On Saturday find the boy scouts and pay $20 to park in the front yard of a brown house right next to the park entrance. You can't miss them. Race morning and post race, parking this close is a glorious thing.

I LOVE this race. I'm skipping this year due to divorce last year. I needed to lighten my load as I settled in on my new life. I am so going to miss doing this race. I may even come down to spectate.

Have a great time. Tip one to me and my sob story. :)

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

FYI, It's still days out and things are bound to change (particularly on Friday) but my swim today, water was warm. Probably around 76 degrees.

Wow. Great intel. Coming in from Colorado and looking forward to all the extra oxygen. Last tune up before Kona. Born and raised in Farmington Hills Mi, so great to get back in the state.

Same here. Coming in from Denver, and grew up in Farmington Hills. Went to North Farmington HS and UM. Long time Colorado resident and glad for it.

Man, it would be cool to be running so fast you had trouble with corners!

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

This is correct. Looking forward to it. First time there. Flying in to Kalamazoo Thursday. I'm supposed to be on a no-beer diet but have strong recommendations for Bell's in Kalamazoo, Tapistry in Bridgman and especially North Pier Brewing in Benton Harbor. That Mexican place sounds epic.

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Sylvan Smyth | http://www.sportstats.asia | sylvan@sportstats.asia | Starvas

Hard to come to west Michigan and not drink any beer...

I went to Bell's taproom before Barry Roubaix (metric century gravel ride) two years ago - limited myself to two pints. Still cracked on my ride at the 50 mile mark the next day - of course it didn't help that the temp was 19 degrees at the start and my nutrition bottles launched from my cages five miles in. So I agree with the notion of getting some good beer in, just be temperate.

They really, really should have some large signs early on during the bike that remind participants to stay to the right unless passing and complete passes within 25 seconds.... that's only a 1mph difference.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Last year, on Friday at least, if you have a park pass you could drive in if there were available spots. But maybe they are limiting parking to only vendors and volunteers. I also drove in after the race Sunday for awards after going home to shower and change since I lived 3 miles away last year. I'm 9 miles away now.

I'm tempted to throw my MTB on hte back of my car and just ride in.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

Thanks for all the information. The girlfriend and I are both racing it! Woohoo!

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website/blog | Instagram

Not to hijack the thread- but has anybody used the VIP experience for their families for this race? My wife decided to pay up for it for herself and our three kids (free since they're under 6-what a steal!), I was hoping to give her some logistics advice.

Last time I raced steelhead was 2013...she just schlepped our two year old around at the time. Now there's two more kids with short attention spans, so the VIP access seemed smart.

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http://Everydadironman.blogspot.com

Since last year was the first with the new swim course set up, does anyone know if the direction of the course will be reversed if there is a strong wind or current out of the north?

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Fester from Detroit, Mi

We wont have to find out! wind looks minimal overnight and has been downgraded from 10-15 mph to 5-10 mph. There will be no waves! If there is, everyone will have to deal with it and it will be more fun :-)

Well that is good news!

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Fester from Detroit, Mi

When you headed down, I leaving the westside early Saturday morning. Great easy fun weekend getaway race and can be back home by 6-7pm.

We're driving to South Bend Friday afternoon and then up to Benton Harbor Saturday morning for a more leisurely check-in/pre-race ritual. Hope to find one of the recommended hops and food joints. Then some quality Olympics TV time Saturday evening. The forecast looks good with low winds in the morning. Just need water temps to be wetsuit legal for us stones.

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tinman

Anyone have a contact for the volunteer director other than what's listed. I have a 22 passenger bus they could borrow, but it would need a CDL driver. I know shuttle capacity can be an issue, especially with record turnout. I think they normally use school buses from St Joe and Lakeshore which hold a lot more.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

This morning from midnight to 6:00 AM, the buoy recorded water temperature of 76.1 or higher... I agree they will find the cold spot to justify wetsuits, although the incoming rain and cooler air temperatures probably won't make that necessary. Regardless, that is pretty warm and makes me smile. Hopefully it stays above 70 and the wind forecast is accurate.

Swam yesterday in the lake and it was not 76. High 60s maybe low 70. It will settle low 70s based on forecast. It will be just about perfect for the race with low wind conditions

NOAA Report. Waves less than 1ft temp 73 degrees.

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2019 T-Rex Tri Series

The athlete guide indicates parking/ shuttles at Whirlpool. Any reason not to park there? I believe they say it is less than a mile walk. I assume the lots are huge.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Great race. My recommendation is to not check bike on Saturday and then ride from parking lot early Sunday morning with gear in a backpack. It's not too far but bike is way easier, faster and less stressful than shuttle.

Also, don't pass up the opportunity to jump in the lake for a little bit post race. Especially if it's warm and water is nice. Grab some blueberries or cherries from a roadside stand for the drive home. And construction on I94 through SW MI and Indiana has been horrible heading back to Chicago on Sunday afternoons the last few weeks, so check Waze app for alternate routes. Or better yet, wait until Monday.

Get down here now if you can. Lines are small but won't be small for long. We're going to put through 2000+ today. Only about 300 checked in yesterday.

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Sylvan Smyth | http://www.sportstats.asia | sylvan@sportstats.asia | Starvas

Got in no line around 11:30 Boy Scout was definitely the way to go. Bought today and tomorrow will be so much easier. Thanks for the advice.

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2019 T-Rex Tri Series