IF you want to do heavy cycling, why are you not crit racing, which is 100%?

The du races have a pretty good balance of run/ride while Tris are a joke for balance of the three sports.

Personally, I would never consider a Du like you described, it would just be a bike race. If you want to do well at a Du, you have to be able to ride AND run well.
Can do the same for a tri since the swim time is a joke.

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Funny, I find most Du's are already heavy on the bike leg. There was a race in the south east that was a 2/20/2 miles R/B/R. Time wise, the bike is Heavy on the Run.

What I find interesting is that still to win these events, it still takes a fast runner.

Over the years, I find this true for tri's as well. Meaning you should not look at the total time in each event. However, one should look at the effort it takes to be a minute faster in each event. For swimming, it would take less time/distance to out pace a given person 60 sec. vs how long it would take to outpace a cyclist 60 sec. I would venture to say the bike takes longer time/distance to gap the minute.

All the swim background people want the swim leg to be longer, all the runners want the leg to be longer. However, the sport has time tested distances that seem to hold competitive to all events for the overall win. Ya have to be fast in everything today to win, no weak leg will cut it.

sorry for the soap box.

I agree with these points, and I do focus on time trials and will try crits this year.
The reason I'm looking for a Du with heavy cycling is because a friend of mine is a runner and told me I can pick a duathlon that we can compete with eachother in. I'm hoping my superior cycling can overcome his superior running.. I'd like to stack the odds in my favor by picking a Du with heavy cycling.

I am not aware of a Du, assuming it meets the normal industry standards, has a greater focus on either. If anything, it tends to be a better balanced race than a tri.
So yep, we all race where our skills are the strongest. For me, I do not do events with a long bike since I am a terrible biker, and the longer it gets, the worse I get.

Good luck

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

http://www.wisconsinduseries.com/shoreline-du.html

Not too far from Chicago. Pretty nice roads on the bike course as well.

You can win many events without a strong swim.

Just as a point of interest from an old timer. Way back the ratio considered fair for duathlon was a 3 to 1 ratio bike to run distance.

Not being a strong swimmer is subjective. Not sure the races you are attending. Even at my local race series in South East, to win you need a 1:10 - 1:15 / 100. That is fast in my books.

Those that swim 1:30 can finish in top 3 to 5, but will not win giving up 2-3 minutes on the swim.

It all depends on who shows up, but in the north east you can win the local 200 +/- races with a 1:30 swim. When that super swimmer who also can run and bike shows up. Not so much. Seems the true "3 sport" athlete is rare up here or just won't race the local races.

Total run or 3 bike : 1 run for each leg? So a 30km bike would be a 5k 1st run + 5k 2nd run = 10 k total rum for 3:1? Interesting. I wonder how that ratio was derived. Most sprint distance duathlons around here are pretty close to that formula; some have a shorter 1st run....

The popular Coors Light Duathlon series of the 80s/90s were 5k/30k/5k

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Formerly DrD

Maybe check out the Michigan Titanium duathlon options. They are simply B/R, and not R/B/R.

They have an Olympic, half and full. http://mititanium.com/

It's in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is just a couple hour drive from Chicago.

yes, the 3:1 ratio comes from way back when 5k/30k/5k was considered the "international distance" then along came Olympic triathlon and ITU in their infinite wisdom decided to make duathlon 10k/40k/5k which in my opinion is too long, especially the run portions. If I remember the reasoning behind 3:1 its something like a 10k run and a 30k is about the same energy expenditure. 5k/30k/5k made it more accessible to the general populace, 15k of running in a DU is a lot.
Look at the popularity of the new sprint distance at 5k/20k/2.5k.

I personally love the 10/40/5 format. Means folks have to train. For me, the 5/20/5 is the wimpy stuff. :) Now, I do like to do the wimpy one after the manly one for a warm down. :)

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Duathlon numbers plummeted when the 10/40k/5k was introduced.
I was glad to see the addition of the sprint distance.
I'll race pretty much any distance duathlon but the sprints are my favorite by far. You don't feel totally wiped out afterwards. When Ive done 10/40/5 or longer Im feeling it for a few days after.
Sprint du is kind of like the 5k of the multisport world.
I love 5k's by the way. ;)

I agree.

My racing experience is many folks can fake their way through a 5K without much training, so I get my butt kicked.
But when you make a race a 10/40/5, it is amazing how many just die in the 5K run at the end.

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Desert Classic Duathlon in Phoenix, February 18, 2017.

5K trail run/ 23 mile road bike / 5K trail run. There is also a MTB option.

http://adv.fit/desert-classic-duathlon/

yup the last 5k in a 10k/40k/5k separates the proverbial wheat from the chaff.

I did duathlon in Geneva NY run/bike/run/bike/run. Its on a nascar race track. Very fun and fast. Its called fly by night. Each biking leg is about 9miles (3 laps) . Each running leg is about 1.5 miles. a good amount of climbing too. I Highly recommend it

http://www.flybynightdu.com/

The 1st one of these 'Olympic' distance duathlons I did - early season, March or early April. I was one of those racers...got the 10k run done OK. The ride was tough, some cramping near the end. The last 5k? Fuggedaboutit. I remember getting off the bike and thinking 'what the hell am I doing?'. Finished the last 5k, but ugly. Tough distance between a full out sprint and an endurance-focused long course.

It's the best race I've ever done. Usually 1.7 mile run but it varies from year to year and the bike is 10.

This year they are also offering a r/b/r.

Indeed 10/40/5 is rough if you race it.
Ive felt better after a 70.3. :)

10/40/5 is much more cyclist friendly than the 5/40/10 format which some RDs like (because timing wise, it synchs well with an Olympic tri, and simplifies their volunteer deployments...). With the 10km off the bike it forces you to have legs off the bike to run, whereas a 5km is easier to fake after riding out of your skin... Back when I was a stronger runner I loved the 5/40/10km format way more than the 10/40/5, because you could scare the strong cyclists on the first run, and make them ride outside themselves on the bike, and many of them would self destruct in the last 3-4km of the run and bleed minutes...