CaliforniaMan in NorCal - Any local knowledge of course?

For all you Sacto and Mad Cow folks out there…is anyone familiar with the proposed bike and run courses in the Folsom area and points eastward? Bike sounds kind of interesting heading up in the foothills but curious what you locals think? Does J&A put on a good Oly race at Lake Natoma site? Would it be pretty hot in May? Any comments/opinions appreciated!

Thanks,

Mike

(no clever or insightful footnotes included)

I’m only familiar with part of the bike course, but there will plenty of time to ride the course over the next 16 months. As the course profile shows, there will be loads of climbing the first half(4900 ft.), but you then get to descend 4900 ft as well. The first and last quarters of the bike will be fairly rolling before the climb/descent.

I’m very familar with the run course. Very scenic and fairly challenging. There will be plenty of shaded areas on the course as much of the route is fairly wooded. I can’t see more than 6-10 miles being flat. The rest will be undulating. Nothing terribly long but there will be continual ups and downs.

The weather *could *be hot but shouldn’t be that bad. On the other hand, the water **WILL **be cold - that’s guaranteed. It’s a great place to swim - very clear, clean water, but we don’t usually start swimming there until June. Even in July and August rarely do you see anyone swimming there w/out a wetsuit. the website says to expect around a 60 degree water temp, which means it could be 57 or 58…

I didn’t do Folsom International last year, but everyone I talked to said they did a great job - very professional.

They are awarding $75,000 in cash, so you know there will be some good pros there. I don’t think it will be a fast course, but the venue is nice. Should be a good race.

Lake Natoma is an awesome place to swim, super clean water----they dont allow jetskis or anything like that on the lake. The water is freezing. It comes out of the bottom of Folsom Lake—i swim in lake natoma beginning in like March–but thats with a neoprene cap and a swim cap over that, and ofcourse wetsuit. I swam twice in the dead of summer without a wetsuit in lake natoma last yr----the first time i did it was refreshing, the second time was painful and dangerous (it took me like 2 hrs of running to stop shaking). JA put on awesome races, i did FIT last yr, have done SJIT in the past and like their approach, plus im signed up for UVAS and SJIT this yr. Their one of my fav race producers. The run’s easy—well as easy as a marathon can be. Theres a half marathon around lake Natoma (4 bridges 1/2) and i train a lot around there. Its a scenic run and the undulating hills arent really hills----theres 2-3 hills that will make you hurt a little. And i think the bike will be fast cause its all downhill once you turn around. Those are my thoughts.