Oh silly boy. Sign up and do it and you will know. Very tough race but I love it.

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

well, don't doubt the toughness of the race but would like to know what besides the heat/wind makes it "soooo" tough?

Swim was great, bike course was fun, run... thats a different story. Luckily it was cloudy this year but the hills are tough! I would love to do it again.

Study that bike profile again. The climbs are not very long but they are tough. What makes them worse is that there is no downhill recovery after the climbs. Notice that you descend first into a steep climb and then it's back on the gas on a flat windy section. Toop it all off with some absolutely horrible pavement for 95+% of the course.

Now the run. The first 3 miles or so you will feel like a rock star as they are flat to slight rolling. Then you turn at mile 3 into a 10% climb. Then it's a couple of more long steep climbs. Flat again for a few miles but very exposed and hot. Turn around and go back the way you came. By the time you get to the final 3 miles which are flat to slight rolling you are wiped out. You go into the race thinking you are going to light up those final 3 and it's all you can do to make it to the finish.

Can't wait to go back....

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

Very friendly atmosphere and lower key than many IM events - loved the race overall
Tough but fair is how I would describe it
Hard to get a steady rhythm on the bike due to wind and hills
Run starts out flat but plenty of hills and zero shade after about mile 3 - expect temps in the 90's

It's the peeps who keep showing up year after year after year and wipe the floor with me ;-)

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DFL > DNF > DNS

I don't think the hills on the bike are that bad, and for 2011 it looks like they've changed the bike course which eliminated one of the hills. (Their web page still shows "The Perfect Layout III" but the confirmation e-mail that they sent to me in December shows "The Perfect Layout IV". The short hill that you used to go up and then return down before climbing the "spiral staircase" is not part of this new course. They've added some "flat miles" out near Slaton.) However, it's definitely not a flat course, and the road surface always makes it tough. It can be hot, it's often windy, and it was slippery and wet (due to rain) in 2008 and 2009.

The hills on the run hurt me worse than the hills on the bike, especially when its hot.

It's well organized without some of the bling you get at other M-dot races, but one of my favorite races. A real challenge and well worth it.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

That would suck if they've changed the bike course to make it easier. One of the great things about this race is that it's tough but fair. Don't cheapen it by making the bike course easier.

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

Can anyone who has done Longhorn 70.3 compare the two races?

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TEAM HONEY BADGER

I don't know why they made a change. I doubt the race directory wanted to make things easier. Maybe there is road construction scheduled for this summer? It might be a safety issue? One year (2003?) it was really hot and the road started to bubble oil out of the asphalt. One of the pro's (well ahead of me) crashed on the switchback corner coming down the hill that is not on this year's map. By the time that I made it to this corner, the race director was standing there telling everyone to slow down.

There are still four 6% or greater climbs, the 4.5% and 4.9% climbs at Yellow House Canyon, and the long 2.9% climb on the return route after the spiral staircase. It's still a pretty challenging course.

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

I've done Buffalo Springs three times and Longhorn twice. Both great races but Buffalo Springs is much harder. There's a reason it's one of the few remaining 70.3's that has Kona slots.

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

The run is what it is, if you keep your powder dry over the first 4 1/2 miles you can really make hay on the middle portion, and the last three miles around the lake make easy to hang on. I don't know if I would call the bike leg hard, but it is slow. A lot of the road surface on the bike is chip seal so there are not many spots where you can feel like you can really get over the pedals and just hammer, it seems like there is always some environmental obstacle that is stealing 25 watts from you. I also think it is a course that is hard to maintain focus.

It is a great race, well organized and competitive, super volunteer support also. The lake and the Ransom Canyon complex are also pretty neat - you abruptly drop off these semi-arid plateaus into a green oasis, not something one would expect to encounter in Lubbock. Also, it's one of the last 70.3 races to offer IM slots, so some real studs show up every year.

the course is tough, and the competition is tough.
It's the perfect combination of heat, hills, and wind. It also draws one of the deepest 70.3 fields because of the challenging course and the Kona slots.

No hype, not a WTC corporate love-fest, and no flash. It real racing like it should be. It's a great race, but the parking sucks.

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Hilly Flats Racing

I believe the real challenge is finishing after the lake water has forced you to puke up everything in your stomach halfway through the bike.

Amen to that!

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

Living and training in Lubbock, I love to hear folks say this is a difficult course. Everyone here always talks about how flat it is (which it is), but the canyons around are amazing. I had not heard the bike was changing. I'll have to figure out which climb they are taking out. I'll check for local gossip for the reason for the change and report back.

I was wondering how peoples' times compared from other 70.3's to the 70.3 in Lubbock.

I watched it last year, and guys in my age group (25-29) who I know have gone 4:18 - 4:22 at New Orleans and Austin went 4:35 or worse there. The heat on the run did them all in.

It does look like a different bike course:

http://www.buffalospringslaketriathlon.com/...%20bike%20course.pdf

It does look like they took out one of the climbs (Horseshoe Bend). While that is my favorite climb in Lubbock, it is not always the safest. Especially with a ton of tri bikes going both ways. It is a shame though.

