I can't speak for the river specifically, but I live in the East Bay. I did an Oly on Sunday in a local reservoir in Pleasanton and it was definitely wet suit legal, and it wasn't anywhere near the cutoff.

I am racing Vineman and I would be utterly floored if it is not wetsuit legal. I just checked a website that showed the temp at 72ish degrees.

Is it possible for any NorCal body of water to warm up that much? I've swam in that reservoir in August & September and even with a full summer's worth of heating it's wetsuit legal.

If it's in budget a swimskin.

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In the fours years that I've raced it, it was always wetsuit legal. Even if the weather is hot, the river tends to stay cooler. The final decision is usually on race day, there's a link on Vineman or maybe here where Jim or Russ posts the water temps leading up to the race.

Here's the skinny ... (note: we swim every WED night)

Last night water temp was 78 degrees ... this morning it was 72

It would be very hard for it to be a non wetsuit swim for AG (76.1 or above) as the body of water is moving, fresh water is coming into the river on the daily / on going basis from Lake Sonoma AND it cools off into the 50's every night. The water we swam in last night is in the Pacific Ocean right now. Last year the water trended a bit warmer and less clear as CFS was low due to drought level releases into the river from the lake. This year we have had more rain so i'd expect CFS to run slightly higher in general BUT it is a moving target based on why or how they vary the release rate

NOTE: cleanest / coolest water you'll get to swim in is always early morning (i.e race mornings)

Current ... there is a current BUT the CFS is 100 lower than it was a week a go and you can tell.

Looking at long term forecast I can't see how it would be a non wetsuit legal swim for AG. To have a non wetsuit swim we would need multiple days pushing 100 degrees + low flow rate + non cooling at night. (that is not in the forecast)

As far as conditions / depth? Pretty similar to how it always is ... shallow stuff is still shallow ... the areas just change slightly based on what happened over the winter. As well we just got over a period up upper 90's for about 4-5 straight days so we started to get some regular old green growth on the bottom of the shallows. Not harmful, just normal when it gets hot.

Hope that helps

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

Vineman swim (Russian river) has been wetsuit legal every year save for one, if I remember right. Water can be over 76 degrees but it probably won't be. Yes the decision is made on race morning. No one can tell you for sure ahead of time, although we can and do speculate. ;)

You can't wear anything buoyant if it isn't a wetsuit swim. Options are swim skin over your tri kit, or a one piece tri kit without rear pockets. (Although swim is possible/easy in a 2 piece kit with pockets. You won't notice the drag, but it's there and swim would be slower.)

I think you're correct. It wasn't wetsuit-legal in 2001 which was the first year I raced it. I've hoped every time since then that I've done the race that the water will be warm enough again for no wetsuits, but it hasn't happened. Yet!

If you are under-trained on the swim Vineman is probably the best race to do. It is extremely easy to spot and if you get tired you can just stand up. It is actually a fairly enjoyable swim as far as swims go, have fun!

Vineman is not in a reservoir, it's in a river. And many summer days by late afternoon it has heated up enough to be no wetsuit, then cooled by the next morning.

Oh, yes, I know. I was referencing the reservoir milkman mentioned in his post.

Ah, I see! Cheers.

Dave, do you know anything about the closing of T1 at 6:15? Are they really expecting people that go off at 8:30 to wait around for over 2 hours with their wetsuit? Race morning is usually crowded enough, now having to have everyone there between 5-6:15 seems like it is going to creat A LOT more congestion. Or am I missing something? It seemed perfect the way that they did it in the past.

Hi Dave,

I noticed on the event schedule that the bike check in takes place the day before now compared to previous years. I'm cool with not having to deal with the bike on race morning but just need to make sure to make two stops for gear check in the day before. Anything new that we should look out for?

Chalk Hill & Faught Rd. ever get repaved? Last years road conditions were awesome with the new pavement and only those two sections left to be paved I think.

I have read through my pre race briefing and that is the schedule I have.

Having local knowledge and history i preferred the old way for a couple reasons BUT this is something new management has decided to change this year and its how we need to roll with it.

See you next weekend! Say hello if you can

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

The new schedule is correct ... just allocate time for yourself with bike check.

Front half of Chalk Hill road was partially resurfaced then chip sealed ... A better surface than years past. Portikns of the 2nd half (especially the climb & descent of Chalk Hill) of Chalk Hill Rd have been been resurfaced and prepped for chip seal in AUG ... way safer descent now. Faught Rd is still rubbish and will be repaved by end of 2016 according to county schedule

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

Water Temp = 70 degrees at 7:30am this morning

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

Dave (or other Vineman veterans),

I am driving from Santa Rosa on race morning. I just saw the facebook post about closing transition at 6:15 and the concerns many commentators had about potential traffic impacts. This is my first time racing -- how long should I allow for travel from Santa Rosa to the start?

Where in santa rosa are you staying and what time do you start?

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

I'm sure glad I skipped this race this year. The new change regarding closing transition is going to make an already difficult morning in terms of getting to the beach much worse. Plus, those with late starts are just going to have to sit there on the beach for over two hours. I don't get it. There was never any issues with the way it was done before with transition being up all morning to my knowledge. Two years ago my wife and I got a ride to the race start and had to jump out of the car and ride our bikes in because traffic was at a stand still. And we left plenty early. Last year I stayed less than a mile from the start and rode in to avoid the clustereff. Now, you'll have everybody coming in at the same time.

Hi. I start at 6:58. I'm staying at the Redwood Inn just off 101, a smidge below the 12/101 intersection.

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. I'm only staying up there one night and I couldn't get anything closer without a 2 night stay. And since we're checking bikes the day before I can't even ride in!

Without traffic you can be in guerneville in less than 30min 101--> River Rd ... add some time for potential traffic based how much time you need in T1 (which should be minimal)

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

The only traffic issue / pinch point in previous years was the amount of athletes getting to T1 between 5:30-6:45 (T1 opened @ 5:30 previously) ... T1 was 90% full by then and that always surprised me. I would typically be leaving Guerneville just after 7am and there was zero traffic (maybe 4-5 cars) backed up at the first light in town. On River road I would only see a handful of cars still driving in on my way out.

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com