My money is on the C girl. It will probably go three rounds. Slowman will come out writing the logical in a rope a dope fashion, but the C girl will move and jab move and jab, then boom, boom, out go the lights sorry Dan..

That course was just utterly relentless. The hills and hills and hills, the heat, the mental focus required to ride all those hills, the muddy single track, the heat. The long power walks up various hills on the run - I did try running them but it was slower than walking!

What was up with all the people around who appeared to be RACING the first 3k? People were in obvious discomfort and gasping for air before they even hit the bike...what an odd pacing strategy.

My only note to BK would be to reinstitute the "World's Toughest" moniker. It really belongs and I can not see marketing this race to inexperienced athletes...this course would just chew them up and spit them out. It was a great race and they did a tremendous job with the last second change of plans.

ot

You CAN'T talk about Aubrun Tri without posting a link to the overall results..









... I'm WAITING... :-))))

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http://twitter.com/krepster || http://www.pedro-gomes.com || follow all the action on facebook

Klep honey, they haven't put them up yet.......

A couple of photos shortly....

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Oh right, I was going there next... without photos it didn't happen!! :)

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http://twitter.com/krepster || http://www.pedro-gomes.com || follow all the action on facebook

Klep, check your gmail....

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

So here are the photos available at the moment:



Cathy finishing it!



Fishman and JohnA





The bike course.

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http://twitter.com/krepster || http://www.pedro-gomes.com || follow all the action on facebook

OT, I noticed that too. I started at the very front only to try and stay away from losing time to people jogging real slow and hitting a ton of traffic.

I ran next to my buddy and we took it fairly slow, but there were people dying passing me at the turnaround and back. Needless to say, only a handful were ahead of me when I got off my bike.

Is that why they changed the name, to get more entrants? That is wrong. This race is not for the weak, that is for sure.

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Reverend Dr. Jay
Lake of the Pines Triathlon fastest bike course record holder - Golden State Super Sprint fastest tri course record holder - Wildflower Long Course slowest run course record holder (4:46:32)

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"If you have a body, you are an athlete." -Bill Bowerman

Hey J,

Well regardless of why they changed the name, the description of the course should tell one what to expect - 5-6K of climbing on the bike and 1.3K on the run.

The water coming off the dam at Clementine was incredible. It was just rolling off the top and shooting out of a hole on the side - hope the out of towners got to check that out.

I was trying to find you, but wasn't thinking real clearly after the "race". ;) Only after a burger and a shake at Ikeda's did I start to feel human.

Took home a blueberry pie to share with LC...............yummy! Figured he'd need the calories after the Davis Double. :O

This race was amazing! Brutally hard but darned satisfying.............even with all of my pre-race trials and the resultant performance issues.

I agree with OT............stop trying to market this one to the masses..........I had a hard enough time out there, would hate to have been a newcomer to the sport.

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Really quiet finish line... no spectators?

The first 3K was pretty fun - but not a good way to start a triathlon...

The bike was brutal - harder than last year, no doubt. The aid stations were pretty screwed up, too - I got one clean handoff all day the other times I had to stop completely. Note to Brad, don't put the aid station at the bottom of a hill - it's tough to grab water at 35 mph.

By the time I was done with the ride my hamstrings were killing me, and I simply couldn't move my right leg after the first go up the Dam Wall so I called it a day - no point killing myself when I have a 16 hour training week staring me in the face.

OT, that was an awesome finish, and you uncorked a hell of a bike split. Good work!

No kidding! OT blew by me at about mile 5 and looked so strong I knew he was in for a good day! Knew I'd never catch him...........well, till lunch time. ;)

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

[reply]Really quiet finish line... no spectators?[/reply]

My personal cheering section was there, which is more important.

Can't speak for the faster finishers as I don't know how many spectators were there then, but if you want cheering masses at the finish, this isn't the race for you.

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

You were looking good, despite the bike issues. I rode with you for a while toward Lemond Walked.

Anyone else think the bike was a little long? I heard 58. At any rate, the 40 mile marker was a lie, more like 35 at that point. My computer wasn't working, so I have no idea.

So OT told me.............sorry if I was less than sociable............and I'll assume I was ;)........was not having an especially fun time out there.