Just saw that new map. That sucks that they took out that climb. That was always fun. Hard but fun. I remember one year in the rain I climb it faster than I decended it.

Btw, TTULaw - what year are you? I graduated TTU Law in '97.

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"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

Was out there during College Nationals for a Talent ID race and the lake is spring fed so its cold and its very windy out there so its all about the conditions that you cannot see on a profile map.

Lubbock was an odd city but, had very nice people.

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Follow me at http://www.justinjharris.wordpress.com

That decent is always treacherous, but it seems like more people fall on the decent into T2 than anywhere. Of course a fall on the way to T2 sends you into asphalt, a fall coming down Horseshoe Bend sends you off a cliff.

I graduated in '96 (from high school, sorry I couldn't resist). I work for the Federal Public Defender. And you?

First of all we would like to thank all of those who have commented about Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3 in Lubbock, Texas. We have always considered it a great compliment to have our race discussed on the slowtwitch forum and take to heart every point, good and bad, that is mentioned about the race. For some clarification concerning the nature of the course allow me to express my view points on the many aspects of the race that create the challenge. Fact is, someone(don't know who but it wasn't me) suggested that the course and event represent a great primer for the "Big" event in Kona, and that this 70.3 Ironman offers similar challenges. While I see that in print I usually get a big grin over it and wonder how this 21 year old event located on the Llano Estacado plains of West Texas can possibly be similar to the Big Island of Hawaii. What I do know is that the true similarity of the two courses comes from the promise that certain elements of the events will vary from year to year, so that makes it a challenge to prepare for and then race. But, here are the elements that make Buffalo Springs a challenge: 1. Semi-Arid climate, which means you don't sweat in the shade and your sweat dries very fast on the bike. Also, breathing is a little more challenging in this condition. 2. There is always a wind, normal 10-15 but can be much greater. Normal prevailing wind is SW, but if it comes from the NE the course changes complexion like Angelina Jolie without makeup. 3. While the normal average high temperature is 92 for this time of year the record high was 114 degrees in 1994. We have had two years straight where the high was around 77-80 with rain through out the event. 4. Here is the real kicker, the elevation is a surprising 3250'. While not like the Rockies of Colorado this is enough elevation to make your throat dry and creates a feeling of shortness of breath. 5. Yes, this is the flat South Plains of West Texas but there are normally(will discuss what this means for 2011 in next paragraph) 8 hills on the bike and 3 hills on the run, with 2.9%-8.9% grade. Most of the course is in the Yellow House Canyons which actually runs 400 miles North/South, so there are lots of canyons for long distance cycling and Ironman distance racing. In comparing this course to Longhorn 70.3 it is like comparing NASCAR to Indy Racing and the only similarity is that they are both in the state of Texas, 425 miles apart. Longhorn is in the Hill Country while Buffalo Springs is in the Llano Estacado plains.

In regards to parking situation we wish we had a six lane entry road into the lake with a 2,000 acre parking lot; however, that is not the case. We promise that we do everything we can to move the traffic and get everyone parked as quick as possible. We have added more sheriff's as the race has grown, but still can't move them as fast as we would like. In comparing the event to Kona I remember back the first time I went to the big island 17 years ago, the parking was much easier than it is today. So, as races grow and become more popular the logistics of any event become more challenging. Thanks for understanding.

It was also mentioned that we had changed the bike course and had taken one of the hills out(the hairpin called "Golf Course Hill") of the course. While it is true that this is being done in 2011, please be assured it is only temporary for this year. Also, it is not being done to make the course easier, heaven forbid that any race director would do that. During the summer of 2010, actually right after the event, the South Plains experienced our annual rainfall(approximately 17 inches) in a matter of two weeks. This was labeled a "flood" and much water damage happened during this time. On the golf course hill the water wiped out the hairpin and rendered it impassable, and that portion of the road has been shut down ever since. The county authorities have assured us it will not be open again until some major work has been done on it and that will not be completed until 2012. There was also water damage on the "Spiral Staircase" but that will be repaired and in good order by race time on June 26. Please be assured that we would never alter any of the course to make it easier, just not in our nature.

Concerning the rough roads on portions of the bike course we agree that some of the farm to farm roads are rougher than we would like(we have ridden these roads for the past 28 years on both bicycles and motorcycles) and we are continually asking for repairs from the county. Farm to farm roads are controlled by the county and they are more interested in the farmer being able to move their farm implements than they are fast moving, sleek, high priced, fragile triathlon bikes. But, the good side of the story is that there is limited traffic(unless some farmer comes rumbling down the road with his tractor) on these roads.

Again, the comments have been appreciated very much, especially comments like, "This race has no hype, not a WTC corporate love fest, and no flash. It is a real racing, like it should be. It's a great race." In my pre-race meeting my way of saying basically the same thing is, "Thanks for coming to Lubbock to race an old school race course. This is not Starbucks racing and never will be, hitch up your saddles and get ready for a challenge!"

Mike & Marti Greer

Call me a homer, but it's impressive when the RD responds to posts within 48 hours of the initial post. I'm looking forward to another great series of races put on by the Greers