Anybody know how hilly the bike course at Laguna Phuket is? I’m trying to figure out my gearing and only have reference to “several short, steep hills”.
I raced there in 2001 and remember a series of very steep hills after the first few kms. However they are short (1-2 minutes) and have a correspondingly steep descent and a flat section along the beach to recover between them.
I didn’t use any special gearing but it was lung busting out of the saddle stuff, especially in the heat and humidity that you get in Phuket. A lot of people pushed their bikes up.
The hills are finished by km 16 and after that it is basically flat. I would recommend a reconnaisance of the hills before the race, something I didn’t have time to do. The last and longest hill came as a big shock as I thought they were finished.
It is an excellent event but watch the heat particularly on the run.