Have done it twice. Am also doing again in 2 weeks.

Pretty well organized though check-in is sometimes slow.

Some traffic to get to Bader field morning of...recommend going to transition early to avoid.

Swim is rolling start in brackish water. Last year we got hit with tide coming in and it was like being in an endless pool for a few, then they cut short the swim on the spot.

Bike is decent, some sections are a little bumpy...but very flat overall.

Run is HOT...no shade at all on the boardwalk...i burned big time last two years...might actually use sunblock this year :). Run is also extremely flat.

Funny story, last year I stayed at Caesars...so there I was walking through the casino at 4 am all geared up with my bike pump and backpack...came across a fellow playing slots and he was just puking his guts out right on the carpet with his wife (ostensibly) standing over him patting him on the back. Rough day I’m guessing for him.

Good luck out there...give em hell!

J

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My other car is a Felt. DFL>DNF>DNS.

"There will come a day you won't be able to do this, today is not that day."

Have done it multipule times. Get to Bader field early. Traffic usually sucks.

The bike course is not closed to traffic. I hate that they promote the race that way.

It’s a fun race.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

Anyone have a clue to the water temps?

I guess it's a rare situation where ST is 'clueless'....

No idea. But last two years were all wetsuit legal.

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My other car is a Felt. DFL>DNF>DNS.

"There will come a day you won't be able to do this, today is not that day."

On the ocean side near Atlantic City proper it's currently 74.1F.

TY

Ocean is mid-70s right now.. can probably add a couple of degrees to that.

I recall a NOAA station for Bader Field when I did Challenge AC in 2015, but I can't find it now.

On the ocean side of Atlantic City but it should be close to the temp at the back bay. Although the bay is usually a little warmer. https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/...home.html?id=8534720

Actually when they dunk a thermometer in the pre-dawn hours of the morning, the back bay should be a little cooler than the ocean side, especially if the tide has been out.

Thanks to all about the water temp and other information. I've never done AC and this will be the first time racing with NO warmup swim due to restrictions (active inter-coastal waterway). Knowing it will be reasonably warm is helpful to know.

I thought I'd read about a current issue one year...

74.9 in the causeway this morning. Thinking unless we get a big tidal switch to bring in some warmer water from the south we should be wetsuit legal.

They had a weird swim course set-up in 2014 that caused some issues. 2015 there was some current, but not terrible. Then last year I think was the swim course modification in the middle of it.

I think Delmo's got it figured out for this year, just based on the course reversal, tide situation (it's about as close to slack tide as you can get), and experience.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Support the local races; Do TOUGHMAN.

IM is just buying everything up and making them all cookie cutter crap.

If you want a race experience where the organizers care, stay local.

And this race director, Delmonte is an ass.

Any info on slots for worlds? Did they roll a lot? I figured with the weather as bad as it was that unless you really really wanted to go you headed home. That’s what I did. Particularly interested in Men AG 55-59.

Care to elaborate? I've done a number of his races ranging from Tri the Wildwoods to the inaugural Escape The Cape to Challenge AC and never got that impression.

He’s too flamboyant for my taste. He’s like this local celebrity that everyone trips over themselves to say how amazing he is. God forbid you have a criticism, his local fan club will jump all over you. That said, I grudgingly admit that he put on a good event today and pays attention to the details. My only complaint, and I thought he’d fix it after the same issue last year, is that the swim organization is a total abortion. There’s plenty of room to create a nice long line, but instead people cram 100 across to try and enter a Swim shoot that can accommodate only 6 across. Very stressful waiting and jockeying for position. He is constantly talking about how he wants to be the best and to learn from mistakes, but this was still an issue. Otherwise, a pretty well run event.

I think he and his races are great!

Yesterday was PERFECT PR weather.

yes they did-
I stayed for M55-59 as I was interested

They started w one slot, added one from one of the older AG's (they started at older and someone already had the slot so it rolled)
-first time I went to the rolldown, btw

#1-from Canada-passed, #2-took slot, #3/4-passed, #5-also from Canada, passed-


At that point, the announcer asked "Anybody in M55-59?"
Multiple people were shouting 'YES!', but one guy was louder and he said "I'm next".
Announcer-"You, OK, what's your name?"
answer-"Dale Toce"
Announcer-"Dale Toce, yes, you are next. My man knows where he is in the placement. That's how to do it"

https://www.sportstats.ca/...ts&lastname=toce

Glad I went home then. I was the guy that finished 10 seconds behind you.

Nice race Scott. The swim was brutal. I knew high tide was 7:05, so I went a bit earlier than I would have normally and that could have been the difference.
I did miss out on AC AG awards (by one place) and USAT Regional Championship awards (by one place)-but I'm happy with France!

Dale

Excited for you. Enjoy the journey and the event.

Nice job Dale!

That swim was a fucking disaster. I got in early and was met with the most violent swim I've been a part of. I damn near grabbed a kayak and called it a day. It looks like it got faster a little later in the swim based on who started behind me. I was anticipating 27-28 and wound up 32. Friend of mine went 28:XX and started 15 minutes behind me.

Bike was fine for the first two loops, but that last one...a crit race with aerobars and a massive speed delta. I probably should've stayed with a couple of people that came by me on the ACE on the way out to work with on the final lap, but given my crash history/TBI it was a little much.

