Except that Nova Scotia part. I watched South Park......

It appears the upgrade in Andy's position and change from Gatorskins may be having a positive effect.


TOP 11 Pro Men - Thru Bike Split 2 - 87.5 km

1 2:52:50 Andy Potts
2 3:02:03 9:14 Callum Millward
3 3:02:06 9:17 Maik Twelsiek
4 3:02:08 9:19 Trevor Wurtele
5 3:02:09 9:20 Mike Aigroz
6 3:02:12 9:23 Pedro Gomes
7 3:03:24 10:35 Elliot Holtham
8 3:05:12 12:22 Derek Garcia
9 3:06:10 13:21 Justin Daerr
10 3:11:51 19:02 Dylan Gleeson
11 3:11:52 19:03 Jeff Manson

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, this Ironman and now its all about whatever can make it more profitable, gota start cutting costs bring that profit margin up.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Andy should be able to punch his Kona IM validation requirement pretty easily today!

I was "just looking" at the registration for 2017. Have prices gone up?

Looks like in person registration is the same as before (685 CDN), while online registration has gone tiered, from $705-780 depending on when you register. Is that new?

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Friend reported from the course that this merge was downright dangerous.

No idea on that.

How about Andy Potts today. His 4:31 bike split is pretty awesome on the Whistler course! I guess he punched his ticket to Kona!

That is a stellar split. Looks like it was a perfectly beautiful day up there today.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

a few items
1. merge with 70.3 athletes was a non-event for me and looked well managed - i would be curious if anybody had an issue (i may be off base here as i missed most of the 70.3 athletes so never really saw any merging.... but it looked like decent system?)
2. it paid to be a fast swimmer as the head winds coming back from pemberton were strong and likely got stronger as the day went on (typical for the area)
3. it could not have been a nicer day! beautiful typical whistler day
4. the lake temp was perfect for a wetsuit race - a little brisk at the start and then perfect for racing
5. the entire event seemed very well managed with loads volunteers everywhere helping out
6. my only gripe were the spectators and tourists riding their bikes on the trail we were running on. Not an issue around lost lake where the trail is wide but dangerous around green lake where it was narrower and i was almost hit a few times....

Anyone know what happened to Cupcakes? Just hit a wall on the run?

The roads down to Pemberton were not great - a lot of places where you could have lost it, esp. on the downhills.

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

My wife said he stepped off course holding his calf.

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Instagram | Team Kiwami North America

No doubt he crushed the bike, but the lead car was super close and the media scooter was right next to him most of the day. I think that might have helped.

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Instagram | Team Kiwami North America

Oh no, here we go again. Hopefully Andy uploads his power file somewhere. Any estimates on what a 4:31 takes on that course. Google has him at 191 cm height, 79 kilos. I am guestimating in excess of 320W given his size the amount of vertical and requirement to brake in many locations at turns on downhills.

I'm a slower swimmer and the merge was going fine when I went by. The IM had a no passing zone for a few hundred meters beforehand, and volunteers out waving at everyone to slow down. Still not my preferred location for the turn; I had to brake heavily to avoid passing. The no-pass zones should have been mentioned in the race briefing (which otherwise was pretty thorough).

The other issue was aid station 2, which was on the left hand side right after the merge. The 70.3 riders were just trying to get by (since they just hit an aid station) while IMers were slowing and moving left.

Yup. Finishing the bike I was going uphill at 10 mph in the aerobars due to the 10+ mph winds. It also got hot there; my Garmin 520 had a peak temp of 97 on the climb back from Pemberton with most of that stretch in the 90s.

Fantastic volunteers all over. Some pros at wetsuit stripping, change tents, and sunscreen.

Does anyone know when it would be realistic to bike the course in Whistler?

Trying to plan a pre-race visit to ride the course and wondering what the earliest realistic date will be when its safe/snow-free on the highway.

I am not there, but here are the webcams on the mountain and village. You can guess the road conditions from this:

https://www.whistler.com/webcams/

I bet you could ride Sea to Sky side since the shoulder is so huge and worst case you'd get snow run off. Not sure about the climb to Callaghan or going down to Pemberton and back up. I'd suspect you could ride the Pemberton Flats, but you can do that on your Kickr or Computrainer anyway

We have done about 7 camps there at two weeks out,

Honestly seen everything from 5c and raining to 42c in pemberton, so no way off knowing but I wouldn't plan anything until four weeks out.

Cheers,

Still a bit of snow lying around. Temps in the village and Pemb are normally around 5-8c and anything from snow, flurries, sleet, rain.
Plus it fairly mental there with traffic as everyone trying the squeeze the last out of the slopes....ohh and plenty of potholes too after the barrage of salt, sand etc thrown down over the last 6 months.
In summary.....hold off for another 2-4 weeks.

I am considering traveling to this race from the East Coast but worried that my kids would not survive the trip... 10 hours via plane with layovers and then another 2+ hours from YVR to Whistler?! That's a haul for ages 3 and 5.

Also, what activities are there in the village for them? Is there a luge slide like IMMT? Any waterslide parks?

Are there any markings or volunteers to signal the sharp turns on the steep descent outside of Pemberton?

Are there any steep sections a la IMMT where you have 4 guys abreast bombing down while 4 guys abreast are wobbly climbing up all on a narrow road?

Whistler has a TON of activities for kids and non-racers. At the base of Blackomb mtn (aka the "Upper Village") they set up a big kids activity area with stuff like a bungee/trampoline, alpine slide, maze, etc. And there is a playground in the Olympic Park. Also a skate park, bike park, zip lines, and indoor climbing facility. There's also hiking, taking the ski lifts to the Peak 2 Peak tram, etc. I think you'd be hard pressed to find another IM venue anywhere with more stuff for the family to do.

The only volunteers that I recall calling out turns on the descent to Pemby are at a huge S turn, where overcooking the turn on the return would be consequential, but that's the only hairy turn. There are a couple of railroad tracks to cross as well, but they're fine as long as you use the standard precaution of crossing perpendicularly.

Re the other sections, the road is closed to vehicle traffic during the race so that buys you a lot of room. There really aren't too many situations where you're facing oncoming traffic- the exception being the Callahan Pass climb/descent early in the race. There is a 2 lane bridge about a mile or 2 from the top that always is strewn with people's launched water bottles, and people climbing up while the faster swimmers are bombing down. The rest of the ride is on the hwy which divides the traffic by several lanes. (The out&back in Pemby is pretty narrow but it's totally flat)

Overall Whistler is a great race and a great venue. Definitely recommended!