I stayed in Nuremberg and hired a car. Was pretty straight forward to get to Roth, maybe 30 minute drive. Ample parking everywhere. That said, if I was to do it again, I would probably look to stay a bit closer to Roth. You wouldnt know that one of the biggest triathlons in the world was taking place just down the road, so I would look to stay a bit closer to soak up a bit more of the atmosphere.

I went Air BnB, cant remember the exact price, but it didnt break the bank. Split between me and a non racer buddy. Nuremberg is a nice city to stay in though, plenty to do if your going with 'non triathletes' etc.

One tip would be to, to not leave bike check in until the last couple of hours. Huge queues, and you also need to get back to Roth to attend your race briefing the same day. Split transitions if you didnt know.

Happy to answer any more questions about the race. It wasnt my best day at the office, but a good experience nonetheless.

rent a car and go camping near the race course. about half the athletes do this. such a cool experience. wrote a blog on it:

https://coupleofathletes.wordpress.com/...ctators-race-report/

Good stuff. Thanks for the recommendations. Nuremberg probably makes sense since my wife is traveling with me and is not a triathlete. Didn't even consider AirBnB so that's a nice option. I was also worried about driving in Germany after coming from the US but maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

Didn't realize about split transitions. So when you say to not leave bike check in until last couple of hours - just to confirm you mean bring your bike first thing to avoid queue so you can make the briefing? Is the briefing mandatory? I almost always skip those.

I'm not expecting a great day at the office with work demands and the travel but the experience will be epic.

You will LOVE that race. I have done it 7 times . . . my first time was 1989 and I have done the same homestay every time. In fact Roth had more than 1000 homestays last year. Walk to everything and hitched a ride to the swim start - AWESOME!

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

My wife did the race last year. We stayed at the Hilton in Nuremberg and it was great. It was easy to get to the train station (5 minute walk) which got you into the city center for non-race-related entertainment/food/etc. We rented a car (cheap!) which allowed us to get to Roth easily on a whim (although the train ride to Roth is nice too if you don't mind the length of the trip).

Driving in Germany was really not a big deal. Just remember they actually drive properly, and never camp out in the left lane, unlike typical Americans :) Waze was 100% perfect in directing me around where I needed to go.

There is an excellent Greek restaurant just outside the expo area in Roth, on the other side of the parking lot at the main entrance.

One thing you will need to be aware of is just how much walking around is necessary the day before the race. For whatever reason we found we had to walk a TON between parking the car at T1 and walking the bikes in, walking back, etc. Hard to stay off your feet the day before.

As a spectator I highly recommend your wife find herself somewhere on Solarberg during the bike leg. It was maybe a 20 minute walk from T1 through Hilpolstien down to the bottom of Solarberg - easy to find since every spectator will also be going there, just follow the crowd. Pressing into that TdF-style crowd-on-a-hill was one of the best tri-related experiences I ever had, and I wasn't even racing that day.

I wouldn't fret the driving too much. I came from the uk, and had to deal with switching sides of the road. The roads run with German efficiency which was nice coming from a traffic riddled UK.

Yep, swim start is a drive from Roth, or bike depending on how your feeling. They operate a shuttle service which runs from Expo / finish / Roth to the swim start.

With regards to the briefing, I think it's dictated as mandatory, but it's not like they take a roll call. I always find them useful to remind myself things like, 'take a right on the second loop to get to T2. I take your point though.

I made the mistake of thinking the race briefing was at Swim start / T1, it's not. I ended up leaving late to check my bike in, sat in traffic and had to rush back for the briefing. The schedule is published in the program etc, so I'm sure you won't have any issues.

Synthetic has it right, looks like a buzzing atmosphere down by T1, fields of motor homes from all over Europe.

Despite a bad day at the office, I did pass Frodeno on the run, which was quite cool given the day he had! That said, I think he was about 30km ahead of me at the time....

Special nod to Felt as well, bike wasn't quite shifting a it should after plane travel, they took it off me, and I picked it up an hour later, shifting better than it ever had.

Enjoy!

First of all, great fuckin race.
Like others said without a car it's a little of a pita to get to the different locations.
I guess it was Thursday..pickup bibnumber in Roth.
Saturday bike check in hilpoltstein (about 13mls from Roth if I remember right)
Right after that race briefing in Roth.
There are shuttle buses but a bunch of athletes too.
It's also I bit of a pain to get the bike with a car cause most part of Roth is closed cause there are a lot of people still on course.

Staying in or near Roth might be good, ride down to bike check in and get a lift from someone back to Roth ain't impossible.

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-shoki

Germany is the cheapest place to rent a car in Europe (look it up).
I used the Auto Europe website.

I ALWAYS rent a Mercedes C class wagon since they come with built in GPS for no extra cost and have enough room for loads of luggage.
An A class will also work but can be tight if you have two bike boxes and luggage.
Do not drive in Europe without a GPS.

When I did Roth I flew to Nuremberg, got on the U-bahn with my luggage, and for 3 Euros took it to near the city centre in 7 minutes and walked 200 meters to the car rental place.
Picking up from an airport or train station is a huge surcharge which was avoided.
I dropped the car off at the airport for no extra charge at the end of the trip.

Driving in Germany is awesome.
I'll repeat the other poster, stay out of the left lane on the autobahn unless you are passing!

At Frankfurt airport it's 20 euros surcharge, don't know if there are differences though

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-shoki

Thanks everyone.

