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Ironman 70.3 course

Hey guys, I drove up to wimbleball lake on saturday to ride the route of the bike course for the 70.3 in june.I must say i dont think i have ever seen so many hills in such a small space in my life!. There was only two really big memorable ones but none the less was a rather undulating course!

Guess thats why its called Ironman! whats everyone elses thoughts on the route?.Gotta admit the thought of a half marathon after that beast wasnt too appealing!.

The funniest thing was seeing all of the empty drinks bottles around the course though, obviously from last year, what sort of time is average on the bike leg? bearing in mind by then i will only have been training about 6 months.

So my plan now is simply 'finish!'

In the words of the great conehead ive now got that feeling that ' whatever training i do it just wont be enough'

Right im off to do some more training!

Comments

  • Hey, im also doing the Ironman 70.3. The bike is probably my weakest, not happy to hear about all the hills. Is there much flat at all? What is the surface like (nice smooth tarmac i hope)?
  • Cheryl6162Cheryl6162 Posts: 356
    I did the Wimbleball lap with my son a few weeks back and I can tell you (as a weak cyclist also) that it is very hilly! The road surface is generally quite smooth, although there is one point where is was very rough (downhill and with shadows cast across the road hiding the bumps!) so make sure you wear your yellow shades if you have them and hopefully a nice carbon (naked of course Conehead) frame!



    If at all possible, I thoroughly recommend that you get up there and ride the course (1 lap = 28 miles) as soon as poss just to see what you have to do training wise and also to see where you can ease off for a brief recovery and where you can power away.



    The run section is also pretty hilly and on country tracks so make sure you have done plenty off road running or the sides of your ankles will cane after just one lap.



    Good luck!
  • combatdwarfcombatdwarf Posts: 258
    Oh, the FEAR, the FEAR!!! [&:][&:][&:]



    I am following a programme and still have no idea how I am going to get round this course.....



    As I had not got on a bike in 15yrs until last summer I have decided to go down on the intro day and have a look around the lake and the bike and see if I can pick up any tips!!



    I am still toying with the idea of swapping off my TT cockpit but I think I am just going to have to ride it and see how I fare! Are those hills really that big??? I did a ride in Cornwall the other day (look at my blog for the route and GPS download) and that had two 20% and one 30% hill in it - which almost killed me!!! Hoping the 70.3 route has slightly more recovery sections!!!



    Iain.
  • danny_sdanny_s Posts: 235
    I'm in fear of that course too. The bike is my weakest too, I'd be happy to swap in an extra tour of the run course than go around those hills. After plotting out the elevation changes on the map, it looks like any finish for me under 3:15-3:30 will be a win in my mind. The climbs at km ~33 and 75 look like the leg killers.



    What is the verdict on going tri-cockpit or road setup? I think I'd climb better with a road setup since there really are zero flat sections over the whole 56 miles, but maybe that's just cause I'd be terrified going down an 18% grade with my chin sticking out over my front wheel...

  • CPT333CPT333 Posts: 56
    Well unfortunately when i went with mum a month ago(cheryl6162) we was only on the right course for about 3 miles! the road surface is fairly average but there are some parts that are rediculous!. As for a tt cockpit i dont think you will get down in to aero very often.It is very hilly but fo every hill you go up just remember there is an equal downhill so plenty of recovery time. Im just glad for my triple chainset cause it wont be too fun without those few lower gears, although i do try to avoid them like the plague sometimes you just have to!. The whole way round the bike course all i was thinking was " i cant do this" but thanks to the inspiration of team hoyt and the blazeman im super excited for it now!

    BRING THE PAIN!!!
  • This is making me nervous, the Fear is kicking in big time. I was would have liked a nice flat one. Was hoping to average around 20 mph around the course, getting a sub 3hr finish on the bike leg, although with the hills this may have to change.







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