Thank you kindly!
While you’re out on the parkway, head into Quebec and ride a lap of the loop
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General reply to the thread. Watching IM Texas livestream had me thinking about the bike course at IM Ottawa. It looked like a total cluster at times on the loops of Hardy toll road. With a 2.75 loop flat bike course in Ottawa, is this a setup for a similar situation? I know the course is closed to vehicular traffic, but how many car lanes are available to cyclists- would it be one or two lanes in each direction?
Kitchi Zibi Mikan is 4 lanes wide, but often only 2 are closed (one direction) for bike days, and it is currently under construction for the LRT (and may still be), so might only be 2 lanes total
Col By, Queen Elizabeth and George Etienne Parkways are all 2 lane roads (1 in each direction)
Etienne has a paved shoulder so is fairly wide.
Queen Elizabeth varies in width but is usually quite wide. Col By is more narrow but should be wide enough to support passing. Its often used for local tri and hasn’t felt congested when I’ve done that race. But for the IM both of these routes should be fine since we’re only going one direction.
The only catch is if they also include the run on parts of it, rather than using the parallel MUP for the run on Col. By / Queen Elizabeth, but there’s no reason why they wouldn’t use the MUP.
Kitchi Zibi Mikan is 4 lanes wide, but often only 2 are closed (one direction) for bike days, and it is currently under construction for the LRT (and may still be), so might only be 2 lanes total
After doing the CHEO ride this weekend, I sincerely hope that they’re able to clean up Kitchi Zibi Makan in time for the race. The construction and compressed lanes made me quite worried about trying to navigate that on a tt bike! The rest of the course was pretty solid, all things considered.
One thought I had was that they don’t need to go all the way to the current construction zone. Just extend QE driveway section to Dow’s lake instead and on the western parkway pull the turn around in.
One thought I had was that they don’t need to go all the way to the current construction zone. Just extend QE driveway section to Dow’s lake instead and on the western parkway pull the turn around in.
Fair point, but coming from T1 (ie. Britannia), how would you pass through the construction? Maybe clear up at least one side and then have a turnaround for the other loops?
I looked up the construction timeline, and it appears that this should be well and done by next summer. Supposedly it should be done by this spring - or at least this stage of it anyway.
One thought I had was that they don’t need to go all the way to the current construction zone. Just extend QE driveway section to Dow’s lake instead and on the western parkway pull the turn around in.
Fair point, but coming from T1 (ie. Britannia), how would you pass through the construction? Maybe clear up at least one side and then have a turnaround for the other loops?
Or out and back on Colonel By after crossing over bank, stay on left side of the road (East side), ride towards Hogs back and then turn around and come back north on the canal side of the road (in other words ride on left side of road like Brits) . Just use a single lane to get people out of Brittania to Kitchissippi lookout.
But hopefully construction in that area is done.
I looked up the construction timeline, and it appears that this should be well and done by next summer. Supposedly it should be done by this spring - or at least this stage of it anyway.
https://www.octranspo.com/en/news/article/november-2023-to-spring-2024-kichi-zx012bbx012b-mx012bkan-eastbound-and-westbound-between-woodroffe-avenue-and-island-park-drive-lane-reductions/
I hope they repave the section west of the war museum. I rode it today and it is rough…really, really rough.
Is anyone else getting race update emails as if they’re signed up for Penticton? This morning I got a “conquer the course” email about Penticton, as if I’m signed up for that race.
I’ve noticed also on the website some of the links on the Ottawa page link to Penticton. I suspect that IM has mixed up their signals since both races are labelled as “Ironman Canada”
I’m also getting them for Florida and Arizona, neither of which I’ve registered… could just be a big marketing blitz…
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I’m curious to know if there’s a specific reason we don’t go through Landsdowne on the run, rather than blowing past it along the canal. I was at the RedBlacks game yesterday and I thought to myself that 2 of the cooler experiences I’ve had in endurance sports specifically involved running through stadia. Those would be Lahti 70.3WC where you do a loop of the stadium x2, and the Montreal 1/2 Rock & Roll marathon where you go through the Big O.
Seeing as how we’re running right by Landsdowne - I thought this would be a cool idea to add to the race experience. On the current race course, you’d need to figure out how to cross the bike route, since the bike crosses the canal at Bank St and presumably the run is on the inside lane, but you could go around and loop back on Holmwood - following the same path as the bike before you get to the bridge - then come back the same way as you came out. The pedestrian area could easily support a run-through and getting onto the playing field isn’t that hard, though maybe the artificial turf could pose an issue. You could even include the Aberdeen pavilion.
ETA: Something like this…
Soccer game that night. Given how congested that area was at the Marathon kit pickup when the soccer game let out, that might be the reason.
…and we’re sold out!
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/BsxqLkrgvoJyGXYn/?mibextid=xfxF2i
I wonder how many they let register for the first year?
…and we’re sold out!
https://www.facebook.com/...XYn/?mibextid=xfxF2i
Oh darn one of my best friends who DOES want to do it but is literally 90 lbs over his Kona race weight did not register yet (he wanted to make sure he can get in shape), and I who does not exactly want to race an IM (but registered just in case I get excited next year) is registered.
Nirvana slots still available. Not cheap, but better than foundation slots…
Nirvana slots still available. Not cheap, but better than foundation slots…
At Tremblant this year, Nirvana had a “priority swim entrance†or some such thing. I had never seen that before. I remember when AWA started and people hated the priority check in lane.
Well, looks like they’ve confirmed the WC slot situation. Someone on the FB group emailed IM and they clarified that Ottawa 2025 is on the 2025 cycle.
I had posted earlier that it was on the 2026 cycle (per the FB group and the website), but it looks like all posts since July were scrubbed in the forum switch. Back and forth this has gone, but the website is now very precise. Men go to Nice, Women to Kona for 2025.
From the website…
Blockquote
The 2025 IRONMAN Canada-Ottawa event offers Age Group Qualifying slots to the 2025 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship event in Nice, France for men on September 14, 2025 and Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, USA for women on October 11, 2025.