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RE: IM CDA - gear suggestions?
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Anyone familiar with the IM CDA bike course? With that area in general? What type of gearing would you recommend? Thanks.

Justin
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Re: RE: IM CDA - gear suggestions? [ILMClydesdale] [ In reply to ]
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Justin,

The bike course is generally flat, with 2 sections of exceptions. They just reversed the bike course, so you might check out the race website for a revised map. The course is almost identical, just reversed.

The first exeption is only a few miles into the course and is the section from US95 through Riverview Drive. You climb for about a mile up a grade that most mortals will use a granny gear of 23 or 21. The hill isn't brutally steep, but I'm not a great climber and prefer to spin my way up it. The course then flattens out and you hit some rollers. There is one steep climb that is probably 1/2 mile, but the rest of it is an almost constant gear shifting ride. I think this section is about 10-12 miles long based on memory of riding it recently. By the way, there is a great downhill section that puts you right at the edge of wondering if you have to brake or if you can just lean a little harder and let the banked road throw you around the corner. It is a blast!

After getting through this, the course is pretty much flat until near the end of the loop when you grunt up 2 short, steep climbs.

If you arrive early and want to bike some of the course, I'd recommend hitting the Riverview drive section to get familiar with the climbs and the downhills. You could leave CdA, do that part of the course and take the Centennial Trial back to CdA and get about 25 miles in and see the majority of the challenging part of the course. If you want to see the other climbs at the end of the loop, that would only be about 10-12 miles going the other direction from CdA.
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