Any Sacto area triathletes out there care to offer some description of the half course? The bike course sounded more interesting originally when it was going to head up to the foothills. Is the current bike course pretty flat and boring? I would guess the run course is pretty nice if it goes around Natomas. Thanks for your thoughts.
Mike
I’ll echo what Larry California said about the course but will add a few comments.
The bike course is going to be closed to traffic. It’s very exposed and has rolling hills. There’s likely to be a lot of wind out along White Rock, but the wind shouldn’t be an issue before you get to Prarie City. There’s been a lot of construction going on in Folsom of late. Hopefully it’ll all be done by the race, but you might want to check with the RDs in April. At the Folsom Oly tri this past year, we rode past a lot of construction, and the road surface wasn’t what I would call smooth.
Do NOT practice on that course during weekdays. There are enormous gravel trucks that barrel along White Rock, and it’s extremely scary to be passed by one. The wind buffeting is terrible, plus they’re double trailers so it’s like being passed by two trucks at once.
Like Larry, I couldn’t tell whether the first part of the bike course goes along the bike path or another road. If it’s along the bike path, I have no idea how they’re going to check for drafting. That could be a very “interesting” section.
Shade or lack of it along the run course shouldn’t be a problem in May. It might get into the 80s, but I doubt we’ll see anything over 90 at that time of year.
However, Folsom Lake should still be quite chilly. I’m guessing low 60s.