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Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone?
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Hello all,

I just signed up for Ironman Switzerland in July 2015, just thought I'd throw something out to see who's signed up. I'll be traveling from Colorado, up for sharing training progress, travel info, or just knowing someone when I get there and maybe even add a friendly competitive aspect to race day.

Give me a shout if you're headed to Zurich in July.

Mike
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [COTriBiker] [ In reply to ]
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Coming down from Holland to race, my first IM! Training going fine at the moment, need more bike miles but its my strongest leg. Out of curiosity, what made you decide to do IM Zueri as your European IM?

Thomas
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [snaaijert] [ In reply to ]
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Hey Thomas, thank for chiming in, Zurich will be my first IM as well! Training going well on my end too, using a training plan in a book by Don Fink. Swimming has always been my weak leg so I'm trying to work on that. Picked up a 2015 Felt AR5 this year and love it so far, swapping out the handlebar now to make it a full tri bike for July. I travel to Europe frequently for work, so I chose IM Zurich simply because it aligned with a trip for work so I don't have to buy my own airline ticket and it wasn't sold out. Do you have a finish time goal or just want to cross the line for your first IM?

Mike
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [COTriBiker] [ In reply to ]
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Ah yeah I've been eyeing the Felt AR series also, very nice bike. Would like to see some pictures when you've turned it into a "full" tri bike. I'll be running my road bike with clip ons. My first goal will be to finish, second goal is sub 10 ;) I try not to look at arbitrary goal times too much but can't help thinking about it. I think I'm in about 5hr to 5:10 shape on the bike and the swim is quite new to me but I'm making quite some progress there, swim/run has been my winter focus, did a 1:27 half mary a month ago. The only thing is that here everything is pancake flat so its hard to fit in climbing in training. Have you ever ridden in the Zurich area on your bike? I've ridden some of the Swiss passes (Klausen, Pragel, Ibergeregg, Grimsel, Nufenen, Furka, Susten, Gotthard) but not the rollers around the Zurisee. I'd imagine in Colorado you see quite some elevation, that should help you in your training.
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [COTriBiker] [ In reply to ]
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I will be traveling from Florida with a training partner and our families. I'm excited to race but can't help but feel that we will be thoroughly under trained for the climbs since we live on the coast :-) Either way, it will a great experience. Good luck and maybe we'll run into each other around Zurich!

--

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


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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [snaaijert] [ In reply to ]
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Thomas...I'll be happy to send you some pics when I'm done, pulled off the handlebar last night and hoping to get the base bar and bar-end brake levers on tonight. I bought the Ar specifically with the purpose of using as both road and tri with it's reversible seatpost and aero profile. It's not as easy to swap between the two as I had hoped, but sprung for Di2 so when in road setup I can flip the seat, plug in my clip-ons and be ready for a tri complete with bar-end shifters.

I've never ridden in Europe yet, hoping to get my bike or rental out for one of my work trips. I live at 6k feet above sea level and plenty of elevation rise when I want it, so hopefully that will help out the training.

Are you traveling solo to Zurich? I'll have my wife with.

Mike
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [SWM_LIKE_A_ROCK] [ In reply to ]
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Hey Swim Like a Rock,

Thanks for the reply, I'm sure with your training partner and families you'll be busy enough but if you're looking for someone to grab a post-race celebratory beer with let me know. Maybe try cranking up the resistance on a trainer to get some work on the quads for the hills, you should be ok. best of luck to you as well!

Mike
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [COTriBiker] [ In reply to ]
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Hey, I will be there to watch and encourage you. I am not competing myself because it would be too early for me to do an ironman. But I will go to the course to get some Inspiration as I live quite Close.

good preparation everyone!

10k - 30:48 / half - 1:06:40
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [COTriBiker] [ In reply to ]
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Mike I will be travelling up solo but my girlfriend lives about 60 mins from the start of the race. After the race I'll actually go to the Alpe d'Huez with friends for a week to "recover" and watch the Tour in person (us and a million of our closest friends). Should be awesome. Just not sure how much cycling I'll be able to do in the days after the IM but we will see. Not so much easy riding over there ;)
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [COTriBiker] [ In reply to ]
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I may take you up on the post race beer :-) I've been utilizing heavy resistance on my trainer with the Sufferfest videos so I'll be as ready as I can be I suppose. Can't wait to see Heartbreak Hill up close and in person, and we get to see it twice, yay! Should be a great time!

--

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


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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [SWM_LIKE_A_ROCK] [ In reply to ]
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I will be in this year for IM Zurich (from the UK), second time around..

It is a great course plenty of flat and fast sections on the bike but also some honest climbing up to Egg & Forch, road conditions generally good with a nice (short) climb at the end of each lap, very spectator friendly!

The swim is great, very clean nice water, could be close again to non wetsuit depending on the weather?

Run course has quite a few turn points, I did hear they are changing it slightly but haven't seen any revised maps as of yet.

It also has one of the shortest transitions in IM so quick T1 & T2 even if you like to faff about a bit.......!

