No luck? I have not ridden or seen the course map, but it can't be a smooth flat and straight ride. A friend's daughter did the summer games tri there in her mountain bike to give you an idea.

I have been on the trail around the lake a few times. It's nice, there are a few hills here and there. Hope it's not too crowded.

A few racers, good ones from Nanaimo, are entered in our Qualicum beach race tomorrow. The QB Tri went to full capacity, so no worries there.

---

Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

Had a chance to drive the course. Tight, hilly, rough in places. 85 K. But ain't no pb course. That roadbike I left at home was looking good.

---

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

Good luck tomorrow. Looking forward to reading a race report.

Same here looking forward to the race report.

Our little sprint race was fast. Down a bit in adult #'s but more youth and kids than ever before.

---

Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

I did the standard length. The lake is fabulous for swimming. Really nice. I think ( hope) the course was a little long.
The bike was one loop of the HIM course. It was very hilly with the HIM doing an extra climb x two. My garmin had about 650M elevation over 42KM. It was grind up coast down though with no sections where you could just get in a groove.
Run is gorgeous. 2 loops for the standard and 4 for the HIM. A nice shady path around the lake. If any one is familiar with Elk lake ( victoria) it is similar to that only a little longer and more climbing. ( 132M per 5.5km loop). There was one particular steep climb and the path was rocky on the slopes. My garmin had the run at 11KM and I think that is underestimated.

The race was well organized but not very well attended. I hope that it picks up some momentum though because it is a nice venue.

With the odd distances and the hills it is NOT a course for a PB but it certainly is a great challenge. I would do it again.

I did not pre- ride or drive the bike course nor did I do the run course ahead. I wish I had. Uncertainty slowed me down for sure. The intersections were well marked and had volunteers controlling traffic.

A short race report (I did the 1/2).

Weather - clear and about 18 degrees at race start time of 7:30

Swim: clean, clear, scenic lake, some say the course may have been measured a bit long. It was a bit choppy. I swam like a champ for Hydrosloth standards, siting well, and bridging up to faster feet and went 38.

T1: small race (100 folks or so) - finding bike was easy, uncrowded, no issues, about 2 min.

Bike: as mentioned earlier I regret (even at weighing 147 race day) not bringing my Scott Foil with aero bars and Zipp 404s with compact crank, instead, I used my Oliver 1/2 setup of QR Cd 0.1 with 53/38 and 12/28 with HED 3 & DiscCovered Open Pro (heavy).

Lotsa hills of all varieties someone said there was 1536 feet of climbing, some dude on a Dimond said this was a tougher course than St. Croix. Local traffic was not bad. NO crowding with other bikes. Variety of pavement conditions, I'd say 70% of it was pretty good. Tough to harvest speed on the downhills in a lot of places due to narrow roads and some tight turns. Some sneaky crosswinds in exposed sections sent me wobbling. I do crits and road racing and would consider myself a fairly competent bike handler and moderate risk taker but this was a demanding 85 K long course. 2:53 - average watts 193. I went 2:38 on 192 watts on Oliver's 93 K course 3 weeks previous.

T2: no issues, due to well thought out design and the small numbers, about 90 seconds.

Run: by this time the temp. was about 22/25 degrees. 4 laps around Westwood Lake. Scenic, (lake views) refreshing (mostly in the trees and ferns), 4 aid stations per 5 K lap, STEEP and rocky sections forced many of us, including our race winner to WALK up them, plenty of narrow sections but due to low numbers no real congestion, non-racing foot traffic around lake was respectful! Despite having great pacing and leg turnover I had a really slow run, lap speed averages around the lake were 7.1 mph, 7.1 mph, 7 mph, 6.9 mph. 1:57. I ran 1:41 in Oliver in 40 degree heat 3 weeks previous.

Total time 5:32. Oliver time 5:04. Pretty much the same level of fitness and effort.

---

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

I was just looking at the results - great race btw. I don't recognize a single name in the field.

I happen to click on an athlete that did the Oliver as well. 30 minutes +/- seems to be the difference between the two courses.
My PT did the Oliver and said the run was pretty bad (heat) few people in trouble etc.

Weather looks great for tomorrow. Just down the road from Westwood the Cowichan Challenge is on. Have to leave 4:30am from my place :P. Beautiful lake to swim, no weeds :). Another cool rural bike course with some stonking climbs and drops. Nice roller coaster runs too, higher speed stuff. Fun course. The run - my big feet seem to catch every root in the trail and with my depth vision screwed up, I am finding trails a real challenge in general. But the run is great too.

<http://www.ceevacs.com/...allenge-bike2012.pdf

PS I think you can still register @ Cycle Therapy in Duncan until 5pm.

---

Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

Raced out for the moment. Buddy of mine who got 3rd o/all at Westwood is doing the Cow Chall. His sis is the race organizer. I'm in Penticton trying out my 11/32 for IM

---

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

Cool.

Does your friend have a earring or two? I might have swam alongside him for the first bit. Lost that tow around turn buoy#1. Good group of racing in the 50+ crowd with excellent runs.

I'm a bit thrashed. Had to gut-it-out on the run as usual. I was more than comfortable on the swim and bike, "saving" my legs. Absolutely no difference - still a dog of run. Legs just won't move. Have to find a way to fix that & it's going to be a challenge.

---

Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

I had a good time there today. I really enjoy the Cowichan Challenge and have done it quite a few times over the years.
My swim really sucks right now. the bike is challenging but the roads are in nice shape and traffic is sparce. The run is harder than it appears. I think it's because the first 1.5km is up hill and the path takes concentration so not to trip.

the kids' splash and dash are lots of fun and my littles had a blast.

our paths must have crossed at some of these races. I live on saltspring and do a lot of the races in the area.

You certainly look great/dialed on the bike. You passed me ~1/4 of the way through. before we hit Crofton I think.

I was down at the beach and watched the kids swim start. I thought well this is going to be tepid. OMG they took off in a raucous bunch.
Showing us how to do it.

Definitely going back to the lab here and return again next year.

---

Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com