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Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala.
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Congrats to HITS for a great weekend at Ocala.

Results were posted quickly online.

Prizes and awards were nice.

Courses were well marked and well manned.

Jimmy Johnson didn't show up, which dissapointed this NASCAR fan, BUT we did see a black bear cross the course out by the Turnaround on Saturday, and this wildlife lover thought that was pretty cool!

Give HITS a chance! It has a small race, homegrown feel. Mark Wilson and crew do a great job of making each and every customer feel valued and important!

Austin Hardy -

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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Aust1227] [ In reply to ]
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I agree, I dig their vibe.
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Aust1227] [ In reply to ]
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Agreed -- we'll be seeing Mark and Co. in Napa in a couple of weeks. These guys always put on a great event!
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [spool] [ In reply to ]
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Yep. This was my second HITS race (Naples 70.3 2014, Ocala 70.3 2015). Both have been really enjoyable! Brought my family to Ocala, great venue, super fun for everyone! Keep up the good work!
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [spool] [ In reply to ]
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Will be doing my 4th HITS napa in two weeks. Great race.

.

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Aust1227] [ In reply to ]
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Got this one on my radar for 2017.
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [h2ofun] [ In reply to ]
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So your back is back?!
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [cashandprizes] [ In reply to ]
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Hi there,


I just wanted to give you a word of caution before you signed up for HITS Ocala. I was supposed to do the half last Saturday (it was going to be my first 70.3) and when the swim got called due to lightning, 80% of the racers left so there would have been no one left to race against given it's a really small field. Not their fault, obviously, but it's really small field to begin with so if you're looking for competitors, this may not be the race.


But my warning comes here. My TT bike was damaged while in their care between the time I dropped it off in transition the night before the race and when I left the race after the swim was called. From the minute I tried to get any help from the race staff or race director, I was made to feel like it was my fault, the race had no responsibility, and they refused to discuss or entertain any recourse through their insurance. They even refused to refund my race entry, which I thought would have been a good faith gesture. All that aside though, their whole attitude and handling of the situation was completely unacceptable and showed me that they clearly don't care about their athletes at all. I would be wary of supporting an organization that does not and will not support you at all.


I hope this helps.
Last edited by: Sepilipa: Apr 7, 16 10:10
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Aust1227] [ In reply to ]
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[quote Mark Wilson and crew do a great job of making each and every customer feel valued and important![/quote]




Was Mark there? I haven't seen him in a while but word around town over here was that he left the company after last season.

---------------------------
''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! đŸ˜‚ '' Murphy's Law
Last edited by: Sweeney: Apr 7, 16 14:10
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Aust1227] [ In reply to ]
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I agree. It was my first HITS experience, and it was great!

http://powerful-problem-solving.com
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Sepilipa] [ In reply to ]
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I would not give it two thumbs up. I would probably use a 1-5 rating system, 5 being the best, 1 being the worst. I would land at a 2. This is for the Sprint race.

Swim: The swim was takes place on "big" Lake Weir (as opposed to Little Lake Weir). The swim is a mass, in the water start, rather than a beach start. You swim in a triangle starting right, and taking two left turns. As you go towards the first turn buoy, sighting is extremely important. You will need to navigate through two permanent boat markers, failing to do so risks swimming into them. They are both within the first 150 meters before you approach the first turn. Once you make the first turn, you swim straight to make the second turn. Nothing of note here. Making the second turn, you swim back towards the water exit at a beach. Sighting is again important. I recall there being some more boat markers you again need to sight for. As you approach the beach, you are swimming into what is usually a roped off swim area. If you are lucky, you will swim into the smaller opening they have opened for re-entry towards the beach. If you are unlucky you will have to swim over/under what is essentially equivalent to a lane rope in a pool. Once you navigate this final obstacle, you are in the clear.

T1: You exit the beach and run under oak trees. If you are unfamiliar with Florida, some of the foliage produces a very round, hard, prickly, seed. The race organizers did an awesome job raking these out of the way and off the path we would be taking to transition. The transition, while crowded was well organized and they even had a sitting stool to use for each racer if you so chose to use it. Grab the bike, and volunteers were ready to tell you when you were clear to mount. All was smooth.

Bike: Within the first mile or so of the bike, you are getting a feel for the rest of the bike. It is a typical Florida road, mainly flat, but at times (because it is central Florida), there are some gentle hills. Marion County Sheriff's Office was out stopping traffic for the cyclists. They did a great job. The course was easy to navigate and was an out and back style. My only complaints (which, really, cannot be fixed - and I'm sure many races deal with this issue), is that there are two downhills, one on the way out, one on the way in, where you get an decent amount of speed going, then have to hit the brakes hard to make a 90 degree turn. My other complaint is that this was a two lane road, still open to local traffic. Some drivers were patient and careful, others not so much; they made the ride a bit more dangerous by not giving three feet.

T2: There is a bottle neck here and any more than about 4 racers attempting to dismount and there will be trouble. Otherwise, easy to get through transition.

