I’ve taken the advice of more experienced and wiser Ironmen/women and decided to turn the IM experience into a fully international one.
Ironman Austria is the pick for next year and am interested in any useful/helpful tips about the course, the country, or neat places to go, etc.
Thanks.
What do you want to know?? IM Austria is probably THE IM race in Europe, the swim mass start is a huge surge then fight for the first straight, you don’t really get your own space until you exit the water after about 2km, you then have a 20m run through huge crowds before re-entering and swimming towards the canal area, this is the last 800m, crowds both sides.
The bike course is three loops, the initial part is very gently undulating, before you start the climb, the first part is a gradual uphill before you get to Ekyeden (spelling) here the steepest part of the climb is for about 400 metres before it returns to a gradual climb for another km, from the top after an initial steep downhill it becomes a gradula descent until you return to the lakeside.
The run is two laps , pretty flat and takes you through two public beach areas before heading through the town on each lap.
Hope that helps
I would contact Deepak at Premiumplus-sports.com for travel arrangements. The swim is beautiful, in a warm, greenish, alpine lake that is 10-miles long (the lake is 10-miles long, the swim is only 2.4). The end of the swim is in a canal lined with spectators, which is cool. The bike is by far the prettiest place I have ever ridden a bike. At one point, you come down a hill with a crystal clear view of the Alps in front of you. You climb a steep hill lined with thousands of intoxicated specators blowing horns and yelling, “hup, hup, bravo” or “hup, hup, supa” There’s chalk in the road - you have to get out of the saddle to make it up the hill. It’s steep, but there is no way to get the smile off your face. You bike along the lake. 15th century church steeples rise out of the mountains. It’s awesome. (The biking is actually so beautiful, that I accidently did a 30-mile ride the Thursday before the race - I knew this was too much, but it was so nice that I could not make myself stop.) The run is 5k along the lake on a bike path, then 5K back to transition, then 5k the other direction along the canal on a path into town, around the Lindwurm (dragon) in the town square and back - you do it twice. Awesome race. It’s so beautiful, that it makes Ironman Lake Placid seem like biking through Newark.
I would buy some German language tapes, because not everyone speaks English, and at least trying to speak some German helps. I regret that I did not do enough sightseeing. My wife and I took the train to Salzburg. The train ride was 3 1/2 to 4 hours each way - it was pretty, but too long to be on the train, and Salzburg was really a giant tourist trap. We also saw the castle that snow white’s castle was modeled after, which was a 10-minute taxi ride from Klagenfurt. That was pretty neat. If we had it to do over again, I think we would have rented a car, because it was hard to figure out mass transit, the Alps makes getting around the country difficult, and we did not see enough. Hanging out by the Lake is fun, renting mountain bikes and cruising around the lake is fun, and just relaxing in the town square is nice, but we did not really see enough of the country.
The food in Klagenfurt is fantastic. You really can’t go wrong with the restaurants in town. The town feels very Italian, and it was actually built by Italian architects. The only bad thing is that there are lots of drunk people running around late at night, the hotels are not airconditioned, and the heat and street noise make sleeping very difficult. I had several nights were I got 2-4 hours sleep, and I did not feel quite right on race day. You might want to buy a fan when you get to town to drown out the street noise. I recomend booking your trip through Deepak, as he will make everything much easier.
I found Deepak’s site right before reading your post. Looks to be the most stress-free solution I have seen thus far.
Is the course road bike or tri bike material?
I think either would be fine. I used a road bike (Kestrel Talon SL) with clip ons and I think that was the smarter choice. The reason it was the smarter choice was because of the STI shifting. I have difficulty changing gears when I am out of the aerobars on a tri-bike, so the STI shifting was better for me on the hills, and the areas where I was in the aerobars did not require shifting gears - the grade stayed the same for long periods. Most people in the race had road bikes, but that might just be the way it is in Europe.
I also just got back from Austria. We travelled with/through Deepak’s group. He is somewhat difficult to get ahold of, but when you do, he is VERY helpful. He likely won’t be able to give you any info for awhile, as he doesn’t firm up his plans for the coming year for some time (at least that is what he told us).
Beautiful place, amazing scenery. As for “tips” it depends on where you are travelling from and how much time you have. Some guys we knew going over went on to France for the tour. We came back to the states after the race. During pre-race week, my wife did a day trip to Salzburg, which she said was great. If you are travelling with a spouse/non-racer, they may be interested in something like that. If that person wanted to take a 2 day trip, the options are endless (via train/car or plane).
As for travel there, go early enough so that if your bike does not make it to Klagenfurt (which we were told happens often, as the prop jets to the airport are not equipped for many bikes), you will not freak out when it shows the next day.
The course is great. Even the 3 lap bike is not boring. Water is clear and clean enough to drink. Sighting the first loop in the swim is not really possible, as the churning arms and legs prevent you from seeing anything. As for the 2nd half of the swim, go practice it in advance - where to sight/swim. It will make it much easier. ON the bike, BE PATIENT. I rode like a grandmother on a cruiser (even on a steep bike with a disc - which I would do again). I can’t believe the # of people that I saw walking early in the run. If you are from the US, accept the fact that Eurpoeans are more prepared than a “typical” US first time racer. You will not see nearly as many people who really expect to finish in 15-17 hours. This manifests itself in fast bike times but like I said, there were lots of walkers. Be careful with gearing, and ride the steepest hills you can train on in the middle of your training rides to mix things up. Learn to enjoy and get energy from the crowds.
The run is flat and partially shaded. This sounds embarrasing for some, but as I went with a bunch of dudes from the US, I was surprised when they got confused by the kilometer (as opposed to mile) signs on the run. Lots of my friends lost track of nutrition becasue of it.
The food there was some of the best and some of the worst we’ve had. No one is in a hurry, so be prepared for slower than what you expect service in restaurants. That said, the region relies heavily on the race for $$, and I found 95% of the local residents were overjoyed to have visitors and were very helpful (and I know 5 german words).
Feel free to shoot me a message if you want specific info
make sure you learn your race number in German
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