i thought the RD referenced 2015 race changes, but not necessarily bike course changes. hopefully someone in the know could reply....

Saw on the IM Boulder Facebook page that the race director was quoted at Ironman Arizona as saying that "you will love the new bike course".
Hopefully it'll be posted soon.

I've heard it will be run Grandprix style with 112 loops inside the Whole foods parking lot.

I'm doing boulder as my first tri/ironman what'd you all think of the course? Any advice?

I heard that the new bike course will go up to Carter Lake - that is one heck of a good climb - and of course a super fast descent

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Graham Wilson
USAT Level III Elite Coach
http://www.thewilsongroup.biz

It was a pretty fast bike course last year, I went 5:36:31 on 155 watts NP and weighed 73ish kg's. The wind was down. If they put the Carter Lake climb in it will slow the bike split by 10 minutes or so. Its not that the climb slows you down so much, its the descent on the north side of the lake. The elevation loss is too rapid to make up for the climb. All but the super light and/or best bike handlers will have to use the brakes on that descent, especially if the wind is out of the south. If you are from sea level, don't worry about the drop in power cycling at altitude, you more than make up for it with less resistance in thin air.

The run course is well shaded for a lot of the run, I hope that doesn't change as August at altitude can be brutal if the sun hits you directly.

I am pretty sure i saw on the Boulder 2015 FB that the race Dir said it was change to lesser elevation gain with newly proposed 2-loop or 2-lollipop loop bike course.

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

Of course.Let's make an ironman in colorado easier...

No it's not. WARD or Super Flag is a good climb. Carter Lake really is nothing. Get into a rhythm in a low gear & stamp it out. Really doesn't take that long, it's all about pacing & picking the right gear. Even in an Ironman it isn't that big a deal, CDA has much worse climbs than Carter Lake.

YES...do NOT drink any water from the Rez. Doctors from the race I talked to said there were hundreds of similar cases from the race with intestinal issues. Likely from whatever festered in the water after heavy rains AFTER they did the water testing to determine safety levels. I started vomiting around 30 miles into the bike--so something took hold of me in about an hour of exiting the water & continued all day (lots of walking!) It rained about 2.5 days. Also, get good at dodging people on an overly narrow bike path with locals, kids, dogs, tubers...bikes all over during the run. I ran through a nice cloud of "pot smoke" from a group of teens near a turn around near Eben G. Fine park race day too. Not sure if they eventually were "shooed away" by cops or not.

Agree here, this should be a difficult course set up

Let's toss Super Flagstaff in there! Agreed, take advantage of the mountains. How about Lee Hill or Old Stage or both? UP Lee Hill & down Left Hand Canyon then out to Carter Lake. No sea level folks would want that course though & we'd all want triple rings or compact cranks!

Although a ride that heads any point west of Boulder would make an awesome route, I think we can all agree that it will never happen. I think a route that included an out-and-back to/from Golden along 93 would be quite challenging, yet not impossible for the out-of-towner.

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Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |

I hope they add some hills. I think it's ridiculous that it was one of the flatter courses on the IM circuit as a whole... in COLORADO....ummm the rocky mountain state. Same with IM Choo. But It's predictable. Yet IMWI still sells out even with one of the more challenging bike courses.... in the supposedly flat midwest. Anyone see irony here?

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Whats surprising about it never happening is you'd think the boulder area would be all about showing how amazing the area is for riding. But instead they throw the course out to the east which isn't anything special at all. I don't think a ride into the mountains would be impossible as long as you don't make it up to longs peak and back or something nuts like that. People just need to learn that you can change the chainrings and cogs on their bike.

Exactly. You have a power plan and setup your bike accordingly. A LOT of riders need triple chain rings for iron distance based on their w/kg. If a pro is going 12mph up a climb at 4.5w/kg ftp... guess what... Joe age grouper at 3w/kg better only be going 6-7mph...since they have a 7hr bike leg to complete not a 4h30.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

I did the Branson sprint a couple years ago when they had the 70.3 there, I couldn't believe how many people were talking about how hard the bike course was. You can completely flatten a bike course, the bike course should never been difficult just slower. Run courses... well thats a different story.

