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Ironman Texas October 2021
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I am a local to Houston in the medical field. Cases are rising rapidly here and there is a quick transition occuring from the open state to a modified restricted state. Ironman Texas in April was again postponed because the bike travels from Montgomery County to Harris County. Harris County tends to follow stricter guidlines and policies with regard to Covid. This most likely led to the postponement of the race in April. With the current trend in Covid I am worried that the October Race may be in jeopardy again. Like to hear any thoughts out there from the gallery on this matter. Furthermore I wonder if this could impact on Kona in October.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [GZMAN] [ In reply to ]
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With as much time as they have had since April's postponement, I sure hope that Ironman comes up with an alternative in the event that Harris County won't permit the course.

I was going to ask if the actual hospital utilization was rising towards worrying levels, but by checking the Harris County COVID dashboard, I see that they seems to think it is and that's all that matters.

With the recent rises in cases, do we have locales that have cancelled events as opposed to just insisting on mitigation protocols?
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [GZMAN] [ In reply to ]
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I "fired" Ironman Texas after the latest cancelation in April. I was/am done with them. Indiana wants me and thats where I'm going.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [GZMAN] [ In reply to ]
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I thought that Ironman Texas 2021 is being held in Waco Texas which is in McLennan County, not Harris or Montgomery county. Waco is about 180 miles Northeast of Houston.

Once, I was fast. But I got over it.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [GZMAN] [ In reply to ]
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This most likely led to the postponement of the race in April.

It did. Harris County pulled or refused to grant the permit for the bike course down the toll road.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [Traket92x] [ In reply to ]
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With as much time as they have had since April's postponement, I sure hope that Ironman comes up with an alternative in the event that Harris County won't permit the course.

Unless there's a drastic change in the Montgomery County political landscape that's not really an option. A large portion of the old bike course in Montgomery County (northwest of The Woodlands area) runs through a precinct controlled by a local politician that refuses to cooperate in anyway whatsoever.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [hblake] [ In reply to ]
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hblake wrote:


I thought that Ironman Texas 2021 is being held in Waco Texas ....

You thought wrong. There are currently two Ironmans scheduled in October in Texas. Ironman Texas in The Woodlands and Ironman Waco in Waco of all places.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [logella] [ In reply to ]
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logella wrote:
hblake wrote:


I thought that Ironman Texas 2021 is being held in Waco Texas ....

You thought wrong. There are currently two Ironmans scheduled in October in Texas. Ironman Texas in The Woodlands and Ironman Waco in Waco of all places.

He’s not totally wrong, what he states was the plan for IMTX in 2020 before cancellation #2. This is not the plan for IMTX 2021 (or attempt #4 to run the IMTX April 2020 race)
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [logella] [ In reply to ]
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logella wrote:
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With as much time as they have had since April's postponement, I sure hope that Ironman comes up with an alternative in the event that Harris County won't permit the course.

Unless there's a drastic change in the Montgomery County political landscape that's not really an option. A large portion of the old bike course in Montgomery County (northwest of The Woodlands area) runs through a precinct controlled by a local politician that refuses to cooperate in anyway whatsoever.

My understanding is there is currently no feasible option outside of using Harris Co. for the bike course.

That’s if they want to run the race out of The Woodlands.

I said it earlier this year… the race needs to move to Galveston at least for this year (if not forever).

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [GZMAN] [ In reply to ]
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I'm also in Houston and have been following cases closely. Currently my in-laws are cooped up at home with positive tests, all four being unvaccinated (from what I read this seems to be the population that the Delta variant is burning through). But, I have a hard time believing this wave will be as bad as previous waves, mainly because we have a good percentage of our population vaccinated + many others with natural immunity. Hopefully this all means that Harris County let's some people bike on the Hardy Toll Road this October. I also hope this serves as a bit of motivation for the fence sitters to get jabbed. I'd prefer to see it held in Galveston though. The 70.3 back in April seems to have gone well.
Last edited by: Th4ddy: Jul 27, 21 6:45
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [ In reply to ]
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I "fired" Ironman Texas after the latest cancelation in April. I was/am done with them. Indiana wants me and thats where I'm going.


Ditto. Done with Houston politics. Except I just moved up the road to Waco.

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With the current trend in Covid I am worried that the October Race may be in jeopardy again.


Cases seem to be mirroring almost exactly last July 4. I honestly did not think we would see another wave. I was wrong. Per the case counts you'd never even know we rolled out a vaccine.

Based on last October I think we all know how this plays out for Houston.




https://www.nytimes.com/.../us/covid-cases.html
Last edited by: wcb: Jul 27, 21 8:24
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [Traket92x] [ In reply to ]
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Traket92x wrote:
With as much time as they have had since April's postponement, I sure hope that Ironman comes up with an alternative in the event that Harris County won't permit the course.

IM had plenty of notice before the April (2021) postponement that the bike course would need to change and it still did not manage to find one. It was clear in the months leading up to the postponement that Harris County was not going to offer a permit. If IM did not manage to find an alternative in April, then I assume will be either unable or unwilling to find one before the October race. The best hope is that the Delta variant motivates enough fence-sitters to get out and get their shots.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [wcb] [ In reply to ]
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It does appear that a wave of cases is on the way. I suppose this leaves two questions. 1) Will the hospitalization rates follow to a level that is a problem? 2) Will Harris County stick to the same metrics as before in which high cases but low hospitalization still sinks it?

I worry the answer to #2 is still YES.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [Traket92x] [ In reply to ]
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Traket92x wrote:
It does appear that a wave of cases is on the way. I suppose this leaves two questions. 1) Will the hospitalization rates follow to a level that is a problem? 2) Will Harris County stick to the same metrics as before in which high cases but low hospitalization still sinks it?

I worry the answer to #2 is still YES.

I live in Florida now after moving away from the Houston area in 2019. The delta variant is running amok here and we account for 25% of the nation’s current COVID cases. North Florida is getting hit particularly hard and hospitalization metrics are reaching levels not seen since the worst of it back in January. COVID hospitalizations have increased 6x since the beginning of July.

The same is coming to Texas. There’s no question. Similar political slants and similar dickheaded citizens.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [GZMAN] [ In reply to ]
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The year that they had to shorten the bike (maybe last minute?) did it stay in the same county?? What year was that?
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [pacco] [ In reply to ]
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pacco wrote:
The year that they had to shorten the bike (maybe last minute?) did it stay in the same county?? What year was that?

Not sure but most likely on the old course. New course 80 miles is up and down the HTR. No way to really shorten it.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [pacco] [ In reply to ]
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pacco wrote:
The year that they had to shorten the bike (maybe last minute?) did it stay in the same county?? What year was that?

No, much of it was in north/northwest Harris Co. and not the same roads in Harris Co. as the current course.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [wcb] [ In reply to ]
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wcb wrote:
pacco wrote:
The year that they had to shorten the bike (maybe last minute?) did it stay in the same county?? What year was that?

Not sure but most likely on the old course. New course 80 miles is up and down the HTR. No way to really shorten it.

Besides starting in the same spot that year (2016) it basically used none of the roads from the original IMTX bike course.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [The GMAN] [ In reply to ]
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You mean like you, right?

similar dickheaded citizens.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [Jimmy B.] [ In reply to ]
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Jimmy B. wrote:
You mean like you, right?

similar dickheaded citizens.

Witty retort, genius.

I mean dumbfucks who don’t believe in medical science, refuse to get vaccinated, and keep us mired in a pandemic. Those similarly dickheaded citizens.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [The GMAN] [ In reply to ]
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The vaccines definitely help. But other nations have not done much better with their vaccination rates. Israel and England still are having problems despite slightly higher vaccination rates. Israel used moderna and pfizer and despite media, england used quite a bit of pfizer. I wouldnt isolate criticism to california, texas and florida. They are just ahead of the curve. The wave will spread across the nation soon. Many wont have an issue as has been the case to date and we still dont understand clearly why certain people are at more risk than others. CDC just changed its position on masking nationwide. Vegas announced mandatory masks, etc. But this isnt a vaccine debate. Its about IMTX.

I have been in every IMTX since its inception. Everything south is harris county and everything north is montgomery county. The old bike course was the best( hard and pretty). Bad local politics resulted in the loss of priveleges to use this route. The hardy route and the other possible route on the grand parkway are both in harris county. The one year we had flooding they created a twisty backyard route through mostly harris county. They unfortunately will not be able to come up with a new route in time with proper allowances. They could make it a swim/run?

Tokyo is not doing well either and they pushing ahead despite the covid issues there. The mental toll on the athletes is probably related to the stress of what is going on with this around them that we are not priveleged to from the local media.

I am sad. This texas race got cancelled last april, reschedule to waco in october, postponed to april and then rescheduled to october. The only race i did in the last year was oilman which was fun local half distance race. I have been group riding over the last year with a group of twenty guys who have all remained strong and free of covid complications over the last year despite the sweat flying in the draft pockets, lol.

I feel lucky to have qualfied for kona and went in 2019 which i guess to date was the last kona. I was looking forward to making another go but its getting hard trying to maintain without racing. I may postpone that effort for another year when i age up to 55+ which i think or hope finally gets slower.

I there are races available, gobble them up. Race each like it is the last. Have fun and hopefully they pull this off. But like the graph posted above it looks ominous where we are going.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [The GMAN] [ In reply to ]
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From the Great Keyboard Warrior....yawn.

Few, if any, are interested in your snap-judgment of others.
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [Jimmy B.] [ In reply to ]
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Jimmy B. wrote:
From the Great Keyboard Warrior....yawn.

Few, if any, are interested in your snap-judgment of others.

Snap judgment, huh? It’s almost August 2021. We have highly effective vaccines that have been freely and widely available for months. Yet a bunch of dumbfucks won’t get a vaccine for reasons completely unrelated to actual medical science and keep us mired in this pandemic situation. If you choose to not get the vaccine, and you do not have a legit medical reason for doing so… I, and others, will rightfully judge you. No snap judgment about it. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been put in people’s arms for nine months now. The medical science is there and it’s overwhelming. Only dumbfucks can’t see that.

Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [ In reply to ]
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Cases seem to be mirroring almost exactly last July 4. I honestly did not think we would see another wave. I was wrong. Per the case counts you'd never even know we rolled out a vaccine.



Correction: case counts have surpassed the July wave from last year. Last year we peaked at ~73k, yesterday we hit 108k, and appear to still be trending up.


We're higher than the March / April numbers. As near as I can tell the writing is on the wall for IMTX (Woodlands).


:-(
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Re: Ironman Texas October 2021 [logella] [ In reply to ]
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logella wrote:
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With as much time as they have had since April's postponement, I sure hope that Ironman comes up with an alternative in the event that Harris County won't permit the course.


Unless there's a drastic change in the Montgomery County political landscape that's not really an option. A large portion of the old bike course in Montgomery County (northwest of The Woodlands area) runs through a precinct controlled by a local politician that refuses to cooperate in anyway whatsoever.

I wonder if the RD has had any recent conversations with the Precinct 2 Commissioner about revisiting this decision? A number of new road projects have been completed in Precinct 2 which could, with some small changes to the original bike course, really ease the congestion that was experienced by the non-racing public the first few years. There would still be an impact, but the huge delays at some of the major intersections that caused such big complaints could be largely avoided. Sure would be nice to get the loop through the Sam Houston National Forest back!
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