Doing recon with my wife(she’s racing). On the way back from Hawi wee see a woman get blown off the road. As we approach her she’s trying to remount her bike but the bike is being blown parallel to the ground by the wind. Crazy!! Lady said it was her second time in the last mile getting blown off the road. Gave her a ride to a spot where the gusts were less. Hope it’s calmer tomorrow.
What kind of bike was she riding?
If one’s bike is too ultra light, it could be a factor on race day if the winds are still this intense. One might have to load down their race bike with additional weight.
Check out this video starting at 0:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8qgjyqibwY
http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2013/10/28/1382957091402-13vbcqs7z0fkr-700-80.jpg
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Yeah, that extra kilo or two on a heavier frame will make all the difference. /pink
Hey Piche
Best of luck in Kona to Bridget-enjoy it all!!! Sending good vibes from the 603
not sure if its my coach but I know she was having a fun time getting blown by the gusts when trying to remount!
Was she with another person?
Was she riding a black, white, blue storck?
wow
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I’ve experienced that before at a time trial. Carrying bike to the start ramp if the rear tire left the ground WEEEEEE HOLD ON
female winner won the race on a Stinger 9, rear disc, at 135lbs
male winner, disc rear, 1080 front
wind is a state of mind!
was kinda scary out there for sure though
When I did Ironman in Hawaii (the one and only time) in 2001 the wind was particularly bad. I saw this happen to one lady - simply could not get the bike wheels to stay on the ground long enough to mount it. I also saw another lady chasing her bike down the road as the wind blew it away from her (I assume, after she was blown off of it). Sometime I think of trying to qualify again - then I remind myself how much that bike ride sucked! I hardly used my aero bars the middle 3 hours of my ride. Expected to ride 5:30 (as I did in IMC) and ended up with something like 6:15. Not fun.
I can only compare to 2008, but the wind today was no joke. Pretty calm up to mile 30 but then the blasting began. It died down near Kawaihai but then cross winds transitioning to the full on frontal blast with enough of a side component going up to Hawi to keep me out of aero or at least 1 hand on the bullhorns (for reference I am 145 lbs and on HED Jet 6’s). Didn’t see anyone fall over, but I nearly did a couple times on the way down due to that gusty side component. That didn’t last long as the cross wind had a bit of a head-on component going back to Kawaihai, but as usual it died on the climb. We did get the benefit of a great tailwind coming back near Waikoloa where I hit 38 mph on a false flat downhill (at most 1%), but that died pretty soon and had headwinds the last 20 mile until shortly after the airport (NWS weather data confirms this - W@5mph when I was outbound, S@13mph when I was inbound).
People made a big deal about temps but I don’t think they were that bad, at least on the bike. My Garmin 510 went from 80 to 85 on the way out then hit 95 in Kawaihai (but this was under full sun, whereas it had been in my shadow on the way out). Cloud cover kicked in the last 20 miles which dropped it back to the mid-upper 80s, and it was pretty dry until getting back to Kona. First 10 miles of the run were pretty humid and in the sun, but up on the Queen K it was noticeably drier and there was cloud cover except for the energy lab. Unfortunately for me the damage was done on Alii and I had my slowest IM run split by 13 minutes. Anyone who managed their electrolytes and didn’t overbike could have a run well today, but there was a lot of carnage out there from what I saw.
Kienle’s bike time is very impressive considering the conditions. Not sure if there is a real way to rank them given the different conditions each year, but many AGers around 5 hrs seemed to be 10-15+ minutes slower than last year.
ETA: I could see Haleaka in the distance faintly on the north side of the island - I don’t remember that from last time, and not sure if that is unusual but it was a pretty cool distraction…
I was never hot, but I train in Louisiana. The wind was a son of a bitch.
Um, I saw a lady pretty much doing the same thing during the race yesterday only the bike was above her head. Winds were nuts.