Yeah, it's at almost 25%. Not water I would think.

It's been raining so much, I can't believe it would be too little water. Too much, I'd almost believe.

Sad to hear this. I was signed up this year and looking forward to going back.

Maybe good ol' WTC's tried-and-true tactic of "bookending" rival races (here with events in St. George and Santa Rosa) had the desired effect of depressing entries to the point that it was no longer viable to put on?

I'm curious to hear what the organizers say.

Ruined my day.

Well it certainly is not water levels, they are good to go and getting better. So must be a business decision of some sort, lets just hope it is a pass through year, and it comes back to life again next year. It is one of the only weekends I look forward to each and every year, so perhaps Dan and I will have a bar-b-q and gravel ride out here for those inclined..

looking at water levels, it went from 18-23% this week, and I'm not sure if I remember correctly but the boat ramp is high and dry until at/about 40% or so?

And we're in 2-transition land until 50-60% [2 separated runs, one 2 mile from swim out to bike, the last run being the 'actual' run, but shortened to ~11.1 or so]

so I think it could be the water, not sure we're modeling to get much more too much later in the season than now. I think this is pretty much 'it' for water in central california as the drip shuts off in a couple weeks, optimistically we'd be projected to hit mid 30s I'm thinking

its a bummer. I'm not signed up, but if my achilles injury were to heal I'd strongly consider it. Love Wildflower

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//Noob triathlete//bike commuter//ex-swimmer//slower than you

water's fine. more than fine. lake's at almost 710' above sea level, with more storms coming, the water saturated, and the incoming rivers full. what's needed for a lynch area swim is about 680'. last year we had 724' for the race. this year, my guess is we'll be about where were last year. last year was a banner year as regards lake level.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Curious about the banner year comment though. I did it about 5-6 times in various iterations since 2007, last year was the first time I noticed the swim course change. Used to be line up right hand side straight shot to buoy. Last year was line up hard left and then you still had to swing out right to hit the buoy. The left turn coming back was also further out and there were people walking (not racers) in shallow water pretty far from shore.

Weird that the event went thru such a major re-branding, and adding new events, etc....

water is not the reason. by itself. it's feb. the race takes place in may. that's like wondering what the snow is going to be like in january based on looking at the mountain in october. this lake was going to be fine.

however, a month ago the water was barely at lynch swimmable levels (685'). that may have depressed early registration by those who remember 4 years of no lynch. i figure lynch is safe at 680', and it may be swimmable at 665'. you shouldn't look at % capacity. half that lake is marshland, big area many miles from the lake proper, and the last 50 percent of that lake, in terms of its capacity, is flooding that marshland. look at elevation.

last season the lake went from 655' to 725' or so. this year we started at 685' and we've already had more rain season-to-date than they had all of last season.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

You didn’t hear about Ironman Wildflower 2020? (Pink)

Low rego is one of the usual suspects, but don't rule out infrastructure problems, particularly the sewage system there.

That's likely it. I think that the whole idea of camping for 2 days before the event is just not something that resonates anymore. I have done that race 2x, loved the swim and the run, was not too crazy about the shitty surface on Jolon, but I honestly preferred 2 nights at a Model6 in Paso to dealing with the camping angle. Half iron races are stressful enough - throwing in the need to worry about getting a good camping site and hauling in supplies was always very questionable, at least to me. I know that a lot of people loved it, but I now much prefer the grandeur and the ease of accommodations of St George.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

We should be able to model rather closely expected water levels in May given predictable weather patterns in mild el nino years such as this.

The water swings a bit too far south, unfortunately, and the rainy season tends to end rather early.

example: https://www.weather-us.com/...-luis-obispo-climate

february is about it unfortunately, March a last hurrah, and then nothing until the following Nov or so

I'm sure theres a model for expected rainfall thats pretty close already, as indeed Dams in the area are required to act based on it

I could be wrong, but the "2 transition/double run" fallback proposal in low water years such as this one would likely be is not considered a good thing for the event nor participation.

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//Noob triathlete//bike commuter//ex-swimmer//slower than you

bummer. I'm a late signer upper for everything, so, I haven't lost anything, but. This is my favorite race of the year.

Website say's they'll be back for 2020 - really?

Auburn Worlds Toughest - gone (my backyard race)

WTC is the winner - again

shrugs shoulders...

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

Would be interesting if they could re-make it as a gravel or xterra tri. This might appeal more to folks who enjoy camping and remove it from the tightening grips of competing with WTC races.

Would have been the perfect race in the RV. Here’s to 2020 being a go!

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Adam Feigh
Pianko Law, Speed Hound, Castelli, Sailfish, Base
Feighathlon.com

There's been an off-road/Xterra sprint tri for many years, and this year they were also planning a trail run. I wonder how much demand there'd be for an off-road Olympic or 70.3 course, assuming that's even feasible with the trails there?

monterey county publishes the water levels for every month of every year going back to 1967. you can see what typically happens in that lake. if not another drop of rain fell the race would've been fine, and held with 1 transition. and another storm is ready to hit the area this week.

plus, i spoke to the folks responsible for making this decision. the fear of another split transition was not the reason.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

 
Just going to name drop and not say what the reason is?

I think that it's an awesome idea!

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

It's definitely not the water levels. Last year I think it was around 12% full and it didn't affect the race. The year when it was a swim-run-bike-run, it was at 6%.
It's already at 23% full and climbing (it's supposed to rain for the next 9 days).
http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/...howdocument?id=22189

All said,this is super sad. I've been doing this since 1990; first few times getting a motel. But the magic was camping. Huge group of us would camp and race doing 1 or 2 races. Something we looked forward to every year. In fact, one friend flies out from Boston and has done so for years; I loan him one of my bikes. His time doesn't really matter, it's more the experience.
In fact, the Boston Globe even wrote a story about him and others:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/...RB4ctidZO/story.html

It's really a bummer that this event has been cancelled. For years this has been something that friends have continued to attend - far beyond things like birthdays. It's really amazing how so many people make an effort for this unique experience.

This said,we're thinking about just showing up and doing it on our own. Waking up a little later than race day...
I hope the park will be open.

My normal event that I've done for about 10 years got moved to June, so I was thinking about doing this for the first time. I've got my trailer functional again and was planning on a fun trip.
Guess I'll just end up doing the local Xterra at Bonelli that I did once about five years ago.

So, Slowman - any feedback on the real reasons?

Interesting that Lightening in a Bottle also announced just recently that they aren’t holding their event at LSA this year either. Though I think that is because they didn’t follow their contract.

The park has been talking about changing their format to day use only but always commited to the continued events there. The County is hemorrhaging money at LSA.

The water level is fine this year. That can’t be the reason. I hope the organizers shed some light on this. They say it because of something outside their control.

Best reason would be because of mass repaving of Jolon Rd. I’m really hoping that is the reason. Nothing quite like 15 miles of simulated cobblestone.

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Hillary Trout
San Luis Obispo, CA

Your trip is short. Make the most of it.
https://www.slogoing.net/

Dan, even though I live on the eastern half of this continent, I managed to get out to do WF four times, so I hate to see this. Would be great if you can write a front page story, mainly to keep the path to 2020 alive....and because of the stupid 100/100 I am kind of running again (I just jogged 5 days in a row), so always holding out hope for future tri heroics....in the mean time back to the pool where the pool level is less variable than Lake San Antonio!