I know the map makes the route look more like a crit - but scale can be deceiving.

So anyone with local knowledge care to share what they think all the junctions are really like? I'm guessing many are just sweeping bends that don't actually require much (if any) braking.

Also what's the likely road closure situation? Completely closed roads or just closed in the direction of race travel? Again completely closed roads can make a normally slow junction much faster if you don't need to worry about what's coming the other way.

I have an athlete I'm training who is biking the course as I write (just got off the phone with her). She said that it felt like start-stop and that she got lost on course. She also described the swim as a "sewer". I advised her not to do a practice swim, lest she fall ill from some funk in the flood water. Even though she lives in Las Vegas, she described intense heat during her course surveillance.

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DFL > DNF > DNS

To those bemoaning the fact that the IMTX bike course will be a bit short and not 112 miles. You do know that the first Ironman, was essentially a bar-room challenge, and the distances arrived at by picking three existing events on the island of Oahu. It all came together with a few beers, chance and a boast! As for the bike leg. It just so happened that the Around The Island bike ride/race was 112 miles. It was a random occurrence!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

 
Yes, we do know. Thanks!

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Once, I was fast. But I got over it.

I had a total fail of a ride in Friday due to be heat/ humidity. This is the first week it has been bad. I would be more concerned with that than a few too many turns.

I would not advise anyone ride this course. Parts of it are just fine but some of the roads are terrible in regards to traffic.

I looked over the map and think there might be 10 "tight" turns. Suggestions to use the road bike are over-played.

I believe the reduction in distance was intentional. It was done so to compensate for the added technical difficulty with respect to a standard IM bike course, and most importantly with respect to what we all train and prepare for. I think that there will be a greater chance for RD to cancel or further shorten the bike course in case of stormy weather. I think it would be better for WTC to cancel the bike leg all together right now and allow athlete check in on Friday.

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After millions of years of selective breeding, here we are!

No it was not. This course is the same one that was floating around as the rumored course earlier in the week. Except the segment on the Spring Creek trail was removed because that trail was literally wiped out in the flood (there are pix of that floating around somewhere). Those missing 18 miles were two loops of that trail before the course resumed as you see it at FM1960.

This course, with all its turns, is already absurd but the idea of using a double loop on a narrow paved pathway was even more absurd. I am glad the course is shorter and removes the trail section which would have been incredibly dangerous.

When I did IMLT 2013, they had a trail section like that. It was made no passing for its length. Was not 18 miles, but I would assume for most folks, having a no passing 18 miles to get the full 112 would be better than none of it at all. I know I would have felt that way, and was happy the IMLT section was there to make it 112, even with the no passing.

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Yup I was there for IMLT 2013. I recall that no passing zone was also up a reasonable grade and fairly short. And it was also at something like miles 25 and 65 or something like that. No chance the front of the race would hit the back of the race.

The problem here is that this section of trail would have come in at about mile 12, and again at about mile 25. The front pack of fast racers would join up on the trail again with the slow swimmers and slow cyclists. There would be a pretty wretched speed differential. Can you imagine the pros getting stuck 25 miles into their race by someone riding all of 16mph in a no passing zone?

I agree, which is why I said not exactly the same.

But, I wonder if the majority would have rather had the extra miles to get 112, even knowing everyone had to be polite to each other, or is that just asking too much
of OCD athletes? :)

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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 like I predicted on the other thread triathletes are too clueless and self absorbed that they just can't help themselves and must ride a course that many of us locals have strongly recommended that they stay off of. Oh well, least they're consistent.

I counted 92 turns on the IMWI course. You also ride a parking ramp helix twice, a bike path twice, cut through the parking lot of a convention center, cross several sets of RR tracks, have a couple of fast descents, lots of potholes, ride a very rough road twice, many roads are covered in pea gravel, etc. Despite all that, IMWI is a great race and many people love the bike course.

I don't know if this new course is a good one or not, but we're all riding the same course. It will be fine.

Yes, my main point is that this bike course is absurd considering what IM athletes prepare for and that this is an endurance event. I don't think I ever got a 90-mile ride in that looked like the present IMTX bike course. But I stil think that if they wanted 112 miles they could have gotten that distance in several ways. I still think they chose to keep it short. If all 112 miles had been turned into a crit then it would have been to indentify it as non-sense, even for beginners. I keep looking at my bike, convinced I will have to stick it in a crate, fly over, and then hear the news on Thursday/Friday that the bike leg has been finally canceled with safety concerns related to stormy weather and road conditions. That's really going to piss me off.

