RebelATC wrote:
Everything was great with one exception, passing 18 wheelers and farm machinery on the bike course. This is my fourth 70.3wc, and the first time I have had to deal with traffic on the bike course. I think that at this caliber of race the roads should be closed to traffic, if that can not be accomplished at a particular venue then the venue should not be chosen. Safety should always be paramount IMHO.
I was in the last wave to go off on Saturday so by the time I was on the bike course, the weekend warriors were out in full force. It was very surprising and frustrating dealing with cars on the course after 22 miles or so. I got stuck behind a few where I couldn't pass and would have been riding faster w/o the cars. I got super frustrated and eventually passed another couple cars a few miles later. It wasn't safe or smart to pass them....... but in the heat of the moment my good decision making went out the window.....
Aside from the cars on the course it was a fantastic race and I enjoyed the overall experience so much. The swim was interesting as the current did pick up after 9am (my wave went off a good 90 minutes after the start of the race). I did love the 3.5 mile climb. Very pretty out there. The run was excellent and I enjoyed the views from the bridges. My husband was out on both bridges taking photos and it was great to see him as well as my own coach. And meeting so many awesome, inspiring people from all over the world was pretty cool. It was a blast! Chattanooga folks were super friendly. Huge thanks to the volunteers and everyone who made race day possible. It really was epic!
But please keep the bike course closed to traffic. I wasn't expecting to be blocked by cars and it was the first time I've seen cars on an M dot race course. I'm big on safety so that would be an opportunity for improvement.
Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.