In and ready.

I'm doing the bike leg on a relay. I'm hearing the bike course is completely awesome! Can't wait!

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Bob C.

The "science" on any matter can never be settled until every possible variable is taken into account.

In but nowhere near ready. Too many home improvement projects. Haven't even started to look into lodging.

I'm in. I'm actually getting ready to drive down to Wrightsville Beach for a few days and ride the entire bike course on Wednesday. I'll let you know what it's like in a few days.

Looking forward to the course previews!!

We're taking this as a road trip... Chicago to B2B.

Thinking of driving Chicago to Dayton, then Dayton thru to Wilmington.

Only reason we're driving is we're taking Sesame the WonderWhippet! She's a fantastic cheerleader!

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Breakfast is for Closers

I just got here and I won't be able to ride a lot of 421 due to traffic and it pretty much looks like a 4 lane highway, and I'm not sure bikes are even allowed and I'd probably be run over. The roads on 421 and Eastwood that I took a look at today are pretty smooth and flat other than going over the bridge coming from wrightsville beach. I'll start at the intersection of Blueberry and 421 tomorrow and ride it to 210 around to 421 back to blueberry and let you know what the course looks like out there. Driving in it looks like the trees close to the road would help protect it from the winds if it is windy, unlike IM AZ. I'm going to happy hour.

I'm in. Pending survival of the Patriot 1/2 this weekend.

I've got the 1/2 this week, then one more push before taper. It's getting close.

Count me in for the full. It will be my first.

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You're not stuck in traffic. You ARE traffic.

How was the ride? Roads smooth? thanks in advance.

I rode about 95 miles of the course yesterday. It was a perfect day. The only section I didn't ride was a portion of 421 where there was heavy traffic, but I drove it in my car. The roads were awesome, smooth , flat, and fast everywhere. I was cruising at 19-20 mph's with little effort with the roads being so smooth it felt like they just sucked you along. it felt the same as when I'm normally cruising at about 17, so it should be a really FAST bike! Another thing is I usually always get flats for some reason even with new tires with any 80+ ride I do, I always seem to find the one piece of debris. I didn't get a flat or have any problems. i also wasn't very aero, I had to take my own nutrition so I had 3 bottles on the bike and one in the back of my jersey, had training wheels on and normal helmet and still felt fast. The roads had no debris at all, other than a Hawk and buzzard I saw as road kill. I'm not sure if the hurricane Ike or Hanna will change that , but it would be hard to design a faster bike course than this. Also, you pass by fields with horses, and the Duplin Winery, and a lot of beautiful fields and farms. There's hardly any trash along the rodes as well, If I can find a job here, I'm moving to Wrightsville Beach.
I ran an hour and a half of the run course today and it was pretty sweet and flat, scenic as well. If it goes smooth I think I'll be putting this race on my calendar every year. If anyone was going to come ride it my only advice would be to start at blueberry road and 421 and ride the 210 up to 41 and over to 421 and then turn around and come back. That was the most enjoyable with little traffic and you can stay in the aero bars the whole time. I did have to do a couple sprints with some small dogs, but I embarrassed them. They had nothing on me. The hardest part of the bike was stopping at the local stores to refill water bottles and the people(hunters) looked at me like one of the village people just walked in, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it out of one of the places. Anyone have any recommendations for some bike gear that doesn't look so flamboyant? I wear my jerseys 2 sizes too big but I still think bike kit looks ridiculous.

If there were some wind, where would it be coming from? Is the course fairly sheltered from the wind? I just remember the White lake Half being fairly sheltered with all the big trees around.
mark

Hi Mark,

The wind was fairly calm, but it was slightly off my nose going out on 210, which had a lot of trees on both sides of the roads so it should be sheltered, and it seems if there is a wind it would be a tailwind going back hopefully funneled between the trees right down 421. Just because of the prevailing westerlies.(I'm a pilot ;o) } Coming back it's slightly more west to east but the majority is more north and south so the winds should be blocked by the trees, but should give a tailwind the final 10 miles, unless of course a storm is coming in off the coast. When I made the left on 53 for a short distance I saw a sign that said WhiteLake 20 miles, so it is pretty close or rides on some of that course. It's at least the same terrain. So if I had a disk wheel , I'd definately use it for this course short of a tropical storm showing up. I only have 404's. I'd have a disk if I was faster.

