United does direct SFO to Kona.
I stayed at the host hotel, the Fairmont, and I think that was a great decision from a logistics point of view. Registration and expo is in the hotel, so picking up your packet and buying your CO2 cartridges or whatever you need is completely easy and stress-free. The shuttles for bike drop off and race morning all operate from this hotel as well, meaning you never have to deal with race parking and additional shuttles to/from the parking lots. T2 and the finish are also at the hotel making logistics after you cross the finish line super-easy as well. You cross the finish line, walk directly to your room around the corner, take a shower, and come out and enjoy all the free beer and food and watch the other finishers. When you're done, just walk over to your bike, grab your stuff, and walk right back to your room! Really, it was logistically by far the easiest WTC race I have ever attended which made it great for just relaxing and preparing to race well.
The hotel has good restaurants, a beautiful beach, a great spa... and in the same neighborhood there is one of the best black sand snorkeling beaches on that side of the island. I forget the name, black sand 23 or something like that. It is in a private residential neighborhood and when we went there were only 2 other people there. The snorkel rental guy at the shop near the hotel (Bob's snorkel I think) told us about it. 4 minute drive from the hotel. Or a bike ride.
The course is great. The swim is beautiful and I saw sea turtles while racing. Pretty great. There were some significant ocean swells which made for some slow times this year, but it was a great swim. The bike is the northern half of the Kona course including Hawi, so it is fun to experience racing that! Tougher than most 70.3 bike courses, but really not too bad. The descent from Hawi this year was GREAT as we were lucky with the wind. So fast! The run is absolutely brutal, but as long as you are expecting it and plan accordingly, you'll be fine. Lots of short but very steep hills, both up and down. Intense heat - especially on the moist spongy golf course grass sections. Expect to run slow, but know that everyone must run slow, and as long as you keep pushing forward at race-effort (not pace) and you kept it conservative on the bike, others will blow up on the run and you'll look like a genius.
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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook
I stayed at the host hotel, the Fairmont, and I think that was a great decision from a logistics point of view. Registration and expo is in the hotel, so picking up your packet and buying your CO2 cartridges or whatever you need is completely easy and stress-free. The shuttles for bike drop off and race morning all operate from this hotel as well, meaning you never have to deal with race parking and additional shuttles to/from the parking lots. T2 and the finish are also at the hotel making logistics after you cross the finish line super-easy as well. You cross the finish line, walk directly to your room around the corner, take a shower, and come out and enjoy all the free beer and food and watch the other finishers. When you're done, just walk over to your bike, grab your stuff, and walk right back to your room! Really, it was logistically by far the easiest WTC race I have ever attended which made it great for just relaxing and preparing to race well.
The hotel has good restaurants, a beautiful beach, a great spa... and in the same neighborhood there is one of the best black sand snorkeling beaches on that side of the island. I forget the name, black sand 23 or something like that. It is in a private residential neighborhood and when we went there were only 2 other people there. The snorkel rental guy at the shop near the hotel (Bob's snorkel I think) told us about it. 4 minute drive from the hotel. Or a bike ride.
The course is great. The swim is beautiful and I saw sea turtles while racing. Pretty great. There were some significant ocean swells which made for some slow times this year, but it was a great swim. The bike is the northern half of the Kona course including Hawi, so it is fun to experience racing that! Tougher than most 70.3 bike courses, but really not too bad. The descent from Hawi this year was GREAT as we were lucky with the wind. So fast! The run is absolutely brutal, but as long as you are expecting it and plan accordingly, you'll be fine. Lots of short but very steep hills, both up and down. Intense heat - especially on the moist spongy golf course grass sections. Expect to run slow, but know that everyone must run slow, and as long as you keep pushing forward at race-effort (not pace) and you kept it conservative on the bike, others will blow up on the run and you'll look like a genius.
-------------
Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook