weather may be chilly in the morning, but warms up quickly after the sun comes up and should be pleasant and dry/sunny. The bike course will have MANY turns - some right angle, and several U-turns, tight ones. Expect a slower than normal bike split because of the sheer number of turns. A large section of the run course is on concrete sidewalks. the course is essentially flat. Good luck and enjoy sunny Arizona!

---

Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

You may want to race a few crits before doing Soma. There are that many turns and even more triathletes turning poorly.

---

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Thanks for your comments. I'll be covered for the morning chill with my wetsuit and DeSoto hoodie (if needed) but considering wearing a cycling jersey over my trisuit when I hit the bike. Thoughts?

Thanks for the head's up about the MANY turns on the bike course. That's what I gathered on Soma's website and a YouTube video from 2012. So the bike and run have no hills? I'm still doing hill repeats in training because of the two Oly's I have coming up.

Octobers are generally still pretty warm/hot, and its DRY, so you will be dry within minutes of getting on the bike. IMO you won't need anything over your try-suit. Cheers.

---

Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.

Thanks for the head's up, Dude. I'll see what I can come up with as far as crits between now and Oct. Fwiw, I'll be using my road bike at Soma, and have several years experience mountain bike racing.

Thanks for the tip. The weather in Oct is going to be a nice surprise coming from the Pacific NW. October starts to get cool and rainy here, not full on, but it's definitely not dry and hot. By the end of Oct, I'm usually already in my knickers or full tights, gore-tex jacket, helmet and shoe covers.

Question about drinking on the bike. I'm considering carrying only one bottle on the bike - either my own or ones I would get from the aid stations (and keep switching out when I roll through). Due to the many turns on the bike course, would you recommend mounting a bottle cage behind the seat or on a torpedo mount between the aero bars?

The easiest and cheapest set up for me would be to zip-tie a bottle cage behind my seat and put my tools in a small bottle in a cage on the frame or hold them in place with tape between the seat and rails. A more time consuming and expensive set up would be to order aero bars and a bottle mount, wait for them to arrive, then install everything.

The aero bar mount seems like it would be the most practical set up for Soma. Sounds like I need to be "head's up" all the time on that bike course, so retrieving a bottle from behind my seat and putting it back may be risky.

The course has a lot of turns, and it may resemble a grand prix formula 1 setup.... but it's 3 large 18 mile loops with enough straight aways... the turns suck, but I think the others were saying tongue and cheek. ;)

There are aid stations, like 3 of them during each loop and they are placed after a u turn so you'll have a chance to grab on the fly as you're coming away from the turn at a lower speed.

I couldn't tell you about where to place a bottle. Until spring this year, there were some very nasty sharp bumps where the concrete and asphalt would join, they were serious bottle ejectors, I lost every single bottle during the 2013 Leadman, and that's 68 miles... I even grabbed at each station after losing the 2 I had on the rear seat and within 1 mile hitting a bump would toss them out again, it was brutal... I think that I got about 20oz of fluid total during the bike, it was hot too and I had a classic meltdown on the run because of that, totally dehydrated. Then I learned my lesson and bought the expensive zipp gorilla cages, haven't lost a bottle since.

That being said, it seems that the Tempe DOT filed them all down during the winter 2013/2014 period, b/c at the inaugral race in April, the bumps were smooth transitions, no more problems, but you still go to avoid manhole covers.

The traffic gets very tight during the 2nd and 3rd laps... if you are a decent biker, you will be yelliing on your left a lot.

There's a weird part of the course where we scoop to the left down a steep grade, scoop left again, then again back up a grade, then we come back and do it the other direction... we're passing under an interstate overpass, but it's a very fast and quirky section that requires a lot of attention. You'll discover yourself... lol. But, hey, it's Tempe racin'.

This is great, Tom! Thanks for sharing. This bike course sounds like it's going to be fun! Like a mtn bike race (except on asphalt) where you have to be "head's up" the whole time. Looking forward to it!

I hear you on the Gorilla Cage. I'm now considering the Xlab Delta 200 that comes with this cage. Better for me to spend the money on a excellent set up than risk losing precious fluids because my bottle took a flying leap.

Now I need to decide if I should ship my bike to my relatives in Phoenix, or fly it. One airline will charge me $75 one way to fly the bike (have to keep the weight under 99 lbs, so I can't get too carried away with stuffing a bike case with other things). Don't know yet what it would cost to ship it. Any tips?

The bike has a fast downhill with a tight left turn that can cause carnage if there is debris on the road, watch out for that. The second loop on the run is usually very very hot. Almost completely exposed. I always carried a water btl with me. Just tried to refill at aid stations during the run.

Airline is usually cheapest way, but offers risks. There is a service called bike flights, not sure on costs.

See you out there

---

http://www.TriScottsdale.org

Thanks for the feedback! Will keep this in mind, especially on the run. Had a death march of a run during the first Branson 70.3 because temps were upper 90's. It was crazy hot and humid.

Still checking out travel options for the bike. Frontier may be less than other airlines for checking a bike, but I still would have to buy a bike case. From what I've looked at, a decent one is going to cost $400 plus shipping. A cardboard box, that I used years ago on an international flight, is the cheapest, but risky if it gets rained on. Also, pretty cumbersome trying to carry that to and from the airport. But as you mentioned, flying it does have risks that I'm not willing to take.

Thanks for the tip on Bike Flights. This may be the best option because I only need my bike this once out of state. I ran some numbers and it may cost about $115 round trip, a bit more if I have a shop pack it and another one unpack it. Third option would be to rent a similar bike at an LBS around Phoenix. Checking out Global Bikes because they carry Specialized.

