Make sure you sign up for one of the winery tours ;)

Looking forward to it! Done with all the long stuff, feel like I could use a little intensity on the bike to sharpen things up. Overall feel great and can't wait to get too Penticton. Love it up there!

Just waiting to go... Doing less this week but my taper doesn't "officially" start til next week. Already antsy! Poor wife!

Will they be posting a participant listing with numbers? Still don't see it.

---

Swim - ( x ) All good ( ) In the shop
Bike - ( x ) All good ( ) In the shop
Run - ( ) All good ( x ) In the shop

Dunno. I agree that would be nice. The website isn't the greatest.

Scott

So excited to get there too! Did IMC in 2011 and very excited to be coming back with it as Challenge! Staying right on Lakeshore drive this time and so anxious to get there. Taper has begun! I agree, website not very good but hopefully more detailed info will be arriving soon. Post race wine tour is booked! Will also tube down the river!

Let there be pics in this thread once you're there...:)

---

___________________


...compensating my lack of fitness with inadequate strength and endurance...

i'm in. flying from TN on Thursday. Have friends in Spokane who will drive up w me. Another college buddy has family in Penticton and he had fun last week riding the course for me and sending me his file. I hear the winds on the bike course can be tough. He said head winds coming back into town are to be expected.

First Iron distance race and cant wait. one more week of training before the taper. less than 2 weeks of work before starting the trek to Penticton. Nervous but excited, first time in the okanagan so lot to look forward to.

Sounds like good intel. I thought the old IMC Guide does a good job of breaking down the course, including the windy spots.

http://www.imcguide.com/...anada-athlete-guide/

Scott

GREAT SCOTT, that's good information. (notice the pun?)

I'm in too, and looking forward to my first time on this course.

I'm wondering what the lake is like right now - it's been a pretty hot summer here in the PNW, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a cool front to come in soon!

Anyone know if a pro start list is available yet?

How about this for starters:

I dont know what is normal for wind, but I went and rode the course 2 weeks ago and it was the scariest and toughest ride I had to date. I started in Osoyoos, Richter pass was fine, I started to descend, dropped to the aero bars and got up to about 60kph when I got hit with a huge gust of wind from about the 2 o'clock position. It blasted me right out to the middle of the lane and I was sure I was a gonner. Keep in mind, I am a down hill mountain biker at heart so descending sketchy stuff fast is my hobby, but that hill was the scariest thing I had to do. I was on the horns and the brakes the rest of the way down the hill, barely going over 45kph and fighting the wind gusts the entire time. The rollers afterwards were almost worse. The wind was near head on but occasionally they would gust sideways. I had to pedal to go downhill in the aerobars and even then, I couldnt get through all the gears and still had to hold on for dear life. On the flats I even got knocked down to my 25t cog at times AND I was still getting blown sideways while going that slow. Talk about demoralizing.
The wind finally let off as I was climbing to Yellow lake and was fine on the way down to Penticton. It was 100km of hell to that point though. Going back to osoyoos was awesome. I think I rode the last 60(ish)km in about an hour twenty. I was doing around 42kph the whole way and felt like a superstar.

After that ride, all I could think of was "please tell me this wind isnt normal",,,,,,, then the next day it was worse, day after that was calm.

Now that I have torn a calf muscle and have no more preconceived notion hitting my goal time of under 11, I am actually a bit relieved and am going to take the bike course for what it ends up being, crush myself on the bike without care and just survive the run enough to finish the race.

If you look a little further out, it gets better... who knows what race day will give us. I remember 2 years ago (2011) it was hotter in Penticton that it was in IMKY. I had a friend doing IMCA in 2011 while I did IMKY and I felt sorry for him while I had mid 80's temps. Granted, my humidity was off the charts.

Wondering the same thing. I'd really like to know what the temps are in the lake but I can't find them online anywhere. Anyone have any help here?

Bumping this in hopes of getting a Penticton local on the thread.

 The lake is pretty warm right now, but I don't know the actual temp. You can be in it for quite a while without getting cold. I've never seen a non-wetsuit swim since I've lived here (2006). The lake can 'flip' sometimes late August so we've had days where it was warm then got cold just days before ironman, then it flips, so you never know. The town is packed with vacationers right now. Being a local, I find it congested but its good for our little town's economy. Air quality can de dicey sometimes in August depending on forest fires, but its really good right now. Only had a few tiny forest fires which were quickly handled. The locals are excited about the new "challenge" race. Hopefully the week-long festivities they're planning will add to the race.
Marty

Can someone advise what the race entry fee is for this event?

---

Barry Dmitruk
2017: Florida 70.3 (done); Mont Tremblant 70.3 & Ironman

Hey guys, yes the countdown is on and from my understanding the Challenge-Penticton team are working hard to put on the best race possible for everyone competing. I have heard that the numbers are going to be pretty low - not just due to IMC on the same day, but consider the Calgary floods and the option to pull out with a refund or transfer to 2014 - I know this was a factor for some. With wave starts and lower numbers, I expect the race to be very spread out and for that reason, potentially slower bike times with most athletes more exposed to the wind.

As you've already brought up, the winds (and heat) on the day will be the biggest factor for times on the course. If you've not raced here, expect that your bike time may vary by 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the weather. This past weekend, the winds were generally from the south, which is the fastest situation for this course - given the south wind will normally pick up when most of you are already through Oliver and to the turn at Osoyoos Husky, heading N-NW, up Richter and through the rollers. Being blow back into Penticton with a south wind on a downhill makes quick work of the last 25k and sets up for an easy transition (unlike IMC Whistler - the opposite is likely).

Personally, I expect the first C-P race to look pretty low-key compared to what IMC had built up to, here. I do have confidence that next year the race will double in size and eventually become everything the City (of Penticton) believed it would be, with the move to Challenge. I have (coached) athletes competing in Challenge-P and IMC-Whistler, but will be here in Penticton working with a media team on the day, producing live online updates. Really looking forward to the weekend!!

Thanks for the heads-up here GS - I'm happy to offer any insight I can to anyone racing Penticton. I have a good strategy for goal-setting here (or any race) that might help... later...

---

KC
**********************

Thanks for the update Kevin. Will the wave starts still be a go? If so, will they be based on swim times (hoping so) or on AG?

I understand the wave starts would be organized by pros, then age group, but haven't seen or heard anything official (or otherwise) that gives any specifics. I understand other Challenge races organize wave by overall finish time, rather than by predicted or previous swim time. Doing it that way or by age group would spread the swim waves out more, since there will be a wide variety of swim abilities in each wave. One issue is, that with only ~5min between waves, faster swimmers need to watch out for slower swimmers in prior waves. Better to take a slightly wider line and keep away from that issue!

I heard that the teams would now start at 8am, which would effectively give them a 16 hour cut-off with a midnight finish. Some concern has been expressed about this, but I can't imagine it being an issue, unless the weather is extreme and or there're issues with more than one team member. I asked the question in another thread about the necessity for wave starts if the numbers were low... My view is they won't be necessary, but I'm sure they'll still have them.

---

KC
**********************

Kevin, any update on the pro field?

As a point of reference, if I recall correctly, both Wildflower and Roth were down in year 1 when they left Ironman branding, then picked back up. Hopefully the same for Penticton. Sounds like there will be no draft fest to Osoyoos, and that is a great thing!