There are races that use A1A as the bike courses. The sprint and Olympic races down in Vilano use A1A. Come out of transition and go north toward Ponte Vedra for half of the bike distance, turn around and come back. There used to be an independent half Ironman down in Fort Pierce in the fall (maybe November). I think it went 28 miles south out of Fort Pierce on A1A, turned around, and went back. The Fort Pierce race had a pretty small field – there weren’t a thousand+ cyclists on the road like there would be in an IM — but it was a flat and fast course. And it was open to traffic, I believe. I never did the Fort Pierce half. They finally cancelled it and I’d guess it was because of lack of participation. A1A would be a great ride but if they kept transition and the run where they are now, wouldn’t you still have to access Phillips to get to A1A?
I know someone who lives in Ponte Vedra. She said that the government folks did a good job of letting people know the race would be going on, the route, and the potential delays. She said the problems came because locals ignored the warnings or had no idea the magnitude of the event. Then of course there are the people who get the notifications but totally ignore them and then get mad when things happen exactly like they were told. People just don’t pay attention in spite of the myriad platforms we have to communicate with each other. That said, I think the bike course needs to be changed.
I live in Nocatee and we had plenty of warning. There were electronic signs up for two weeks and we got email blasted for like a month. I have a WhatsApp group with about a dozen guys from my neighborhood. I warned them that once the bikes came streaming through it was going to be really hard to get around Nocatee and Ponte Vedra. Some didn’t listen.
Phillips would still be the most logical road if using JTB/202 to A1A. Phillips wouldn’t be in play if using Beach Blvd. to get to A1A. Main Street Bridge turns into 90 which becomes Beach Blvd. Beach Blvd has a lot of business traffic on it too but there’s several east/west alternatives. Beach Blvd spits you out at Jax Beach on A1A. It would be better than Phillips but would still present problems.
The bike on A1A would disrupt beach traffic but mid May isn’t exactly beach season yet. Plus A1A is by far the least traveled of the main north/south arteries on this side of town with I-95 and Phillips/1 being the most traveled.
The least clusterfuck of a bike course is sending it north towards the Georgia border through more rural areas.
I wondered if it was something like that since I didn’t see any pros winning. I’m not terribly familiar with how those things work. I just don’t follow the pro scene and how Ironman does its elite races.
Technically pro’s are allowed to enter AG only events. Happens 1-2 times a year from time to time. I think the hate is when the pro “celebrates” the win in an AG only field.
Like other said, no pros there aside from Pedro who’s a number of years removed from being a pro. I had meant that there wasn’t as many top level Agers as I was expecting. I thought as 1 of only 3 NA fulls to KQ this year, there would be a lot of top Agers there, but many must’ve qualified last year or in Texas this year (which had a ton of slots). A good field but not as strong as IMCA, IMAZ, IMTX on the AG side.
Times were slow because the swim was net not much faster (for FOP) than a normal wetsuit lake swim, and bike was super slow. It was non wetsuit and the current helped the last 2/3 of it, but overall the times of top finish AGers was probably 3-5’ faster than you’d see at an AZ, WI, FL (on a calm day), etc. The bike was almost shockingly slow for Florida, usually you expect super fast times in FL races with flat road and long straightaways and good surfaces, but that was definitely not the case. A lot of very slow a bumpy asphalt. some awkward turns, very warm like you noted which limited how much power you could push without overheating. Not crazy windy but a decent crosshead out to Nocatee, and not an equal tailwind coming back. Run times are about what you’d expect for those conditions I think, maybe a touch slow as the course wasn’t as fast as something flatter with fewer turns.
I live outside Charlotte where we’ve had some really hot days. I’ve done some big bike/run bricks running in 90 degree heat, but those were lower humidity and I was much better fueled going in. I’m glad I had a couple training rides where I was dehydrated and bonked and pretty dead coming off the bike since it ended up being perfect prep for the race!
I always wanted to do it but that’s a really hectic time for me. I finally had time last year and I was ready to sign up and I couldn’t find it. It seemed like it would be a fast race at a good time of the year.
I think I’d prefer the northern route back toward Georgia. It might not be as scenic but, honestly, I didn’t find the existing route to be particularly scenic, either. The Nocatee Parkway was bland. Phillips is not pretty. Overall, I wouldn’t really say the route was pretty at all. North into Nassau County wouldn’t be very pretty, either. But it would be much, much less disrputive.
Having just finished IMTX last month I experienced an Ironman course that is anything but scenic. The Hardy tollway goes through what I assume is industrial/warehouse areas. No trees, just parking lots and concrete. And what I didn’t expect was the noise from the opposite side of the highway. I swear you couldn’t hear yourself think with the road noise reverberating inside your aero helmet. Eyes needed to be focused on the road in front in order to avoid cracks and crap that could flat you. That said; I did enjoy the huge amount of space given to riders. Never felt in danger of getting hit or having to worry about other cyclists. I believe Chat went to a similar style course. Lake Placid and Wisconsin may be the last courses for scenery but then they have their negatives too! If I had to choose, I probably would take the extra space and safety over scenery.
It should be noted that Hardwick is the Sheriff of St. Johns County. Jacksonville is in Duval County. Yes, much of the bike course was in St. Johns but the race isn’t in jeopardy if it wasn’t.
Rouvy now has the IM Jacksonville course. If I remember, 30k into the course you can see how bad traffic is stand still backed up on a main road there, and this route was filmed towards the end of the race. I can see how people became furious. These parts there are not many side streets to detour
