First of all Congrats! I loved the area and course last year and its on my list for the future, but told myself I wouldn’t do it again unless they made some noticeable progress on those roads. How were the roads? Thanks!
They were pretty bad. It was so hard to get in a rhythm down in aero with all the jarring. Stuff ejected all over the road. Really bad stuff was marked, but most of the course was rough. At the athlete briefing they were like “there are a few bad spotsâ€, but the majority of the course was really rough.
I know people are going to say it wasn’t that bad, but I disagree and I wouldn’t do it again. It’s too bad because the area has a lot of potential to have a great race, it’s just the roads are not a priority in California-I know because I live in the state. I ride on roads that are not perfect all the time, but this was beyond. Also, there were some stretches of road open to traffic both ways with no bike lane; it was a little dangerous and not all the drivers were too “friendly “.
The swim was great however.
The rough sections as follows
- The Alexander Valley area / 128 corridor is the most inconsistent part of the course and def still has rough pavement (with short sections of good) … so that’s a total of 30 miles of inconsistent pavement unfortunately.
- Mark West Station 1 mile of very poor pavement
- Wohler Rd … 3/4 mile of rough pavement (call it 1 mile)
- Willowside Rd has been repaved
So … if we want to say 30 miles (which really only 50% is poor) + 1 mile + 1 mile, that’s 32 miles
That’s really not the majority of roads as mentioned. If one comes from riding the trainer 90% of the time OR a place where you have 100% smooth roads then it is fortunate and will need to adapt here. Athletes coming from Australia & NZ think these are the best roads they ride on. Perspective I guess.
As a side note … While announcing in T1 on race day I was astounded by the amount of pressure athletes were pumping there tires too. Why are we putting 110+ PSI in 23c tire on Zipp Firecrest (or similar)? I talked a handful of athletes of the ledge and they thanked me later 
First of all Congrats! I loved the area and course last year and its on my list for the future, but told myself I wouldn’t do it again unless they made some noticeable progress on those roads. How were the roads? Thanks!
Couple of really bad parts where I saw dozens of bottles, tubes, nutrition, you name it, on the side of the road… Also sharing a 2 lane road with unhappy residents trying to pass you in their cars was not fun either (saw a passing car cursing at some riders as they tried passing other riders). I road at 90psi
As a side note … While announcing in T1 on race day I was astounded by the amount of pressure athletes were pumping there tires too. Why are we putting 110+ PSI in 23c tire on Zipp Firecrest (or similar)? I talked a handful of athletes of the ledge and they thanked me later
I certainly was doing that until I joined slowtwitch. Not sure if GTN or others are informing the public on the importance of tire pressure, I would hope so.
I think I made money doing this race, I stopped and picked up all the bottles, tubes, CO2 chargers and now have my own ebay store.
Kidding. Yes there are rough sections, no I would not come anywhere close to letting that decide if you do this race or not. Second time doing the race both times around 5:30, so respectable but not fast. I ‘feel’ like the south bound leg of the route was worse than last year and there are clear sections they should fix but…considering how well run this race is, the swim is great the run is shaded and had a light breeze and the temperature on Saturday was perfect.
But that is to say you missed it, because this race in July would absolutely suck. It will be hot or windy. Which is too bad, even during my rough sections Saturday the roads have lovely views and beautiful homes, not to mention the Ferrari that passed me. Its a great race and venue, just some clear places they need to keep trying to make the roads better. I doubt they have too much sway in the road maintence schedule.
Yes there are rough sections, no I would not come anywhere close to letting that decide if you do this race or not.//
THIS PEOPLE^^^^^^
When did it become a thing to have to have decent roads for races? I cannot tell you how many crappy roads I raced on, and not once did I ever think I would not do that race again, at least not for that little reason. Roads are roads, and often times crappy ones make the flavor of the race. You get to tell such great stories afterwards. So sorry that you could not get your PR today, perhaps one of the short courses, or draftfests? Plenty of those to choose from…
And definitely stay away from gravel racing, they seek out the worst of the worst in surfaces, and revel in it!!!
Each person who responds to this thread needs to state where s/he normally rides so that we can properly asses what “really bad†or “rough†means.
For example, I am from Chicago and regularly commute on roads that are more pothole than not. I think that roads in many other places are “pretty goodâ€.
The rough sections as follows
- The Alexander Valley area / 128 corridor is the most inconsistent part of the course and def still has rough pavement (with short sections of good) … so that’s a total of 30 miles of inconsistent pavement unfortunately.
- Mark West Station 1 mile of very poor pavement
- Wohler Rd … 3/4 mile of rough pavement (call it 1 mile)
- Willowside Rd has been repaved
So … if we want to say 30 miles (which really only 50% is poor) + 1 mile + 1 mile, that’s 32 miles
That’s 32 miles of 1 loop - of which there are 2.
