Ironman Hamburg (1)

Triathlon Forum
1

Anyone do this last Sunday? I heard quite a few north American voices and spoke to a couple at the pool.

The swim went-off to plan in the end (algae levels were low enough), and it was pretty good imho; times seemed slow overall. But hey-ho. Transitions epically long! (750m). The run was the best supported Ironman run I’ve done, and well shaded. Basically >40km of carnival atmosphere. I really enjoyed it, and it was in complete contrast to that bike…

WTF is going on there; 3rd bike course in as many years. The most relentless, soulless and lonely 185.6km I’ve ridden; period. Yes, despite claims of 183km, even that was optimistic. The problem is that the course was so well locked-down, and avoided residential areas that it was deserted! Obviously that strong easterly wind sucked, but you can’t plan the weather! The Port loop was utter carnage, littered with bike debris and fallen riders… 36 rail crossings, 4 sections of cobbles and how many blind tight bends?

If they could just sort the bike, I think it would be a classic.

2

A few friends raced it, all swam pretty much within a minute of predictions.

I think they’re still trying to figure out where to route the bike course. 2017 seemed to get generally good reviews - went to the south-west of the city, good roads in the countryside. 2018 went east along the river, was quite the draft-fest with many people riding easily 15-20 minutes faster than reasonable. This year’s course seemed to be the worst of both courses - a subloop through the industrial zone but without the nice countryside afterwards, and then some of the east loop?

3

Yes, the Port loop was a longer version of 2017 (around 40km this time). Then it did an out & back along the dyke on the River Elbe.