I live close by the event area. The bike course can be very challenging if you don't know it. 3 main hills but only one can kill your race, it is The Beast, 3km at 8% average. take it easy there, especially on the first loop.

During the race plenty of things to do, depending on the weather of course.

pm me for more details, happy to help

cheers

one of the best races in the world. I did it with a bunch of friends last year and we had a blast. below is a list of things to remember

- transition is a long walk or ride from "town" so be prepared.
- be prepared to walk a lot around town
- food everywhere is expensive so don't walk around hunting for cheaper options. just eat
- go to a grocery store and buy lots of water
- the lake water is safe to drink
- you can swim pretty much anywhere in the lake so don't feel like you need to go all the way down to the proper area
- pacing is the key on the climbs- find a good rhythm and stay with it. I didn't find the first "big" climb to be that bad because I knew it was coming. what I wasn't prepared for was all the "rollers and thigh biters" from the end of the lake (30k mark) up to the "beast"
- heart break hill isn't bad but the 4 switch backs to get to it will wear you out so be mindful of that.
- the climb out of Egg is not bad at all, just a little worse than a false flat.
- be extra careful on the descents.

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Kirk Noyes

Downtubes are for Dinosaurs

What he said^. I'd add that with 2 loop on the bike and 4 on the run, there are a number of great places to camp out on the course for family/spectators.

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Badig| Strava

Nice bike course, there are enough flat and fast descents to hold speed so no need to smash it up the beast on the first lap.....

For spectators and those in & out of town, the train system is great, train stop is 2 min walk from Ironman event site, I believe they also do a bus service to heartbreak hill area. My followers had a great view near to the island on the swim & watched me come past transition on the bike jumped on a ferry went across the lake for a coffee & caught me on the other side of the lake before coming back for the run....

I am glad they are changing the run course slightly but still no sign of the new map?

Looks like it will be non wetsuit (unless it rains & temps drop!) but the new swim start pens should help the fight to the first buoy...

Looking forward to race day a week on Sun hope everyone is enjoying the taper period

Thanks for all the replies. The family and I leave tomorrow so good luck to everyone racing and if you pass by any M40-44 guys with Pain Train in big red letters on our asses, give us a shout!

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"It's too dangerous and expensive to ride with d*ckheads" -tridork

I went for a swim in the designated area the morning before the race. I felt a hard thwack on my head. It was a rower looking at me like "why is your head getting in the way of my oar?"

On the first big climb on the bike, you'll feel like your climbing a mountain in the TdF in that the crowd is so thick you cannot see the road. That was an awesome experience.

My tips are useless. There is a house literally connected to the side of the road at 37 kilometers with my blood on it. Don't crash into that stupid thing head first. All I remember is waking up to the sound of an ambulance siren with blood all over the place and broken bones. It is my only DNF in 30 IM's. I have some fairly bitter memories of the entire ordeal since I am still far from being back to "normal"

Bike course is surprisingly fast given the climbs. Road surface is beautiful and the descents are wide and not too technical. On the second lap I stayed in the bars for pretty much all the descents which I've never been able to do with my local hills. If you get a chance to ride some of the hills before the day it's worth it, you could pick up a lot of free time by descending well having checked it out beforehand.

Run course has some cobbles, they put mats on it but still beat my legs up quite a bit and caused some foot cramp on the final lap. Not sure what my tip for that is, more of a heads up!

Be careful if doing any training rides before the race!

We cycled past the race village this morning and passed a smashed race bike and pool of blood on the road (with police in attendance) just outside of the race village. Hopefully who ever was involved is ok.