Thanks a tonne and great recon job. :)
Mark

Thanks for the update!! I'm in for the full for my first. Your update sounds exactly what they say about the course on the b2b site. Now I just hope the incoming tide is as big a help as they say:)

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Fight............Finish

Yea, I'm looking at the waterway now , it should be good since it will be saltwater( more buoyancy) but no waves since it's inland. It will be great if it's with the incoming tide. Just hope they didn't get it wrong and ends up being in the opposite direction. I guess they checked the farmers almanac. But I heard they got it wrong at the NYC olympic, but not sure. It should be a fast first Ironman for you. The other thing I think I'm going to try for this Ironman is a profile aerodrink bottle. I normally don't like them because they always seem to rattle or splash , but with the new cap and the roads being so smooth , I don't think it will be a problem. I found cruising along so well, i didn't want to get up to take a drink, but if I had the straw in front of me I'd probably drink more. Good luck and have fun!

Here's a nice ~105 mile loop that takes in a good segment of the B2B bike route. Park at Jones Lake St park near Elizabethtown then hook up with NC bike route 5 (take a left out of parking lot and bike rt 5 is about 1/4 mile on right) which follows hwy 53 until it merges with hwy 210. Ride 210 to blueberry rd, take blueberry until 410 (I would stay off 410) then turn around and take 210 to hwy 41 and then head back to Jones Lake st park via White Lake. Nice lake at the park to cool down in.

thanks, for the tip. The part you mentioned is the best part to ride with the least amount of traffic. I was looking to do something like that, but wasn't sure where to park. Thanks. Is that route on map my ride or anything?

Anyone have any recommendations for some bike gear that doesn't look so flamboyant? I wear my jerseys 2 sizes too big but I still think bike kit looks ridiculous.

I've been doing a lot of long training rides in preparation for B2B and I live in rural South Carolina. One way I cope with the hunters is to wear a US Army jersey. (They're available just about anywhere that sells jerseys these days.) Most common folk don't know that anyone can just buy one. Plus, they're a fairly bright/visible yellow with the black Army logo. It seems I get a little more room from the cars that go by.

http://www.performancebike.com/...;subcategory_ID=1110

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Bob C.

The "science" on any matter can never be settled until every possible variable is taken into account.

I'm in for the half.
Looking forward to it.

I'm in for the half and will be - maybe - one of 2 or 3 dudes doing it in a wheelchair. The lone wheelchair chicky is doing the full. She's bad ass and I'm not there yet. I'm heading down this Wednesday (9/24) from Charlotte to check it out and hopefully handcycle the course (at least the out and back, hopefully rural part of 421 after mile 10 where you pass to the other side of the river in Wilmington) on Thursday morning. Doing the run portion ahead of time looks torturous from a wheelchair point of view...tons of twists turns, big roads, bridges and on/off ramps, etc. Any thoughts or tips on the cycling part?

Thanks.

The best roads with the least traffic I found was from blueberry road up 210 to 41 and then I'd turn around and come back or as the other guy said come down 53 and back up. There was little traffic over there and really smooth roads. 421 has a lot of traffic. I'd try to avoid that. I might head down there on Thursday or Friday myself to ride it again. Good luck.

HeloPilot,
what helo do you fly? I used to fly h-60B for the Navy, now I fly C-12's...anyway, good luck in your Ironman- I am racing IMFL but will seriously consider this race next year if all goes well with B2B.

Hi Thunderbear,

I was flying the UH-60 Blackhawk now I'm flying the EC-135 for Duke University Medical Center. Good luck at IMFL. I did it 2 years ago.

I used to ride 421 when i lived in wilmington. It isn't too bad on the weekend. I've actually run up to moore's creek on it before from wilmington. Just go with a couple people and not during the week and you should be fine.

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-Jason

I believe cars are the new second hand smoke. -Dave Zabriskie