Same question....any advice, comments on that course? Thanks

What are your usual preferences? Power-to-weight?


I've looked at the profile and ran a BBS simulation. It looks like the climb is nothing threatening and peak gradients look like ~10%, but at my weight and power (FTP 4.1W/kg), there will still be sections of bogging down to relatively low speeds. I'm sticking with a 52/36 and 11-25, but that's what I use for nearly every setting.

Actually, if I could afford to switch my powermeter to 130BCD, I'd get a 55/42 setup with an 11-28 or 11-30 cassette for this course. The descent is very long and gradual, so with the right winds it seems like running out of gear is a real possibility.

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

Can you comment on the nature of the descent? Is it switchback technical or is is a straight shot high speed thing? I am hovering at 4W per kilo FTP and planning to use 50/34 with 11-28 11 speed to keep the power on the climbs at a low enough wattage with a high enough RPM.

Here is my BBS comparison: all at 85%IF, 240FTP


Worlds 70.3 Zell: 2 hours 47 mins estimated time


Texas 70.3: 2 hours 23 mins estimated time (actually was 02:22:33)
Puerto Rico: 2 hours 30 mins estimated time (actual was 2:30 min)


That climb bust be doing some damage, appears slower than last years Worlds 70.3.


14' Worlds 70.3: 2 hours 39 mins estimated time

---

2016:
IMFL #12
http://www.bestbikesplit.com

Sorry, I don't understand anything about these letter FTP, BBS, BCD, W/kg....etc. Don't know what does that mean, sorry for my ignorance.
I'm not very familiar with these technology / terminology.
At least I understood 11-28 / 11-30. Might need to change my cassette :)
anyway,
TKS

I haven't ridden it, but looking at the maps closely it seems like the steepest portions - just after the peak - are rather technical (and too steep for any gear, anyway). There are ski-lifts marked on both sides of the road as well as many tight curves, so I assume it's more switchback-y than straight. I'll ask a friend who did the race last year.

The rest of the course, though, is very much highway riding from what I heard - and significant portions of it at a slight decline. BBS reports long sections of +50km/h at low watts. My cadence preferences are pretty average with a lean towards +90RPM on the flats, and it seems like I'll be able to maintain +70RPM on the steep sections with a 36/25 - but I'll test these things this month and might opt for an 11-28 cassette.

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as intimidating :)

I was just trying to frame my reply in the context of my power (FTP stands for Functional Threshold Power, or about my maximum for an hour), weight (W/kg normalizes the watts to my weight, relevant for climbing) and cadence parameters. BBS means BestBikeSplit.com, a rather handy site for analysing a race-course and planning for it. BCD is the Bolt Circle Diameter, or rather: "Compact or Double?" - 110 is a compact, 130 is a classic double.

It does seem, though, that for all but the most powerful pros, a 42/21 lowest gear might be too hard.

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

I rode the course last august I would say for definite you'll be over geared.

It's a long climb with and pretty steep in parts. I saw one or two guys amusingly come to a stand still and keel over into the tarmac.

I ran 54/42 11/28 from memory. If I recover from my current injury and do race this august I'll swap out the 42 for a 39. I had to grind a little more than I'd have liked.

Other than the climb it's a pretty quick course. Great asphalt for the most part though there were some rough technical sections in and out of transition. We had heavy rain which didn't help

this might be helpful: https://www.strava.com/activities/188983938

Cheers! Looks like that final kick on the climb is over 10%? Ouch.

---

ZONE3 - We Last Longer

So I take it that my 52/38 with a cassette 12/25 would be suicide? I hate changing gear especially only for 6 miles of the course.

It should be easy to swap out the 12/25 for 11/28. It's a 5 min change over and you are set.

It is easy I just like my setup. Plus I am just lazy...ha! I guess if I want legs for the run I better change.

Def not suicidal. But I wouldn't say optimal. Weighing the cost of a new cassette against the $$$ that you've paid WTC in race fees plus travel expenses, you'd be stupid not to change it though.

An 11 would be handy coming down the other side of the hill too.

Yeah, I think I am just going to have to make the change to save my legs. Thanks all for the input. Thanks for the strava share too. It helps to grasp what the course is like. Was there lots of twisty turns on the climb or is it a straight up grind?

