I’m signed up for Challenge Roth and seeking insights on the bike course. For some reason I’ve found getting specific insights into the bike course a little harder than other courses…
I live in Sausalito and ride in the Marin headlands… so lots of elevation gain out my back door and so/so road surface quality.
What’s the roth course like?
• Road surface?
• Technical with lots of turns or put your head down and go?
• Headwinds? Side winds? Would you ride a disc?
• are the roads narrow … ie. Does it get crowded with the riders making passing and staying draft legal hard?
• are the hills (other than solar) the kind you can/should push a bit to keep momentum over or are they steep so just sit up and spin and spen your energy elsewhere?
• generally is this one to really aim to have constant watts on or are there specific places one should burn matches?
•… something else I should be asking?
Yes to all the above. The course can be quite susceptible to wind in places though; the year I did it 2008, it was very wet & windy, reflected in the winner’s time of 8:09.
the course has a short but technical descent with a handful of switchbacks after one of the climbs mid way through. I believe Jan Frondeno over cooked it and came off on them.
the course has a short but technical descent with a handful of switchbacks after one of the climbs mid way through. I believe Jan Frondeno over cooked it and came off on them.
Solar Berg is probably one of the easiest climbs you’ll ever do. It’s short, and not particularly steep and the crowd pushes you.
Greding is where people screw up. The initial pitch is steep and it’s easy to go too hard. Then it’s followed by a long false flat.
Typically people go too hard on the first lap up Greding and then blow up on the second. That’s where you can see a lot of folks stalling.
Road quality is fantastic and Roth loves its Ironman. This remains my favorite IM by a long shot.
As others have said Greding is a much stiffer climb than Solarberg (which is lots of fun).
The wind can make a big difference. This year there was a SE breeze to start ie head wind all the way to Greding on the first lap. The wind direction then changed and that section was much quicker on the second lap.
I thought this course was beautiful. Great views in the country and support was all over the place. Their worst roads are better than the best roads in America. The surfaces are awesome. Not terribly technical, only issue I had was coming up to Greding, it is fast coming into it, then you turn left and, boom, you are right on the steepest part of the incline. I dropped my chain here…granted my big ring was bent in transit, but still, be aware, because the hill comes out of nowhere. On Solar, take your time and really look at the spectacle, take in all the fans…it is definitely the most iconic part of any full tri course in all of the sport.
The only other thing I can say is, it was much hillier than I expected. Wasn’t terribly hard, but we were all surprised at how many hills there were, even after studying the course.
Typing this makes me jealous of you. Did it last year and it was the greatest experience of my life. Going back next year, and am literally counting down the days!
Oh, and you get the new run course this year which I am sure will make it even crazier with the fan support!
Great race.
I asked a college the same questions before I did it last year, most of it about gearing.
He said to pack the 11…and he was right.
Went with 53/39 11/28, used the 28 for maybe a minute in greding just to make sure not to over cook.
But there are lots of flats and slightly downhills where you can grind it (if you are not a crazy spinner like me).
Enjoy the atmosphere, it’s stunning.
Unfortunately they changed the run course from 2017 on, I liked the stupidity of the old one. Seems not the same to me anymore.
I just asked my wife but she couldn’t remember for sure but left the possibility open.
Terrible song but friends told the band is good besides that, was too scared to check though.