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After millions of years of selective breeding, here we are!

I'm not clear why you think they CHOSE to keep it short

You might want to tell your athlete that swimming is not allowed in Lake Woodlands except at the practice swim and race. If she tries to swim in the lake, she'll probably be arrested and then disqualified from IMTX.

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Your implication is that because the origin of the distance was arbitrary no one should care that the distance is short now. But the history is irrelevant because those distances are now the standard. Likewise, the marathon distance was arbitrarily established at the 1908 Olympics, and runners expect that distance and not 24.3 or whatever. You are on more solid ground when you stick with the real difficulties of obtaining permits.

Rode most of the bike course today (as an out of contintenter ✌️). Those are the main points:

- overall, the route is not nice; one would never ride this for a bike tour. You are either on or near bigger roads with lots of traffic or randomly zigzagging through neighbourhoods (to make the 94m full 😜🤔). Worst is the part close to the interstate and the airport. Is a bit of a pitty as a nice course waa one of the criteria why we chose coming over to Texas from Europe. In fact we did see only 2 other bikers the whole afternoon

- basically flat; biggest hills are human made bridges. I got 300m elevation gain on the part we rode (about 115km out of 150km)
- no sharp turns. this works really well, all wide roads. not much of a need to brake an re-accelerate if turns are policed during the race. forget the fearmongers telling you to chose a road bike or that there would be some kind of danger involved due to the turns
- surface is ok; not IM Austria type of really fast roads but also no real rough patches / no potholes seen
- railroad crossings did work for me @175lbs and @20-25mph on a carbon bike
- no problems with flooding whatsoever
- the route around Tomball is not so messy once you ride it
- we failed crossing the Interstate - and therefore did not ride the part east of I-45. The frontage road etc is the part I do not recommend test riding; this is outright dangerous pre-race...
- The though part (if any) will be up North FM2978 (we had headwind) and then the last 15miles (slight ups and downs). The fact that this is the end of the bike leg rather than the beginning certainly is part of it. Likelihood is your average mph will drop from leaving Tomball to the finish.
- Will ride the Eastern part sometimes next week and post should there be significant new insights
- Was sweating like hell (am a not a "sweaty" guy). Hope this is just as I came from cold Switzerland and it goes away sometimes in the next 2 weeks.
Cheers
Roberto

Your implication is that because the origin of the distance was arbitrary no one should care that the distance is short now. But the history is irrelevant because those distances are now the standard. Likewise, the marathon distance was arbitrarily established at the 1908 Olympics, and runners expect that distance and not 24.3 or whatever. You are on more solid ground when you stick with the real difficulties of obtaining permits.

You are right. My apologies. Perhaps a bit of an over-reach on my part. However, the Ironman, and the "ironman" distance still remain a bit of an anachronism within the world of the sport of triathlon. True, it shares historical parallels with the marathon in running/athletics, in terms of how it was arrived at (randomly and haphazardly) but the marathon is an accepted standard within the IAAF. That's not the case with Ironman - which is not only a distance, it's a significant business and brand as well! The ITU could/would never incorporate the ironman distance into ANY race that it was overseeing, or call it that!


Thanks for the kind words on the permits. It's a REALLY big part about all this. Ask any RD, from the biggest races to the smallest 5K Fun Run about how "easy" it is to get, secure and keep their permits!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Be assured that I respect your opinions on the business aspects of the sport. You are a valued commentator on ST and I enjoy reading your posts.

Drove the east side of 45 on Saturday. It's not bad.Some things I noticed are MOST of the turns are wider however, some (on the little out and back @ hardy toll road feeder is a downhill to a hard right turn.) will require additional attention. There's the usual cracks here and there but overall nothing to freak out about (not any more than Osborn RD.). The 1960 portion does have some debris on the shoulder (not any more than fm 1488 on any given training ride) I'd like to think the course will allow for riders to ride in the right lane making it a non issue. As for the 94 mile aspect of the race.... if the heat and wind show up, anything over 75-80 miles can be down right miserable. Sure you'll be "short" but I can guarantee 100% you won't be bashful about telling yourself you completed this race.