The starting cannon is on the pier up on the fish scale. If you're susceptible to loud bangs .. don't line up there. I did that one year cause in my pre race jitters I forgot where the cannon was. Some of the stuff in the write up is from quite personal experience. Took me a week before my hearing returned to normal. ;)

The pier side is where the faster swimmers usually line up. It gets crowded. It's a straight shot down the swim line from the edge of the pier. I usually lined up to the left a fair ways over with the slow swimmers. I'm not particularly slow, but I'm not fast either. I just aimed down course towards the turnaround boat and gradually made my way over to the swim line. It'll be less crowded over to the left. Keep in mind though that you're probably going to always be in a draft group or near other swimmers throughout the swim. If you're not, check your sighting. :P

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

That's what I figured, thanks :)

I've gotten to the point where I no longer ride from or to town, too much of a hassle and this is part of it. That's ok for me as I live here, have lots of options, and I'm not racing. Hopefully 2018 will have a finished highway and fewer biking distractions.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

The pier side is where the faster swimmers usually line up. It gets crowded. It's a straight shot down the swim line from the edge of the pier. I usually lined up to the left a fair ways over with the slow swimmers. I'm not particularly slow, but I'm not fast either. I just aimed down course towards the turnaround boat and gradually made my way over to the swim line. It'll be less crowded over to the left. Keep in mind though that you're probably going to always be in a draft group or near other swimmers throughout the swim. If you're not, check your sighting. :P


Agree on this.

My wife and I have raced here twice. Neither of us are really great swimmers - me 57 low, she 1:04, and we had good experiences starting left and then slowly angling in, and jumping in a good group after 400 - 500m and it starts to settle down a bit.

If you want reasonably clean water at the start, staying over to the left is better. The fast folks and the keeners tend to congregate towards the pier side of the line.

The actual start line seems to have moved out from where I seem to remember it from years ago, but if you are left and over towards the sea-wall, be careful of some of the submerged rocks over here - as is typical on the Kona coast, it's sharp lava rock and it may have sea urchins on it!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

80 F/26.7 C or higher water temperature at the pier this morning. Great day for an ocean swim. Numerous pro's are in town and a bunch of the ultra serious ultra elite age groupers as well.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

BTW, Kalikala Cusine is a new cafe right on Alii Drive in the Banyon Shopping Center (Big Island Jewelers, Unison etc). Seating is off the sidewalk on Alii Drive while the kitchen is in the little mall. They will be open Ironman Race day and will have a killer view of the swim and end of the race. Stop by and chat with the owner when you're in town and see if you can reserve a seat for race day if you're interested. Food is good as well. ;)

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Another survival tip:

Lots of manufacturers are on the island, either at the expo or lurking around. If you have an equipment problem or question, come down to the expo and ask around.

SRAM, Zipp, Quarq will have an Expo booth and we have tech assistance on hand. We will do what it takes to support your race, and many other vendors will too.

Good luck, and see you on the island!

Jim

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James Meyer
Quarq Founder / SRAM

Excellent point. I'll add to my list for next years update.


BTW guys on the water situation:

The DWS is reporting that our water tanks are getting dangerously low. Apparently 3+ months of tight water restrictions is wearing on folks. There's also a large contingent of athletes in town now. There's a good chance that there will be water outages over the next few days. Whether that's great than 50% I don't know, just passing on this morning's water report. Another well should be online this weekend. If so, the severe restrictions are supposed to be lifted.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

It's nastier than I expected with that elevated asphalt thing going on. I've been driving out to Kua Bay and riding north from there.

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Sylvan Smyth | http://www.sportstats.asia | sylvan@sportstats.asia | Starvas

It'll be interesting to see what this looks like when it's all done. Honestly I'm not thrilled with this design.

The run portion of the race on the Queen K should take place on the old part of the road I'm told and enter/exit the Energy Lab at the old entrance. There are a few obstacles they'll have to consider such as some trenches and the like so stay tuned if you're racing.

BTW, the folks at jack's Diving Locker put the temporary swim buoys up on Saturday. The should guide you to the IM turn. There are also some nice floats near the pier to make it exceedingly difficult to swim in the boat area. Difficult, not impossible. ;)

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Been here for two days with two rides from Town out to Waikoloa and back.

In short - it's a bit of a mess - the Queen-K - on the section before the Energy Lab and all the way out to the Airport.

Not sure what they are going to do for Race Day. If racing - I would suggest paying close attention at the Athletes Meeting. They will no doubt be going over all this in detail at that time as to what is going to happen with the bike and the run through this section.

