswah out on the course (in her UC Davis uni), and vaguely recall seeing the Super Grover jersey too.   

Congrats to you all for finishing, and braving the 51F water.  Yup, per the surfingsantacruz charts, the water was 51F yesterday morning.

Congrats to all Big Kahuna BTers!!  Abbie