Looking forward to another crack at this, hope everyone's training is going well.
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [jkl] [ In reply to ]
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Some good info! Thanks. Can you say how much elevation is on the bike course? Seems like every source is different, but a ballpark number is 1500m. Would you say thats correct? Im talking two laps total ofc.
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [snaaijert] [ In reply to ]
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I would say 1500m is correct, my Garmin read just over 5,000ft elevation gain, but I am sure it slightly over reads it...

Looking at the data it looks like approx. 45 miles (70 Km) of flat bike and the rest is made up of some small up/down sections, a longer climb The Beast (Egg & Forch) and of course heartbreak hill which is short but has slightly steeper gradients.

The main reason I am going back is for the bike course, I don't mind a bit of climbing but I do like flat and fast too, so a nice mix
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [snaaijert] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks all for the great info. It'll be my wife and I traveling to Zurich, send me a message if you want to say hi before the race or join in a post-race celebratory beverage (hopefully!) Since it was requested, I'll try to figure out how to post a pic of my bike I just converted to tri for the race. Hope the training is going well for everyone and feel free to keep the posts coming as we get closer to race day!
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [COTriBiker] [ In reply to ]
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Planning on it for 2016 if anyone is going back to back. I jogged some of the run route last Sep while visiting enroute to Powerman Zofingen.
Last edited by: HuffNPuff: Apr 15, 15 17:55
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [COTriBiker] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not racing this year but have been living in Zurich for the past 14 years. Give me a shout if you need info on local things.

Free Training Plans and Canvases: abetteranimal.com (IG: @abetteranimal )
Home Cooking: culaccinokitchen.com (IG: culaccinokitchen )
Zurich, Switzerland
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [slowbeast] [ In reply to ]
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I've been keeping an eye out for the water temperature for the Zurisee and its creeping up on being over the wetsuit legal threshold, currently at 23.4 with a scorching weekend ahead of us. Cant change the weather I guess but as a less than stellar swimmer would have liked to use the wettie ;)

Heres the water info btw: http://www.tecson-data.ch/zurich/mythenquai/
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [jkl] [ In reply to ]
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jkl wrote:
I will be in this year for IM Zurich (from the UK), second time around..

It is a great course plenty of flat and fast sections on the bike but also some honest climbing up to Egg & Forch, road conditions generally good with a nice (short) climb at the end of each lap, very spectator friendly!

The swim is great, very clean nice water, could be close again to non wetsuit depending on the weather?

Run course has quite a few turn points, I did hear they are changing it slightly but haven't seen any revised maps as of yet.

It also has one of the shortest transitions in IM so quick T1 & T2 even if you like to faff about a bit.......!

Looking forward to another crack at this, hope everyone's training is going well.

How technical are the descents? Are carbon clinchers OK on this course under wet conditions, or do you need strong braking on this course?
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [HuffNPuff] [ In reply to ]
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I would say that the descents are not technical at all, one or two tighter turns but no real hard braking.

It was a little wet last year & I do not remember having any issues with full carbon clinchers, plan to run them again this year, regardless of weather.

It looks warm in Zurich at the moment and the lake temps are going up very quickly, here is a good link to the water temp:

http://www.tecson-data.ch/zurich/mythenquai/
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [jkl] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. Actually, I plan on doing the race in 2016. I passed through Zurich last year on the way to another race, and checked out the transition area and part of the run.
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [snaaijert] [ In reply to ]
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Countdown is on and the water temp is definitely creeping up.Being from from Florida, there's not much chance to swim in a wetsuit most of the year so doesn't really matter to me, but I'll definitely take the extra float if the temp stays down :-)

Hope everyone's training has gone well and look forward to a great day for us all on July 19th! Stay safe.

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


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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [SWM_LIKE_A_ROCK] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah the lake is at 27.9degrees now (82F), I've gone ahead and ordered a swimskin for the race... Hoky smokes that went up fast. Bib numbers are up, mine is 441!

Received an email today saying they changed the run course, apparently it has less turns and elevation now. But when I check out the course it looks the same as last years parcours... Maybe I'm overlooking something?
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [snaaijert] [ In reply to ]
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I am traveling from Florida too. Training in the heat has been great but a little worried about the climbing. I've been doing a lot of bridge repeats and trying to find every headwind out there. This state is flatter than a pancake.

Bib 542!
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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [f1onvixens] [ In reply to ]
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Bridge repeats have been the name of the game for our last few Sunday long rides. With the brutal heat we've been training in, us Floridians should be plenty prepared for the heat on race day! We are bibs 1197 and 1198. Our race kits have Pain Train in red letters so make sure you yell at us when you see us out there. Looks like we may saving some space in the suitcases without the wetsuits ;-)

Good luck to all!

----

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


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Re: Ironman Switzerland 2015 (IMCH) anyone? [SWM_LIKE_A_ROCK] [ In reply to ]
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Might want to save some space afterall.. Water temp dropped about 5 degrees overnight (not kidding), it's now around 22! Certainly not complaining, but if the temps rise again I guess we could just as easily see them creep over the legal temps again. I'm also not sure of the Mythenquai temps are the temps that are being used by the organisation, but it's at least a guideline I guess. Good luck the last couple of days and safe travels.
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