Theres another thread here where this was recently discussed... search for "Amica 70.3" and it will pop up.

However...

I just rode the course last weekend...

The first 30-40 miles consist of nothing but rolling hills. You are either climbing or descending. None of the climbs are very long, although one is quite steep, but they are nonstop one after the other after the other. Road conditions on that part of the course are typical Rhode Island. Which is not too bad, but not spectacular. After the one steep climb theres a nice long recovery / descent though which is quite fast.

Last ten miles of the course are where it all goes downhill road quality wise. Theres a mile long or so stretch of road that is just absolutley awful. Its COVERED in potholes and it lasts forever and shakes the crap out of you. No way to stay aero through that stretch. You'll be lucky to keep your teeth in your mouth and any bottles in rear cages are bound to get launched.

After you get through that bit you get closer to downtown and then the roads are awful, railroad tracks, potholes, you name it. Its bad, or rather its what you would expect riding through a downtown city area in a budget crunch.

All in all the first 45 or so miles of the course are fun, and quite challenging. The last tenish or so miles became about trying not to break my bike or land in a huge pothole and werent much fun at all.

I rode it twice last week.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91776883


The description in the post above sums it up. Rolling hills, nothing horrible except one slightly steeper one at 28 miles; there's a second steepish climb a bit further. Overall the elevations seems to be about 2800' (which is actually more than Oceanside by 600-700 feet which I thought was tough). But this doesn't feel as hard.


The 2nd half is faster, but the last 10 miles do suck in terms of road conditions.

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So do you think Disc or 808 rear with 808 front?

I would go disc. but then, i would always go disc.

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Here's another version of the elevation profile:

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