Good to know about driving in Germany, the surcharge for the rental car, and using waze/GPS. I suppose I should've guessed that since we used Google Maps in France but was hesitant given what a cluster it was to drive around the Champs Elysses. We're debating flying into Munich or Frankfurt . Was planning to take a training from there to Nuremberg and then grab a car.

Great advice on Solarberg. Wife is always trying to figure out what to do and I'm sure that will be entertaining - perhaps with a few cocktails.

Interesting note about the race briefing and may be neat to attend just for the atmosphere. Really getting excited for it.

Yeah, 100 is probably high. Depends on the airport, rental company and length of rental I think.

Frankfurt is really far north.
Munich airport... if you must. I hate it because it's 50km north of Munich.
I've flown there and picked up a car in north-central Munich.
Ultimately it depend on where else you want to go...

Thanks for all the great advice. I'm got a spot in the Xmas entries round.

I'm traveling from Tanzania where I'm currently working. So unfortunately traveling with my bike might be tricky.

Do any of you guys who have been before have contacts for possibly hiring a bike in Nurmeburg or Roth?

I just double checked but couldn't find any amount nailed to airport surcharge.
I know for sure through my recent rent at Frankfurt SIXT charged 20€ extra.
But have seen that it's possible to get a mini (mini) van ( that's what they call ford smax types over here for the Americans on here, where are NOT talking bout Astro van size!)
From Nuremberg airport a little under 300€/week.

But for those who are not familiar with driving shift stick.....there are still a lot out there and usual at car rentals, especially if we are talking bout budget kinda cars. (I know it sounds ridiculous but some of us Germans don't trust (or whatsofuckinever) automatic transmissions. (Yeah, there are stupids here too)

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-shoki

Thanks for looking for me. I feared that about the manuals. I haven't driven a manual since 2006 so it'd probably be ugly and want to avoid the embarrassment - going to need to confirm that for sure.

All the Mercedes I have rented in the last 5 years in Europe have been automatic. Try Europcar. You can select auto when you search.
I am a decent manual driver, but I always rent automatic just in case my wife has to drive.

Guess the rental websites are in English too, so just make sure you keep in mind that automatic needs to be checked, usually it's stated what you'll get. Also ask when pickin it up again.

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-shoki

There's a bike shop in Hipolstein which is directly opposite the car parking entrance for race day swim start. Radsport Fritz Buchstaller, might be a good place to start for bike hire. Pretty sure there's a bike shop or two in Roth but don't have details.

I tried to find a bike to rent for a friend last year. I called every shop I could google within about 50 miles of Roth. I couldn't find a bike for her. It's not easy.

I called 2-Rad Müller. I know he speaks some English because his dialect was so strong we had to switch. http://www.2rad-mueller.de/service.asp He had bikes just not in the size I was looking for.

That's the best contact I remember. I think everyone else didn't have any road bikes.

Home stay. Experience the fabric of life there. Amazing, generous, can do people. And the town is so into you and your racing, it's really heart warming. It's the only tri I'd consider doing again. Good luck.

I was there in 2016. The best experience for, well, the entire experience, at least for me, was camping. Yes, car camping, like in a VW Westfalia, or a small RV, or even in a tent, just meters from the finish line. It is a very affordable option and lots of people do it. Kind of like Wildflower. Roth is about as big as it gets in terms of pomp and circumstance, organization, value and so much more. Heck no even Kona has fireworks and a stadium built for the finish line.

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

Was there last year as support for my Son who is a Para. First off I LOVED driving there. But as has been said, the left lane is for passing and even if you ar doing 150kph or faster shoulder check before moving over as some are certainly going faster. And, they know how to Merge!

I found it difficult to get around by car on race day as a lot of the roads are closed and in my case I needed to be at all 3 places to help my son. I think there are buses that you can take from the finish area to the swim start and I'd recommend that, especially if your I've can take the bus back.

The swim start is in one area, a ways from the finish. T2 is itself a couple of Kilometers away from the Finish. Check out the maps.

Oh, and I wore my Garmin and found out that I walked a half Marathon on race day doing support 😜

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BC Don
Pain is temporary, not giving it your all lasts all Winter.

Yeah,it's definitely a lot of distance to kill during support all 3 and the closed roads ain't help either.
But (unfortunately for the original course) they changed the runcourse into a 2loop for better support from 2017 on.

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-shoki

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We were there in 2015 and 2016. Stayed in Schwabach (about 15 minutes from Roth by car) both times. Great little town, loved the vibe. Renting a car was no big deal, nor was driving around Germany. Get the GPS. You will not regret it. In 2015 I spectated and I was alone on race day. Drove to swim start, then walked to Solar by following the crowds. Then I drove back to Roth (programmed GPS to get me there avoiding race route - was surprisingly easy). Parked near the school, walked about 1km through the forest to the expo. Walked another km or so to T2 to watch hubby come off the bike, then back to the stadium for the finish. Was convenient to have the car near the finish instead of having to take the bus back to T1 at midnight. We skipped the race briefing both years...too late in the day, figured it was more important to stay off the legs and rest. As others have said, there's a lot of walking in the days leading up. For sure go to the Roth pool...stainless steel and totally awesome. Park at the supermarket parkade across the street...the pool itself has no parking. The bike course is well marked the week before the race. Highly recommend riding a loop during the week before the race. Post race last year we took the shuttle back from T2 to T1 to get the car. This was the only bad thing about the race. Midnight, dark, sore, tired...the bus dumps you at the bridge at T1 and you have to find your way back to your car in the fields. Trust me - bring a headlamp. Be prepared for coed change tents and coed showers post race. It was my first long distance triathlon, and the only one I would consider doing again. Great race. Enjoy every minute!