Run I wanted to approximate effort for IMFL, which I feel like I was pretty close to. However I wound up going directly to medical after the race. Thinking I just was way off on both calories and electrolyte balance. Executive cognitive function was messed up (when it takes me 15 seconds to decide what my full name is and whether to include my middle name...yeah, you're kinda fucked up). Now to figure that shit out before IMFL.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Hey laughable, FWIW, I've known Steve Delmonte, the race director, for close to 20 years. I think contrary to your characterization of him, he is a truly great human, was/is an elite triathlete, and is one of the best race directors around. He puts on a lot of great "local" events and his 70.3 has a very local feel. I'n from around this area and a large number of the volunteers and the racers are local.

Also, I don't think your comment is appropriate in this forum without backing it up with specific examples. And even then, its a broader character attack on a person I'm guessing you don't know very well. sorta like me saying your a real first class jerk based on your one petty post....I'm not saying that btw...I'm guessing your a great guy who has friends that like you and you just had a bad post....

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

What time did you enter the water? I got in (according to Delmo) at 7:09 and it took me 52 minutes. I felt good going out, but on the way back I felt like I had to swim sideways (to the left) because the current kept pushing me into the middle of the bay...my garmin confirms this ridiculous zig zag...the whole leg back was rough. Felt almost like an open water swim at times with the waves.

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My other car is a Felt. DFL>DNF>DNS.

"There will come a day you won't be able to do this, today is not that day."

6:50. I wanted in the water and a clean start and got an awful lot of 500 yard heroes. Once I made it to the first turn buoy things got significantly better.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

This was basically my experience as well. I started up at the front (race tracker says I got in the water at 6:50:16) and was anticipating a high-20s swim time. There was so much kicking and shoving. I swam over a few people who clearly shouldn't have started that early. A few who started off strong and faded within 200 yards and I went right over top of them. I purposely rolled over a few people who were veering way off course and forcing me off course with them. Ended up with a disappointing 31 minutes.

The bike course was FANTASTIC... for one lap. Raced that first lap strong, but right away on the second lap I started getting jammed up. It was difficult to try to ride 24-25mph when people next to me were moving more like 17 or 18 and being passed by people doing 20. I lost time on that second lap. Then the third was an epic clusterfuck. People everywhere. I hit the very back of the first lap traffic (literally saw people entering the highway from the connector bridge while I was starting my third lap). People on their second were now passing people on their first, and I was passing all of them. By the time I got off the expressway I breathed a massive sigh of relief that I didn't crash into anyone. That course had TOO many people on it for the three lap concept, and the amount of available roadway was just too narrow to accommodate.

Rain started a little when I hit mile 50 or so, and was actually raining by the time I finished the bike.

I had a killer run though and won't complain about that. Maybe mostly because I ended up 20 watts off-plan because I simply had no ability to keep pushing the goal watts on the second and third lap of the bike.

Also I am not sure I liked the idea that he never actually fixed the bike course. Last year it was 57 miles because it included the half mile on Bader Field. So he ended up moving the "exit" of transition to the exit of Bader field to make it a 56 mile course, but then we added that distance to transition. I analyzed my transition files and saw that both times I spent about 2:15 riding my bike which was part of my transition time. Had I been able to remove that 4:30 of total extra transition time I would have had a solid 60-90 second 70.3 PR. Not really a complaint, but just a bummer to realize that I missed out on a PR due to the bike course being a mile long.

You got in the water about 10 seconds behind me and came out about 45 seconds in front.

Loop 2 wasn't too bad just because there was still a steady stream of people just getting on for the first loop. I got a little nervous on the way back out the ACE when I saw the huge wreck on the other side of the highway (ambulance hadn't shown up yet). But that's when I should've hopped on with a couple of people who went by me there and navigated with them - they put 4+ minutes into me in that last 15 or so of the bike. Think it was just mental fatigue of trying to bushwhack your way through that many people for that long period of time.

I said this elsewhere, but I stand by it: I would pay an extra $100-$150 to have 800 fewer people on course and make up the revenue.

I too missed my PR by about 4 mins, which is about the length of time I spent in Bader. And that PR was on a slightly short course. Whatever. I still need to figure out why I was so completely messed up by the end of that race.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

In the end this is the biggest issue with this race. The swim venue is pretty good. The bike course itself isn't that bad. And I really do love the boardwalk run. But the crowding on the three loop course is just not appropriate. Either he needs to cut the race off at 2000 (instead of 2800), or figure out a different bike course that doesn't do 3 loops and put fast cyclists on the road with medium-speed cyclists AND slower cyclists all at once on a narrow road with a bunch of turns and some rough pavement.

I am not sure what happened with that big crash but I went by it not long after it happened and then when I had come around from the AC turnaround I saw the ambulance was there.

I mean, at the end of the day, I don't know whether the participant cap is a DelMo thing or a WTC thing. And I don't know what his agreement is with the licensing deal, whether it's predicated on a percentage of participants versus revenue, etc. In theory, there are two lanes open - the breakdown lane and the lane of travel, with the rumble strip separating them.

Honestly the worst section of the course for "oh shit" moments for me was the residential road without painted lines on it just before the left-right chicane. People riding four across sitting up chatting with one another on loop 3.

I think 2000 people would work on the existing course. I think we can get close on the revenue side of the equation. But then it's a matter of whether the contracts/caps deal with that kind of thing.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

I thought the race was great yesterday. It was my first AC 70.3, and my only annoyance was, as others have said, the crowded bike course. I was fairly FOP for the bike, and that last loop was tough.

