Yesterday, I signed up to the 2012 Rhode Island 70.3 proir to reading all those brutal ST posts about the swim and bike routes. Did I make a mistake?
Yesterday, I signed up to the 2012 Rhode Island 70.3 proir to reading all those brutal ST posts about the swim and bike routes. Did I make a mistake?
This is like staying “I know I shouldn’t have bought that hooker but I did was that a mistake?!”.
Already signed up so…no it’s not a mistake
Yesterday, I signed up to the 2012 Rhode Island 70.3 proir to reading all those brutal ST posts about the swim and bike routes. Did I make a mistake?
This is like staying “I know I shouldn’t have bought that hooker but I did was that a mistake?!”.
Already signed up so…no it’s not a mistake
Now, if after you finish the Rhode island 70.3 and realize you have herpes, than yes, it was most likely a mistake.
Some of the ST posts claimed that the swim venue was a contaminated as a hooker. So, should I have bypassed the whole HIM thing and bought a hooker instead?
Not mutually exclusive, you will be in Providence… I thought the water was fine this year even though the pond was closed a couple days before the race due to bacteria. You swim in it - you don’t drink it. Plan on it being too warm for a wetsuit. The bike course is nice until the last 10 miles or so. No passing and massive potholes for a couple of miles are a challenge and affect your race plan. I would go a little harder for the first 45 miles knowing you will have to ease up at the end. Run is 2 loops with one pretty good hill. Not much shade, but a sweet finish. I am doing it again, so I will see you there.
What age group are you?
I’m not young. I’ll be competing as a 48 year old in 2012.
My 2012 plans are starting to take shape. I want to do at least 2 HIMs in 2012. And, we may be relocating to the Boston area sometime next year. That’s why I chose a northeastern HIM for the summer.
I did the race last year as an early season tuneup. I went into the race on no taper and planned to use it as a training day. So perhaps my body was a bit beat up… but I managed to get good and sick after swimming in Linconln Woods. I had a nasty sinus/throat infection that antibiotics cleared right up after swimming in Lincoln Woods. (I don’t usually get sick and haven’t taken antibiotics in years!).
As others have said the last ten miles of the bike course are on some pretty crappy roads and you should really go harder on the first 45 miles so you can ease up and not take unneccesary risks (potholes, railroad tracks, glass, and other fun hazards in the last ten miles).
The run is quite challenging as that one big hill really hurts on lap 2!
I’m a Rhode Island native and we don’t swim in Lincoln Woods that late in the season. In the early season its fine, but at the peak of summer it gets pretty nasty in there due to the large population of geese in the area. Out of the ten or so folks I know that did the race last year about 50% of us got sick in some way after the race. Was it all due to the pond? I don’t know… but I would say I’m fairly certain thats why I got sick.
I wouldn’t change your race plan though. It was a fun race and I’m glad I crossed it of my list being that its in my backyard. I wouldn’t do it again, but I don’t regret doing it once. Just be sure and NOT do a practice swim in the pond and keep an eye on your health post race and go see a doc at the first sign of trouble. Taking in some Emergen-C or Zinc or whatever your favorite vitamin / immune system booster before the race probably wouldn’t hurt either.
Have a good race!
The swim at Lincoln Woods got a bad press as the beach area was closed for a couple of days prior to the event, the beach however is as much as a problem as anything with a large concentration of people in a small area kicking up the bottom. It is also a locals beach and I believe the local Triathletes have no interest in swimming in a small buoyed area with them (hence the bad reputation), the rest of the Lake is fine and the park itself is pretty neat with trails etc. and a great road around the Lake. Roads are rough closer into the City but it is in Providence. A number of the Staff got sick too after the event and they never swam in the lake!
The race is fine, enjoy!
The swim at Lincoln Woods got a bad press as the beach area was closed for a couple of days prior to the event, the beach however is as much as a problem as anything with a large concentration of people in a small area kicking up the bottom. It is also a locals beach and I believe the local Triathletes have no interest in swimming in a small buoyed area with them (hence the bad reputation), the rest of the Lake is fine and the park itself is pretty neat with trails etc. and a great road around the Lake. Roads are rough closer into the City but it is in Providence. A number of the Staff got sick too after the event and they never swam in the lake!
The race is fine, enjoy!
Actually you’d be incorrect in your assumption that local triathletes don’t swim there because of the requirement that you have to stay inside the buoy’d area. The locals who do swim at Lincoln woods do so before the lifeguards go on duty. As long as you are inside the roped off area before they go on duty nobody cares where you swim. You just have to get there early. However ALL of the locals that swim there STOP swimming there as soon as the temps warm up as thats when the concentration of geese and kids in dirty diapers go up to the point where the lake becomes unsafe and the bacteria counts rise. Kicking up mud or silt had nothing to do with it… although I’m sure it didn’t help.
I have friends that have swam there, lifeguarded there, and I can assure you that the lake is NOT a regular swimming hole for local triathletes for a good reason. The water there by the peak of summer is just plain not as safe as many of our other better freshwater and saltwater options here in Rhode Island.
I’m not advocating someone not do the race… but the truth of the matter is that they really need to change the swim venue. That water is disgusting at that time of year. On top of that… having the swim in a lake in the “Ocean State” sucks. Its unfortunate that the local towns in Rhode Island refuse to allow the race to pass through them such that an ocean start doesn’t appear to be a possibility currently.
For the record… Lincoln Woods was closed for more than just a couple of days prior to the race. It had been closed earlier in the year at least onec (I think twice) as well.
Nick
My response wasn’t aimed at you, maybe it was the diaper clad crew that I was referring to that kick up the bottom that is a mixture of sand, silt and Geese poop! I wouldn’t swim in that area either but I would have no hesitation to swim in the rest of the Lake. The Lake is tested in the swim area during operating hours and only gets shut a few times a year. Lincoln Woods is a neat Park and I would be happy to have access to a place like that where I live.
My post was for the person that started the thread and I believe they will have a positive experience despite the bad wrap and everyones opinions of where the race should take place.
I spent 30 years in RI. Swam Lincoln Woods countless times. No way in hell is that place any less safe/clean than the Ohio River (IMLou).
Yesterday, I signed up to the 2012 Rhode Island 70.3 proir to reading all those brutal ST posts about the swim and bike routes. Did I make a mistake?
swimming in RI toilet FTL…
I spent 30 years in RI. Swam Lincoln Woods countless times. No way in hell is that place any less safe/clean than the Ohio River (IMLou).
Agreed… that river is equally disgusting. Neither of which will I ever swim in.
Edit to add… it would also depend which 30 years you spent in RI. The conditions at Lincoln Woods have declined rapidly in the last five years or so.
Lincoln Woods was the French Riviera compared to World War II Memorial park (in Woonsocket) where my parents usually took me during the summer.
The swim at Lincoln Woods got a bad press as the beach area was closed for a couple of days prior to the event, the beach however is as much as a problem as anything with a large concentration of people in a small area kicking up the bottom. It is also a locals beach and I believe the local Triathletes have no interest in swimming in a small buoyed area with them (hence the bad reputation), the rest of the Lake is fine and the park itself is pretty neat with trails etc. and a great road around the Lake. Roads are rough closer into the City but it is in Providence. A number of the Staff got sick too after the event and they never swam in the lake!
The race is fine, enjoy!
Interesting, could it be the coconut water they were giving? 2 of my friends got really sick after the race. We all swam in Lincoln, I’m the only one that did not drink the coco water!
I know people who are very adamant that they got sick from that lake, even months after the fact.