Has anyone who's racing Princeton raced Quassy or the HITS Hunter Half?
Curious how you think the courses might compare.

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

Haven't done either. I've rode the Princeton bike course a couple times and it is a mixture of flat and rolling hills with no major climbs (nothing the course guide doesn't tell you). There are a few rough patches in the first 5-8 miles and the last few miles where I would be careful securing hydration. There is a good chance of wind being a factor, dealt with a noticeable headwind a couple weeks ago on the ride and the early forecast is showing 10mph winds on Sunday.

I believe the run course is mostly flat.

Ok great, that helps. Quassy has a good amount of climbing on the bike and the run is hilly. From what I recall Hunter HITS was the same kind of situation. Glad to hear Princeton is not super hilly. This will be my first Tri of the season after returning from a fractured hip and torn hip labrum so I want to take it kinda easy and just have fun. Wind would suck, but we'll see what we get!

Now I just have to hope NJT won't give me a hard time schlepping my bike out on the train this coming Saturday morning!

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

I will be there. Will be amongst the last ones out of the water in the M40-44 group and proud of it. Rode the course once. As others have said, it's rolling and the pavement is poor in spots. But then again i may have ridden the "old" course. Sunday weather seems to be decent if not a touch warm. Good luck to everyone doing it.

The NJT schedule (http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/R0070.pdf) has a little bike icon for the trains that allow bikes. You should be fine on any of the Saturday morning trains.

ok that's great to know, thanks!

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

Absolutely no comparison to Quassy! Rolling hills on the bike and a few grades on the run.

Dave ! I'm in (in the oldus Fartus AG, tho ;) . Im heading down Friday night after work with the GF & mutt..
Glad to have another Empire athlete representing..
George

George, I was LITERALLY just sending you an email. Glad to see you're on the list! I'll see you guys this weekend :-)

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

how did everyone enjoy it?

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@adamwfurlong

I had a great race. Thinking of writing up a long winded RR at some point if I have time today but long story short.


Weather turned out pretty decent considering it was supposed to be sunny and 80s. It was humid and warm but overcast so we didn't bake.

The swim was calm and nice, I had an abysmal start for some reason but magically (eventually) recovered and swam the last 3/4 of it in the best form/speed/comfort I've ever had. Came out around 36 min.

Transition was a bit of a hike for me, far end of transition which made for a lot of running and then with the bike, but the person next to me never showed so I had ample space at least. 3 min each for T1 and T2 which is a lot of time for me, especially in T2, but I was slow so it's really just my fault and not just the distance to the in/out.

Bike was flat overall. Some rolling hills but nothing challenging at all. The downside was the enormous amount of turns. I heard 47 or 49 turns was the count, and that's definitely true. Every mile there'd be a turn, usually a sharp 90 degree one so a lot of slowing and getting out of aero. Off the bike in 2:45 (a PR).

Run was flat too, a couple very mild rolling hills but nothing you'd notice on a regular day and I had the best, freshest run ever, starting off around 6:40 pace and eventually slowing to an ave around 7:10 or so, which felt effortless. I should have pushed more but I'm coming off a broken hip from the start of the year and a torn labrum. Had a cortisone shot 2 fridays ago so I didn't want to push it too hard. Finished the run in 1:34 (maybe a PR).

Overall I had a solid race (at least 20 min PR) finishing in 5:03.
I'll repeat this race next season if they offer it (I can only assume they will).

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

I'm a little late on the roll call but I was there. My first 70.3 and longest Tri in my 2 year racing experience. Finished at 5:21 and proud to say I kept moving the whole time!