It would have been less tough if people actually said “on your left” but that’s a different post.

I thought the first half of the run was kind of boring, but the back half was really entertaining. I can’t imagine doing that course when it’s sunny.

I’m surprised so many people are saying the swim was bad. I went in with the 26-35 min save, and had minimal contact and sighting issues. Just one guy who wouldn’t get the fuck off me. I tried to swim away from him several time and and he kept right on top of me. I finally gave his face/neck a solid scratch and was able to lose him. If that was you, sorry not sorry.

Don't get me wrong or get the wrong impressions from my couple of posts above. I had a fantastic race yesterday. But for the long transition ride, that was a PR day for me. This is a great place to put on a race, but a few things should be addressed to make it perfect. Mostly the issue is crowding on the bike course.

The run is a total hoot all day when it's a nice day out. The boardwalk is full of clueless people who have no idea what's going on. The ones that figure it out end up cheering for you even though they have nothing to do with the race. The section near the casinos is always filled with the typical Jersey Shore characters. It's a fun place to race for sure. And the boardwalk invites fast running as it's such a forgiving surface to run on.

I think part of my mistake was attempting to start middle-left and cut that initial run into water short. Should've gone right hand side as it seems like it was more open (and with the way the current shook out, shorter). That said, I was one more ankle grab to get pulled backwards by somebody I kept repassing from quitting. It wasn't fun. This is supposed to be fun.

I think I yelled on your left about 400 times. 90% of the time, this resulted in the person moving even further to their left -- especially the last time through.

Having been on the boardwalk when it's 85+ and sunny...nope. No. Never again.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Man, I'm glad to hear other people had slow swims -- I would have started in the first 20-30 seconds but couldn't get to the front of the corral and ended up starting about 6:53, but was still surprised that I was some 2m over my usual time.

Didn't find the bike course too bad, but it was getting there by loop 3 -- I didn't encounter any social groups, but there were a number of people hanging out on the left side of the lane (and some who were all over at the AC turnaround and some of the turns on the loop).

Would definitely do more races in cool drizzle.

I'm not sure if it was that crash or another one, but I was talking to a guy from ?Peru who crashed when someone didn't hold their line and went right into him and he went into multiple cones and went down. He said he usually averages 26-27 mph and wasn't happy with the skill level he saw on the course. DNF with an ambulance ride/stitches/AB etc but not seriously injured, fortunately for him.

I had a lady just bump right into me because she couldn't control her bike, just turned into me as I passed, when she had no one in front of her. We bumped shoulders which wasn't a big deal for me other than startling me, but she wobbled a bit and almost went down.

My plan was to be super defensive at EVERY turn and expect that someone would drift off their line or generally not control their bike. And then push past them at the earliest possible moment.

Those matches were worth it.

i did it last year and it did get hot on the boardwalk, very hot. and it was an entertaining run. in Ventnor/Margate, there were families out cheering us on. on the boardwalk were a lot of senior citizens walking or with their bikes, despite the signs telling them otherwise. then when you get back to AC, there's the toothless people cheering us, a few folks just walking through the course was annoying, especially with their cigars. and definitely some Jersey shore characters along the way. almost expecting Snookie and the Situation to pop out from a casino.

did the race last year and liked it. some of the same comments as mentioned before, i'm a BOPer and found the bike to be a bit rough. part of the AC expressway is closed, we have our own lane, but maybe another would be helpful. i was averaging about 18-19 mph overall and was definitely passing a lot of people as people we passing me. with choppy roads, people were definitely not holding a line well. especially at the hairpin turn on the highway, a guy actually went too wide and tried to come back and came right in front of me and a few others. pretty stupid and selfish.

Lots of talk trashing Delmo. he's a good guy. met him at a few races and the guy is dedicated to making the race better and cares about all 2800 equally, from the top finisher to the last across the line. its a very welcoming race and given its flat, makes beginner friendly. it used to be a 1 loop course but the residents shut that down as it interfered with people getting to the airport. id love it if he could find a way to make it two laps, with that, there'd be a lot less congestion. lots of that is because it takes a long time to get people in the water. He definitely has a fan club and are very dedicated to him, as he does put on good and welcoming races.

i'm planning on going back in 2019

My first 70.3 experience yesterday. Led out of the water by a considerable margin (I'm not expert on the matter but that didn't seem like the safest way to start a race, and I got in the water first). Soloed the first lap of the bike before the slowdown with the 2nd and 3rd loops started. I know all of the difficulties of finding a 56 mile bike course with two or less loops, but if you can only have one lane of a highway to handle 2800 bikers on a 3 loop course, I don't think you should be hosting a half-ironman. Passing on the left became super dangerous with (as other people have mentioned) riders chatting three across and then a Ford F-150 speeding by at 80 mph a few feet from me on my left. A couple groups of riders passed me and I always lost them after a couple of miles with them willing to take extra risks on passing slower cyclists and turns, but I'm happy to have stayed upright all race without any mechanical issues. I was not crazy about some of those roads on the back stretch either with pot holes/terrible pavement. Again, this is my first 70.3 so not sure about what the typical rate of crashes is, but it seemed like there were a lot of riders down out there with serious injuries. I came off the bike in around 6th and just slogged through the run at a slow pace. I'm sure the boardwalk run would be great on a nice day, but with the rain I just felt heavy shoes and wanted it to be over. I appreciate all of the volunteers that were out there despite the weather and every aid station along the run gave me a little boost.
Overall, it was a learning experience for me, but don't think I'll be heading back next year. Time for an offseason filled with long bricks to make sure I have the legs for that half-marathon.

