RoadOptional

Feb 4, 18 15:21

Post #1 of 19 (3379 views)

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago about the SlowTwitch gravel triathlon. A front page article was posted about RoadOptional — the new “gravel” triathlon race series. I haven’t seen anything on the forum about the article. Here is the link: http://www.slowtwitch.com/...adOptional_6723.html

I am personally really excited about this idea! Some comments were saying gravel triathlons would be for a niche of a niche. I would disagree. I think it is going to open up a brand new market and appeal to people who aren’t even in the sport yet.

Personally, I dabbled in triathlons for a few years. I did one Ironman in 2013. I have zero interest in doing another road triathlon or Ironman.

When I heard of the RoadOptional idea I was sold... so much so that I bought a new smart trainer and am looking forward to getting back into structured training. It does help that Boca — the location of the first RoadOptional event — is 30 minutes from my house, but I could see myself traveling to these types of races.

I also mentioned RoadOptional to my brother who has a cycling background but no triathlon history, and he is interested in giving it a shot.

I am looking forward to learning more about RoadOptional and seeing if these events take off like I think they will.

Re: RoadOptional [rve] [ In reply to ]

Feb 4, 18 16:47

Post #2 of 19 (3327 views)

check's in the mail, buddy! ;-)

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Re: RoadOptional [Slowman] [ In reply to ]

Feb 4, 18 18:28

Post #3 of 19 (3251 views)

For what it's worth, I like the name and even more so the logo shown in the story.

Re: RoadOptional [Slowman] [ In reply to ]

May 7, 18 13:50

Post #4 of 19 (3000 views)

Slowman...

Are there any more details about this? I've got the Interbike weekend circled in the calendar.

Re: RoadOptional [Andres] [ In reply to ]

May 7, 18 15:38

Post #5 of 19 (2960 views)

Andres wrote:

Slowman...

Are there any more details about this? I've got the Interbike weekend circled in the calendar.

finally got my OK from the forest service, that we will get a course. we're just deciding on the exact course. registration should be up within 3 weeks.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Re: RoadOptional [Slowman] [ In reply to ]

May 8, 18 7:48

Post #6 of 19 (2843 views)

Slowman wrote:

Andres wrote:

Slowman...

Are there any more details about this? I've got the Interbike weekend circled in the calendar.

finally got my OK from the forest service, that we will get a course. we're just deciding on the exact course. registration should be up within 3 weeks.

Dang...I hadn't seen that article (nor known I was mentioned in it - although I'm nowhere near as good of a roadie as Chris! ;-)

Sounds awesome. Will there be a relay option? Some of us have knees that won't allow us to run any more :-(

http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Re: RoadOptional [Tom A.] [ In reply to ]

May 8, 18 8:27

Post #7 of 19 (2800 views)

Tom A. wrote:

Slowman wrote:

Andres wrote:

Slowman...

Are there any more details about this? I've got the Interbike weekend circled in the calendar.

finally got my OK from the forest service, that we will get a course. we're just deciding on the exact course. registration should be up within 3 weeks.

Dang...I hadn't seen that article (nor known I was mentioned in it - although I'm nowhere near as good of a roadie as Chris! ;-)

Sounds awesome. Will there be a relay option? Some of us have knees that won't allow us to run any more :-(

yeah, 2 things: first, it's mostly a gravel sandwich. swim and run will not be too long, to attract those who are iffy at swim and run. but second, you bet, we'll not only HAVE relays, i always felt that relays could be so much bigger in triathlon. on my drawing board is a sort of match.com for prospective relay members, like, another subforum just for relays, so, you list your palmares as a swimmer or runner, whatever, we keep a master list of available swimmers, and then good teams are put together. i'd like the relay competition to be a big deal, as big as the solo race.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Re: RoadOptional [Slowman] [ In reply to ]

May 8, 18 13:55

Post #8 of 19 (2728 views)

Got a million bucks? The Silverman relay challenge was pretty entertaining. Too bad it never caught on. Maybe a road optional tri in a state park might catch the imagination of the mud-run crowd or capture the 'thinking about it, but i can't swim/bike/run?' Good luck. look forward to seeing how this turns out.