When training and riding to/from Town - I would suggest no "hero riding" until you get out past the Airport. There is always a shoulder, but it's not the more generous shoulder that has been along this section in the past. It's pretty narrow in sections. Also on as of today, the shoulder on the new section coming back into Town is elevated - with what appears to be the final Top-Coat of ashphalt. It's a 5cm - 10cm drop down to the main road where the cars are!! In a couple of places, you need to transition from one level to the other - slow down and exercise some caution.

As always when riding - signal EVERYTHING. Stop at all stop signs and at stop lights. Give a Thank You (Mahalo) Wave to the locals when they give you a bit of a break or a safe wide berth.

Conditions? Yesterday fairly calm with light winds to/from Waikoloa. Today? From Scenic Lookout all the way to Waikoloa a howling and ferocious head/cross-wind. This was a tail-wind when we made the turn for Town after a stop for a coffee at Waikoloa, but then at Scenic Lookout shifted to a headwind all the way back into Town!

Also, I'll leave this to KonaCoffee's much better judgement, it seems "hotter" than normal - although, perhaps it's me - I'm not in great shape and have ridden in conditions like here in Kona zero times this year. (We had a cool, wet summer in Ontario).

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

The Vog is back Steve and that makes things a bit mugier than normal. I do think it's hotter as well. The AC s out on our house and the poor little portable can't keep the room very cool either. So yeah.

Good news: the severe water restrictions were lifted yesterday. If you're staying somewhere with a pool that's a bit low, it may get refilled now.

Oh and please listen to the caution posted above ... be very careful out there. Your real training is done. Don't push things until race day. And if you were planning on skipping this year's athlete briefing cause it's "old hat" you might want to rethink that.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Lots of manufacturers are on the island, either at the expo or lurking around. If you have an equipment problem or question, come down to the expo and ask around.


Yes. Cervelo started this a few years back - a high touch, concierge tech service for all athletes racing with a Cervelo bike here in Kona. Other brands, such as Argon-18, and I am sure a few others have followed suite.

This will only be set up ounce the Expo opens next week on Tuesday. Before that you will have to seek out either Velofix - https://www.velofix.com/locations/kona/ - (I've been in contact with Nick and he's very busy) or the good folks at Bike Works. We were in Bike Works on Tuesday morning, and it was reasonably quiet - the calm before the coming storm!! :)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I watched a set of three Ironman cyclists coming down Makala and turn onto Kuakini heading southbound yesterday. There's a three way stop there. They blew through the stop at a high rate of speed and came within a few inches of being a statistic, if the two car drivers had been less alert this would be another post altogether. That is a bad intersection. Don't do that.

But wait, there's more ...

The same riders caught up to my car at the red light on Kuakini where it crosses Palani Rd (just up from the King Kam). They blasted straight through that red light while there were cars in the intersection coming from both directions and heading in 4 different directions.


This is actually happened. It's not unusual and you will get hurt .. badly. Ask your fellow participants to slow down. Save it for race day guys.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Bumping this!

ALL athletes/riders in Kona please read over KonaCoffee's last post.

We are guests here, but beyond that, you need to obey the rules of the road - that's just comment sense, and the right thing to do!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

so, if we want to be super safe... and we dont care if we are riding on the course or not... is there some good riding we could do, starting at downtown kona.. probably looking for 20-30 miles.

As a matter of fact yes!

My main concern is with the narrower shoulders and varying heights of the bike lane on the Queen K due to the mess of construction. Race day that will be all resolved as the road is closed in that area and it's supposed to be finished before next years race. ahem..

From town, ride south on Ali`i Drive, stay on the shoulders as much as possible from just past Huggo's. Head all the way past the run turnaround and climb that nasty hill towards Keahou shopping center. Turn right at the light (you're still on Ali`i Drive btw) follow that along and down the hill past the Sheraton. It'll curve to the left at some point, just keep following it. If you like, make the first right after all the condo's vanish and you've made that sweeping left turn and head down into "The Pit" its a nasty but brief climb back out. Or just keep following Alii Drive all the way till you're pau (done) OR till you hit a very very steep climb to the belt highway. You can climb this if you like. I do it on my road bike only, but I'm out of shape now and a wimp anyway. ;) If you make it to the top and have had enough turn around (carefully) and ride back. The ride back past the pit will be at least 4x faster than the ride out. Did I mention there are hills on that part of the road? A bunch.

