I'm wondering just how brutal the bike course will be at this race? It results in 300 feet of net elevation loss, but you know there will be a shit ton of climbs and descents in between. I know someone that is not a strong cyclist that registered for the race. Basically threw up a post along the lines of "Bring it!" on social media. It could be a real struggle to meet the bike split cutoff time.
%FTP wrote:
The course nets downhill sure, but 300ft down is one small hill in roanoke.
Just climbing out of the carvins boat dock will be considered a serious climb and a "technical" descent compared to most triathlon courses.
If its going to botetourt co, it will likely stay on the flatter areas of Roanoke. That said, I'd expect at least 3,000' of climbing (and even that could be hard to attain). Rides here, even the flat ones, can go over 75ft/mi very easily. It's pretty hard to get less than 50'/mi, and if you try, you can get well over 200'/mi!
I'm guessing they'll keep this away from the mountains and try to use some of the busier streets in the valleys. Maybe they figured out a way to use the parkway, which would be incredible, scenic, and super hilly.
All in all, expect a very rolling bike course that gets progressively easier the closer you get to rivers edge park, and a mostly flat run. They'll probably have to throw in a hill somewhere to get full run miles, unless they do a multi pass run on the greenway (one way first, other way next, then back to T2 for the finish).
If you do this race, stay for a few days after and do some rides. It's some of the best road/gravel/mtbing on the east coast.