Yo thanks man!! I love the advice! It's probably eutrophication in the lake from pollution. I hope the bike course goes along the mountains but not into them first time im if I wanted a crazy altitude bike course I would've done tahoe I think the run makes up for the fast bike from what I've heard it's hot

My post had more to do with shutting down the roads in those locations for extended periods of time. I just think it would create a lot of static with the locals and with cyclist/vehicle tensions seemingly on the increase, adding an IM to the mix probably wouldn't make things better. I could be wrong, but isn't that why the IMCDA course changed...the folks up by the golf course weren't happy with the roads being closed all day?

I agree that a ride up Boulder, Lefthand or S St Vrain Canyon wouldn't be extremely difficult from a competitor's standpoint, but the logistical/community relations part of it is what makes it challenging. Sure, they did it with the US Pro Challenge, but I want to say that the road closures were relatively brief. But I could be wrong there, too.

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Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |

Darkhorse is correct. To add something like Lee Hill, or Left Hand, or even Super James is not something anyone will be able to get a permit for much less want to risk putting athletes on.

Think about it from my perspective guys. Lets just assume we send you guys up on an out and back, or up Lee Hill and back down further north. The fact that we all can agree on is that 90% of triathletes do not handle a TT bike very well. I am not concerned at all to have everyone climb up Lee Hill or Left hand....its how do I get them down from there. This is the largest hurdle an event director needs to address.

Darkhorse also mentions the other largest hurdle that some may not consider, and that is the local communities perception, and more importantly their access. We can't just shut down roads that people live on for hours at a time. Its not how this all works. If you observe all of the IRONMAN's in the country this is the prevailing issue. I manage or have managed about every bike course in the country for an IRONMAN and this is the largest hurdle behind safety, public access.

A few people have referenced Wisconsin or Lake Placid as hard courses that are super attractive to people and they sell out super fast. You have a point but keep in mind Boulder had more climbing than both of those with 2014's course. So even though we did not climb into the mtns, we still had a rolling course that was challenging. Wisconsin and LP are both historic and popular races because of the tradition. It will take time for other races to gain that status and appeal.

I will never be able to find a course that makes everyone happy but you can count on it not going into the mountains. Its not something we can get a permit for or throw triathletes racing in a straight (or not so straight) line onto. Sorry guys, its the way the permit process works.

The new course I am working on approval for is not out East of the mountains. It would stay in and along the foothills and canyons of Boulder and Larimer county. This course would also be a bit flatter and should roll faster than last years. I am working on final approvals with local authorities and should be announcing something soon. I don't want to announce and then have to change it, so I want to make sure it is properly vetted. The run course will not go up and over the Foothills Parkway Bridge this year. It will stay along the Boulder Creek in that area and cut the 4 times you have to climb that bridge out. The run course will be much faster due to this.

You guys know how to get a hold of me, so let me know if you have any questions. Follow us on Facebook, that is where I make most announcements.

DC

dave.christen@ironman.com

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DC
Dave Christen
IRONMAN Race Director and Operations Manager
dave.christen@ironman.com

Well said Dave.

I for one am excited to hear about the bike change. I live in Greeley and could really care less about racing anything on the east side of I-25 again even though I train on much of it. Shoot, if any of the course from the Loveland Lake to Lake Tri gets thrown in people would have plenty of climbing to wet their whistles. Glade road and Horsetooth are plenty for most folks who don't climb much.

Thanks for the run change as well. Lets just say that the parkway bridge hurt, especially the second loop.

any idea when the RD will announce the course changes?

Yeah. Look two posts up.

Meaning...up Horsetooth Rez/Ft. Collins. Some on the Lake to Lake Tri course. Possibly along that god-foresaken windy County Line Rd...at least it's not WAY East.