I have raced all the distances there on a Tri bike, with disc wheels. I did not have a road bike until yesterday when I modified a tri
bike to be DL now with road shifters. Personally, I have never heard a good reason to use a road bike in any race I have ever done or heard about,
that is a Tri or Du race.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I've done Alcatraz with road bike and with tri bike. Road was faster. Not a lot of flats. With the 28 on the Felt it's not the climber my road bike is, or I'm not the same climber in that bike.

All my bikes have 50/34 11/32 200mm cranks so I never have to worry about which bike to use with gearing.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I've never had a 32. Well, my MTB and Slate have a 32 and then some. I'll throw a 32 on the Felt and see what that's like.

My 34/32 saved my, and my others butt on a course like IMLT with Martis and Brockway. Saves me at Donner. I have yet to talk to a person who races events with big hills that has ever said they wasted their money on having the gearing.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I'm just going to say it. That was a hard f'in race. Altitude. Heat. Climbing. I don't know what it was but I couldn't get anything going. I though of quitting. Every mile. I stopped a few times and just contemplated quitting especially after being lead off the bike course twice by volunteers. Switching to the 11-32 saved me on the climbs, but I hated the gearing for everything else and wish I had brought my road bike, which is a hell of a lot lighter than my tri bike and would have been much faster overall even with the 12-26 on there. Mostly though, it was just a long hard slog and I had nothing to give because it beat me down mile after mile. Please let Wildflower return so I don't have to do this sufferfest again.

Agreed, that was a very hard half! I felt like I was doing a full toward the end of the run. I've never been so happy to cross a finish line!

Did anyone say whether or not the swim course was long? I had a great swim, but still came out of the water about 10 minutes slower than normal. I also noticed that the top guys swam in the mid 30's and the fastest swim of the day was still over 31 minutes.

The guy that got second place had to have cheated on the bike. He had a time of 2:02......I don't think Froome could have done that time on that course.

I'd say a 2:02 is impossible. Maybe he turned right and did the Olympic.

I swam 1.4 miles on the garmin. Don't know if it was long, or because I couldn't see any buoys with the damn sun in my eyes (sun is yellow, buoy is yellow, who thought of this?). Water was pretty nice though, not cold at all.

On the run, when I came off the trail at the river and looked at all that pavement going up up up I thought, you've got to be kidding. The run along the singletrack and the canal was pretty nice. I even thought about walking in the canal and cooling off but wasn't sure if that was legit or even clean.

Yep, this is why I love this race. And some think Wildflower is hard. Let them try Auburn!!

And when the heat was added in yesterday. A guy right behind my on the Olympic who was like 100 yards from the finish at about 10 am went down
with heat stroke and taken away in am ambulance.

From what many folks have said, the swim might have been a little long, but it was the same for everyone. :) I was really impressed with how they marked
the swim course with 3 different colors of turn buoys.

This is the second race in 2 weeks I have done where athletes went off course. When I hit the Lake Arthur turn, when I saw the guy sending folks straight I started asking myself did they change the bike route. I have done the race so many times I got lazy and did not check the maps before the race. I asked the guy which way for the international and luckily he said go right which is the correct way. I looked over and saw folks on the half out and back and kept yelling you are going the wrong way.
Bottom line, we as athletes are responsible to know the course!!! Volunteers make mistakes, etc.

They announced they were not giving out awards yesterday, and have yet to post results. They knew some in the half cut the bike course short. They know some in the international went across the finish line which triggered a time when they were just finishing the first lap.

I feel so bad for Joe and Colleen. The amount of work they put into this race to make it happen is over the top, and I am not sure they even make any money.

The timing folks really seemed to be on top of some of the bike and run time issues so I assume they will get it figured out.

I sure hope they are able to put the race on again next year. I just love events that kick my butt!!!! Donner is the other one they kills folks.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Just talked to another person about the race and the swim. We did have a decent amount of current that we had to swim back up into which would impact swim times
being longer, rather than the course maybe being too long. We say that in the morning with the start buoy being dragged from its correct spot.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I thought the organization was great. I was expecting a cool grass-roots tri and that's exactly what I got. I saw international distance riders go straight when the volunteers were telling them to turn right, so they shouldn't be mad if they ignored the correct directions.

The only issue I had was on the first climb, the bike emporium van tried to pass a car and almost ran us cyclists over. I yelled out "bike support isn't supposed to run over the cyclists!" In a short fit of rage. I think that was just the driver of the van being an idiot.

Interesting. I know the half folks were told the wrong way, but if International ignored the turn right comment I got, well, ....

The guy driving that van is the owner of the bike store. Bad move on his part.

Since they did not do awards, still waiting for results to be put up. Some folks in the half just cut the course.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

The front end of the field in the 1/2 went off course too, probably the top 10-15, except the top guy who obviously knew the course and is somewhat local.

For the 1/2 the problem was at one of the spots that passes over 80, the race sign was incorrect...it was a straight arrow instead of a right turn...and there were no road markings or volunteers at that intersection. I suspect that the race was at the intersection sooner than they expected as ~30 mins later a volunteer was there or something else may have happened. Either way it is too bad for the future of the race as I am sure they could have done without these mix ups on the 1/2 and Oly, with such a great location and a fair course. The volunteers were great and dotted along the course, especially in town and from the swim to T1, they just missing in a couple of critical spots (it happens). Without timing mats on the course (run or bike afaik), they will have no idea who did what.

That guy who won the race is a beast! Is he a retired pro?

