-
Give a man a lecture about what constitutes drafting, and you alert him. Make a big production out of it at the racers meeting with a rope to demonstrate how far 7 meters is, you might scare him. Pass by peloton after peloton on your motorcycles, waving no less, and handing out no penalties, and you anger him. Why have drafting rules if they are not enforced? This isn’t a draft / no draft comment - more of an enforce 'em if you’re going to have them comment.
-
The transition area map had circles to label the trees. Am I more concerned that there were trees labeled, or that that there were only 10? Reality proved just a humorous. Not a family friendly race location, though a good race location.
-
Putting the parking lot at the top of a 7.5% grade hill to be ascended with all of your gear after the race is, well, cruel.
-
Wetsuit legal my ass.
-
Hardest half IM I have done yet. Crazy hills for a boy from Houston. Chris, Paul and Tim…all under 4 hours - you are my heroes.
-
On the topic of hills - to the guy that told me a 21 cassette would suffice for the rear, you were quite wrong. Doht!
-
To the guy on the switch backs that elbowed his way past me and then locked up his rear wheel and almost crashed - nice save. Next time, try to not be such a dick when you are going down hill. There’s a reason one of us almost crashed.
-
Is it bad news, or really bad news, when the line at the medical tent for IVs is longer than the line at the massage table?
-
No hot food at the finish? Seriously?
-
Best aid station workers I have seen at any race. Simply fantastic.
-
2005 QR Caliente - I gave you a chance. I tried to monkey with everything to make the fit work. I don’t blame you. I blame my bike shop guy for telling me it was a perfect fit. A Guru consult has revealed that the top tube was long by almost 2 inches for my body, and the seat tube was wrong length and angle. I hate this bike. If I could smash it under a press, I would. I have a place for it reserved in hell that is meant for those really small hang nails, whomever keeps stealing my socks, and the guy who thought “lock in agreements” for cell phones would make a good idea. Tom Demerly said it best - the most expensive bike is the one that doesn’t fit. This one cost me my worst half IM by a country mile. Utter disappointment. I only wish my Guru Chrono had arrived before BSLT.
-
No official race jerseys for sale? How will I prove my many levels of awesomeness without one?
-
Racer 53 - you weren’t even close to 2:15 on the bike. Deals made at the start line are meant to be kept. You can send me the $20 in cash…
-
Having spent the better part of the weekend with one, it turns out that pro racers have the same neurosis that we MOP and BOP folks have…perhaps even worse.
-
From the official site - “good asphalt roads” - if by “good” they meant “horrible” and by “asphalt” they meant “chip seal” they were spot on. It was an ass braille ride.
I wish I’d had remembered to bring toilet paper to the race to sell. I might have made enough to offset my entry fee.
ROTFLMAO!! I have done this race twice, '05 and this weekend. It is hard core imo.
I was talking shop with some guys one day and came up with the following regarding “going long” in tri…
“Doing a Sprint or Olympic tri is like experimenting with pot, but doing an IM and a select few HIM’s, like St. Croix and Buffalo Springs, is like taking acid! Be careful”
Steve
LOL to some of those.
Once again Marti and Mike put on a great race. Echo the best aid station support! They ROCK!
-
I didn’t see as much drafting as other years.
-
One year was in the triple digits for a couple days and it was still wet suit legal. Just the way it is.
-
Me to!
-
Hot food at the finish are you nuts! I want ice cream! (The water melon rocked!)
-
Once again… the best!!!
-
I had nightmares about Farris Rd. the next night and my fork snapping.
-
When can I sign up for next year?
paw
Maybe I missed them all, but it did seem like the porta potties on course were few and far between.
Oh, I will do the race next year, if for other reason that to prove that I am actually a triathlete. That race made me feel like a little boy, lost in the woods, wandering around, saying “finish line, is that you?”
#4… is a joke. That race has NO business being wetsuit legal. It’s dangerous. I always feel like baked lobster getting out of my wetsuit.
I think he just took the water temp a little early, like maybe March?
I believe that water temp was taken, from a glass of water pulled out of the lake the night before. 
Here… let me finish that thought for ya…
I believe that water temp was taken, from a glass of water pulled out of the lake the night before.
**… and then kept in the fridge. **
I believe that water temp was taken, from a glass of water pulled out of the lake the night before.
And kept in the fridge all night. I went w/o a wetsuit and was still warm. I think my swim was so slow because I spent half the time searching for a bar of soap and my rubber ducky. Definitely want to sign up again next year, though.
Edited to add: Hey! I’m thinking like Marky V! Maybe I can think myself into some fast racing one of these days.
As a now ten time veteran of BSLT I agree with some of your comments:
#1 - I saw a few officals on the course and very little drafting. I don’t remember seeing any officals after about the forty five mile point of the bike.
#3 - That is the only place to put all of those vehicles, my wife was able to help carry my stuff back to the truck after the race. Take it as a hint to minimize what you bring. Also carpool to the race, we had three competitors in our suv.
