It also makes me scratch my head in terms of bike/wheel choice. Looking at the course there are 30+ right-angle turns (moderate decrease in speed; ~20% as I’m pretty comfortable on the bike) and around 5 full 180s (big decrease in speed!). A lot more accelerating than your regular Oly or 70.3! More like a local crit ride.
I’m excited to do it as the bike is my strong point and I reckon this will play to my strengths being so twisty. But I see my gains coming from cornering faster rather than having a better average speed. I can do this on my road bike much easier, so what’s the choice? Also my gut tells me a disc won’t be of much use. I only see 400-500m of straight biking! what about 60mm wheels?
Other musings:
This is going to be a “non-draft” draft fest.
What is the rule on cornering and drafting?
I really hope it doesn’t rain
Why didn’t these fools use the straight roads on this map?
As for the question why they didn’t use the straight roads on the maps, I guess that it has something to do with the fact that one of them is a major highway and some other roads are main acces roads of one of the largest cities in the Netherlands with one of the busiest ports in the world
But looking at the course, I’d go for a road bike with 60mm wheels, all those twists,
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The race organizers created a GPS map of the course. I’ve uploaded the course to MapMyRun. This is one technical course. Click the “View 3D Video” to watch an animation of the course. It doesn’t include the first mile or so from T1 but it does has the meat of the course. There a a couple of places where it appears to cross over itself. I hope these are down with over/under passes. It also turns back on itself in a couple of places.
The disc isn’t going to hurt you. You look at the protour guys, even on stupidly techy courses they ride the disc. It’s unlikely to be a massive advantage, but unless you have some doubts about riding it just put it on. The whoosh whoosh really does help you ride fast.
I hope it doesn’t rain either, I’ll ride it as fast and safe as I can… but it does look to be the most technical course I’ll have ever raced on. Biking is my strength of the three sports so maybe handling and this sort of course will be a good thing.
Having just returned from Rotterdam and being on some of those “paths”, I’m thinking it will be crazy tight quarters. The paths and roads are extremely narrow by our standards. I can see being “trapped” behind hordes of slower riders. It looks much worse than the old Clearwater 70.3 WC course as the entire country is flat, flat, flat. As you can see, there will also be no room for motos, so packs will be crazy. That said, Rotterdam is a fun place to visit.
I watched all 58 minutes of the video. There are some scary sections.
There are some 90-degree turns that, if taken too wide, could land one in the water.
About 3/4 through the course, we go over a bridge. The bike lane looks very narrow and the fence protecting one from falling into the water is relatively low. I hope no one has vertigo!
There’s also a section where we’ll have to climb some stairs. The video mentioned putting a ramp in the stairs. That will be one steep, albeit short, incline. What type of ramp could be safely built for a bicycle.
This will be a fun ride. Thank goodness I’m doing the DL Sprint so I’m doing only one lap on my road bike. I can’t see doing this on a Tri bike.
All kinds of food, groceries, cheese, tapas, restaurants, etc. and a design that is stunning. Rotterdam has some really cool areas, and be sure to take the train and check out Delft.
i think this is where we either start or end the opening ceremonies/parade of nations.
thanks for posting this.
peggy
Certainly. It’s pretty amazing. The funny thing is that they don’t do signage like we do here in the US, so we walked all around it before realizing it was in front of us. Another pretty cool thing is you can rent a hot tub boat that you can drive through some of the canals. It’s a boat but with hot tub inside complete with coolers for cold beverages. Some nice shopping there, fresh stroopwafels on the streets, and very friendly people. Enjoy!
Also my gut tells me a disc won’t be of much use. /quote]
I never bother taking a disc to ITU Worlds any longer–regardless of course. They’ll disallow them for windy conditions. Then allow them, only to disallow and allow once again. It’s just not worth it dealing with it so It’ll be 808s for me.
i think this is where we either start or end the opening ceremonies/parade of nations.
thanks for posting this.
peggy
Certainly. It’s pretty amazing. The funny thing is that they don’t do signage like we do here in the US, so we walked all around it before realizing it was in front of us. Another pretty cool thing is you can rent a hot tub boat that you can drive through some of the canals. It’s a boat but with hot tub inside complete with coolers for cold beverages. Some nice shopping there, fresh stroopwafels on the streets, and very friendly people. Enjoy!
For those of you that plan on staying a bit longer in the Netherlands, there’s tons of riding on designated bike-paths. I can imagine it must me an otherworldly experience, especially when you come from the States And everywhere in the country is within driving distance. Just don try to park in any city centre, it costs a small fortune…
