“The Runs”
there are many other terms…
Andrew
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I have nightmares about LP and how someone will miss a bottle handoff at an aid station and I’m behind them and the bottle rolls right into my wheel. Thus crashing.
I apologize in advance if this causes a bad mental image for anyone. Please read with caution.
Last night I dreamed I was descending on the Keene hill at Ironman USA. I was in total control. My speed was around 50mph and everything was perfect. Then it happened! I had a front tire blowout on my clincher rim. I couldn’t control my bike, it felt like I was on ice. I crashed violently and ended up in the rocky ditch. What a nightmare! I hope this never comes true.
Now now - they park an ambulance there for you to hit head on. (Seen it first hand…nasty crash…speed shimmy - wet roads - paint stripe - SPLAT!)
Can I share my REAL experience at LP?
Water was FREEZING! Got on the bike with just a speedo on in 50 degree weather. Lost my contact in the first mile.
Got off the bike and proceeded to swear at the poor volunteers because the oranges were not cut up.
Never even started the run.
Woke up in the car 4 hours later and still can’t remember anything past the first 25 miles of the bike.
Turned out I had hypothermia and also didn’t drink a drop of water on the bike.
This was back before anyone even wore wetsuits.
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When did people not wear wetsuits at IMLP? If I remeber properly even in 1999 there was about 99.5% of folks wearing a wet suit. I know that the number has not fallen since then.
That is my worst fear. I generally start laying on the brakes once I hit 35mph, so I’m fairly cautious, but in a race last summer, I was going about 30 down a hill and “BAM” the front tire blows. I’m terrified thinking I’m going to go down hard, but fortunately, I was able to slowly apply the brakes and come to a safe stop. Jeez!
99 WOW you a youngun lol
Back in '84 I ATTEMPTED the half IM dist they had their.
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99 WOW you a youngun lol
Back in '84 I ATTEMPTED the half IM dist they had their.
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99 was the first year for “IronMan USA”.
Nice. The Casio Triathlon? You had to climb the cascade hill right?
It all was a blur and seemed like either straight up or straight down lol
I do remember going down hill way to fast when you only have one contact in, veering out into traffic. It seemed like there were tons of cars but that could be just me in my delerious state.
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2001 was my first IM and my main goal was to finish. I had never ridden down a hill as long as Keene, in my life, before that day. On the first loop I was doing about 45, hanging on for dear life, when I rounded a corner and saw a guy on the pavement with an ambulance there. Whoa, I was braking the rest of the way. Since then I have decended that hill another 5 times with a couple of those being in the rain.
Scary story from 2006, first loop was wet and I’m tense because I’m out of the water early and sharing the road with some very competitive cyclists. I’m trying to keep a safe distance from everyone (for their sake). At the steepest part of the hill some guys comes up along side me on the left and he is 100% in a death wobble. Problem is that there is an upcoming left turn and he is cutting across my line. I didn’t want to touch my brakes for fear of crashing. I came up and used my body as an air brake and this guy passes in front of me with about a centimeter of space between his rear and my front. He must have pulled out of it because I didn’t hear any screaming behind me. Damn, that was close!
I love resurrecting these old threads.
Did LP yesterday and was descending into Keene at about 30 mph on the first lap. Plenty of riders already flying by at speeds in excess of 40+ mph and I have the pleasure of going into a death wobble. I’ve never experienced it before, and it was the most frightning experience that I have ever had on a bicycle.
I’ve been reading a ton about it on the internet since getting back home and there are a number of possible explanations. Most likely seems to be that with my new bike, my weight is set too far forward and my seat position set precariously high. It is a great position for flying on flattish terrain, but not so for taking on steep, long descents.
Whatever the case might be, it also got me to thinking about just how likely it is that the 2,300 riders competing at LP have sufficient experience in descents such as that at LP. I train on moderately rolling hills at best and simply don’t have experience in dealing with such terrain. I have got to believe that there are plenty others in the same boat.
It is of little wonder, then, that this year brought yet another crash going into Keene (the results of which I am not sure).
Be careful out there!
death grip) and I finally stopped about 300 feet after the minivan had stopped. I couldn’t ride anymore. My rims were scalding hot and my nerves were shot.
Now had that happend to me…photos would have been taken, cameras would have been thrown off of cliffs and noses would have been bloodied
And I have the history to prove it! 
I was right behind you when that happened. you scared the shit out of me and sent my heart rate up by about 30 bpm. Probably your fault that I had so much trouble finishing the bike ;-). Anyways glad to hear that you are ok.
Derek
My descent on lap 2 was limted to 25 mph–nothing like the smell of burning brake pads! I must have had 50 riders pass me in that 7 mile stretch. But, better that than burning flesh.
Interesting. I thought about his thread too when I saw a guy on who was (either in the top 200 on lap two or in the back of the pack on lap one) and he had crashed on the Keene descent. Did anyone else see him? There were a couple of people helping him and an ambulance starting to come up the hill when I got to Keene. I hope he’s ok. I wonder what happened.
I saw alot of road rash on runners this year. Dave Harju crashed at some point; they taped him up, but I was at the corner when he stopped after the first loop of the run and turned in his chip… the blood had soaked through the bandage and was running down his hand… I saw one girl with a shoulder ground raw toughing it out on the run…
I apologize in advance if this causes a bad mental image for anyone. Please read with caution.
I actually had a front wheel flat on Keene Hill in IMLP 2005. However, It was towards the top of the hill so I was probably only riding at about 30mph and I was using Tubulars so it was not a big deal…A nice reminder to stick with the tubulars for racing though
agreed on the tubies.