Most of the waves were 3 foot but on my second time through the surf I ducked under 1 wave that was taller than I am (6 foot plus). I saw a few people get blasted backwards that didn't duck under well. The swim was a lot of fun because of the waves. Being a lake swimmer it was a treat to get some variety. The "bike" section was really a muddy hike pushing a 30lb anchor for two hours and then coasting down to T2. The run was muddy but manageable. I fell twice on the run but I was already so dirty it didn't make a difference.

No comment on the Maui course as I have never done it. My experience with Xterra is limited (I have only done 2) but as a mountain biker, I thought the bike courses were lame and generally speaking a good road biker would do just as well. Not nearly enough single track or technical stuff.

 but as a mountain biker, I thought the bike courses were lame and generally speaking a good road biker would do just as well. Not nearly enough single track or technical stuff. //

That's funny as I have had the exact opposite happen to me, courses have been super difficult, single track, and often muddy. Not anything for a just good road rider...I did this course in Maui a very long time ago, it was dry and about as difficult as it gets. As I recall Ned Overand who was a multi world MTB champion, would average around 12mph on it. That tells you all you need to know about Maui, except that now it seems to be wet more than not, so just a horrible course for the regular racers. And I'm sure that it also ruined a few pros days out there too, results seem to be an anomaly for some reason...

 

The current Maui bike course is moderately technical, but very demanding from a climbing perspective.

There's very little room to warm up, basically you start climbing right out of T1 and it seems to go on forever. A lot of the climbing is quite steep, which made things basically unrideable this year. A good mix of twisting single track and double track, trail surface is quite bumpy from not being ridden other than during the race. I think your average roadie would find it to be a pretty tough course.

I guess the course is always a crap-shoot unless you have been there before. I agree with 100% on the mud. all little muck can be fun but when it cakes on your bike so bad that your wheel won't spin, it is just not any fun.

I would disagree that the current Maui course is moderately technical. Ignoring the mud I would say there were two spots on it that were a tiny bit technical, and amounted to less than 500m in total. The rest is pretty much smooth track. I suppose, like anything though, it's all relative, and I'm probably more of a mountain biker than anything else. In the NZ Xterra the course has been progressively dumbed down over the years to the point that a good mountain biker has virtually no advantage over a good road rider. I would say the same is true for the current Maui course.

I don't think it's trail surface technical, I agree is basically smooth track, but the opening/closing single track sections do require a lot of maneuvering and bike handling skill to ride fast.

I went there last year for the first time thinking I was a decent mountain biker and got my butt kicked in ideal conditions. Spent this whole summer riding gnarly DH trails and found the course to be much easier this year, even in the mud.

For a mountain biker, it's a pretty easy course, but I don't think I'd call it a roadie course by any means.

I really have to agree. As a CX/MTB guy in the Pacific NW, I like to think that I'm fairly well versed in mud. A nice muddy ride (or even better, cross race) is awesome. Mud that clogs your wheels and won't let you ride, no fun at all.

On a different note, I'm blown away that the Xterra world champs aren't on permanent, well maintained mountain bike trails. Maybe I'm reading this thread incorrectly, but from the way the trails have been described, I think they'll be sloppy/unrideable any time it rains (if it's true that they are basically 'built' a couple of weeks before the event every year).

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

I think a few miles of trail at the beginning and end exists year round. In those areas you can tell you're on a well established trail and they're pretty nice. There's also a few miles of old dirt road that gets used. I'd guess about half the course seems like it gets mowed down and built just prior to the race though. All things considered its a pretty impressive feat they pull off.

Some of the course that was out in the sun was bone dry, but the majority is covered by thick jungle canopy (to he point you don't really need sunglasses) and that stuff seems like it would need a long time without rain to dry out.

I love this race. I had never swam/swum/swimmed in water with waves till my first time there. The waves were bananas! Luckily I was training with a really good swimmer who taught me how to duck dive. Once past the waves it's fun. Enjoyed being lifted by swells to see the buoys. Exiting 2nd lap I got pulled under and had my tri top ripped open. Good time, good times. The bike course is I think 5 miles (maybe off a little bit) of climbing from the get-go, and then some fun descending. A little bit of single track and technical, but I've seen worse. Just that climbing in mud at the front, grueling. Ick. My friend was there this year for her 2nd time, and it took her an hour longer to get through it. I like a dirty ride, but I don't like having to dig stuff out of my chain every few feet. Aaahhh... I wish we didn't lose our qualifiers, here.

I agree on the waves. On the reentry I got thrown back 3 times pretty hard.

Yes those trails don’t seem to be able to shed water well. I rode the lower section late Thursday and it was muddy but not horrible. Scattered showers Friday and Saturday and it became a mud pit for Sunday.
I love racing XTERRAs and did have fun on Sunday but I’m one and done on this ‘new’ course. I think the course would be awesome when dry but I don’t want to chance going back and have to push my bike for hours.
I’m going to wait it out and see if they come up with a new venue after the current contract is up

I rode the lower bowl on Friday and it was just as bad if not worse than Sunday. That picture of my bike was from Friday. The upper was closed. Which we now know was even worse. I don’t know if some brands of bike with better mud clearance fared better, or if narrower tyres would have helped. I doubt I would come back again unless they had a contingency plan to deal with that. It’s a long way to come to push your bike for 20km, Very heavy rain here today so it would be even worse now.

Monty,
From a technical mnt bike perspective... they are not that technical.
my .02
Vegas a few years ago. Super fun in the sandy and loose rock sections but generally speaking, could have been done on a cx bike.
Alabama: except for bloodrock section (200 meters maybe) it is flowy and while some mnt biking experience is helpful it isnt necessary to do really well there.
Maui: what the other posters said.. a couple short sections that require skills but even those are almost just as fast to get off and run down (since others around you are) than ride. But totally ridable.
Utah: aside from 100 meters across the top before you plummet down you could do this course on cx bike. Like maui, its all climbing right out of transition.
I did not race but pre-rode the French River course... that was the MOST tech course of them all (this is a local east coast race). Lots of rocks, loose dirt, mud and small sharp ups and downs. Gotta be able to ride a mnt bike to do this course well.

Im hoping to do more xterra internationally to see what those are like. I did notice though, that those xterra riders this year with more mnt bike experience, tended to do better. Rufaza, middaugh are a couple examples. Im sure there are others who did not, but generally, this seemed to be true.

Again, my point is that this is the world champs and the course has the potential to be much better and for a more well rounded rider (vs climber specific right now). There is some super fun single track there and creative use of the whats available could make it epic.. and perhaps a bit more consistent (even with rain). But again, my .02
Either way, it wont stop me from wanting to get there and doing the best i can there. Its xterra! It really is fun.

dave

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http://www.theundergroundcoach.com

I think from a race production perspective, super technical, or super hilly like all up then down, doesnt lead people to fall in love with these races.You want it super technical, but then complain about all up, and the all up guy loves that it is a climbers race, but doesnt care for the technical.

Then you have a bunch of people like me who dabble and both those kind of courses would turn me off. I rode two hours of super technical stuff last night, came off a couple times and had to pull a 100 stingers out of my body, but it was fun. I would like to see sections like that, like some shortish sections of climbing and descending, not all up and then down. Like a lot on this thread have complained about, the Maui course besides being virtually unrideable on wet days, on its best day is basically a hill climb time trial.

So for the Xterra series to survive, it has to keep people like me interested. I used to want to strive to get to Maui, actually did it in the old days on a super technical course, but have no desire anymore. I did a race on Vashon island in Seattle that was so technical and muddy, it was just no fun and I would not go back there either if it were rain in the forecast. The Tahoe course as I recall was pretty fun, a good mix of everything with altitude thrown in there.

Anyway I think more courses that separate the real MTB'ers but doest put everyone else walking up and down hills, would be the right mix for everyone to have fun, and it is competitive.

Here's a video from my GoPro of one of the only semi ride-able sections in the first 8 miles. As mentioned previously, if you weren't one of the first 40-50 riders on the trail on Sunday, you were in a completely different race than the Pro's and top AG's in that first amateur wave. Once you hit the mowed down grass section, you couldn't keep your chain on or keep the tires rolling - even pushing your bike. Clearance was a huge issue, and the peanut butter mud with the mowed straw grass just made for a long day for most of the athletes out there.

Regarding the surf - I agree it wasn't consistent 7-10 footers. The average wave height was 3-5ft but there were definitely a number of haymakers that picked up 40-50 swimmers and just tossed them like skittles. To offer some added context - the fastest swim time last year (mostly calm) was just over 17 minutes. The first person out of the water this year was nearly 21 minutes, and the average pro was at 24. That's quite a delta. Someone also broke their arm on the swim, if that adds some perspective.

As with many of the others that have already commented - I'm likely to skip this event in years to come unless they find a way to resolve the mud issue. Sunday was much less of a triathlon and more of an adventure race with a bike in tow. I spoke with many who had done 2016, skipped 2017 only to return to another mud year. All that said, I would have loved to have ripped that course in mostly dry conditions, I do think it has great potential. But I'm not sure with the late fall rainstorms if you can ever not guarantee it won't be like this every year.

For the others who participated: Did you find it odd that the promoters really seized on how 'epic' the conditions were, as if they were proud of how the race went down? I actually think it took away from the spectacle of the entire weekend instead of adding to it. I enjoy a hard race just as many do, but Sunday was hard to swallow.

http://tinypic.com/r/23m6ihc/9

I would love to read Melanie McQuaid's RR, but so far don't see anything on racergirl.com

I am pretty sure I am the red cap on the left below the guy yelling for help! If I was a good ocean person I would have dove under the wave and lived. But out of breath from racing this is what hit me as I turned around. Haha seriously though there times in a row! Maytaged! I really did feel like I may die if I couldn't catch a breath soon. Not complaint I actually am glad they did the swim and hope the race director keeps stays quo. It really was part of the experience for me.

Team Unlimited can remedy the issue of crap shoot/dice roll in regards to decent course of O, zilch, nada, no fun at all if raining pre race week ( which is common out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) course up in Kapalua quite simply. Beautiful area? Absolutely. But epic race course? Not if wet. And often is.
On the other side of Maui is Wailea. World Championships were held there for at least a dozen years if not more. Epic course? Absolutely. No mud. Lava rock. Climbs, descents, repeat. The run course off the hook. Spooky Forrest. Salt and Pepper Beach. Makenna Beach and more. Awards and post race FEAST at night under the stars on top of The Grand Wailea Hotel. Best venue/vibe and unless a tsunami is in store not much can make that day a bummer. I would be absolutely stoked and would not flip a coin to determine whether to or not race there again. Might be a land or hotel sponsorship thing don't know. But having been to each a half dozens x's............Wailea. Hands down.

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dr