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

My 2 cents on yesterday. Bottom line ienjoyed it and glad I did it. I think this was my 29th half, many of them IM branded. This was better than many, although not the best on the planet. Specifically:

- I’m a big Delmonte fan. He knows his stuff, is a very experienced triathlete and race director. Many elements of his race are high value. The camp option is great. The live tracking amp was the best mrs c ever used...he is very accessible, cares and is open to feedback. He is one of the best RDs I’ve ever met.

-The bike course is a problem, that many have detailed here. The 2nd/3rd laps with high Newbie concentration. Some Uber cyclists (Zwifties playing outside?j were taking too many risks in my view. The rain made some of the pavement/man hole covers sketchy, etc. Steve knows this area very well having lived down here all his life and having staged an IM on the same venue. I’m sure he is aware of the issues and given it continues his options may be limited. That said, if you were careful, backed off here and there, and played defense you could go fast and be safe. That was my experience and at one level, my legs felt a bit better in T2 and the bike seemed to go by fast due to all the “problem solving”.

-I found the swim to be just fine. I was slower than I expected. I’d like to think it was the current, but it probably was me needed to swim harder than I did.

-the transitions are big. I thought allowing us to ride through it was a workable solution. I know PR seekers might not like it, but at 61 it’s not much of an issue for me. I do think maybe you could take the bike out the run out exit and shorten Transitions by 2-3 minutes. Not sure how that affects the other logistics though.

-run is awesome (not mine, it always sucks, but the course) and I loved the rain.

-all in all I liked it a lot. I appreciate still being able to do these things. Thanks to Steve, my fellow competitors, and all the volunteers and spectators. You certainly made my day!

rc

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Randy Christofferson(http://www.rcmioga.blogspot.com

Insert Doubt. Erase Hope. Crush Dreams.

Also seeing a conversation about how many flats there were. I'm going to guess that it just felt like the frequency was high because of the multiloop bike course - it just feels like you have a bunch more incidents despite them not actually increasing relative to your average bike course.

I think I told somebody on my final loop on that stretch of pavement that I needed a new ass. There was a single line on the back side there that was the middle third of the lane that worked. Sadly, it appeared everybody who was blocking/not passing was also in that stretch of the lane at that point of time.


A 1:40 run still isn't "slow." It's slow relative to the front of the field (I feel your pain, I had a whole host of people blow my doors off on the run) but it's certainly not truly "slow." I honestly don't see a ton of utility in long bricks (you lose the physiological benefit after a while) and so I would instead just look at run frequency/volume.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Agree.

Andrew, this being your first half it was your first taste of running LONG off the bike. That's a hard skill to learn, and mostly just comes from experience. Long bricks have their place for certain, like 3hr bike + 50 minute run. But I wouldn't concentrate on sessions like that, or do more than one or two in prep for a 70.3. That brick run is not usually of good quality after a ride, and you are better off building your run fitness as run fitness. The vast majority of your ability to run well off the bike comes from just being able to run well in the first place coupled with strong cycling fitness.

Just looking at timing data from SportStats, it looks like I passed you on that last leg after the far turnaround at mile 10.5. Your swim obviously lead the pack, and you threw down a solid bike split. What is your bike fitness like? And what is your run fitness like? What is your half marathon PR? It's one thing to throw down a 2:19 split, and another to back that up with an equally strong run. Doing both requires strong fitness in both areas

This was my first 70.3. I just want to make a few comments for those reading this thread and considering this race for next year.

Despite the descriptions of the swim for the front runners on this thread, some who are describing kicking, pulling and swimming over people, I found the swimmers at the back to be the most polite group I've ever swam with. If ever someone even gently brushed up against me they apologized to me. At one point I saw two swimmers just in front of me bump each other and they both stopped to apologize to each other. It made me smile. Also if you don't want to be knocked into at all, it was easy to stay just a little wide. Finally the swim went clockwise this year and that eliminated the "treadmill" buoy that was described in other years.

Since I was a slow swimmer I had the opposite experience of the front runners on the bike too. The first half lap was a little crowded and then it got less crowded as my bike went on. I completely get that it would be frustrating for those that are in it to win it - but for the rest of us, just staying to the right is easy enough and I passed when I looked back and saw I had an opening. I'm a decent bike handler and was on my road bike so maybe that made a difference but I didn't have any trouble.

The run is mostly on the boardwalk and I liked that the second half was in the area that had more activity. The runs around the piers were especially enjoyable. It rained on me for almost the entire bike and run but I finished with a smile on my face.

As for those blasting Stephen Delmonte, I can't be accused of being a fan boy as this is my first DelMoSports event. I got the impression that he and his crew worked hard to create the best event they could and overall I thought the event was well run. Sure there are little things that could be improved upon (spreading out the swim start times signs to give everyone one more room at the start is an easy fix for example). Yes the bike course would be even better if it only had 2 loops instead of 2.5 loops or had fewer people. But the swim course in the back bay was great and if you like running on a boardwalk this could be the event for you.

Congratulations on your first 70.3!!!


