It will be a fun day so don't sweat the chatter and just pack some patience. I have raced lots of 70.3's and it does not matter if its one loop, two loops, five loops, or the 70.3 world championship. Every course is the same in that you are racing with a bunch of people whom you need to assume don't really know/care about race/bike etiquette. No one will have an advantage except for the draft packs...but they are just cheaters so they are what they are....someone above said control what you can and that is the best advise.

Good luck and I will see you on the starting line or 2.5 loops. LOL

I think you're missing it. The route is entirely on the expressway this year. There are no rural areas.

Is it though? The map in the athlete guide looks to be the same as the mapmyride route.

My guess is he is saying the area on the west end of the bike course that turns you around it the rural area.

What I'd really like to know is how are they claiming the course is "99% closed to traffic".

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

It isn't entirely on the expressway.

The Atlantic City Tri is entirely on the expressway save for going up and over an overpass to come back.

IMAC Does leave the expressway and go up and around before you come back. It looks like about an 8 mile loop, so ~24 miles would be off the expressway

Anyone else watch the FB Live info session last night? I thought it was great! All sorts of good info on there. If you haven't checked it out already, it's on their page.

It's pretty long, and it was marketed to first-timers I believe. Did anything interesting come up about the bike course?

re: the bike course - it's about 1/3 on the AC Expressway. The course is completely closed to traffic.

So the AC expressway is closed race day ?

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

Yes - though my guess it's only closed in one direction, splitting it in half - one for incoming riders and one for outgoing riders, though I'm not 100% sure. But that's how it was for the NYC tri. They closed an entire direction of the West Side Highway and split it in half - one for outbound and one for inbound riders.

I hope so, it's the only way I can imagine the course working out. I know they're supposed to close off more than they did during the Olympic / Sprint tri in August but that was a complete, congested mess in some parts.

That's not correct. Unless they changed the way they use the expressway from last years AC 70.3 and this years AC tri in August run by Delmo. They close the outside lane and shoulder to traffic on both sides by putting a line of cones down the parkway. There will be cars using the inside and middle lane on both sides during the race. So closed really means there are cars and buses zooming past you only separated by cones.

I don't think what you are suggesting about shutting one side down and completely using the other for the race is possible with how the course flows and the different on and off points to the expressway.

So you're saying lane closures will be the same as it was in the August AC tri? Yikes.

DelMo just did another video going over the bike course. It's on FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/...os/2009421595943955/

Looking at the inset map turnaround in AC it clearly shows that you're coming into AC on the southbound ACE and heading out of town on the northbound ACE. Its on both sides of the highway like last year and like the AC tri.

I've done the AC Tri 5 times. As many have said, this course is similar in many ways. I watched the Delmo video (even though I'm not doing IMAC) and I found it helpful. If you are doing the race and haven't watched it, you should.

What I can say is that I've never found the AC Tri course confusing. At the key turns or exits there are always signs. I've also always felt safe on the course. There will be rumble strips to contend with every now and then on the expressway but the shoulder is ample in most spots and when it's not you have a closed lane.

If I was doing the race, I'd worry less about the course and more about how I was mentally going to deal with hammering on a flat course (that could have a significant headwind). For me, there was nothing like thinking you were going to push 21-22mph and then struggling to hold 18mph on the expressway in one direction. There's zero wind protection out there.

The good news is it's likely going to be a tailwind the other direction so I was pushing 25-27mph then. However, be aware that if you are riding faster and easier than you normally do going out, you haven't had some sort of overnight fitness gain. You need to keep pushing to take advantage of the tailwind and be mentally prepared for the grind coming back. And, since it's a multi-lap course, you have to deal mentally with the fact you have to do this again.

This is not meant to scare anyone. After I learned to expect this, it made it easier to push through the dark times knowing they were finite and the advantage was coming.

[quote ninagski Well, this is all somewhat disappointing. I had heard such great things about Delmo events that I figured this would be just as great, if not better. Though, only one way to find out...[/quote]

I wouldn't worry much about the bike course. I really liked the course last year, but don't have any problem with the change. There's always gonna be some congestion with ~2500 people, but I don't see why this course would be any more hectic/dangerous than typical IM 70.3 races. I think the rolling start will ease a lot of the problems people are predicting. The typical mid pack racers aren't likely to be lapping or getting lapped by anyone (provided the RD gets everyone in the water in a reasonable time), so it's a non issue. Sure, the top guys will be lapping the back of the field, but with the rolling start, those top guys will have 20+ miles of open road before they see anybody. Compare that to a wave start race like Eagleman or something, where the course is a nightmare from the first pedal stroke unless you happen to be in the first wave or two. I'll take the AC 70.3 setup over that. Maybe it'll be worse than I think. We'll see.

I'm following this thread and trying to learn as much as I can about this race as I'm seriously considering it for next year. I'd be interested in anyone's race reports. I know the swim current was very tough last year but looks like they moved the swim to try to improve the swim. The run looks great being mostly on the boardwalk although there is no shade (and I'm still confused about the chatter about the short sand portion - where is that? why is it necessary? It wouldn't deter me really just curious). The bike course is what concerns me. I like that it's closed and I assume it will likely be windy but with it being a 2.5 lap course sounds like it will get congested. Basically this math from a poster above:

"56 miles x 1,760 yards/mile = 98,560 yards
98,560 yards / 2.5 laps = 39,424 yards per lap
39,424 yards / 2,500 people = 15.8 yards per person"

Anyway good luck to everyone racing it and please report back how it goes!

I haven't seen it mentioned here but there used to be short ( and it's really short) sand section around the finish line. Heading north on the boardwalk you go around the finish (short sand section) and then back onto the boardwalk.

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"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "

I believe there still is. It was there for the Tri AC this year because the finish line is at Boardwalk Hall.

It's not terrible and he has some mats down over the sand. Doesn't do a whole lot other than maybe keeps some sand from getting in your shoes. It's not firm enough to affect the footing.

Ahhh - thank you guys. Now I finally understand. As you run north past the finish line he doesn't want you running right past the finish line so you go out to the beach for a short distance. Thank you!

It's not even really out to the beach. If it's the same sand section as the CAC 2015 run, you basically get diverted off the main boardwalk past the finish, through a narrow curved "corridor" of Greek column things, then cut close around the back of a building on a short section of narrow sand trail, and back onto the boards.

Compared to Delmo's other races the sand section in AC is nothing.

It is the same. Not really much sand at all and then through the pillars behind the pavilion.

I was confused as hell looking at the maps they have on the website, so I made a strava route based on the turn by turn directions.

Bike: https://www.strava.com/routes/10463906
Run: https://www.strava.com/routes/10464018

It's really 3 loops - 2.5 loops is a bit of a stretch by anyone's estimation. My math says that this is going to get super crowded fast. If we assume all athletes are on the course at once, then we have 2500 athletes on 30km of roadway.

That's one athlete per 12m...

From the FB post, it sounded like they're defining "closed" as being that we cyclists "have no cars in our lane." The way he describes it as being closed, it sounds like all the roads will be cyclist only, but I can't see them shutting down the non-expressway roads.

The 1% appears to be the final km, where he says that we're on the shoulder.