Is this for real? Someone posted this on bt (they said they got it via an email) and I am wondering if anyone has more info, like the who, what, where, or why?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LQ7YhcNmG60
WOW. sorry, i have no additional info on it like you were asking, but that is an awesome idea. love to see it come to frutition, although i’m sure it’ll be tough to do.
Either NASCAR for triathletes, or someone’s Sr year Architecture/Industrial Design project
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Well, apparently, you can see the video and take a 1 min survey to make it happen (link–below–was posted on bt). I think we need a facility like this near every major city in the USA. I am tired of waking up at 345am to go race. They could start races a lot later (no roads to close).
Im going to go with…they got the TEXAS flag upside down. Would love for that to be housed in Texas.
Definitely for real.
For one, the course has three major fubars in it:
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The lake is not wide enough.
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The bike is not wide enough. If a drafting zone is 2 meters by 3 meters and the 14 mile bike loop is 14 feet wide, you really will get serious back log and congestion, especially with the transition is supposed to hold 2500 athletes. Timberman was an out and back for the most part and with 2000 athletes, there were times where I saw riders 6 across. Drop that course to a 14 mile loop (i.e. 4 laps) and it is a cluster F waiting to happen.
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Same for the run where an Half Iron distance race will have 2 laps of the course. Timberman was two loops of an out and back and took up two lanes and at times was pretty packed.
One “nice to have” get rid of the “bike racks” and use bike boxes like Rev 3 uses. Much easier to rack, space bikes evenly, and never having to deal with bottles on the back, etc.
Definitely for real.
If so, any more details on who the funders are and what the general plan is?
this is the dumbest thing I have seen today.
make the bike course double as a race car track and the swim double as a jet-ski/water ski rental place and maybe you got something.
this is the dumbest thing I have seen today.
I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. It may be the most expensive thing I’ve seen today, but, reading some of the posts here and on other tri forums, I’d say that there is definitely a market out there for something like this. The real question is, how big is that market?
The major thing I see as lacking (or I can’t tell one way or another from the video) is that a purpose-built race course like this really needs to have at least some substantial climbing on both the bike and the run courses.
I can see a few things.
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The course should be longer. 14 for the bike is probably manageable, but a little longer probably helps. There is also not to say that there are not “multiple” courses where you can change the length to suit the needs. An example is Loudon where I used to race motorcycles. They had the standard oval that was used by NASCAR and then a road course that added additional length, variety, some tighter turns, hills, etc. At minimum if the course is going to have more than 3 loops and 500 participants, it needs to be wider. Same goes for the bike and swim.
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If designed right, it could also be used/rented as a practice or training facility. The races are prob the main source of revenue, but if set up properly, a lot of local groups may want to use the road course etc for TT rides, etc. Off-race weekends would be perfect for 3-day training camp weekends.
Seems a bit dumb as a business proposition. If one existed within 90 minutes of me though, I’d love it.
- Why not rent out or buy an existing race car track? There are tons that go under every year, and most of them still have their pavement in good shape. Find one by a lake, and some bike trails, and you’re done.
- As mentioned above, the lack of variety could get boring
- Would only really work for Olympic and shorter distances (who would go to a purpose-built facility and still put up with doing multiple laps?), which means you miss out on the “I have more money than god” HIM and IM crowd
- I’d think they’d have to have the thing booked pretty much continuously to make any money on it.
4.1) A normal tri needs to pay for cops, road closures, and rental of whereever transition is for 1-2 days.
4.2) This place needs to pay for its lake, roads, landscaping, buildings, staff, security, year round
4.2.1) Although the insurance might be a little lower because of the controlled race environment (no cars, no boats, better lifeguard amenities) - Aside from world-class events like ITU races or the olympics, is there actually demand for spectator slots at a tri? Triathlons can be fairly boring to compete in (especially Oly/HIM/IM), let alone watch.
Things that’d be cool:
- This place could have a variety of races every day of the week: crits, OW swims, runs, triathlons, duathlons, etc. If you lived near it, your training could include tons of races in many disciplines, which I think would be fun. They could sell a season race pass and you could just show up for everything.
- Closed course means no worrying about cars coming, reduced getting lost.
- They could probably “grow the pie” by causing intermingling of various sports specialists. Crit people could try out dus, triathletes could try out bike racing.
Again, I’d love for it to exist, but I can’t see how it would stay solvent.
Would only really work for Olympic and shorter distances (who would go to a purpose-built facility and still put up with doing multiple laps?), which means you miss out on the “I have more money than god” HIM and IM crowd.
I’m with you on this, but you know, there is small double-IM distance race (so we’re talking 224 miles on the bike) where every year they race on a closed bike course where each loop of the course is a whole whopping 1.1 miles long. I kid you not.
Existing race tracks are even shorter. Loudon where I raced motorcycles was a shorter track at 1.6 miles… Even new courses that are out there rarely push beyond 3 miles. If you are concerned about “laps” then from my experience on physical car and motorcycle race tracks, this course would eliminate 400% or more of the laps needed for a distance.
Needed improvements:
Tattoo parlor with mass custom designs depending on distance;3 ft depth lane in lake for those that can’t swim;Male grooming & shave down spa;Media center with template race reports so you can immediately bore all your friends via email; andTriathlete spouse support center with counselor facilitate recovery groups.
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Yeah, that’s true. The track close to me is 2.2km (1.5ish miles), which wouldn’t really work either. You could probably effectively double the track length by making everyone do an “inside” and “outside” lap or putting in a turnaround, but I guess there’s no getting around laying down miles and miles of new pathways to get up to a reasonable distance. Even the nurburgring would need nearly 2 laps for an olympic-distance event. Actually, that fact about the nurburgring puts into stark relief just have much road they’ve got to lay down here. They need twice as much paved trail as exists at the longest active race track that I’m aware of.
Yea, and people complain that WTC races are expensive. I’m sure race fees needed to cover the cost of building that place wouldn’t be too ridiculous, huh?. I’m guessing this is an Architecture student’s project or something similar.
That said, I’ve always thought that I’d like to have access to a place where a .6 or 1.2 mile swim course could be permanently set up for training. Seems like a community with a strong triathlon participation could make an argument to install something like that in an existing lake.
Why would one have to settle for a race track that closed down…aren’t there whole developments made by housing or business development companies that have gone into foreclosure with the houseing market as it is? I would think that this would be a more cost effective option that building it themselves.
Stephen J
Did you make enough off of the “ultimate bento box” to do this ?
Did you make enough off of the “ultimate bento box” to do this ?
Yeah, I wish.
I think we made enough to maybe furnish one porta-potty for this new palace of triathlon.
Small business in triathlon ain’t exactly wall street. But it is fun and rewarding to make something that riders really use and really like, and to actually provide jobs for people that need them here in the USA.
And more new cool stuff is coming …