I for one found the 26 and under sign fun. I was talking to everyone in the corral about there being 200 people under that sign and that only 5-10 people would actually do it. A total of 7 people did...the 7th place person was a NCAA Division II swimmer and was about 80 seconds behind you.

My swim ended up at 35:02 a couple mins slower than I had hope. Only one dunk exchange along the way. (if you dunk me...I will dunk you back)

Bike course was fun! Shout out to the kids for BCYC that manned the aid station. If you want to learn more about the organization and donate click HERE. The kids work hard and deserve the support. Heck, they came all the way from Inner City Philadelphia to help us! (ST could honestly profile the work these kids, and this club are doing)


Note on the bike course. Yes there were unsafe passing conditions on the third lap, I was almost 1 mph slower on this lap. I also lost a bottle cage (The bolts rattled off and I had just tightened them the day before). The locking mechanism of my aerovault popped off from the rough vibrations on the course, and my straw came out of my aerovault (giant trinity advance pro 2 if you want to know what I am talking about). I spent the last 8 or so miles holding my aerovault in place so it would not contact my front tire and cause any issues. I know that contributed to my slower final lap. 2:30:01 for the bike. (Side note: bike computer had 57.2 miles, so a little over a half mile in and out of transition from the mount and dismount lines.)

The run course was great, support was never too far away, the squishy boards saved the knees, and the rain made overheating nearly impossible. I checked your run splits, it looks like you went out fine and faded on the run (I also suggest run volume increase to help with this...but it could have been anything). You were by no means slow on the run...just slow in relation to your strong swim and bike splits. I took it easy on the run as I knew I was going to attain my personal goal, so long as I didn't blow up. 1:35:48 while walking the aid stations.

4:49:51 - I know the weather and course probably made this one of the easiest 70.3's ever...but I couldn't be happier.

I race on the Cadence team, and had my obnoxiously bright blue Cadence Racing kit on yesterday. Those kids were SO AWESOME for recognizing the kit and shouting out to me for it every time I went through. I love what BCYC does to help these kids find a healthy activity and teach them about how awesome cycling is.

I think it's a little dishonest to call that a "closed bike course", like he does in his marketing of the race, when you have cars zooming by at 80 mph 3 feet away. He also calls it a "sheltered swim", leaving the impression that it's easy. So people sign up thinking it's an easy swim to only find out later about the crazy currents.

And that silly "get to ride the Atlantic City Expressway toll free", really annoys me. Maybe I just getting too old.

Can you DM me with some more information on that group?

They also kept recognizing me from my kit each time through and were super loud. Great group there.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Don’t disagree with that. We do have our own lanes but doesn’t mean cars aren’t out there on the expressway. Closed is tough to pull off because it absolutely shuts down the road. Maybe they could do what they do arc IMMT, shit down one side completely and have two way traffic on one side? That said, it’s only ~5 miles of road. IMMT has a transnational highest shut down for 16 miles in one direction.

The swim - it’s open water, sheltered is easier than an ocean swim. Definitely need to be stronger than you’d think on that course

I appreciate the feedback. I did the whole ITU junior circuit in high school and this is my first year back after a 6-year hiatus where I focused on swimming exclusively. I was a 15:30 5k guy in high school so I know I have the speed, but you are correct in that I need to build up my run fitness. I'm self-coached right now (it's always been difficult to find a good coach that has a strong knowledge of swim training IMO, as I want to maintain that as my weapon) and I would say I trained this summer more for an olympic race with long runs of 8-10 miles and 40-50 mile rides in the DC area. With taking 6 years off of running and being a bit on the larger size (I'm 6'3 and 190 right now), I was also super cautious about my run mileage, and I'm proud of not missing a single day of training this year do to any injuries.
In terms of numbers, I can put out 392 watts for 20 min and I'm in form to go around 4:34 for a 500 yard free right now. In my biggest volume week I was at 5 sessions in the pool of 4,000-4,500 yards each, four rides for a total of 8.5 hours in the saddle, and four run sessions for a total of 35 miles.

Congrats to you on a solid all-around race; it looks like you closed really well on the run based on your splits. If anyone is ever in the DC area and looking to get a workout in, let me know!

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The Gram: @agyenis
My latest story on Swimswam: More than a title

I was right behind that crash. I was almost a part of it myself. From what I saw a guy tried to pass a slower group of 2 wide and hit the cones. Space was way too tight to pass in my opinion. He took out about 3-4 others, and one poor girl had blood pouring out of her mouth. She may have lost a few teeth. The guy that caused the crash could barley move. I stopped to help clean up the bikes and move them to the side of the road so no-one else hit them. Was pretty gnarly.

I agree , that bike course needs to be adjusted or limit participants. Too many riders and not enough space. And good bike handling skills are pretty much non existent in that race.

So it was the stronger rider making the pass that caused the accident by attempting a pass where there was no space?

I was right there and saw the blue quintana roo go down hard but I don't know if I could assign blame.

From where I was, it sure looked that way. I was close behind him.
But you're right, I shouldn't assign blame with out knowing for sure if it was him.

Yeah, think it was the section just before the ramp climb, yes? It was a bit tight through there - especially if you can't hop the rumble strip.

There were an awful lot of people who just weren't either confident or competent with some of the more technical turns. Not saying I'm perfect, but those techy sections were fun when you could link the turns together. I could use those seconds...

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Yup, right before the ramp. The ambulance was still there when I came back round to start the next lap.