Re: RoadOptional [Slowman] [ In reply to ]

May 8, 18 14:05

Post #9 of 19 (2709 views)

Slowman wrote:

yeah, 2 things: first, it's mostly a gravel sandwich. swim and run will not be too long, to attract those who are iffy at swim and run. but second, you bet, we'll not only HAVE relays, i always felt that relays could be so much bigger in triathlon. on my drawing board is a sort of match.com for prospective relay members, like, another subforum just for relays, so, you list your palmares as a swimmer or runner, whatever, we keep a master list of available swimmers, and then good teams are put together. i'd like the relay competition to be a big deal, as big as the solo race.

I love everything about this reply.

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Re: RoadOptional [rve] [ In reply to ]

May 8, 18 14:46

Post #10 of 19 (2696 views)

There's one in my area this summer and I'm excited to try it too! I just wish the distances were more evenly weighted. The longer of the two distances has only an 800m swim and 3 mile run (the same as the short race) but a 29 mile gravel ride... But either way it should be cool!

Re: RoadOptional [Sasquatch] [ In reply to ]

May 8, 18 15:29

Post #11 of 19 (2669 views)

still planning the weekend of 9/15?

Xterra PanAm Champs - 9/15
Lake Tahoe Escape Tri - 9/16

Interesting weekend...Xterra crowd likely has some considerable overlap, and another race in that area the same weekend.

--------------------------------------------
TEAM F3 Undurance

Re: RoadOptional [Multisportsdad] [ In reply to ]

May 8, 18 19:09

Post #12 of 19 (2627 views)

Multisportsdad wrote:

still planning the weekend of 9/15?

Xterra PanAm Champs - 9/15
Lake Tahoe Escape Tri - 9/16

Interesting weekend...Xterra crowd likely has some considerable overlap, and another race in that area the same weekend.

i'm producing this race in conjuction with interbike marketweek. if they move interbike, i'll move our race date.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Post deleted by windschatten [ In reply to ]

May 8, 18 21:07

Post #13 of 19 (2596 views)

Last edited by: windschatten: May 8, 18 21:10

Re: RoadOptional [windschatten] [ In reply to ]

May 9, 18 9:40

Post #14 of 19 (2513 views)

I'd say I'm part of the 'typical' xterra crowd, and the RoadOptional race is really intriguing to me. I do have a gravel bike, but I'm guessing people would be interested in this race with a mtb too. I think the xterra crowd would be more likely to give this a go before the 'typical' on-road triathlete would. There were exactly zero of my on-road triathlete friends that were willing to do the Belgian Waffle Ride with me, let alone the shorter Wafer Ride. There's something about dirt and gravel that intimidates many riders that have never ventured off the tarmac.

And I doubt this crowd would be utterly disappointed in the no frills race accommodations either. Yes, those that are accustomed to the WTC Ironman race experience would be in for a bit of a shock.

I will be utterly disappointed if there's no beer at the finish line though. Even if it's just a big self serve, Coleman cooler, Dan, are you paying attention? ;)

--------------------------------------------
TEAM F3 Undurance

Re: RoadOptional [Multisportsdad] [ In reply to ]

May 9, 18 10:08

Post #15 of 19 (2499 views)

Multisportsdad wrote:

I'd say I'm part of the 'typical' xterra crowd, and the RoadOptional race is really intriguing to me. I do have a gravel bike, but I'm guessing people would be interested in this race with a mtb too. I think the xterra crowd would be more likely to give this a go before the 'typical' on-road triathlete would. There were exactly zero of my on-road triathlete friends that were willing to do the Belgian Waffle Ride with me, let alone the shorter Wafer Ride. There's something about dirt and gravel that intimidates many riders that have never ventured off the tarmac.