#4 - Wetsuits, don’t wear one, your not required to. I am sure that they know where the cold springs in the lake are and take the temperature there. I wore a sleeveless wetsuit and was fine.
#12 - No race jerseys for sale. I agree, I would buy one. One thing that I saw that I really liked was one of the support vehicles had some kind of window treatment for the BSLT. I would buy one of those.
#15 - For farm roads, those were good asphalt roads. We have much worse (and race on them) in the Houston area.
Love your list, love the humor!
As a spectator, husband, and bag schlepper, the only real issues I had were the 30+mins it took from the gate to the parking lot on race morning. Desiree wasn’t kidding when she said get there early. At least 30mins earlier next time. I rode much of the course on Saturday, great race course, some bad roads, but not that great for spectators. My god, can you please have enough tp for athletes and spectators?!
Other than those few things, I agree with the others…an absolute gem of a race. The Greers did a great job from packet pick-up to race day to the awards dinner. Speaking of awards dinner, if I’m going to pay $12 bucks in West Texas for dinner, I expect some brisket!!!
Thanks…I try to add a little humor to the otherwise way too serious allegations, accusations and position analysation (not a word, I know) on this site.
I do agree the course was challenging, but nothing too bad- the flat stretches on the bike gave time for recovery.
As per roads and hills, drive 1.5 hrs west to Chapel Hill and you will get both- great training for next year.
I was very impressed with the volunteer support. Although parking was tough and bathrooms were far and in between, there was no lack of volunteers to offer help- thanks!!
Wet suit Legal- yup, shouldn’t’ have been, but I am not complaining cause I suck at the swim and can use all the buoyancy I can get:)
Ice, ice, ice baby!! i was super impressed at the cold water offered at the aid stations on the run…made my day!
Natasha…saw her heading to the finish as I was heading out on the run…amazing, truly amazing
IV line- not complaining cause I needed one…no hassle given (I got more hassle at IMAZ when I was shaking and almost puking as to whether or not to stick me vs. this race where I was a little dizzy!!) The medical staff/volunteers were awsome, nice and attentive!!
Wine as rewards for top 10 places in each age group!! whooo hoooo
Great race, will be back next year!!!
BSLT was my first HIM and I chose it first off because I got a discount on the entry fee and secondly because I was promised a hilly course and thats what I want… ok, and third because I knew I had a chance at getting a spot into either Kona or Clearwater!
I loved the courses… although I thought the bike course was rather flat and I found myself playing cat and mouse with a few other bikers. That was pissing me off For the swim, well, I wore my sleeveless wetsuit and was perfectly comfortable the entire swim. When it got to the run and the sun was beaming down on us… well, that was hell! I have never run so slow in my life and my hopes for a sub 5:10 were quickly lost 
Thanks to the amazing aid stations I was able to grab several cups of ice, H2O and wet rags. Without them I dont think I would have made it to the finish line (and the med tent!). I was one of many to be carried away from the finish line into the med tent and quickly given 3 bags of IV fluid. The medics were fantastic in trying to cool me down, normalize my pulse and blood pressure and make sure I was still conscious.
I was very happy staying at the host hotel (for all those wanting to do this race next year, I highly recommend making a reservation early at the host hotel!). The awards were great and over fast… thankfully, as my friend and I were making the trip back to AZ immediately afterwards. I got my slot to Clearwater and I now know what I need to do in training!
The Greers put on a fantastic race! I highly recommend this race to anyone who wants a tough course! The bike is not as bad as I heard it was, but the run was killer. 14% hills on the run… ouch!
Brandon… I will see you there next year! Hopefully we both have better races
Wine? I missed the wine? I might have stayed another night rather than suffer through the drive back to DFW.
I, too, loved this race! Yeah, the wetsuits are a bad call (although I sure can use the swim help) and the road surfaces could have been better, but aside from those two things, this event is just about perfect…at least in my book.
It was certainly not the hardest half I have ever done…go to Auburn or ask one of the 83 survivors of the Lake Pleasant 1/2 if you want to find a toughie…but it had a few challenging moments and was a course that made me feel like a tough tri chick.
The volunteers were amazing and I have never seen a med tent so generous with the IV’s…I sure appreciated mine! Post-race food could be better, but the beer was a nice touch.
Yeah, the hill climb to the parking lot was the work of a sadistic person, but it does give us something to whine about.
I passed on the Clearwater slot after hearing about last year’s debacle, but plan to go back next year when I get to play with the 50-year-olds.
I have done a bunch of halves and I consider this one of the ones worth repeating.
G
Glad you had a miserable time at this race, but enjoyed it. I can’t wait to go back there. Maybe next year.
#4… is a joke. That race has NO business being wetsuit legal. It’s dangerous. I always feel like baked lobster getting out of my wetsuit.
Yeah, I hear you. The morning of my first half, the RD said, with a wink, that the temp was 77.5 degrees. They had posted a temp of 84 on the website the week before. I felt like shit out of the water, and crummy for the rest of the race. Maybe that was the reason for my 2:47 run split…