Okay. It could have been an error in judgement on his part. Or it could have been someone failing to hold their line.

I say that as that guy on the Blue QR probably would have had the fastest bike of the day. He went something like 2:14 in Boulder 70.3. AC is considerably flatter, I believe. He also rides outdoors on technical roads a lot.

I was one of those fast cyclists. I did a 2.16.xx

I too made a very very bad call that I deeply regret. I tried to pass three abreast and thought I had enough space to clear the truck in front of us (rumple strips). It wasn't. I slammed on the brakes, the bike fishtailed, and I barely avoided the truck... The folks on the right moved to the right and everybody avoided a trip to the ER.

Needless to say, very bad call. Had nightmares last night of that situation. Sorry to any and all folks around.

Difficult course to put people of such different levels together. Not enough room for the slow, medium, and fast folks.

I was highly, highly annoyed at the amount of people, especially on (my) lap three who were riding 2, 3 abreast and chatting like it was a Sunday social ride.

The biggest offenders were ladies wearing a grey club tri kit.

in thinking about this a bit, you are probably right in that we don't see anyone more than once, except in a multi-loop course like this where you can see literally everyone on the course and will be more aware of the number of total flats in the race-really no way to compare the actual number of flats in any venue other than the general comments, though

And congrats on the fine first 70.3 Andrew! Beast on the swim and solid cycling. Work the run...it's always all about the run...

I'm seeing that there were 1970 finishers, so figure a bit over 2000 on the bike course before DNFs. Not a crazy number for a 70.3 event. Every WTC race I've done has congestion on the bike course, and this one didn't seem much worse than the others, despite the 3 laps. It got a bit crowded in spots on the last lap, but there were only a couple times I had to pause before making a pass. Not a big deal.
I will say I have no idea why those trucks need to be parked in the middle of the road, forcing everybody over and back across the rumble strips twice per lap.
A single lap course would be nice, but he tried that one year and the traffic complaints from the locals were too much to overcome. Holding a race in a populated area comes with some limitations, and I'm happy to deal with a little bike course congestion to be able to race a 70.3 in Atlantic City.

Any idea how the M30-34 slots got allocated?

A cursory glance at the bib list suggest 2300+ registrations. So I stand corrected on what my number for a safe bike course would be. You'd need to get down to 1500, then.

That bike course was a crit with aerobars on the final loop. Just way too much of a delta going on between the head and the tail given the participant volume. Calling it a little congestion I think is being a bit unrealistic.

I raced the course when it was Challenge on the 59 mile bike course. I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for either a participant cap and pricing that leads to being able to utilize the existing bike course, or a way to cut down to 1.5/2 loops and maintain the existing participant base (and maybe that leads to a price increase that corresponds with it).

I like Delmo as much as the next guy - and I think he's done an admirable job building a race in AC. Doesn't mean that the race can't be criticized, either.

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I'm 100% with you on all of this. There are courses to promote as a calm / sheltered swim; this isn't it. There are races to promote as roads closed to traffic; this isn't it. Some people just get away with using false language and it somehow not getting considered to be disingenuous; seems he's got that going for him. He's also got a sprint/oly that uses the same roads, which gives any racer who wants to take advantage of it the chance to preview the course with fewer racers on it. But what it doesn't do is give people experience racing on a tight course with the large range of ability present now that M-dot is associated.

I can't think anyone will find this a popular idea, but just to throw it out there, what if races alternated between years they offered slots for each gender? I'm certain the money isn't there to run 2 days of racing, one for each gender, but what if - I mean how much would crowding be reduced - if there were no worlds slots for men one year? Sure lots of guys would still race, but would the tenor of the bike interactions change? I may be wrong and am prepared to be flamed for this, but maybe the women's slot year would draw more newbies but a smaller crowd overall, and the guy slot year would be heavy with type A's and fewer cycling novices?

As to the truck in the middle of the lane, I agree the placement is inconvenient to the racers and sets up an unfortunate dynamic with the rumble strip, but I suspect it's purpose is to disuage auto traffic from saying F this and these *explicative* cyclists, I'm exiting here (through a supposed gap of bikes).

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That's exactly what it was.. it was discussed on the event's FB page sometime over the weekend, IIRC.

Those rumble strips are a nightmare, and I consider myself a decent bike handler (MTB background before triathlon).

In both the AC Tri and Challenge AC (where we had *150* people out on the 112 mile course, with no loops - what a great ride that was!) crossing over them at speed scared the shit out of me.

Actually I don't think this is a terrible idea at all. Let's pull on this thread a little. A few thoughts on this proposal:

How many people showed up to the race on Sunday looking for a slot to worlds? I certainly did. But is that a large percentage? How many of those wouldn't show up if it wasn't "their turn" to get slots that year? If Worlds is in a popular location like it is for 2019, I personally wouldn't have raced there and would have chosen a different 70.3 (excepting the fact that this race is in my backyard, so maybe I would have anyway). But if Worlds is in a less popular, or less accessible location (like SA, or 2020 when it's likely to be New Zealand), I probably would have still come to race simply because it is the local 70.3.

Actually on that note there might be some level of fairness that we lose when sometimes Worlds in in a popular location alternating with less popular locations and possibly never offering slots to the popular location for one gender or another just by pure bad luck.