And I doubt this crowd would be utterly disappointed in the no frills race accommodations either. Yes, those that are accustomed to the WTC Ironman race experience would be in for a bit of a shock.

I will be utterly disappointed if there's no beer at the finish line though. Even if it's just a big self serve, Coleman cooler, Dan, are you paying attention? ;)

Duly noted by Karen, Slowtwitch Concierge, who's usually in charge of such requests. It may need to be an "unofficial" cooler, so we don't run afoul our forest service hosts.

Karen ST Concierge

Re: RoadOptional [Slowman] [ In reply to ]

May 9, 18 19:03

Post #16 of 19 (2418 views)

Slowman wrote:

Tom A. wrote:

Slowman wrote:

Andres wrote:

Slowman...

Are there any more details about this? I've got the Interbike weekend circled in the calendar.

finally got my OK from the forest service, that we will get a course. we're just deciding on the exact course. registration should be up within 3 weeks.

Dang...I hadn't seen that article (nor known I was mentioned in it - although I'm nowhere near as good of a roadie as Chris! ;-)

Sounds awesome. Will there be a relay option? Some of us have knees that won't allow us to run any more :-(

yeah, 2 things: first, it's mostly a gravel sandwich. swim and run will not be too long, to attract those who are iffy at swim and run. but second, you bet, we'll not only HAVE relays, i always felt that relays could be so much bigger in triathlon. on my drawing board is a sort of match.com for prospective relay members, like, another subforum just for relays, so, you list your palmares as a swimmer or runner, whatever, we keep a master list of available swimmers, and then good teams are put together. i'd like the relay competition to be a big deal, as big as the solo race.

Just a thought: as far as increasing relay participation, the short swim, long ride, short run sammich might discourage people from doing relays... If it takes a bit of travel, you won't get many people driving a long distance to swim for 4-8 minutes and then wait while their relay partner goes for an x-hour bike ride...

Other than that I love the idea of more relay Focus.

Re: RoadOptional [davejustdave] [ In reply to ]

May 9, 18 19:10

Post #17 of 19 (2410 views)

davejustdave wrote:

Slowman wrote:

Tom A. wrote:

Slowman wrote:

Andres wrote:

Slowman...

Are there any more details about this? I've got the Interbike weekend circled in the calendar.

finally got my OK from the forest service, that we will get a course. we're just deciding on the exact course. registration should be up within 3 weeks.

Dang...I hadn't seen that article (nor known I was mentioned in it - although I'm nowhere near as good of a roadie as Chris! ;-)

Sounds awesome. Will there be a relay option? Some of us have knees that won't allow us to run any more :-(

yeah, 2 things: first, it's mostly a gravel sandwich. swim and run will not be too long, to attract those who are iffy at swim and run. but second, you bet, we'll not only HAVE relays, i always felt that relays could be so much bigger in triathlon. on my drawing board is a sort of match.com for prospective relay members, like, another subforum just for relays, so, you list your palmares as a swimmer or runner, whatever, we keep a master list of available swimmers, and then good teams are put together. i'd like the relay competition to be a big deal, as big as the solo race.

Just a thought: as far as increasing relay participation, the short swim, long ride, short run sammich might discourage people from doing relays... If it takes a bit of travel, you won't get many people driving a long distance to swim for 4-8 minutes and then wait while their relay partner goes for an x-hour bike ride...

Other than that I love the idea of more relay Focus.

what i have in mind for the race in truckee is a 1km swim, either a 17mi or 25mi gravel bike route (we've got 2 routes we're considering) and a 4mi run. so, not exactly short short. but not long either.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Re: RoadOptional [Slowman] [ In reply to ]

May 9, 18 21:40

Post #18 of 19 (2372 views)

Slowman wrote:

davejustdave wrote:

Slowman wrote:

Tom A. wrote:

Slowman wrote:

Andres wrote:

Slowman...

