Its been a few years since I have raced, thinking of doing this years event. Any insights or comments? Good course?
I did it about two years ago. Swim was cold, high 50s, so definitely wet suit legal. Bike course was not bad except for maybe 10-15 miles of fairly rough pavement. Not rough enough to damage your bike but rough enough for a sore butt. Run course was through a golf course so lots and lots of short ups and downs. I wasn’t a big fan of that. Overall, it was a good course although I do think they “sandbag” a little bit describing the run course, or at least they did when I did the race.
I’ve raced it the last 3 years. I have mixed feelings about it. It’s always fun to race, but kind of a nightmare for spectators. I go with some friends and all the wives and kids come. Rent a house and have a good weekend, but race day kind of sucks for them. If they want to watch the swim start it’s a total mess trying to get to and from the lake. If they have the VIP spectator pass they can at least drive themselves to and from the lake instead of taking the shuttles, but they can’t leave the lake until the all the swimmers have left which ends up being like 9am. Last year I made it to T2 before they did because traffic… The old run course was at the tennis gardens which was nice to hand out at, but that’s changed now so I don’t know what it’ll be like.
As far as the racecourse, I feel like the water temp is always a bit over hyped. It’s chilly, but not freezing. Bike course is nothing to write home about. Flat with decent roads. Some sections get a bit rough. The run course is new for this year so I really don’t know much about it, but I feel like I saw a gps file that showed it was a touch short somewhere.
I did this race in 2022. I think my husband had the VIP pass and it was an issue and worry for him to get back to race venue after the swim. My husband ended up hiking a trail over a mountain and made it to a suburban neighborhood. He met a local person on the trails who drove him back to our AirB&B and he made it back in time to catch me on the run. My husband did enjoy the hiking though.
I will say that if you don’t enjoy cold water, this might not be a swim for you. I swim in open water with a thermal wetsuit sometimes into late September and even Oct a few times. But as I get older I enjoy it less. When I did this race, I wore my thermal wetsuit and it was VERY cold!! My hands were numb in transition and it took me 10 minutes to get onto my bike. Feet were cold too for a bit but everything did warm up on the bike. Bike is fine. Run was hot and sunny but nice scenery from the golf course. And yes, short punchy hills.
Overall a nice venue and a good solid race! The swim is the most challenging part. It was the year Lionel Sanders had a panic attack in the water from the coldness of it. He did make the podium.
That is one heck of a side quest, 
It does sound a bit nuts. But I remember that was the advice I got from several people in the Indian Wells 70.3 facebook group. Others had hiked over the mountains too. They weren’t difficult or technical trails, and there were a lot of people hiking on them from my husband’s account. Quite popular. I wasn’t thrilled but my husband didn’t want to have to wait until later in the morning to drive back.
Fun race fast flat bike make sure you dial into aero as there are no hills to sit up.
Bring tinted and clear goggles as if the sun is up it’s blinding on the horizon.
When I did it 2 years ago, the post-race pickup of your transition bag was the worst ever. Everyone’s T1 bag was just thrown in a big pile in the middle of a field not organized by number, with only 5 staff people trying to distribute them to athletes on a random basis, and we weren’t allowed to help them (there wasn’t even a line - just everyone surrounding the bag corral in a big ring, yelling to try to get someone’s attention for help). It took me over an hour just waiting and hoping someone would help me for my T1 bag. Hopefully they’ve figured it out by now, but I’d strongly recommend marking your bag quite clearly on the outside so you can point to it and yell 'that’s my bag!" so they can just toss it to you, as if you don’t you’ll be there for over an hour like I was.
Be aware as well of the protocol for pre-race checkin and transition since T1 is not at T2. You are best off if your bring ALL your gear in your car to prerace registration, as you have to bring your wetsuit AND bike to T1 (a 25 min drive) to dunk your wetsuit in the decontaminating solution. Plenty of folks forgot their wetsuit and had to drive all the way back to town and back which adds over an hour of driving to your already harried day. Just bring everything with you including wetsuit and you won’t have that problem.
Tip to help fix this. I started marking all my transition bags with super bright colored duct tape.
Also, they did change the swim course direction and it helped a ton with sun.
I did it as my first 70.3 last year and it was overall pretty good. Few things from my very limited experience:
- Since there are 2 different transition areas, it takes time to have everything setup and to go from one place to another. You also need to soak your wetsuit in a solution the day before the race to avoid polluting the lake
- The morning of the race was pretty cold, I wore a sweater but wished I had something warmer
- There’s a very long wait before you can finally start swimming, even being in the first half. But I believe it’s always like that with rolling starts
- The bike ride was pretty boring until we arrived at a race track which was a lot of fun but not completely clean, there was some debris on the ground
- The run through the golf course is so much more difficult than what I expected. I think I went too hard on the bike but it was still taking a lot of energy going through all the short ups and downs
You’ll be fine if you just put your wetsuit on if you’re getting cold. I wore mine most of the time before the race as did many others.
I think it’s more comfortable to have an extra layer that you’ll leave in your personal bag before start of race. I’ve never tried to wear a wetsuit for multiple hours, from parking to shuttle, to T1, to getting ready for the swim ; it was a long time for me since i took an early shuttle.
But you’re right, I don’t exactly remember but there might have been people with wetsuits in the shuttle already
I raced there last year. I thought it was just ok. I did the race to be supportive of a friend who was racing her first 70.3. As others have said, the swim is chilly but not freezing. The shuttles to the swim is annoying and difficult for friends and family. The bike is fast, but was overall boring, except for the part that takes place on the race track. The race track section was very fun. The run around Indian Wells was more difficult that I thought for a “flat” race. I have golfed that course many times and never realized how up and down it is. I think SilverRock is a flatter golf course, so maybe this year will be easier.
Unless you are looking for a really late in the year race, I would suggest Santa Cruz as a way better California alternative 70.3.
For sure, SC is way better for a 70.3, in almost all respects. The real only thing I’d say is better at Indian wells doesn’t have to do with the race itself, it’s that hotels in SC are super expensive, even compared to the already-pricey Indian wells hotels. But for the race itself, everything is better at Santa Cruz.
I think the main reason to do Indian wells is that it’s pretty much the only North American 70.3 on the calendar in Dec. (SC is this weekend, Sept). So no other options if you want to race HIM in the winter in North America.
It’s not a bad race though, you’ll likely set a PR bike, and the town itself is fun as well with lots of restaurants and stuff.