Not certain why you think Starly's ride @ Racine is a good example....the two course are nothing alike. Racine is flat. Other than a few rollers heading out on 5 Mile Road, there isn't much elevation change. A few false flats, at the most.

As for Madison, I rode the loop again on Friday. I don't know what to tell you about the elevation. On Memorial Day weekend, my Garmin said 4400 ft for 2 loops. Friday, the same Garmin said 1900 feet for two loops.

Pretty happy with my decision to go with a 50/34 up front and a 12/25 in back. Rode the course with Power Course file from Best Bike Split, which was pretty cool. The 50 let me stay in the big ring on some of the rollers and the added gear inches for the "Three Sisters" were welcome. Never really ran out of gears on the descents. Couple of times I had problems with my 12 skipping, so I was stuck in the 13 when I needed the 12. Past that, I'm coasting...

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Very helpful. Thank you.

Can anyone comment and compare this course to Louisville?

I, too, am riding a 50/34 and 12/25 in back. I agree it worked pretty well although I think I am going to swap in 11/25 for race day because on a lot of the descents I was wishing I had an 11. I would only suggest doing this if you are VERY disciplined and can hold yourself back from pushing too hard else I think you will pay for it later on the run.

There is a nice brewery/restaurant called Great Dane Brewery that I really enjoyed

LOVE the Great Dane! Make sure you have your post-race beer/meal there as well.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

I was under the impression looking at the profile online at least that it had a fair amount of rollers, more than a traditional flat/fast course. Point being that the course gets flattened out the faster you go. Time matters, distance doesn't. SO fast up a hill is less time spent at that wattage. At 150W instead of 300W, a climb suddenly becomes twice the length.

I'd still want that 11 descending. I feel like I utilize my hip flexors too much when spinning over 100RPM at a low power output. I need those muscles for good run economy. Plus an 11-28 puts in a better chain line when in the big ring on some of the rollers and gives me more overlap with the small and large rings. It gives me a 39-13 as well a 52-21 or even 52-23. I picked up a 52T, because I wanted new ring for the race and I couldn't justify another $110 for a compact crank. Wife is already freaked out with so much money going out the door. I still need another new pair of shoes, couple tubes and new aerobar pads and I got a deal on a used wetsuit. But yes, a compact would have worked well too. But I've gotten pretty comfortable grinding at 75-80RPM up hills if needed.

I figure the elevation on my Garmin can be used for comparative purposes. I'm not sure why yours changed so much. But for me, I had about 7600 I think riding all but the last few miles of the stick. So I can compare that for example to a 40k OD tri with 900' elevation or a 100mi training ride with 3500', just for comparison. Although it's always hard to really compare as conditions vary and I train on different wheels, tires, helmet. When I rode 2 loops of IMWI in June, I had on a really, really slow front wheel/tire so that made a comparison pretty hard too.

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TrainingBible Coaching
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They adjust the Y / vertical axis on the course profiles....they aren't consistent from race to race. So it may appear like it is hilly graphically, if the Y axes were standardized, you'd see the differences. Racine is pretty damn flat (well, other than that damn hill coming out of transition! )

With a 39 up front, an 11-28 cassette is a good choice. Personally, I don't like big gaps in a cassette like that, so a compact makes more sense for me. I plan on using most of the descents to recover a bit anyway. I have found that a bit of recovery going down keeps my legs fresher for going up, where (as you note) I can save more time.

Still haven't ridden the spur yet form Madison to Verona. Hoping to make at least one more trip up there before race day.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Don't discount the stick heading back from Verona to Madison. I'll probably get some shit from some of the better bikers for this, but it can be a tough push. There is one hill on the way back that can beat you down if you are not ready for it. I hear a lot of people say the the stick is an easy final 12 miles. I totally disagree and if you have even a little headwind it is going to be a tough finish if you didn't leave enough in the tank.

That was specifically the comment that my "tour guide" made. It's a big opportunity to blow up and probably one of the best places to make up a little time on your competition if you paced it well and have good legs. I think he said he put something like 4' into the guy he was chasing, just on that leg. It has a few good rollers, and a headwind will make it really tough late in the bike leg.

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TrainingBible Coaching
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Thanks for the heads-up. I'm planning on riding the bike leg pretty conservatively. The bike is my strength and I am concerned about the run. A calf strain cost me 3 weeks of run training completely and another 3 weeks with just light training. My longest run this year has been Racine and I have never run a full marathon.

So gonna ride pretty conservative in the hopes of preventing a meltdown on the run. As long as I follow the plan*, I should have gas in the tank. (* note the qualifier!! )

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Agree, the year I did IMWI (2005) coming back on the stick sucked where it was a hot (temps in the high 90s) and windy day. I rode that stretch earlier in the week and it wasn't bad, but at that point of the race in those conditions was pretty tough.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler