Bring 2 sets of tires -

1. An all-around XC tire that's pretty good in most conditions and can handle some mud (really like the Vittoria Barzo, rolls fast, good at just about anything, Maxxis Forekaster would be 2nd choice.) Conditions on that course go from bone dry to wet and slippery with just a little rain and you don't want to wake up on race morning with the complete wrong tire.

2. A narrow mud-specific tire (probably will have the word "mud" in the model name) as a back up in case it's going to be a mud-fest, which you'll probably be able to figure out a few days in advance and have plenty of time to switch. The mud tends to be super thick clay with lots of grass and debris, and definitely will cause clearance issues, so a 1.8"-1.9" is the way to go. The narrower tire will also dig into the mud more, versus a wider tire that will float/slide on top.

I'd leave the super fast dry conditions tires at home. With how often it rains on that end of the island, those tires are kind of a gamble.

Since the course is now two laps I think that if it is muddy then the Pro's will catch those conditions on the 2nd lap as well.

Super helpful! Thank you!

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Would you go 2.1 Barzo or wider because if you're running the Barzo it's because you expect "less" muddy conditions? My inclination is narrower...

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Yes - the chance of encountering at least some mud on that course is pretty high. I mentioned in a previous post - in 2019 course was bone dry until it rained the night/morning of the race and things were quite slick and greasy for the first lap+, but not the epic bike-clogging mud of other years. If it's going to be bad enough to warrant a true mud tire, it will be obvious a few days in advance.

I've run the Barzo 2.25" and would do so again as my all-conditions tire. The trail surface is not very rough from a rocks/roots perspective so you could get away with an even narrower tire if desired.

If it's actually muddy, no practice can really prepare you for it. I don't know if your wife is a good technical rider or not, but if the course is "bad" muddy it will just be an absolute shit show, for almost everyone except those who get to ride in the mud on a somewhat regular basis (which is pretty much nobody that regularly rides built trail systems, because they close).

Narrow tires are superior in muddy conditions, as they "slice" through the mud. Floating over mud is not actually a thing. You'd be hard pressed to go "too narrow" in the rear, mostly what limits you is what types of tires are available for the rim and what the rim can actually accommodate. Fronts are less an issue, but in my year (2016) even the fork crowns were getting so gummed up it was literally ''braking'' the tire.

for reference, this was my 'race report' back when i blogged a lot

https://jameshaycraft.blogspot.com/...mpionships-race.html

words don't do justice for how terrible that race was.

Thanks so much for posting your great race report. Also...Yikes!

What an awesome race report. Thank you. I'm 1/3 of the way through so far and am already learning. Questions as I go:

1. Is the swim always without wetsuit in Maui? Looks like maybe December drops water temp to 74-77??
   

Okay no more questions actually. Awesome report.

I lol'd plenty, and am now second-guessing going for the December version of this. Just not my kind of "fun" and even less so for Michelle.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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If it makes you feel any better, it was probably one of the worst (if not THE worst) years to do XTERRA WC.

I LOVED the swim, hated the bike, and the run was kinda a "normal" XTERRA run (i.e. lots of uphill, difficult). At least relative to my own experiences (XTERRA Oak Mtn x 2, XTERRA Utah x 2, some smaller local/regional ones).

If the race ever ended up being wetsuit legal, I'd be surprised. But XTERRA is a good example of a class of race that takes a swimmer up a level.

As an example, I was the fastest M30-34 swimmer in 2016, but - at the time - I was at best a FOMOP swimmer in my age group. BUT, on the flip side, the swims CAN be more ''technically'' demanding (i.e. significant shorebreak at Maui).

ETA - I don't know where y'all are living but I would highly recommend doing one of the big regional events (as long as it's not Beaver Creek, because that one is boring).

She'll be doing Utah as her first.

She's a ridiculously strong biker and more technically savvy than most average AG triathletes, but not super confident on techy MTB stuff yet, and hates roots and slick stuff with a passion. She's taking some fluidride classes in September to work on the MTB side of things. The running would be fine for her.

She's afraid of the ocean swim at Oceanside 70.3, so suffice it to say she's not a confident open water swimmer yet. Much prefers glassine water and is totally confident in that type of OWS swim.

I think we might give it another year before jumping into worlds. She's got plenty of other big stuff on the calendar. Really appreciate your insight. It made it a pretty obvious decision, given all our personal tradeoffs at play.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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The two descents at XTERRA Utah are incredibly fun. However, that's where the non tech savvy athletes give up heaps of time to the tech savvy. Everyone can ride uphill hard (except me, apparently), but the descents can bring people back that passed you early in the climb.

The first descend is shorter but more technical and dangerous, the second is longer and flowier, with one exposed section that tends to freak people out. I used to have GoPro videos of each but I must've deleted them at some point.

2015 utah RR - https://jameshaycraft.blogspot.com/...a-championships.html
2016 utah RR - https://jameshaycraft.blogspot.com/.../09/xterra-utah.html

I don't think the course has changed.

Dang it James. Your superb content is going to keep me from working all day. Thank you very very much! Reading now.

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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with Kona now being cancelled, does anyone have any info about the possibility of this race being cancelled too? My fingers are crossed that it goes ahead as this race is much smaller than the Ironman.

i think they will charge your credit card for the race fee at the end of august....so we probably won't hear anything until after then. i have til end of september to cancel my vrbo, so i'd like to know by then.

say it with me "15 days to slow the spread"

Reviving this thread again. If I am understanding the travel restrictions correctly for non US citizens, it looks like half the world would be unable to gain entry into Hawaii even if they had a negative test ? Hard to hold a “world” championship. Guess I’ll just roll the dice and see what happens.

I have no new info on this either other than to say, since kona moved, I am curious to see if they follow suit.

Not like dec is particularly DRY in maui and having almost a guaranteed soaked course, I cant imagine feeling great about going.

Im signed up but very on the fence right now.

daved

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Xterra sent out an email that they are hopeful that the race will go on as planned in December, but are waiting until October to charge our credit cards the rest of the fees to see where we are then with covid.

I did not see that email come through yet, just the one with the 8/31 withdrawal deadline. I think pushing things out to October makes sense until the situation in Hawaii becomes more clear. At least they are still hopeful there will be a race.

i thought the switch to october payment was for people newly registering. i thought it said for those of us who already did the deferred payment plan will still be charged on sept 1. i'm not so much worried about the race charge, as it carries over to 2022 if needed, but i'm worried about my condo payment which i lose the majority if i cancel after end of sept.....

I just re-read the email from Xterra and you are correct, we will be charged on September 1st, the October 1st was just for new entries. Hopefully the event can go forward.