Are there any more details about this? I've got the Interbike weekend circled in the calendar.

finally got my OK from the forest service, that we will get a course. we're just deciding on the exact course. registration should be up within 3 weeks.

Dang...I hadn't seen that article (nor known I was mentioned in it - although I'm nowhere near as good of a roadie as Chris! ;-)

Sounds awesome. Will there be a relay option? Some of us have knees that won't allow us to run any more :-(

yeah, 2 things: first, it's mostly a gravel sandwich. swim and run will not be too long, to attract those who are iffy at swim and run. but second, you bet, we'll not only HAVE relays, i always felt that relays could be so much bigger in triathlon. on my drawing board is a sort of match.com for prospective relay members, like, another subforum just for relays, so, you list your palmares as a swimmer or runner, whatever, we keep a master list of available swimmers, and then good teams are put together. i'd like the relay competition to be a big deal, as big as the solo race.

Just a thought: as far as increasing relay participation, the short swim, long ride, short run sammich might discourage people from doing relays... If it takes a bit of travel, you won't get many people driving a long distance to swim for 4-8 minutes and then wait while their relay partner goes for an x-hour bike ride...

Other than that I love the idea of more relay Focus.

what i have in mind for the race in truckee is a 1km swim, either a 17mi or 25mi gravel bike route (we've got 2 routes we're considering) and a 4mi run. so, not exactly short short. but not long either.

I love both options as a complete triathlon, although were it my choice I would lean towards the 25-mile ride simply because I enjoy riding my bike in the dirt a lot..

I guess it's my swim strong bias, but I've always felt like the swim gets boned in triathlons, so I'm sensitive to talk about making it a shorter distance yet. 1K is quite fair and on par with the run increase over a basic sprint.

Re: RoadOptional [davejustdave] [ In reply to ]

May 10, 18 6:56

Post #19 of 19 (2319 views)

davejustdave wrote:

Slowman wrote:

davejustdave wrote:

Slowman wrote:

Tom A. wrote:

Slowman wrote:

Andres wrote:

Slowman...

Are there any more details about this? I've got the Interbike weekend circled in the calendar.

finally got my OK from the forest service, that we will get a course. we're just deciding on the exact course. registration should be up within 3 weeks.

Dang...I hadn't seen that article (nor known I was mentioned in it - although I'm nowhere near as good of a roadie as Chris! ;-)

Sounds awesome. Will there be a relay option? Some of us have knees that won't allow us to run any more :-(

yeah, 2 things: first, it's mostly a gravel sandwich. swim and run will not be too long, to attract those who are iffy at swim and run. but second, you bet, we'll not only HAVE relays, i always felt that relays could be so much bigger in triathlon. on my drawing board is a sort of match.com for prospective relay members, like, another subforum just for relays, so, you list your palmares as a swimmer or runner, whatever, we keep a master list of available swimmers, and then good teams are put together. i'd like the relay competition to be a big deal, as big as the solo race.

Just a thought: as far as increasing relay participation, the short swim, long ride, short run sammich might discourage people from doing relays... If it takes a bit of travel, you won't get many people driving a long distance to swim for 4-8 minutes and then wait while their relay partner goes for an x-hour bike ride...

Other than that I love the idea of more relay Focus.

what i have in mind for the race in truckee is a 1km swim, either a 17mi or 25mi gravel bike route (we've got 2 routes we're considering) and a 4mi run. so, not exactly short short. but not long either.

I love both options as a complete triathlon, although were it my choice I would lean towards the 25-mile ride simply because I enjoy riding my bike in the dirt a lot..

I guess it's my swim strong bias, but I've always felt like the swim gets boned in triathlons, so I'm sensitive to talk about making it a shorter distance yet. 1K is quite fair and on par with the run increase over a basic sprint.

me too. it's up to the forest service. i gave them 3 courses, hoping one works for them.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

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