Question for more experienced IMers…
-I am doing IM france this weekend, my first full IM, done 2x HIM, do about a 5 hour time
-bike course is VERY hilly, has a giant long climb dominating it.
-forecast is for high of 80f, sunny
-I was planning on wearing my rocket aero helmet like normal- then i was poking around the website, and noticed that last year EVERY pro photo had a normal non-aero helmet…not sure how hot it was last year
Should i just swap to my normal helmet? its certainly cooler…
Well, I’m not an experienced IMer, but I wore my new rocket helmet around the full course in Lake Placid this past weekend. Temps hit around that 80F mark and it was quite sunny–a bit cooler and more shaded for the first lap though. Despite the heat and all the climbing, I never felt like I wish I had on my regular helmet.
Check the profiles, average humidity and tree coverage of the two courses if you feel they are similar or that LP has more technical climbing and descending, shade and is more humid then recommend it to the OP. I think there are a number of good reasons there weren’t any in evidence in Nice.
I did IM France last year & wore a Rudy Project aero helmet. Granted, the rudy project syton has a little more ventilation than the LG rocket but it should not be too much of an issue. (I say this as I also own a Rocket & have not found the ‘cooling/heating’ issues to be much different)
Best of luck at the race- it is truly spectacular & a heck of a bike course. Not to burst the bubble too much but this course is not dominated by simply one big climb…but instead is a series of climbs for most of the ride…Be careful on the downhills, there are a lot of hairpins & can get slick if it starts to drizzle which is not uncommon in the mtns. Nonetheless, it is fantastic & best of luck.
Check the profiles, average humidity and tree coverage of the two courses if you feel they are similar or that LP has more technical climbing and descending, shade and is more humid then recommend it to the OP. I think there are a number of good reasons there weren’t any in evidence in Nice.
Sorry, just passing on a data point for the OP to consider. I though I couched it enough as is that it wouldn’t be read as an outright recommendation one way or the other.
Realise as well that all the French and Spanish pros will also be riding with drop handle bars and road geometry. I think we’re into Mediterranean cultural issues here which have appeared to eschew any of the IM best practices that weren’t invented here.
Now I’m not saying that you should wear an aero helmet. However just because the French Pros don’t doesn’t mean to say it’s necessarily the best decision.
If you want my opinion, then you would certainly get benefit from the aero helmet as there are some very “stable” sections of the course, particularly as compared to the 2005 version. The only thing that should really prevent you from wearing the aero helmet is the heat and that is a question you can figure out on your own irrespective of the course profile. I don’t have an aero helmet and I’m not going to experiment with one for the first time in an IM. But if I had one and was used to wearing it, I’d probably got with it for the race. Ditto for a disc wheel.
Hey, no problem J. I am not familiar with IMLP course but know that it is touted as one of the hillier North American IM courses, just wondered if you were similarly familiar with IM France. I know the course of old and that the prefered bike is a road geometry with clip ons also the meteorological conditions around race day. It’s always difficult to assist without having done both, but we both trying to assist, eh.
Hey, no problem J. I am not familiar with IMLP course but know that it is touted as one of the hillier North American IM courses, just wondered if you were similarly familiar with IM France. I know the course of old and that the prefered bike is a road geometry with clip ons also the meteorological conditions around race day. It’s always difficult to assist without having done both, but we both trying to assist, eh.
Julian,
As the current course is only a couple of years old, I guess you’re referring to the old Nice Long Course course, which is actually to the East of the Var, so different, although overall the terrain is not too dissimilar.
I’ve ridden the upland sections of the current course 6 or 7 times, and would definelty recommend a tri bike and an aero helmet. There are some hills, agreed, particularly the 21 km drag up to the Plateau de Caussols above Gourdon, but it’s a fairly shallow climb, as indeed they all are, with the exception of the ‘Wall’, but that is only brief, and shouldn’t scare you on to a road bike. There are also extensive sections of descending, and lfat roads where getting aero is of huge benefit and there are only 4-5 corners where you will need to get out of aero, two in very quick succession, and you can see them coming, after Greolieres and two quickly after the long descent after Coursegoules begins.
The suggestion to ride a disk is I think perhaps a bit excessive, but I would definetly go tri bike and aero helmet.
Good luck, not long now, and be sure to enjoy the sights on the Beach at the Western (airport) end of the run.
Rode the Monaco course last weekend which is part of the IM Nice course. It’s a wonderful course. You will see more aero helmets this year-I think Julian Loy was wearing one 2 weeks ago here in Annecy. Have a good one-the sea is very beautiful this time of year!