i have absolutely no advice to give. i can, however, wish you good luck and a fun time. enjoy!

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http://www.theninjadon.blogspot.com

"The bicycle riders drank much wine, and were burned and browned by the sun. They did not take the race seriously except among themselves." -- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

I did Phuket last year.

I wrote a race/holiday report on it you can check out if you'd like: http://divad.net/triathlon/phuket02/report.htm

Advice on the race would be to ride a triathlon bike you're comfortable in the bars with, but with a setup that you can spin up hills on as well. The course starts out with a series of steep hills, but none is very long. After just about 16 km. (10 miles for Yanks like you) the hills are done with, and the rest is really fast except for lots of corners that can slow you down a bit. There's also a gradual uphill section through a forest where the road surface gets really coarse, so it makes for slow going.

I strongly suggest pre-riding the course. There are organized course reconnaissance rides two and three days before the race. I'd say you should use deep-section rims, or even better go with a disc on the back and something like a Hed3 or Zipp 404 on the front.

The run is totally flat and I found it lots of fun, especially the little "off-road" sections on packed dirt or sand. It can get hot during the run so wear a visor or hat. The crowds on the bike are great. Look for the school kids out cheering in their uniforms.

I'd say leave as much of your vacation as possible until after the race. The post-race banquet is the ideal time to kick off a few days of great fun.

Lastly, check out the restaurants along the beach to the south of the Laguna resort, starting maybe 3K down the beach. The fresh fish and veggies are beyond delicious. I ate as much as I could stomach all week last year and still lost weight as it was all 100% healthy stuff.

Oh, and don't forget to pick up some very authentic looking "Fauxkley" glasses in Patong.

--David in Taipei

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The deeper you get the sweeter the pain. Don't give up the game until your heart stops beating.
--New Order

Tom,



I have never done the race but I can offer some advice.

1. you're going to an exotic local, enjoy yourself
2. have a great race
3. don't fall in love with any women while there. Not that there is anything wrong with the women there, but your track record isn't as good as your race record ;-)

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

Tom,

Never done this race but have been to Thailand

1. Watch out the the water buffalo during the race - they are dumb and move slowly

2. To see the real Thailand get as far away from Phuket as you can

3. If you go that far, I highly reccomend going to see Angkor Wat in Cambodia - one of the true wonders of the world. You can get flights to/from there out of Bangkok - only a one hour flight.

4. Be careful with eating meat away from the touristy areas - stick with well cooked veggie fare.

5. The reclining Buddha in Bangkok is something to behold.

6. The tracffic to/from the airport to anywhere in Bangkok is brutal. Take the train - less luxurious, but at least half the time. Be wary of the taxi and Tuk-Tuk drivers, they can and will rip you off.

7. True Thai paridise - Bottle Beach on Koh Phangan. It's completely on the other side of the country, but well worth the effort.

Just some quick things that come to mind.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

David in Taiwan - great race report! rest of divad.net site very interesting too but you forgot to add an "about myself" section! From the looks of things you've found a great tri community over there and are having a great time. I'd be interested to hear the rest of the story...

JTS

Hey guys, as usual, great input. Thank you! I am stoked about hitting the beaches, doing some snorkeling and having a good race. I'm super stoked about the race. Training has been going OK to better than OK. I'll know how good on Nov 29. And don;t worry, no chicks on this one. Now I'm like James Bond, I work and travel alone. Well, OK, I'm not really like James Bond. Maybe more like Peewee Herman.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

<< Maybe more like Peewee Herman.



didn't he get arrested for "stroking the monkey" in a porn movie theatre?

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Mike Plumb, TriPower MultiSports
Professional Running, Cycling and Multisport Coaching, F.I.S.T. Certified
http://www.tripower.org

Exactly. - like I said....... :)

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com