How technical (or not) is the other side of the climb. I am trying to decide if I want to use my Bonetrager Aeolus 70 mm front or use a Zipp 404 in the front. I am a decent technical descender but switchbacks and wind on the 70 mm Bonetrager on sub 140 lbs is not often great.

This video i found should give you an idea. The high point is around ~35min in.


I assume they have the downhill roads paved by now....


https://vimeo.com/99313789

---

2016:
IMFL #12
http://www.bestbikesplit.com

wasn't overly technical up or down from memory.
Was able to push quite hard on the down and I don't recall any too tight bends.

I have ridden the course, starts flat and fast. try hold back a tiny bit initially, don't get carried away. Then the first 8Ks of the climb are pretty steady and easy, I would say ave gradient of 6%, can stay in the bars and power up, try keep a reasonably high cadence, save the legs for the last bit of the climb. The final 2K of the climb are proper, you're in the Alps, the gradient is about 16%. I was riding a road bike with standard sized cranks up front and a 12-25 at the back - I had to get out the saddle quite a bit. I would recommend going compact cranks up front and running a 12-25 at the back, or normal cranks with a 12-28 at the back. The first bit of the descent is just as steep with some 180 degree switchbacks - go easy for the first 2 K and then you can fly. Once off the descent, it's flat and sometimes a bit narrow and a little technical. All in all, other than the last 2K of the climb, it's quick.

Great post, tks!

So just qualified this past weekend and now quickly trying to figure out best bike choice and accommodations.

I'm debating between tri bike (Speed Concept) or road bike (Madone) with clip-ons. Both for ease of travel and partially due to the nature of the course. I know my tri bike will be faster, but I'm ok to lose a few minutes of the bike course if it really reduces my hassle time.

I'm thinking of purchasing a travel bag, either Ruster Hen House (saves on airline fees), or a Scicon Aerocomfort Tri (can get a deal).

I have reservations on the Hen House only because I have the 2015 Speed Concept and I really don't want to get into removing the fork and putting it back together again. Madone is much easier to travel with easier to build.

I am flying via Icelandair out of Toronto into Munich. Airline fee is $120 to bring the bike if I get the Scicon bag.

My last question is, what would you recommend I do post race with my bike. I am planning to stay in Europe for 2+ weeks post race to do some backpacking and my options are, ship the bike home (Ontario, Canada), ship to Amsterdam (where I'm flying home from) and then bring back on the plane with me, (another $120 to bring on plane), or any other suggestions. Do any bike shipping companies ship to Canada?

Thanks for any responses/suggestions.

P.S. If anyone is flying home to Toronto post race and wants to take my bike with them, I could have someone meet you at the airport and I'd be glad to pay you for your service!

Be careful with a Ruster Hen House because additional bag fees on international travel can easily eliminate the advantage of that particular case. For example, I just came back from a race in Europe. I flew Delta which lets you check 1 bag free per passenger. I checked a bag for myself (and 1 each for my family) and my bike and paid $100 for the 2nd bag fee - not a bike fee - so $200 roundtrip. But if I had flown with a Ruster then I would have had to check a 3rd bag which is $200 each way thus increasing the cost from $200 to $600 roundtrip. Now if you are flying with your SO, then they could have checked the other part of the Ruster as their 2nd bag which would have reduced your roundtrip baggage cost to $400, but either way the Ruster might eat you alive depending on the bag fees on the airline you choose. Shipping my bike would have cost me $650 so my bag saved $450. TBT shipping to Zell from my location is also $650, so traveling with a bike case is practically a no brainer...except possibly for someone that intends to backpack all over. Depending on your logistics, one option is to check the case in storage at major train stations as you transit from Zell to Amsterdam. But you will need to verify with each station that they have such a facility and the costs.

 


http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/509866014

---

------
"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

I have traveled with my 14' SC at least 3-4x now. I much prefer TBT and will use for Worlds this year even though its a whopping $650 from Dallas. Its not hard to dis and reassemble the SC once you have done it few times, but what always gets me is i get all new "creaks" when i do it. I want to pickup my pick as it was when i dropped off and no stress of screwing anything up and hunting down a bike shop.
I have Germany plans post race and dont want to lug bike case around from Airport-Train-Car and back.

---

2016:
IMFL #12
http://www.bestbikesplit.com

Yeah, I definitely think TBT or similar would be most convenient, and still price competitive for me, but I have yet to find an option within Canada, specifically Toronto area for it.