Run: This is where things get bad. You exit the transition and proceed into the run. After making a couple of turns, you run towards the woods. There is a fork. Upon approaching the run, I noticed a few runners took the left and a few took the right. Uh oh. No volunteer at the fork. I turn around, as part of a small group, and yell to the volunteer we passed 50 feet or so, "Right or Left?!" She replies, "Go Right." So we go right. I think to myself about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile in, as I'm passing HITS signs with arrows directing us where to go, "I swore this was an out and back, but I wasn't seeing anyone (i.e. the leaders who were performing quite well) on the way back." I think nothing of it as I keep seeing signs directing us where to go. We start approaching 1 1/2 miles and I knew there was supposed to be an aid station. I look ahead "ah a tent." No one was there. Two deputies were there and said we must be lost; they were manning the bike route. So, after about 1.75 miles (according my GPS watch), we turn around. Nearly 20 of us had taken this route; a route we now know to be wrong. We trek back knowing at least we did not cut the course, but we will have ran a bit longer. We make it back to the fork and proceed towards the finishing chute. Turns out the signs we were seeing were from the previous day's half and/or full distance race.

Post race: Volunteers were here to take off the chip, give you water, and give you a medal - all standard. The awards were nice, but the ceremony fairly unorganized. There was no loud speaker or megaphone, only a gentleman trying to project his voice over everyone else. He did not seem too interested in having the correct awards for the correct places, but more so, it seemed as if his attitude was, "let's just hand these out and get out of here."

I am really on the fence about whether I would do HITS Ocala again. There absolutely needs to be more volunteers at more pivotal parts of the course, i.e. confusing forks. The best I got out of this was an expensive workout and practice on transitions.
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Sweeney] [ In reply to ]
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Mark left. He is coaching in New York and remotely.

http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Sepilipa] [ In reply to ]
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So your first post is ripping a race? What was the damage to your bike?
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [bricklayer] [ In reply to ]
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I was there - and in the bike "corral". I changed a flat tire on one bike (the owner had no idea I put in a new tube). I re-wrapped a womans bars and was there from about 5am till 11am...at transition, next to the bikes.

I heard NOT A SINGLE report of a damaged bike...not one. I was with the RD, other race staff and LBS staff who were on site....
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [bricklayer] [ In reply to ]
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This pic came from a previous facebook discussion about the bike being damaged at HITS Ocala. This is the underside of the top tube.




http://trainingwheelsrequired.wordpress.com
@KellyNCollier
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [KellyNCollier] [ In reply to ]
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How would that even happen in transition? That is a hell of a whack to make a mark like that.
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [bricklayer] [ In reply to ]
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The part that got me is that it looks like there's even damage UNDER the bento box??? That's not your normal bike-falling-off-of-rack transition accident.

http://trainingwheelsrequired.wordpress.com
@KellyNCollier
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [KellyNCollier] [ In reply to ]
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What is even more fun, there is NO WAY possible that happened from any of the "wheel mount" boxes that held bikes up in the transition. Physically impossible....
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [OldFLTriGuy] [ In reply to ]
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This was my hypothesis: The last time the bike was worked on, it was clamped too tight. Maybe the owner didn't notice until the paint chipped away after a stormy night in transition?



http://trainingwheelsrequired.wordpress.com
@KellyNCollier
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [KellyNCollier] [ In reply to ]
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Your hypothesis would be a dead on perfect "real world" cause. That said, Santo's, the LBS who was doing support had no stands that I saw near their table either. They really were not doing anything with any bike that I saw...ever...

That said, there is (again) no way that a piece of the transition equipment would have caused that issue. Physically impossible...



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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Sepilipa] [ In reply to ]
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Sepilipa wrote:
Hi there,


I just wanted to give you a word of caution before you signed up for HITS Ocala. I was supposed to do the half last Saturday (it was going to be my first 70.3) and when the swim got called due to lightning, 80% of the racers left so there would have been no one left to race against given it's a really small field. Not their fault, obviously, but it's really small field to begin with so if you're looking for competitors, this may not be the race.


But my warning comes here. My TT bike was damaged while in their care between the time I dropped it off in transition the night before the race and when I left the race after the swim was called. From the minute I tried to get any help from the race staff or race director, I was made to feel like it was my fault, the race had no responsibility, and they refused to discuss or entertain any recourse through their insurance. They even refused to refund my race entry, which I thought would have been a good faith gesture. All that aside though, their whole attitude and handling of the situation was completely unacceptable and showed me that they clearly don't care about their athletes at all. I would be wary of supporting an organization that does not and will not support you at all.


I hope this helps.


How is it that I did not see you in transition? I did after all touch almost every bike there...
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [OldFLTriGuy] [ In reply to ]
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I don't know. I was there. I hope you had a better race day than I did.
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [OldFLTriGuy] [ In reply to ]
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Well I didn't make a scene and was quickly ushered off by race staff so maybe that's why.
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [OldFLTriGuy] [ In reply to ]
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I can't tell from all the chatter what day you were there. 5 to 11am - but what day, Saturday or Sunday?
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Re: Two Thumbs up for HITS Ocala. [Sepilipa] [ In reply to ]
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Sepilipa wrote:
I don't know. I was there. I hope you had a better race day than I did.

Was the bike worked on recently where it's possible it was clamped too tightly on top tube?
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