Edit: That said, I am not sure it would solve the problem you are trying to solve. I am guessing the percentage of people that would sit this one out if it wasn't "their turn" is small enough to not make a huge difference. If I am remembering right, the top two or three overall didn't take slots. So clearly they showed up just to race.

Yeah, I can't think that the Worlds slot thing matters in the grand scheme of things. People know it's a fast course, it's a huge population center that offers a tune-up before Maryland and Florida, and it's relatively inexpensive to travel to. The race itself is slightly higher priced than an average 70.3 but when you factor in the availability of hotels/VRBOs it's an easier race, logistically, than even say LP 70.3 that pulls from a similar geographic region.

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I do not think most people out there were looking to take a slot to worlds. If I was top 10 I would have waited around to see if I could get a roll down in the M30-34 space. At 20th? Not a chance...I'm still not even close to good enough to toe the line at worlds.

As for it being the local race...an argument could be made that Eagleman (at just over 2 hours away) is also the local race for Philadelphians that offers pro card slots. If I am a serious racer looking for a pro card and a slot to worlds, I go there because the pros are there.

At the end of the day, those of us looking to have a friendlier bike course are going to need to be pickier with our race selection or have a pro card to be well ahead of the rest of us.

Interesting reading the comments in this post.

Firstly big congrats to all the finishers tough wet day out there, and all those who volunteered etc:.

Nice job Dale Toce, see I told you to go to the awards ceremony, there is always a chance of a roll down and you got the slot along with Ryan Davis both Cyclonauts.

Re-the race, totally agree the swim start is a bottle neck at the start and the first couple of hundred yards was just carnage, I had to pull to the side and settle in, but once moving the chop was OK if you breath bilaterally.

Re-the bike the first lap is great, however laps 2 and 3 become a congestion problem with slower riders and passing sometime two of three wide on a single lane, then vehicular traffic flying by not 6 ft from you, and yes I saw that F-150 he was cruising (idiot). In some places especially the turns you had to be aware of the less experienced riders, as I almost got taken out when it started raining. I was happy to be off the bike and out of the crowds to be honest.

The run was flat and fast, maybe a little scary when making sharp turns on the on the boardwalk planks.

Re-race director, he was on the first out and back pier filming on his iphone, TBH in my opinion, a really genuine nice guy. For those folks who knock him, please take a step in his shoes.

True, the top few didn't take slots. Maybe already had them from another race? Who races more desperately, the person who already has or doesn't want a slot, or the person killing themselves for years to attain some goal? Which is more likely to take chances during the bike segment on a crowded course?

I get that only a few people have a legitimate shot at going to worlds - you have to place very well. But I bet a bunch of people show up wondering, if they lay it all down, are they just as good or better than the next guy. (I believe it's known that guys tend to think they are equally capable as those around them, regardless of their experience.) So maybe 20-40 people, depending on the AG in question, may think they have a legitimate shot? Even 10 people per AG would be >100 people. Next take the incentive to cheat. Those guys are drafting, let me hop on to stay competitive (TX, anyone?). Basically I wonder if the slots contribute to egging people on, creating a more a hostile group of cyclists. Take the slots of one gender away, potentially reduce the incentive to be aggressive.

It was mainly a thought experiment. I agree, it may not solve the basic issue of this course being too narrow for the traffic.

ETA: I see your point about apparent fairness, with regard to a moving location for Worlds and is it desirable or not. It's a good one that I hadn't considered.

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I want to poke at this just a little bit. It seems the chief complaint that I saw on the FB page was people riding fast past slow cyclists without really calling passes. Some passes were apparently inappropriate, but most of the complaints were simply from people that were not used to being near the front of a race before.

My perspective from the FOP was that this race went off like every other race. I had no issues passing people during the first loop, and had no issues when people passed me. Not one person announced when they passed me. I didn't think they needed to. I could easily hear them coming up anyway. I suspect that since we had so many people on a multi-loop course, that the people being passed by the FOP simply were not used to what it's like up near the front of a race. I did not find there to be any inordinate aggression from the people racing at the front, at least any more than usual.

Was going to say this in the "on your left" thread but it's probably more appropriate here, specific to the AC race, and would take what g lev says a bit further.

It sounds like there were some accidents caused by aggressive riding/poor decision making, which is too bad. But there's also something to be said for preparing less experienced/competitive riders to ride safe in a race like this.

I heard a bit of a pre-race meeting while checking in my bike, and while there was general talk about there being plenty of space, and that people should stay to the right (realistically, many opt to ride in the right lane rather than the shoulder), they ought to let people know that they should expect to be passed by cyclists who may be significantly faster (it sounded like the emphasis was on staying right to stay away from cars, not that when you drift right you might force someone else into cars, cause problems behind you, etc.).

I rode 2:16:xx and glanced behind each time I moved left to pass. I think I was passed by one rider. There's always someone faster than you. Regardless of bike handling skills (I'm competent for triathlon but hardly a skilled cyclist), the thing that people really need in a race like AC is an awareness of other riders on the course.

I have a lot of tolerance for inexperienced riders and know it's my responsibility to be safe -- I make sure I don't cross someone's like or get caught in a turn with someone going a different speed, and I speed up or slow down as necessary so I don't get to one the rumble strip pinch points at the same time someone else, but I think races could do more to let people know what's expected/normal on the course.

Just read all the posts. Huge congrats to Dale (dtoce) my Casco Bay swim partner on the Worlds 70.3 slot! Very well earned and deserved.

