The race is great but extremely difficult. The course is beatutiful. I stayed at the Bucaneer, which seems to be the nicest hotel on the Island. My bike did not get to St. Croix with me, but I got it the next day.

Super race. Its very tough, epecially if you come in from a cold climate. The ride is very hilly and windy but spectacular. The most fun I've ever had riding in a triathlon. Very technical with a lot of turns. Runs all along the coast, very beautiful scenery. The Beast is cool. The run is a boiling cauldron, very, very hot. Its advertised as flat but its not. Rolling hills with a couple short steep climbs on the run. Honestly, I thought IM LP was easier this year than St Croix. I stayed at the Buccaneer which was great. The snorkling at Buck point was awesome. I flew US Airways and my bike made the trip. Bottom line: I liked it so much I'm going back this year.

I did the race in 2002. I second the comments above. Race was great. Bike course is very difficult and technical and the run is definintely not flat. Until I did the Ultramax 1/2max this year, it was the hardest triathlon run I have ever done (but #2 ain't bad). If you want to do a 1/2 that will give you a taste of Kona heat & wind, this is it.

I would say that your bike has about a 50% chance of arriving with you. 900 racers, their bikes and families just can't get to a tiny island at the same time on prop jets. The earlier you get to St. Croix the better.

I stayed at Hotel on the Cay (www.hotelonthecay.com) which is on a tiny island in Christiansted Harbor. The swim starts from their beach and is very convenient on race morning. It's not luxury accomodations, but it was nice. You have to take a little ferry boat to get to the hotel, about a 90sec ride.

I'll do the race again at some point.

---

Kyle Handley