I grew up on Old Mission Peninsula...Clinch Park would be a great venue to stage! The water at the end of West Bay shoudl be as warm as it gets depending on the wind.

As for the bike portion...One way to Leland is about 26 miles going straight up M22 through Suttons Bay then 204 across. If they did this route it's very gentle grades with a small elevation gain/loss on 204. Hard to believe they could shut down any of those roads though. If they go the back roads anywhere north and west of TC then get ready for many punchy rollers. The article mentioned possibly using a trail and that can only mean the TART which is bike path width and generally flat but, it crosses a number of roads and would definitely be a heads up section. I'd guess a ton of crashes and drafting would be inevitable. Passing difficult for many. If used it would be one way only for sure.

The run I'd imagine will end up going out to Wilson Rd either straight out Peninsula Drive (flat) up over Wilson which is maybe 1 mile to get over to East Bay but the first half mile is up with 16% near the top before you descend back down. After Wilson back south on Center to Bay East Dr and Eastern Ave. All flat. Or they would do that course in reverse. Or just an out and back. Big point is if it's out and back it's flat. If it's a loop then you'll climb and descend from bay to bay.

Good luck! Have fun! The winery and now brewery industry is huge now. So strange the cherry orchards I used to work in replaced with vineyards.

This is awesome however i hope it doesn’t kill other local events.

Heard steelhead moves to June, assume they do that to take on GR tri. :-(

TC would kill Tawas and MITI.

The TC event isn't finalized yet. The course hasn't been defined and there is no entry fee stated. Not all independent events fold their tent when a WTC exists in the same state--Racine Wisconsin anyone?

The traffic up there already sucks all summer.

How big is the half Tawas compared to the other distances? It is only 2 weeks later. Heard it is a really beautiful course.

Steelhead competing with GR is obnoxious. Again, too lazy to look up GR half numbers vs. Olympic/ sprint participants, but I’d guess it isn’t the majority.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

I live and have trained in Traverse City for all my triathlons. Many Olympics, five Steelheads and three Ironman Wisconsins.
I think staging the race transition at Clinch Park will bring on lots of push back from Traverse City and Old Mission residents.
A better Transititon race area would be 2.5 miles to the northwest at Elmwood Township Park and Marina. There is lots of room for transition and the crossing of M-22 for both the bike and the run could be easily completed at the intersection of M-22 and Cherry Bend Rd. From there it’s easy access to the Leelanau County roads and the Leelanau Trail. Parking might be a problem but Schuttle buses could transport folks from the downtown Traverse City parking Garages.
Another big benefit is the water is almost always calm on this side of West Grand Traverse Bay.
I’m very excited at the prospect of leaving home and riding five miles to the start of a Ironman 70.3 race.
This race will hurt other area races. Most likely The Traverse City Triathlon.

I live close to Traverse and just signed up for my first Tri at Bowers Harbor (Old Mission peninsula) on August 19.

Traverse City makes perfect sense for an Ironman. It's a great area. However, as you can see in the comments in that article, this might not go over well with the locals. In the summer, northern Michigan is filled with tourists and people who "cottage" during the summer (some of these cottages are worth millions of dollars). Right now you're as likely to see a Florida license plate in Traverse City as you are to see one from Michigan. These people tend to want their peaceful and quiet time up north, and they're tired of all the traffic and the various festivals and events that happen during the summer.

I don't know about the process for allowing the event, but if it has to go before the public, I would not be at all surprised to see it denied. I would be extremely sad if that happens, however.

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@brad_glasgow

Hills - Btw, for the Cherry Roubaix bike race, which goes through the Leelanau Peninsula, the 40 mile race has 2,026 feet of elevation, the 60 mile race has 3,065 feet, and the 90 mile race has 4,639 feet.

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@brad_glasgow

Looking forward to a 2nd IM 70.3 in Michigan! TC is a fantastic site for a race! Steelhead moves to June, so athletes can do both races! Z

I'm all for a race in Traverse City, but it does seem like the schedule for the upper Midwest is going to be awfully full. I don't see how they can all survive.

early/ mid-June: Wisconsin
mid-June: Grand Rapids
mid-July: Door County (often the same weekend as Muncie)
late-July: Ohio
mid-August: Steelhead
late-August: Traverse City?
early/ mid-September: Wisconsin Ironman

Cherries and wineries are not going to sustain the region on their own. It's Northern Michigan. The economic driver is tourism. Silly locals.

I'm not sure a newspaper comment section is the best place to gauge the public pulse. It's going to self select for the strongest opinions and those are going to tend to be the negative ones.

Did you see in Tom Z's post that Steelhead moves to June?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Yes, I saw a couple people speculating that Steelhead might move to mid-June, but is that definite? In any case, that would almost certainly hurt the Wisconsin 70.3 since you'd most likely be splitting the Chicago crowd. I doubt it's possible or profitable, but what I would really like to see is something that extends the season like a race in late September.

Its not speculation when the RD states it.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Steelhead started out as a mid-September race. I think there is room and a weather window for a Great Lakes 70.3 late in September.

Tom,

Is there a firm date for the Steelhead race in June? I'd love to go ahead start planning my 2019 race calendar.

Thanks,
japarker24

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

2019 Steelhead date will be announced at the race next weekend. Z

Ironman hurting a smaller local race, yes I'm sure that was never done on purpose.

They will kill that race within 2 years.

Thank You! I can't wait to race Steelhead again (even though 2016 was non wetsuit!)!!!

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Midwest triathletes will now have a full summer of IM 70.3 races to enjoy! Madison in early June, Steelhead in late June, Muncie (40th year in 2019) in early July, Ohio in late July and Traverse City in August! Z

I see what you did there!

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Last year a very large boat race that was expected to bring in 100k people to the town was unanimously denied, partly due to noise concerns, but in large part due to what the race organizer called "festival fatigue".

Large parts of Traverse City are wealthy and could be considered "tourists" as they're only living here when the weather is decent. They're not looking for additional tourist dollars, especially when the city is oddly ill equipped to take advantage of those dollars (there's no hotel tax, for example). Anyone here familiar with the area can tell you there is going to be at least some public blowback against an Ironman event, especially when it closes roads.

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@brad_glasgow

That's exactly what it strikes me as. I don't think MITi can withstand the Mdot assault like Door County did. TC that late in August is almost guaranteed wetsuit legal, and doesn't carry the risk of a cancelled swim like Steelhead.

TC likely wouldn't effect MiTi anymore than Steelhead did. So, Steelhead in June might effect GR tri but only the half distance and you still have them separated by several weeks. For me personally I choose races based on the best week for my family calendar. So, the more options the better. Late June (probably 2-3 weeks after GR) will just add more options to bring people to Michigan. It definitely doesn't seem like it is an overly aggressive move by IM.

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/23685202