Swim - I ended up hitting the port-a-potty a second time and got to the swim area late. I tried to get through the crowd, which was a giant human gridlock and was looking at the 55 min wave. As a 35 min 70.3 swimmer, I was preparing for a tough swim, but luckily a dude with an AWA kit just started snaking though and I "drafted" off him, and together we rattled off a few hundred "excuse me" and "sorry's". Kudos to that dude who got me to the back of the ramp! This was the first triathlon race I've done, where if you didn't seed early, you physically could not access an earlier swim wave. It wasn't like that when I did the Challenge race in 2014; but the again, that race had a much smaller field.

Like some others, I found there to be a little extra contact. I also had trouble sighting the buoys on the far side heading back south. And I usually have no issues sighting. I was a little disappointed with 37+ minutes as I put in a lot of effort, but it beat the heck out of the 2.4 mile clusterf*ck Challenge swim with the crazy slack current.

Bike - I had a huge Bike PR (2:34). This course reminds me a lot of Eagleman. And even at Eagleman (1-loop) there's still traffic jams and crowding from start to finish! I can't help but wonder if E-man moved from an AG wave start to a rolling start based on time, if that would help solve the crowding, because typically faster swimmers, tend to bike faster. Regardless, as I mentioned in another post, the urban conditions and rain made this a hairy bike. Especially on the AC expressway!

Run - I enjoyed the boardwalk run. I had a solid run, with zero walking, and managed a semi-respectable 1:54.

Volunteers were ridiculously awesome. It's a great race, but it would be that much better if they can figure out how to steal back some of the old Challenge bike course.

g_lev, that FB post covers lots of topics now that it's >400 comments long. Started with people upset racers didn't call passes, to people offended they were told to stay right, some offended they were told they should glance back before pulling left, to passers and passees swearing at eachother, to people being clipped by passers cutting back right too aggressively and passees not dropping back enough, back to how can I drop back if you don't call your pass. Plus others: men peeing on the bike, jerks on $10k bikes. Basically all kinds of references to unsportsmanlike behavior.

You're right, maybe like most other races to you. You quickly pass by clumps of slower riders on 2 loop courses. When I was a very BOP bopper, my experience was being passed by an occassional faster cyclist lapping me. Single dude at a time, no big deal on 56 miles of pavement (full distance race). I think as you suggest, the issue here is the short multilap course puts many faster riders near slower ones for a larger percentage of the slower riders ride and yeah, they're not used to it. Who would be? I've never done a multiloop 56 mi ride before - are they a bit unusual?

The stories of people getting clipped/cut off always reminds me of Kristie at CAC yr 1. Stuff that just shouldn't happen.

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I started calling passes on the second lap whenever there was more than 1 cyclist-wide traffic ahead of me. I had a few people yell at me for "going too fast" and "that's how accidents happen". Like others have mentioned, I know the MOP and BOP riders usually don't get mixed with the front guys but I'm not changing my race and slowing down to make others feel safer.

i have to find this thread on FB. i wasnt there this year but am no stranger to peeing on the bike and a few years ago at quassy got an earful for a lady about it. told her to quit drafting.

when i did IMAC last year it was a mess on the bike. thing is that its a very welcoming race for a 1st timer at that distance. the other problem is the rumble strip. that's a pain to keep crossing over if you truly stay to the right and come out to pass on the left. its nearly impossible to keep a line though. 1st loop was fine but the 2nd got very full with the faster / earlier starters on their last loop, people like me, then the last folks entering the course. i'd love to see them find a way to stretch the course out a bit to make it 2 loops, and maybe a wider entry to the water. that would make it a lot safer.

Surprised. This thread is now onto page 3 and not one mention that ST’s own Pubes was the overall winner last year. Looks like he didn’t race this year. If I remember he was pretty negative about the multi loop bike course pre race but generally more positive (or at least trending towards neutral) post race. Would’ve been interesting to hear his perspective on this year.

I thought course felt much more crowded this year but if you rode smart and knew to be more conservative and take caution on sketchy parts like the truck and rumble strips you were fine. I rode almost exact split as last year on less watts and HR.... which helped me on the run.

My personal complaint about this course is all the dropped bottles and junk that people lose, plus people weaving trying to maneuver bottles behind the seat... honestly i think people should 1) make sure their cages and accessories are properly installed (I know sometime a bottle might launch but losing cages, seat bags, top tube bags shouldn’t happen) and 2) if you’re not experienced with maneuvering the BTS bottles or if you’re not a strong bike handler, there’s no harm or sham in stopping to refill or having bottles on the frame... the seconds of aero advantage gained is lost when you’re sitting up, weaving, slowing down and taking a minute to replace your bottle... and it seemed to me people always chose poor times to decide to grab behind the seat... at least make sure you’ve got good space and not approaching some difficult section

Overall I still really enjoy this race and count me in as a Delmo fanboy... really think all his events are high quality.... we in this region are fortunate to have someone putting on these quality events in our backyard.

When something gets messed up, he fixes it. And at his own expense. So when the pint beer glasses did not arrive in time for the finish, he's going to mail them out to EVERYONE. Can't imagine how much that will cost but how many other race directors would do that? It might seem like a small item to some. But I drink a lot of beer and having a AC70.3 pint glass makes it that much better. He does truly care. Nice job Steve. You rock! See you next year. https://www.facebook.com/...os/2401917589825211/