Are there bears lurking on the course?

See you guys at Steelhead! : )

I am planning on doing it if I am over being sick. Waited all summer for this one! This will be my second HIM so I am looking forward to it very much. I think the bike course has some challenges but most of it is flat and fast. Good Luck to all!

I just joined the forum. I'll be there and be slow -- it's my first HIM and I'm hoping to come in under 6:00 but we'll see. Save me a bagel or something.

I biked the course on Monday afternoon this week. Very nice, generally open roads in good condition. There were no significant hills but enough elevation change to give your legs some variation. I'm a bit worried about the first few miles going out on the bike. There was almost no shoulder and the road was busy. Plus in the first few miles, people will still be sorting themselves out and there will be a lot of passing with 1800 of us out there. I'm hoping that the early hour will mean few cars.

I'm still sorting out my nutrition. I have trouble with sports drinks when I get hot -- they just don't taste good or quench my thirst. I drank only water in an Oly two weeks ago (that 95 degree weekend) and cramped terribly on the run, which wasn't much fun. Suggestions welcome.

This will be my first Half. I am so excited. Leaving tomorrow to visit friends in Iowa. Driving out in my little red car.

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When it's good, it's good. When it's bad, you suffer.
Dan

Triple X will be in the house. 2nd HIM on the White P2K. Jacked up for it. Let's hope the storms stay away!

We are obviously going. Anyone planning on doing the "ride" on Friday at 1pm with Joe? It will be embarrassing if no one shows up. :-)

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Support Crew
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Sue - Missed you guys in LP.

I'd love to ride with Joe, but I'll be busy putting our porta-johns at the aid stations, or getting ready for registration to start. I'm sure that Joe will have a lots of company on his ride. See you next week. Z

[reply]I just joined the forum. I'll be there and be slow -- it's my first HIM and I'm hoping to come in under 6:00 but we'll see. Save me a bagel or something.

I biked the course on Monday afternoon this week. Very nice, generally open roads in good condition. There were no significant hills but enough elevation change to give your legs some variation. I'm a bit worried about the first few miles going out on the bike. There was almost no shoulder and the road was busy. Plus in the first few miles, people will still be sorting themselves out and there will be a lot of passing with 1800 of us out there. I'm hoping that the early hour will mean few cars.

I'm still sorting out my nutrition. I have trouble with sports drinks when I get hot -- they just don't taste good or quench my thirst. I drank only water in an Oly two weeks ago (that 95 degree weekend) and cramped terribly on the run, which wasn't much fun. Suggestions welcome.[/reply]

Don't know what's hot for you but if you can't ingest sports drink during the event you will definitely want to take some calories in some form during the bike and consider some electrolyte supplements (salt tabs). Personally I use Gatorade with Carbo Pro and take a flask of espresso hammergel with me. For a half I don't use additional salt. Here's a bit on nutrition: http://www.osbmultisport.com/articles/nutrition.html

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Marty Gaal, CSCS
One Step Beyond Coaching
Triangle Open Water Swim Series | Old School Aquathon Series
Powerstroke® Freestyle Technique DVD

I'm in. Now if efernand & Linck would just show up on Sunday instead, the rest of us might have a chance. ;)

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

I'm in, did it as my first half last year. This is one of my final tune-ups for IMWI, can't wait.

Oh, the bike course is for the most part pretty flat, the first and last 10 miles have some rolling hills, but they don't last very long. Everything in between is very flat except for an occasional dip in the road (this is coming from a guy who lives in flat as hell Chicago).

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There are three kinds of people, those who can count, and those who can't.

Do you know what the run will be like? Is it hilly?

I won't be racing, but I'll be watching and cheering you guys on.

Good luck to everyone.

I'll be there. Should be a good time as it looks like Z has put a lot of effort into making this a great race.

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Team Timex 2014
@ajhodges

Z is an awesome race director - he put on a great Escape from Florida race for us - that was Alcatraz style.

Hey Guys. Rode the course last weekend for the last time. Course is in great shape. Even a new section that is recently paved to make it even smoother.

Dont even look at the 10 day weather forecast. It changes by the hour out here.

The new run course is far better than years past. It might be a shade easier than it was before. But I think it is more scenic.

Unfortunately I hurt my back really bad playing basketball a couple days ago. I have spent the alst few days on my couch. It is looking like my race is out the window. One les 35-39er to worry about for you guys looking for slots:)

you can email me at kmantei@qtm.net if you have more questions or go to my site michiganoutlaws.com for profiles and such

Ok, so what's the real scoop on the bike course? So far it's hilly, rolling and flat with some rollers. Well, which is it! I also think Demerly should be banned from talking about the race, since he seems to add to my already being nervous about my first half with his "wrath of God" type weather posts! :^)

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Proud Founder of the Jamis Mafia- Daring to be different.

My wife and I will be there. The bike course is mostly rollers and from the description it looks like they have taken out some of the Blue highway that had the bad pavement last year. My wife hit a pothole on that section, at mile 42, but was saved by the bike angels in the support van that helped her change the flat. The run is also new this year and will follow the river. It was flat expect for the hill into town both ways on the out and back. Has anyone looked at the surface temp maps for the lake? I looked two weeks ago and it said 76 degrees. I was hoping that the lake would flip and cool off. I looked yesterday and the map said that it was now 59 degrees. Is that right? Did the lake flip just recently? Anybody in the area know?

the course is rolling. IT IS NOT A TOUGH COURSE. It isnt really easy either. There are a good 10 miles that are basically flat. But the rest is small rolling hills. There are only two hills I can think of that really slow you down. At mile 18 or so and at mile 50.

There's really only one "hill" of any interest. Maybe a 50' climb? There are more important things to concern yourself with than how "hilly" the bike course is (it's not).

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

[reply]There's really only one "hill" of any interest. Maybe a 50' climb? There are more important things to concern yourself with than how "hilly" the bike course is (it's not).[/reply]

Thanks. I am already concerned with other things, like undertraining due to tendonitis and a muscle strain compensating. Like spending a month on my feet in the heat 7 hours a day. Like swimming in a lake that might have swells for the first time. The bike is the least of my concerns but I was confused by the varied descriptions.

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Proud Founder of the Jamis Mafia- Daring to be different.

Will be there and looking forward to it! my two training buddies and my girlfriend have all backed out on me but I'm doing it.

just watch out for deer, bears, small animals and keep under the 35 mph speed limit. ;-)

Wow - 59 is really cold!! I was under the impression that the lake would be high 60s, low 70s.

Hopefully someone knows the answer to this - do any of you guys swim in that lake on a regular basis - what is the swim like?

Turtleherder,

Today the lake temp is about 74 degrees. It did flip earlier this week when we got some strong NE winds, but the next day we had strong SW winds and it warmed back up within a day. It is nearly impossible to predict what it will be come race day. Strong offshore winds are our nemesis, as the temperature can go from mid-70s to upper 40s overnight.

I'm confident that Z will do a good job of dealing with whatever conditions we have on race day to make it a good experience.

FWIW, I would call the bike course lightly rolling. I guess it depends on what you're used to. Generally, the hills are not as big as IMMOO, although there are a couple that may get you out of the saddle. I ride the whole thing in my big ring, and I don't consider myself a strong cyclist (did I just hear you laugh Ken?). I think that the run course is much improved from the past three years. Although there will still be a stretch of a few miles each way that will be pretty exposed to the sun, there are some new areas with more shade, and not as flat and boring as running through downtown Benton Harbor. It is by no means a hard or hilly course. As Ken mentioned, the profiles are on the Michigan Outlaw website.

Any STers sticking around for the post-race party Saturday night?

Jeff

I'll be there.