If you like, up at the very top of the end of Alii Drive/Parkway/Bypass you can swing down to the right and ride down to K-Bay (Kealakekua Bay). But what goes down must come up. It's a longish steep climb. As a note when I've done it I've climbed out and just before the intersection I switched to the wrong side of the road and rode on the shoulder facing traffic, that put me in position to make a left turn and stay on the shoulder the whole time, then when safe I switched back so I was riding the way you're supposed to. But I was doing it the last time on a busy day.

My guess is that by the time you get to the base of the climb to the junction with the highway you'll have enough mileage in.

The ride back is faster, mostly downhill. If you ride back into town and it's quiet .. let me know if you get a speeding ticket. I've been trying to get one on my bike in the early morning there for years. Hawaii County P.D. though seems to not want to give bicyclists souvenir tickets though. :)

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Oh and don't let the warnings scare you too much. Just be alert when you're out on the highway particularly in the construction area. The people that get the attention from the locals are those that are oblivious to their surroundings and endangering themselves.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

I've never understood why more people don't ride out to the south of Kailua Town - less, traffic, less cyclists, better roads to start.

The new Mamaloha By-Pass road now connects up with the main Highway south (#11) to Volcano near Captain Cook.

Picture here from yesterday https://www.facebook.com/...p;type=3&theater (making it look worse than it is!) is of me at the high-point of the Mamaloha By-Pass road were it connects back up to #11 South. As KonaCoffee suggested - turn right here, and it's an amazing drop, all the way down into K-Bay (near the Captain Cook Memorial).

You can climb back up out of here by reversing your tracks, or carry on to the left (south), on a one-lane road that looks like a dead-end, but it does keep going, It's #160 - and this give you a gradual climb all the way back up to #11. At the Junction there, there is a new Coffee shop and Cafe that has opened up - 2-Step Cafe. Perfect place for a coffee and a sweet treat. https://www.yelp.com/...2-step-cafe-honaunau

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

So, I am about to ask the most critical question of all for a spectator. No, seriously, and with your username I hope you can answer it.

Where's the good coffee? I need a dark, angry cuppa Monday morning, and won't have grounds there yet. Starbucks is closer (in style) than Dunkin, to give examples, but I want something local and good. Stronk. Which coffee shops are better? And what beans should I buy to take back home?

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The point is, ladies and gentleman, that speed, for lack of a better word, is good. Speed is right, Speed works. Speed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

I was astonished, last year, at the amount of douchebag cyclists riding through every part of town like it was a closed course. I've never seen anything like it. Really depressing.

I was astonished, last year, at the amount of douchebag cyclists riding through every part of town like it was a closed course. I've never seen anything like it. Really depressing. //

Well the 15 years I actually did the race and the 20 other times I went to watch it, all left me feeling bad about our impact on the roads there too, so your one off is actually the standard. At least in the early days it was not so many people(in the race) or that many that actually lived on the island. We had one stop light I believe at the beginning with wide open road once out of town. But it grew quickly, both the race numbers and the town itself, and unfortunately the cycling entitlement also grew along with it..


I think somehow that because it is so hard to actually get to Kona and the expense is so great, that people must feel that they kind of own that place while they are there, like being in an all inclusive club med. Hell, the underpants run was born out of that mentality!!!

I like Kopelani, but Daylight Mind is also good. I would buy Kona Peaberry from Kopelani, but it’s a matter a personal preference I guess.

There was a coffee place very close to the pier, on the other side of the road - but this was in 2015.

It had a sign "we sell Australian-style iced coffee", or something to that effect.

If you see that sign, I'd investigate there first.

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"Find a way, not an excuse". Goony, Kona, 2009

I was astonished, last year, at the amount of douchebag cyclists riding through every part of town like it was a closed course. I've never seen anything like it. Really depressing.


It's so easy:

1. Ride slow in town, and when out on the Queen K now with the construction and the lights, you really can't start to open it up until past the Energy Lab Turn off. This is actually perfect - a nice 10K easy warm-up and cool down built into every ride!

2. Signal EVERYTHING.

3. Stop at stop signs and stop lights and wait your turn

4. When out on the Queen -K the shoulder is pretty wide - wide enough to ride two-abreast - but keep right whether signal file or two abreast - this allows faster riders to pass on the left. There are some narrower sections of the shoulders that may not be suited for two-abreast.

From what I have seen here this week many cyclists do not adhere to 1 - 4. One can only assume that this is the way they ride at home. And now we know why motorists hate cyclists! :(

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog