I will be up there the 17th - if anyone wants to do a group swim let me know. I have a place above Alta Lake and will be doing some early morning swims the week before

I’ll be arriving Wednesday the 24th in the evening. I can join for a swim Thursday and Friday mornings. Will you be swimming those days? If so, let me where what time and where to meet.

Sure. I can swim those days. We should swim on the course. If you have an email you can share I’ll msg u

How are the road conditions on the bike? Decent pavement, I hope?

It would be awesome if someone who lives up there could post a preview of the bike course...


Pretty please!!

Yeah pretty good. Better every year

A major paving job a couple of years ago on the descent to pemberton patched up some big problems

No longer part of the bike course.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

i'll ride it again this weekend and post some details about meters climbed etc
i rode it last week and i thought the road conditions were very good. Mostly smooth pavement. Will be better on race day where you dont have to ride on the shoulder with the rumble strip.

You know, if you aren't racing... y'all can tango away by volunteering.
Just a thought!

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(Edit)
Ignore this post as I thought you were talking about the Penticton course...My FB page is full of Penticton hype at the moment...Ooops..:-)

 
(Edit)
Ignore this post as I thought you were talking about the Penticton course...My FB page is full of Penticton hype at the moment...Ooops..:-)[/quote]
Can't wait for Penticton, the rightful home of Ironman Canada!

As a Whistler resident I should probably weigh in on the bike course. Pavement will be in good condition throughout, you'll be rolling along a smooth 2 lane highway most of the time. There are only a few areas to watch out for.

The descent on Alta Lake Road - potholes everywhere, narrow and winding plus it's straight after the swim so there will be a lot of traffic. I would recommend pre-riding this a couple of times just to get your line right. On race day the two lane road through the village will be made into 3 lanes so you'll be riding over the lane dividers going northbound, not a big deal but it can be tricky if it's congested. Really nothing else to worry about.

There is a lot of elevation on the course and almost no flat sections. The climb up from Rubble Creek (new this year) is actually a quite pleasant gentle incline and you're only using your full cassette for Powerline hill after the Callaghan turnoff. Most of the grind will be on Callaghan road, no shade and several steep pitches. if you haven't ridden this before, do it during race week.

Honestly, it doesn't feel as bad as the stats make it out to be (but that could be local bias). Will be a good, fair test with great scenery.

 
Swim: It has not been a warm July so far up here. We have had rain and more expected this week so the lake is not that warm yet (nothing like last years lake temperature anyway)

Bike: I rode what i thought was the half course yesterday - maybe i got my turnaround points slightly off but i think i got it close. Roads are in reasonable condition. There are a few potholes and bumps to watch out for but mostly good. I did lose a bottle behind the seat hitting some bumps descending Calighan. Distance was 92.5 km with 1134 meters of elevation gain on my Garmin

Run: the first 4 or 5 km of the run course is slow IMO and then quite fast the rest of the way (each lap) so dont get too upset at your first few kms at lost lake.

That false flat-invisable quicksand stretch in the last three k of run is disheartening. Maybe a three Redbull effort?

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Rode the majority of the course this last weekend, the only part we didn't do was the bike from T1 to Village Gate.

The crosswinds on Callaghan are something else. Hopefully it won't be that bad on race day. The Callaghan climb is tough, but i found the grind from Callaghan rd up to function junction to be worse as it felt like it just kept going. Where with Callaghan you got some nice downhills.

Didn't have a chance to do the run course, but I've heard it's hilly to start.

Alta lake is still a little chilly, but not terribly cold. You'll warm up quickly. With the upcoming weather, I don't see the lake warming up much more if at all.

I was checking the official Whistler bike course map for the 70.3 and the details were back again to last years route. I thought they added a right turn after Callaghan instead of going back to Alta Lake a few weeks ago.

Yep. You make a right after coming down Callahan rd. Ride down to the dam at daisy lake and then ride back up to whistler.

What time of the day did you ride Callaghan and experience the crosswinds. I wonder because I want to know if I will be on the Callaghan around that time on race day.

Also, how long is the climb on Callaghan? What’s the elevation gain?

The climb up Callaghan is about 10km, around 320m elevation gain.

We hit Callaghan around 11:30am.

Their website is a mess! The IM course says it's a 2 loop course on the description but then on the map says it's a 3 loop course. I'm doing the 70.3 but was checking on that as I worry about congestion.

Furthermore, the course on the course page is not what is on the athlete guide (which is the strava route someone posted above, I assume that is the correct one) so yeah. A mess.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

For the run course, a question about shoes. I have a pair of Vaporfly 4%'s that I've been waiting to debut for a race but they don't have too much tread and I can see gravel being an issue. Should I stick with my regular trainers, Pegasus 35, which have a bit more tread or do you think 4%s would be ok on the terrain?

I’ve heard the 4% are best reserved for occasions where you’ll actually be moving at a relatively decent pace. This is questionable for most Ironman racers.

I believe you should go with the most comfortable shoes you have and the ones least likely to give you blisters.

I raced in 2014 and it was 35*C in Pemberton and the climb back (for slower riders, at least). It was brutal. Two days before the race it was rainy, around 12*C and the wind had a really cold bite.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

It won't make a difference. The "gravel" is just hard packed dirt.

I wanted to give people a heads up about the energy drink on course. Make sure you have tried it ahead of time or have a plan to not use it at all, don’t assume it’s like Gatorade or other energy drinks unless you are indifferent to taste. It is a challenge to drink in any quantity for me.