Trying to decide which race to choose for 2006. I live in the south so training for a septemer ironman might be too hot but I am looking for suggestions…comments on these races/courses. By the way it is flat as a pancake around here! Thanks.
I also live in the south. I plan on doing Wisconsin. Training in the heat can only make you stronger.
I have never done IMW, but have heard a number of reports that it was a outstanding event and community.
Now, with that being said… IM C’dA was my first IM in 2004, and I determined that I would come back almost as soon as I got to town. It was beautiful, the community was outstanding and their hospitality made it seem like many were waiting all year for Ironman to return. The volunteers were amazing, I think it is cool that there is actually a waiting list to be a volunteer for 2005!
As for the course, there are really only two significant hills on the bike but they aren’t that bad. There was so much energy on the course on the first lap that I barely noticed they were there, one had so many spectators and volunteers lining it looked like the TdF! I noticed the hills on the second lap (thank god my LBS talked me into using a cassette that had one bigger cog than I though I needed) but there seemed to be even more people lining the second climb it was amazing. The rest of the course is fast and rolling.
Now the run course has one big hill before the turn around… and I swear to god it grew on my second lap. Most of the run is along the lake, and more than once I though about jumping in… I didn’t 'cus I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to climb back out 
Support was outstanding on the run course too.
The lake was clean and clear, but a little chilly. The water was pretty flat in the am, but the all out brawl that took place during the swim made up for the lack of chop.
I’ll be back this year and am looking forward to it. It is a beautiful venue and surrounding area with a great course.
I’ve done every IMNA Ironman event that has been put on (including Utah and California), and my favorite has been IM Wisconson. Nothing against IM CDA, but IM Wisoncon is fantastic. The run course in IMMOO is great! Lot’s of spectators on both the bike and run. Scenic routes,
Trainining in the heat is not always a bad thing. IMMoo '04 was HOT! So you may be a little more prepared than most.
Hope this helps!
I did IMOO 2004 and found it to be a great IM experience. From pre-race organization to race day, I had no material complaints. I would go back, but my wife insists that the next IM be a place that she would like to travel to out side of the U.S.
I’ve done every current IMNA Ironman, and I did CdA and WI in 2003. I was living in Panama City at the time so I didn’t get very many hills, either. I had a much better time at CdA, because for every hill, there’s a descent and maybe a flat that give you some relief and some time to recover. The whole time I was riding in WI, I felt like I would get to the bottom of a hill only to be starting the climb for the next one. I just kept getting further and further behind on the climb/recover cycle and got off the bike feeling like a wet noodle. The hills at CdA are definitely steeper and longer, but like I said, there are some breaks.
Race support for both is great, but once again I’d give the edge to CdA. The small town atmosphere made it much more enjoyable…reminded me of Penticton. You really can’t go wrong, but that’s my take on it.
Good Luck
some of you CDA vets - what do you suggest for a gearing for the two hills?
When I raced there, I was running a 53/42 with an 12/25 cassette. On the second loop, I was hurting a little on the last big hill. If I had it to do over again, I’d go 53/39 and since I’m running 10-speed now, I’d use an 11/25 cassette. There were a couple of downhills where I got up into the mid-50’s without great effort. If you really wanted to crank on an 11-tooth, you could fly downhill if that’s your thing.
about how fast was your bike time?
so you would run a 53/39 with a 25?
would a 23 be too small even with a 39?
thanks for the info!
I rode conservativly and had a 6:32 bike. I rode with compact cranks and had a 50/36 with an 11-23, I spin (averaged 95rpm at IMAZ) so this set up worked great for me.
Alan
I’ve done both. As far as the atmosphere before the race, I preferred CDA. Because CDA is a small town, there was an ‘athletes village’ sort of atmosphere and you could pretty much walk everywhere you needed to go or take a very short ride. It was very reminiscent** **of Penticton. Madison is a decent sized city and there is a lot going on there. In fact, on the weekend of the race there was a Badgers football game going on and there were far more people in my hotel who were in town for that. Too much driving was necessary in Madison also.
I prefer the course at Madison. The bike course is really fun and there are tons of people out there spectating, especially on the run. The CDA bike course is actually fairly ugly most of the time and there really aren’t very many spectators on the course. Gotta get rid of that helix and indoor transition area, though.
I rode the course last year and you can read my report here from my site. I am a 5:30-5:40 rider and I would use a 53/39 and 12x25. I set myself up for a decent run in most IMs. So - if you are slower than 6:00 you may want a 12x27 in the rear, your legs will thank you on the run. I couldn’t beleive how many people I say just killing themselves at the last big hill at Mile 86 - just suffering to get up it. That was either poor pacing (these people were probably in the 6:00 plus bike split range) or they ran out of gears. I think they ran out of gears…so I would take more than you need. I hope this helps.
Thanks everyone on the comments on CDA. I am heading in this year for a 3rd go at IRONMAN
and looking forward to CDA. I know I should not do this but I will probably try to compare
CDA to Lake Placid. Lake Placid had the small town IRONMAN fever that I thought was great.
Sounds like CDA will be the same.
Hopefully I can cross that finish line then find a way to live there and all will be fine.
See you all there on the 26th…
I agree with Larry California…39/23 will be fine if you’re a good climber. My bike split was a 5:50 with the 42/25…and oh, yeah, that hill he’s talking about is at 6.5 and 19.5.
Rich had a pretty detailed analysis of the IM-Moo bike course on his site (cruciblefitness.com). I’m sure it’s still there somewhere.
for all of you that have done both, …
what do you think the difference in bike times between the 2 courses is? which is slower? how much slower? etc. I biked 5:35 in Wisc. and I’m trying to figure out what I should expect for IM CDA. thanks.