Dave he wasn't taken away in an ambulance. We got him cooled off and he went home with his wife fully recovered.

former pro cyclist. He turned pro triathlete this year I believe.

Thanks for that. I did not see him leave and was told he was taken off in the ambulance. Glad he is okay since I passed him on the run and did not
notice issues. But the second guy who passed him told me he did notice issues with him. So close to the finish and third place.

Glad he is okay

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Yep, the bike course, and run course are so hard, it takes a beast to win it. I remember watching Steve Larson eat the course up

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Sorry you had to miss the race.

http://www.bigskyendurancesports.com/...NTRI_INTNTL_OALL.htm

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

This race was a mess.

I'm a huge off brand, grass roots guy but the lack of directional support on the bike course of the half was offensive.

No mile markers, bad directions from volunteers, no clear signs, spray painted turns on the road guiding athletes in the wrong direction.

I was in the top 8 at mile 20 and I know for a fact that the majority of the guys in the top 15 got lost.

This has nothing to do with a racer knowing the course. This has everything to do with the race directors anticipating how to keep people safe and on course. This is the only way to produce a competitive safe environment to race in.

If there is a huge direction course change it must be marked by cones, sticker arrows and volunteers. This is race directing 101. At spots where there are "Y's" or forks in the road there needs to be an arrow and cones pointing athletes in the right direction.

I was so lost, and frustrated by mile 35 I could only imagine what a first timer was going through.
Not to mention the Olympic folks on the half ironman bike course!

I hope Coleen and the group figures it out and offers athletes refunds and an opportunity to race next year. This race has all the potential of an awesome race, but needs some serious support.

If cleaned up I'll give it a go next year, but the bike course needs a major management overall.

Like you, I was near the front of the race when this happened. What should have been a right turn, the course marker / sign indicated straight ahead...and there was no volunteer there until later and no other markings on the road - other places seemed better marked with red arrows, but I didn't see any at this critical junction.

Many of those that went off course, made their way back to transition and called it quits, frustrated.

Based on the numbers - ~200-300 across all events, the organizers (who seemed very passionate) needed to pull off an event without any major issues. With Wildflower returning and based on these course issues, it will unfortunately struggle.

Totally agree. The sad thing is that they seem to not be taking any of the criticism or blame.

Is it a race if everyone does a different course? Check out the Strava for the day, many different permutations of the bike course.

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Member - Teamfirefighter.com

I was one of the top finishers in the half (I think 3rd or 4th) and was rightly disqualified for being misdirected on the bike. I came out of the water in third, passed by one guy in the last few 100 yards with the lead guy maybe 200 yards ahead. My GPS said 1.49 miles in 32 minutes which included the run to T1. I had both the bike and run routes programmed into my watch, but with out and backs and multiple turns at the same intersection, it's too hard to clearly read which way to go. There was a big intersection that had the Oly's going right, but I and the others around me went straight on what I think is the out-and-back 2 miler. We should have turned right with the Oly's but it wasn't marked that way. At that turnaround, which was marked "International Turnaround", we continued straight and went down this awesome windy road to a T intersection with no markings. So I just turned around, climbed out of there and got back on track at the turnaround, while looking to see bike on the other side of the freeway that I never did. I knew my race was toast (DQ) at that point, but I went on to do the run, I guess to get my money's worth out of the race.

So, I was the first onto the run course and crossed paths with the leader about a mile after the first run turnaround and told him he was the leader, not me. He didn't catch me until that long straight asphalt turnaround where I told him I screwed up on the bike course. He had a huge lead as the next two that passed me was along the canal, the second time along there. I showed 12.4 miles for the run which took me a blazing 2:21 to complete. Considering the climbing on that, I'm pretty happy and had I properly did the bike, I would have won my age group (60-64) by a long shot.

So, I know the USAT rule about responsibility to know the course. And there's that rule to follow race official instructions which raises a problem when they conflict, as they did this time. I place that directly on race management for not assuring corner workers knew exactly how to direct the racers. It's not a quadrathlon - Swim/bike/run/orienteering! If racers are to absolutely know the course, why put out any directions, cones, & people directing us at all?

In spite of all that, I loved the difficulty of the bike and run. I used a tri-bike with a 52-36 & 12-27 gearing & a disc (one of maybe three out there) and never felt that wasn't enough.

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Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

Don't fret Steve, this f?/k up is 100% on the race director. There is absolutely no excuse for this, a major screw up in the worst way. NO athlete was responsible for going off course this day. If it were my race, I would most definitely offer some kind of offer to the racers.

Bummer

I signed up for this race after a great experience at the half two years ago.I picked this race to use as an option to get in for nationals, as the race clearly promotes its regionals status for Olympic distance.

I over rode the bike turnaround by 5 miles. I specifically asked the nice couple at the turn around which way and she said straight, when I saw the turn around arrow in the road I should have known, but the sign next to the lady also said straight. Not to mention no one was going the other direction yet so I kept going. Then on the run course after you came off the canal section I thought you went back down the hill not up to the finish line (there was just a bunch of sings and no volunteer), so I ended up shorting the run course 1 mi. Bummed as if I add up my times and trajectory for the run I would have won my AG and notched my spot for nationals but clearly I was lost and rightfully DQ'd.

Triathlon at events like these are getting smaller as the sport shrinks and I dont want my money back as I want to keep these guys going but my on-course experience was a bummer, I appreciate the volunteers out there and thanks to them for donating their time but wish for all of us it turned out better.