Not sure where you're coming from and what road conditions you're used to. But...

The bike course has in the past had holes, cattle guards, bumpy roads,..... But that's what I ride everyday in Austin and am used to it. The roads aren't perfect like they are in other races which is a shame, but pay attention and you should be ok

Strava shows 2500 ft elevation gain on last years course. For a 2.5 hour ride that's pretty on par for an Austin ride. You're constantly going up and down, but not huge hills.

Enjoy the race!!

Each Ironman has its challenges. There are better choices, in my opinion, but last year I did Austin. The bike course is not bad because of the elevation gains, but after huffing it up the hill you can not get any speed, down the other side, because of rough roads and bridges at the bottom of hills, that have a 2 inch rise from the asphalt to the concrete. A good chunk of each loop of the run, was gravel. The swim will change as to the weather conditions. Ours was 48 degrees outside temp, with 68 degree water temp and 15 mph winds causing some swells and whitecaps. That being said, it was a journey that I am glad I did.

Thank you!

I am from Los Angeles... We do have some hills here. I suppose it really is all relative to where one trains.

2.5 hours for 56miles? I'll probably take me 4 hours for rolling hills.

2500ft elevation gain? hrm.

Not sure if this is accurate for this year: http://www.ironman.com/~/media/9616118e48ec4283a3e9ddb7e28b5dc6/im703austin%20bike%20elevaion%202016%20web.pdf

WOW - that is a significant change in weather conditions. I am hoping for the best this year. Gotta admit, being in Los Angeles, one takes weather for granted.

I am hoping to make up the time huffing up the hill going down hill, but I guess that won't be happening. :)

I too will be out there this year, and for the first time.

Just FYI, the IM website likely has the elevation maps all wrong. A guy who did it last year said his Garmin showed 2500 feet total ascent on the bike and 502 feet on the run. The website shows 1555 and 177.

The good news is that we're all on the same course. Best wishes!

This will be my first HIM...Since you cannot find out on the ironman website how many people have signed up. How many people sign up for this race? 1,500? 2,000? Just curious..

Hopefully we will have some cooler weather, I live just a couple of hours away in The Woodlands and its starting to get hot again. :)

years past it has been a large race probably like 2500-3000 but hopefully it will be off the cliff small so that they get the hint to change the race course. The bike is that bad so mentally prepare for being beat up big time. Elevation I recall is more than 1700 as my Garmin from last year said 2146ft but it is made worse by the fact that most of the hills would be nothing if it weren't for losing all of your momentum on the bad washed out roads at the bottom.

For the run I actually have grown to like it a bit as you get to see your family a lot. It does not have major hills but mentally prepare to either going down or up the whole time as there really is no flat section just take it easy on the uphill and bomb down the down hills.

Good luck to all as I will not be there this year.

The bib list for 2016 is up and it appears to be roughly 2,250 signed up as of 9/13.
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Straightenin' the curves; Flattenin' the hills
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Coached by Mike Plumb @ TriPower MultiSports
https://www.strava.com/athletes/1149072 - https://www.instagram.com/thoswoods/

You'll be fine. Just get some good bottle cages and carry a couple of extra tubes. My biggest memories of the bike course are the number of bottles on the ground and the number of people changing flats.

There seems to be a huge discrepancy on the webpage and the real event.

Best of luck on the course!

I've been checking the weather every few days. I am hoping that it cools down as well.

It's been quite warm in Los Angeles as well.

All the best out there! Kill it!

according to my iPhone weather app it looks like 70 in the morning and 87 in the afternoon. Still pretty hot but that's TX for you... I was hoping for 5 to 10 degrees cooler. I wonder if we will be wetsuit legal? hmmm...

My garmin has last years bike elevation gain at 2057ft.
The roads weren't great, but it's not as bad as some say.
If you're going to Austin to enjoy the city and do the HIM, you will enjoy the trip.... If you are solely going to race, you'll probably wish you had picked a different location.


ALSO, (this is extremely important), it's going to be dark when you park your car. Make damn sure you know exactly where you parked, find a landmark, fly a flag from your roof, mark it on google maps on your iPhone.... anything! It'll be sunny and hot when you're finished, the parking lot will not look the same as it did when you parked... there were many (including myself) who spent a long time walking up and down rows of cars looking for thier ride! There were people just sitting on the curbs with all their stuff looking defeated!

hrm - I have not really thought about a wetsuit. I might just go in w/out to save time changing out of it.

HA! "fly a flag from your roof" - that is funny. I would not be happy if I had to be looking for my car after the HIM. Thank you for that.

Just ordered some more puncture resistant tires for this one. Thinking the Grand Prix TT's may not hold up too well from what i've heard.

I'm seeing reports on the fb page that there is only one really bad washed out section of road this year, the others have been repaired. Hopefully this is true. Looks like it's going to be a hot one as well.

Any idea what section this is? Planning to go out and take a look on Friday.

Mile 33.7 is what was reported

Thanks

Anyone have an update on water temp? Also, I've heard that it's a must to carry your bike out of T1??

I live in Austin, raced it twice and volunteer regularly. Most don't carry their bikes out. But it is risky. There a bunch of thorny burrs out there that can puncture tires.

Also good point above about doing something to ID your car. It can be hard to find your car later in the day - trust the veterans on this.

FWIW, there is always a big dog show at the Expo center the weekend of the race so on Saturday I like to check out the different breeds after bike packet pick up and dropping off your T2 bag.

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It is the mind itself which builds the body.
-Joseph Pilates

Road TT's last year zero issues. Hell i think i may run SS this yr.........i said i would never do this course again after last year, but i am back again, FML. One last race to try to forget what happened in Kona, bring on the shit roads of east austin.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Alright you're the second person to say run TT's, guess I'm doing it.