Anybody ever do this one? Whats it like?
Thanks!
Crappy. For a guy used to tris in San Diego.
The swim is ok, but I didn’t have a lot of faith in the measurement. Getting to transition is kind of dangerous since you have to go up an algae covered boat ramp to get to it. I saw tons of people fall on their ass trying to get out of the water. Transition itself is in a parking lot so it’s not too bad but the racks were really low last year so if you are tall it is tough to rack your bike. Coming out of transition you are on an uphill that has some speedbumps on it. Coming back into transition you get to go over the speedbumps flying downhill. The roads are two lane with no shoulder and not closed to traffic on the first half of the course, the second half is on a four lane highway with an unswept shoulder. Drivers will blow past you going 55 +. The run is ok, dirt roads and a little bit of loose sand and rock (not gravel, rock). If you are looking for scenery you won’t find it on the run unless you think running through a trailer park counts.
The big drawback to the race is that you are stuck staying in the casino. When we checked in the person behind the desk didn’t even know there was a triathlon and it’s sponsored by the casino. About the only place to eat is in the casino so don’t plan on eating super healthy while you are there. There really isn’t anything to do in Parker except gamble.
I can only recommend this race to someone that is hardware hungry and thinks they might have a chance at a smaller race. If you are looking for the well organized, tightly controlled, volunteer heavy course this is not for you.
Funny, The things you site as drawbacks were some of the things I liked about the race. I thought staying at the casino was great. It was very convenient to have the transition area in the hotel parking lot. I set up my bike on race morning and then went back to bed for an hour, how cool was that.
Its not the best race in terms of organization but I thought it was adequate for its size. I like races that have a bit of the grassroots feel to them. The bike course was beautiful with a veiw of the river on the way out. I agree the traffic coming back was a bit sketchy.
Having been to Parker, Az before maybe I know the town a little better, but there are things to do. There was a rodeo in town on race weekend and a pow wow was happening right at the casino. We mostly hung out at the pool and played on the giant indoor water slide.
I suppose it all depends on what you are looking for, but we had a blast there last year.
Gary Mc
I like this race. Eddy at Mountain Man Events has been doing races for more than 20 years. People doing his races get exactly what is advertised. If you want an urban race with flat smooth roads, a paved running route, etc., Mountain Man races are not for you. If you want a challenging bike course, clean water swim, and beautiful scenery, do the Blue Water race. Sure, the swim distance is questionable (as it is in every one of the races I have done) and a few meters of the run go through a trailer park, but that is trivial stuff. I would choose this race any day over a typical city race. Also, this is a cyclists race - a tough 50K if I recall.
Wah wah wah…welcome to Mtn Man events. 
I love this race! Yeah, it has the inevitable “Eddie Factor”…thre’s always something, but it is a great course, a fun day and something different than the usual.
Eddie is/was pretty much my favorite AZ race director and I always felt that he tried to give his athletes an honest, challenging event in a interesting venue. Since I’ve moved to TX, his are the races I miss the most.
As far as hardware chasing, he almost always has some pretty speedy folks show up, so competition for those oh-so-cool overall sculptures can be mighty tough. I know I was very happy when I finally snagged one…it is still one of my favorites…the owl is mine!
OK, there’s not much glitz and it sure ain’t SoCal, but it’s a good back home event and lots of folks love that kind of race…I know I do.
If you didn’t like Blue Water, I wouldn’t recommend trying Mtn Man up in Flagstaff…it’s a classic, but the swim is very murky, there’s rocks at the swim exit, a cattle guard on the run course and, dang, and elk have been known to cross the in front of bikers…certainly not a cookie cutter (well organized, tightly controlled, volunteer heavy) race and nuthin’ like what your used to in San Diego.
G
I did it for the first time ;ast year and WILL do it again. I also did Mountain Man in Flag this year and it was great, too.
The swim is a blast. Across the Colorado River into California, take a left, swim with the current, take a left, battle the current a tad back into Arizona. The water was fresh, the swim was great and I’m NOT a swimmer.
The 33 mile bike was great. Into California, along the Colorado River, back to Arizona over the Parker Dam. A big loop that was really nice.
The run…hmmmm…I’ll decide this year since I ran it last year with a broken toe and hated every step : )
Staying at the casino was a blast. Transition is about 100 ft from your room!! I can be found at the Poker tables after the race!!!
Thanks for all the input. I was thinking of doing because it is at the Casino. Give the wife something to do while on another tri trip. She likes to gamble.
How is the bike course? Tri bike friendly or is a road bike better?
I rode my Zipp 2001 with HED3d and hed3. I’ll definately ride it again. Its not that hilly. One or two good hills before the dam at the half way point then a few longer less steep ones, if I remember correctly, just after the dam.
The bike course is great!! Its a tad longer then the normal 40k, so it suits my strength.