What a great race, and J&A did an incredible job. Hard to tell it was the first go.
One BIG suggestion: Next year charge $5000 a head entry, and use the money to repave the bike course.
Meanwhile, has anybody got a large pair of forceps? I need to get a bike seat out of my @ss…
At the end we were waiting for the shuttle to come by and chatting with a Folsom woman who was minding the swim bag area. She was extremely proud that Folsom had been chosen, as she put it, to put on this race, and she wanted to know what we thought. We gave glowing reports about the course and the town and the wonderful volunteers, and then mentioned that the pavement on Scott Road was REALLY AWFUL. Not to mention the Aerojet test facility but that road is private so probably not much can be done. Anyway, her face got this very serious look, and she said, OK repave Scott Road, we’ll take care of that for next year. I looked at her and she actually seemed serious, like she was going to bring it up at the next town council meeting or something. I thought the way the locals supported the race was fantastic.
Overall a great day. Logistical cluster F#$K on the days leading up to the race, mostly the fault of the web page. It had 1/2 and full information together on information bulletins, said only full could rack the night before but anyone could. I sympathize for the RD who had to manage multiple trtansition areas. Glad I got the carbo load dinner for free, if my guest had to pay more than $5 for the meal someone made a hefty profit off them.
Cheers,
Karma
I totally agree, the people of Folsom and the volunteers were amazing. Very welcoming and happy to have the event there. I was blown away by the support out on the course. The volunteers were all over us with Amino Vital, Gu and water. Seemed like they were everywhere. Thanks a lot guys! I did the half.
As for JA Productions: this race felt like the inaugural event that it was. Very bright spots and then some not so bright. Overall I thought they pulled it off very professionally but guys, next time change the bike course and cut the transitions. Too many logitical headaches and you need more shuttles to the original parking lot. I would have put up with colder water temps to cut out that strange bike to run transition. Those out and backs off the fingers of Scott Road sucked as did the terrifically slow bike path starting out. Bike splits were really slow. Beautiful run, though, so nice call there. And the overall vibe was upbeat and fun. So I rate it highly as an event and am actually surprised it went off this well given it’s a first time race. Next year should be even better.
I’d do this race again next year in a heartbeat if they changed the bike course. Thanks to Jerry Frostick at Final Kick in Virginia Beach, who got my Guru time trial bike to me in time for the race and did a great job picking components, I was able to salvage a decent bike split. Jerry, you rock. And Transition Sports in Oakland who got the bike, built it and fit me on it in one day on a moment’s notice. Thanks again. I was 19th overall (pending a possible time penalty).
I also thought it was a great race. I wrote up my report using the html features of TNO and is doesn’t copy/paste well here, so I’ll just link it below. **Warning! **The Race Report is LONG!
http://www.trinewbies.com/phorum2/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=26106&posts=28
Andy,
Your 19th place finish is secure – the 4:51 time includes your 4 minute penalty.
At the awards ceremony, the RD, Andy Robles, stated that Scott Road would be eliminated next year, and that the race date would be changed to the third weekend in October, making it possible to consolidate the transition areas at Nimbus Flats. One T/A at Nimbus should eliminate a lot of the logistical problems, and would eliminate that first “connector” section that ran along the bike path. He also apologized for the extra distance on the bike course and said it would be corrected next year.
Cheers,
Steve Blum
head ref, 2004 CaliforniaMan
steveblum@tellusventure.com
Steve,
How was this race compared to normal for penalties? From what I saw it was the cleanest race I have seen or participated in. Your guys were everywhere on the bike course.
Dave
Thanks Steve! I’m pretty pumped then. Been sweating bullets over the time penalty since Saturday afternoon ;-).
See you next year, as it sounds like the folks in charge plan to make some adjustments.
Andy
Dave,
I appreciate the good words. It did seem like a very clean race. We penalized a total of 22 people on the bike course, out of a total of 767 bikers. That’s less than 3%, which is about as good as it ever gets. I generally consider 5% to be excellent, and 10% is a common figure. People really seemed to be focused and riding well. I suppose there are lots of reasons for it, but I’d bet the biggest is that there really wasn’t anything except personal pride on the line. The credit goes to all of you who raced.
Thanks!
Cheers,
Steve Blum
I didn’t know about that – I hope he did make it, though. Help was available. Technical support on the course was provided by John Cobb. Not the company, by John himself. That was one of the many cool things on the day. John bolted a big tool box to the back of his motorcycle, and spent the day cruising the course. Some guys just love the sport.
Did I miss it, or was there NO post-race food available for the full distance??I talked to others who also said they didn’t see any food.
What did you scream at me on the bike, just before heading “home” via Aerojet’s roads? I was the guy with the Canada socks and yellow skinsuit.
Not sure. Probably something about the extra, “fun miles” or the f#$% wind.
I sure got no food<<
I was offered food at 11:20PM, but didn’t want any then. Medal, t-shirt and water were waiting, as were my buds, who had already gone to get my truck and went and got my bags.
clm
There was pizza and Jamba Juice, down and to the right from finish line, about 25 feet. And some lady came up to me and asked me if I needed some Powerade. They were all over it.
To the ref’s: thanks for the explanation of the time penalty (positioning). If I was nailed for positioning, I hope the guy who was blocking me the first 10 miles of the race, who I think probably finished in the middle of the pack, got nailed doubly. That guy was hilarious. I passed him three times and he wouldn’t yield and drop back, so had to swing out or get busted for drafting. Oh well.