Pardon my ignorance. What is IMOO?

That's ironman Wisconsin. Apparently it's not cool to type IMWI

well then.

IMWI is much, much more difficult than IMMT. In Wisconsin, you are constantly shifting because whatever you're doing, you will be doing something different 30 seconds later. It constantly up, down, left, right, changes in incline, etc. Wisconsin is a tough and technical bike course and the constant changes in momentum will make the course hard.

IMMT is false flat for the most part - there is a short section towards the end of the loop where there are some steep climbs but for the most part it's all about riding in a straight line at a steady slight slope either up or down. It is very easy to keep a steady rhythm.

There is absolutely no need to go and train on the IMMT course - there's really nothing special about it. If you train in the IMWI course you will be more than prepared. You'll be physically ready and have a mental advantage on race day when you are experiencing a much easier course than what you're used to. BTW the elevations you listed don't match with my data - I had around 6000ft for IMWI, and maybe 4000 for IMMT.

I am also from Chiacago and have done both races. The IMMT bike course was easier mainly because you hardly ever brake. It may have more elevation of climbing but you get all the speed back in long straight downhills. I will say I was surprised how hilly the run course was at IMMT. The Madison run course seemed like a pancake compared to that course.

For training in Chicago I spent a few rides up in Madison on the course, did the Princeton Z tour century, and hit the Lemont hills a few times. Personally I loved IMMT and would do that course again in a second over IMMOO.

What Benv said..
longer sustained climbs of benign grades, you are on a provincial 2 lane road to a limited access highway, long highway grade of maybe 5-6% on the way back. The Lac Superior section has rolling climbs, nothing like what you encounter on the Moo course. Watch it on the way back from this section, lots of accidents on the 70.3 and full this year (search for the thread), never saw any issues when I rode that in '14.
this section is adjacent to the ski village/ transition and can easily be previewed 2-3 days before the race.

Thanks Ben, Exactly what I was looking for. and yes the elevation profiles are all over the board.....I even pulled up Strava course of the 2 and the elevations are sooooo different. Totally depends on the watch/Bike Computer you are using.

Thanks Loosegroove, Sounds like we both hit about the same training locations looking for hills. I love the Princeton course. Just did the ride last year and since I'm in Channahon, it's only an hour away so I rode it about 5 times last year before MOO.

Thanks buddy, great info to know. Looking forward to the race.

True that - I race with two garmins on the bike (watch + bike computer), I'll look for the elevation data from both devices for both races. Did MT in 2016 and MOO in 2013. Mont Tremblant is a great race but I think Wisconsin is better. Atmosphere in Madison was awesome with tons of people cheering on the bike and run. Mont Tremblant feels more like training, except for the finish at the pedestrian village.

Here's some info on elevations...

I have a go to ride that I do near my house in the Hudson Valley, 111.8 miles.
My garmin records 6600'
Strava correction puts it in the high 7000 range
Garmin correction puts it in the hight 8000' range
Training Peaks correction puts it near 10000'

I typically ride the route in 6:20s time frame.
as a reference point, this year I rode IMLP in 5:47 and IMMoo on tired legs (did IMLP 7 weeks earlier & Leadville MTB 100 4 weeks earlier) in 5:51. IMLP bike is considered about 10 minutes "slower" than MT.. I rode MT at 5:51 3 years ago when I wasn't as fit as I am now.. as an FYI, I am 51 yo.

If you have not done the new bike course 2016, it is way harder than the old course. Road construction forced the new route. Much more rough roads. You still have all the old climbs but they threw in a new one. When I got got there most were walking their bikes up that hill. I was one hour longer on the new course. From what I heard they will still be working on the roads next year. Plans are to drop tire pressure to 90 psi and wear gloves which I never do to combat the pounding on the roads. For me this is still the best race to qualify.

IMMT 2016 bike course was different then before?

if so where was this "new" climb?


Thanks,

No Ironman moo route change 2016

Thanks again for your feed back and this data. Very helpful. And some very solid bike splits too!! You are a much stronger cyclist than me. In for Tremblant and good to know training on the MOO course will have me more than adequately rained for MT.

Steve

I agree that IMMT is mostly a steady up or down course with the last 20k of each 90k loop having a majority of the steeper stuff. The roads at IMMT are great, and that helps with some faster bike times. I've gotten between 5500 and 6000 feet of elevation for IMMT (done 2x 70.3 and 2x 140.6). Here's my garmin file from 2015 (I forgot to hit 'stop' when I got back to T2).

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If you recorded 4000 feet on the IMMT course then we have another Julie Miller!!! ;)
Joking!!!!!

But, guessing maybe your garmin was not working properly, as I and many others have done the course multiple times, course has always ended up being close to 6000 feet.

The hard climb that everyone is referring to is at about the 2 hour mark of each loop, but there is a good climb on the highway at about the 1:20 mark of the loop as well. It is not technical, straight as an arrow, but fairly steep and you'll feel it. If you look at Nates garmin link, I believe he hits it at 1:17 into his ride and takes about 8 minutes to climb it.

And, of course, you -really- feel these two climbs on the second loop..... :)

Oh, and it looks like Nate beat my bike time that year by about 45 minutes...........jerk.......

Benv,

Do you recommend a disc wheel for this course?

i did IMMoo with a disc and MT with a Flo 90. That was purely for practical reasons (for the most part it was what I had at the time). If I had both, i'd ride a disc all the time except if the weather forecast would have been for extreme wind, but that goes for any course.