What were you riding?

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

I had two guys tell me the turn around point (which sure seemed more than 2.5mi from orignal location) was at 29mi. According to my math, that puts the course at 58mi.

I do think it was long, and if so, I am very happy with my split.

Who said hi to me on my way out on lap one of the run course?

I did not know who to look for on the bike from ST. Clas and two local folks are the only folks I saw on the bike that I knew.

I ride in a green CSUS skinsuit with a dark blue P2K and some deep carbon wheels.

I agree about the bike aid stations. I grabbed a bottle and I thought I had broke my hand. I should have slowed down, but it is a race.

Oh, another side note, the female pros were very kind in getting over for us AGers.

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Reverend Dr. Jay
Lake of the Pines Triathlon fastest bike course record holder - Golden State Super Sprint fastest tri course record holder - Wildflower Long Course slowest run course record holder (4:46:32)

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"If you have a body, you are an athlete." -Bill Bowerman

JohnA,

My polar hrm showed 57.3 mi for the bike and it's pretty accurate.

I was also tracking with a GPS (I'm a data junkie) and it showed

56.6 mi, but it always reads distances a bit shorter.

Tom

I was on a blue Yaqui Mariola, with wheels some Zipp 404's that belonged under faster legs that day...

John was riding this sweet Kestrel some weird guy said he would sell cheap (but with no questions asked). ;)

My bike computer (powertap) had the course at 55.8miles but I had a multiple, short data drops. I thought I was going to be miserable on the bike and have bus loads of 150lb gazelles fly by on some of those hills but unbelievably that never happened. I think I was passed only once by some guy riding a disk wheel with TCSD (?) written on his calf.

ot

My computer measured the course out at 56.5 - pretty much right on as far as I can see.

Found this out from the Head Nurse in medical (had to DNF - almost passed out from low BP), but the reason the race changed it's name from "World's Toughest" to "Auburn International" is that the city of Auburn gave BK some major sponsorship bucks to change the name and to enhance the image of Auburn as the Endurance Capital of the World.

Truly, a ridonkulusly difficult course. I've never worked so hard to go so slowly.

I'd post a RR, but frankly it would be completely deficient of glory, pride and anything to brag about.

My computer says 54.48, but the road bike always measures the same course a little shorter than the tri bike.

>>I've never worked so hard to go so slowly.<<

HA! So true!!!

clm

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Gail, great to see you and hope you get that new bike soon. And congrats on an age group win despite all the challenges!

Unfortunately, I'm not extroverted enough to meet everyone else on the board. Anyway, if I did cross paths with any of you, I was in a turquoise suit descending hills slower than everyone around me (hey, I'm improving) and gazelled by you on the run with my blazing barely sub-8 min/mi run pace.

Great race, although it seemed more appropriate to approach it like a big training day. I observed the same thing about the bike water stations -- bottom of the hill?! Not ideal. Gorgeous, scenic area. My hubbie and I stayed an extra day and drove / hiked around the surrounding area. Beautiful. "A piece of heaven" my husband called it.

alicia


Edit: Darn. Just realized I'm logged in under my husband's ID. I'm aliciap.

OT,

That must have been me that passed you ;) I was the only guy 'daring' enough to ride a disk yesterday from the TCSD group. I was riding a red Felt with a Renn Disk. I had on my Blue team Zeal jersey from last year.

Styk33, I think I saw you on the run - which means you probably passed me.

I thought the course was awesome. I took it real easy on the first run and then just rode my pace for the bike knowing the run was going to really hurt (A word of advice - reffing lacrosse games doesn't qualify as run training!!!). The big hill before the turn around seemed to go on for ever.

I really enjoyed the challenging bike course. The run was brutal and I walked both hills. No way I could run those things.

Overall, I'm already plotting my strategy for next year.

Great meeting Dave and Cathy. Sorry I missed the other guys. Next time we'll put up a TCSD sign. We were the group camping right behind the finish line. We needed some help finishing our beers after the race.

Alicap - I think I spoke to you right after the race near 'refueiing station' at the finish. Congratulated you on your run - especially since I was one of the guys you flew by!!

Mike

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TheBikeRacer.com