The rough sections as follows
- The Alexander Valley area / 128 corridor is the most inconsistent part of the course and def still has rough pavement (with short sections of good) … so that’s a total of 30 miles of inconsistent pavement unfortunately.
- Mark West Station 1 mile of very poor pavement
- Wohler Rd … 3/4 mile of rough pavement (call it 1 mile)
- Willowside Rd has been repaved
So … if we want to say 30 miles (which really only 50% is poor) + 1 mile + 1 mile, that’s 32 miles
That’s really not the majority of roads as mentioned. If one comes from riding the trainer 90% of the time OR a place where you have 100% smooth roads then it is fortunate and will need to adapt here. Athletes coming from Australia & NZ think these are the best roads they ride on. Perspective I guess.
As a side note … While announcing in T1 on race day I was astounded by the amount of pressure athletes were pumping there tires too. Why are we putting 110+ PSI in 23c tire on Zipp Firecrest (or similar)? I talked a handful of athletes of the ledge and they thanked me later
100% this. I heard that announcement for tire pressures at T1, good on you for doing that!
Roads had a few unavoidable rough spots, but most was nothing a drive of the course, lower pressures, and heads up riding couldn’t mitigate most of the rough sections IMHO. Lived in San Diego a couple years ago (LA now) and generally I think many of the roads in SD are worse there that anything I see/saw in LA or SR. I road about 85 psi, and only hit a few spots that really shook me and once a bottle loose but not out.There was plenty of quality, smooth road on the course, and it has a net descent. I can’t imagine they’ll make large scale improvements for the rough sections anytime soon. In the end, road quality would’t keep me from doing this race again.
Also, water was nice for the swim, and it was hilarious watching the first 30 or so people in line do a mass start at the cannon (I stopped when I got to the line for the rolling start), but as a faster swimmer passing 1420 buoys and an elbow in the face on the 2nd lap was anything but great, but thats a 2 lap swim for you I guess. And you can’t beat the run course.
That section in Alexander Valley is mile 10 to mile 30 THEN lap 2 mile 70 to 82 = 32 miles total
.
Matt … thanks for that
I do think HWY 128 is overdue for an overlay but that is in Cal-Trans where all the other road improvements the last 3 years have been via the County. 10 Years ago that section in the Alexander Valley was the best pavement on course… BUT no longer! There are also other sections of the course slated for re-paving this year. If HWY 128 gets some attn. it would be awesome
As you referenced some of it is perspective
Hope you had a good day
Yes there are rough sections, no I would not come anywhere close to letting that decide if you do this race or not.//
THIS PEOPLE^^^^^^
When did it become a thing to have to have decent roads for races? I cannot tell you how many crappy roads I raced on, and not once did I ever think I would not do that race again, at least not for that little reason. Roads are roads, and often times crappy ones make the flavor of the race. You get to tell such great stories afterwards. So sorry that you could not get your PR today, perhaps one of the short courses, or draftfests? Plenty of those to choose from…
And definitely stay away from gravel racing, they seek out the worst of the worst in surfaces, and revel in it!!!
If you’re looking to KQ, I would look at rough roads as a huge opportunity. If you optimize your tire selection & pressure, you will have a major leg up on the competition.
Thanks for the info, that would be great if they did that! Honestly, I would probably be much more prepared for them the next go around, but everyone would agree that smooth-ish roads are better than rough roads for Ironman racing. Thanks Again!
Perspective.
I can only remember a section of 1mile that was “rough.” All the rest was on par w/ everywhere I’ve ever ridden before.
Nothing to do with getting a PR—just did not have fun on the course. Again, just my opinion. I drove almost the entire course so I knew what I was getting into and rode at 85 psi
I raced Santa Rosa and while the roads were rough I don’t think they would stop me from doing the race again. The move from May (perfect weather) to July would.
4:51/23.0 split so I rode solo after mile 10 and had my pick of lines. I raced a set of 25mm GP5000 TL tires setup tubeless at 85 psi rear + 75 psi front (170 lbs). The only section I thought was really bad was Mark West Station Rd shortly after the 1st lap/2nd lap split. That section was really brutal at speed. Otherwise it was mostly expected conditions for country roads with a freeze thaw cycle - just need to ride with a bit more focus.
I understand what you’re saying, but each athlete (and maybe their family) gets to decide what factors they choose to determine what venue they choose for Ironman. Maybe its time of year, location, availability of accommodations, or the course itself. While road conditions have never been a factor for me at my other races, its something I am throwing into the mix to decide if I will do Santa Rosa again. Don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
There are rough sections, definitely a course where you need to pick your line… but it’s not too bad from a pothole perspective.
It did feel like there was alot of those bigger bump just uncomfortable in aero position.
I used 25m tire with 85psi… and my bike was making more noise by the end of the race (saddle holder got loose).
Not sure if i will do it again, for few reasons but mostly because of timing (may is too early for canadian and we have alot of local race in July / August).
What would you pump up Zipp clinchers NSW 858 (25C Tires) I weigh 150 lb
.