It is a fast bike... even with the turns and the second and third lap being slower cyclists. Do not put a bottle in a cage behind you... they are prone to being launched and there is a couple intersection areas that have large bumps. Rio salado and mill as well as the light by the ASU stadium. Always see tons of bottles at the two launch points.

What everybody else says is spot on.

It's a fun race. The swim is fun, the bike has tons of turns, bumps, and traffic on the last 2 laps, and the run is totally in the full on sun.

It's a bit chilly in the morning, but the swim isn't bad at all. It's a wave start and goes pretty quickly. Sighting isn't bad at all, as there's bridges and a few tall buildings and power poles to sight off of. Getting into the water...jump WAY out from the stairs so you don't hit your feet/legs on the concrete sides. Getting out of the water...don't forget that concrete side is there as well and smack your feet on it as you're trying to get up the stairs. They have helpers to pull you up, so plan on putting one leg on the bottom stair and taking their hands to jerk you out of the water.

The bike is pretty fast, in all reality. There's some hills (mostly rollers that seem to grow by lap 3) and lots of turns. Pay attention to the warped asphalt that always happens over the summer that will create almost invisible bumps and lumps in the road. Where the asphalt meets concrete always has a bump and when you go over bridges, the expansion joints are always bumpy. I've ridden with gorilla cages behind my seat for 2 years at SOMA and never ejected a bottle, but I've seen plenty out there. Aid stations are usually pretty good and have good volunteers there.

The run is in the full sun and pretty lonely except for by the start/finish. Usually the aid stations are good and have lots of stuff there. 2 loops, concrete, with a teensy bit of dirt/crushed granite that you might have to run over. Fairly flat, with going up and over the lake being the hardest elevation changes.

The finish area is okay, with some decent food. Make sure to grab your drinks/food and not just keep walking through the finish area. The drinks are usually within 20 feet of the finish line and I always motor right past them and then realize how stupid I am and go back to get some goodies.

Have fun and good luck!

Thanks for the feedback. :) Good to know about those launch scenarios. :) So, even if I have a stout cage like the Xlab Gorilla, not good enough?

Although, how I end up with a bike at Soma may cause me to just put a bottle in a cage on the frame. I'm now considering renting a bike when I get there.

I also run the gorilla cages and have not had an issue but there are so many on the road during the races at the asphalt and concrete joint that you will need to be aware that it is possible... also careful around the same areas of someone launching right in front of you... friend of mine ended soma a couple years back with an ambulance ride to the hospital because of that.

Thanks for all the details! I'm lovin' it!

Sounds like the bike course is going to be 'interesting.' As long as no one is out there laying oil slicks from their ride like James Bond, I should be golden. Going to invest in a Gorilla cage or two.

Thanks for the head's up...good to know! Sorry about your friend. Did he/she recover and good to go today?

Those joints, that I mentioned above, were fixed for the most part. They weren't massive tire splitters and bottle ejecting bumps anymore, but just baby bumps and smoothness as of April/May this year. I was expecting them this year, and they weren't there or mitigated very much.

The bike looks like 2 aid stations about 9 miles apart, and the run has 'em about every mile...

But I don't see what they are providing for nutrition. Does anybody happen to know?

I tried contacting the even staff via the "Athlete Services" webpage, but no response.

Although my stomach doesn't seem to get pissed off easily, it is my first half distance (BIG bump in distance), and I'm hoping what they provide is what I'm used to. Otherwise I'll be packing nutrition in a jersey pocket.

swim won't be bad. no hood or booties needed. i have always had problem sighting there. you start heading east, immediately into the rising sun

I don't know what they'll provide on the course. Since this is your first half, maybe you'll do fine with what the provide. But, if want to be sure you don't have gut surprises, stick to what has worked for you in training. Then, once you find out what they offer on the course, and if it will be the same for next year, you'll have about a year to train with what the race will offer.

Unfortunately, I had to withdraw from this Half Iron. My own gut issue battle that has been going on the last two years has flared up again. It has really put a lot of hiccups in my preparation since last year for several events I had planned this year. This will be my second race I had to withdraw from this year (had to cancel two last year). I'm working with another gastro specialist to get to the bottom of this. Looking forward to getting this resolved and start planning for next year.

Are you doing this race?

Unfortunately, I had to withdraw due to more gut issues. It's been going on for the last two years. I'm working with yet another gastro specialist to get this resolved. For the time being, intense exercise (like intervals and race pace workouts) makes my gut issues worse. So, my preparation has been extremely sporadic this year. Once this is resolved, I'll shoot for Soma again and actually race.

Not racing this yr. I tore my achilles tendon and have taken 2013 off of running. Not sure when and if I will be able to run again. It's still not ok. Current plan is to nordic race and see how things are in the spring. Good luck with the GI stuff. Soma is fun. Competitive field. Well run event.

Got through it. No GI issues. I did have troubles on the run with knee and heat. Though I'm a "slower than uphill molasses runner", the second lap was very sad.
Tempe Town Lake is not as fun to swim in as the Pacific. Thank you for the advice on the rising sun. Dark goggles were VERY helpful.

The bike course sounded complicated when it was described at the pre-race meetng, but in practice, was unambiguous, and pretty easy to navigate. The one time I saw a car making a u-turn against cones, the police officer 200ft up the road was walking out to meet the driver. No clue what happened after I went up the road.

Run course was just flat hot. 93F. plenty of ice, water, and gatorade at aid stations though. Not a great selection of gu's across all aid stations...probably it was better before I showed up late to the party.

All in all, good race, and I'm happy I did it. Hope I'm able to get a much better run in at my next half. (gotta drop another 30 lbs)