With the thread on gravel on the course at IMMOO we have a ton of customers asking us what the course conditions are.
Does any cycling club in the area or any tri club have up to date info on the bike course?
Tom
Dont know the current status, but here is my take on it. Its only about a mile section of the course, but a technical section. My gut feeling is that it will be cleared or fixed by IMNA by racetime. Im pretty sure the race directors will be go over the course and clear what they can, last year there was some gravel before race but none during. I will probably scout it out on Friday.
Ed
I hope you’re right. People are freakin’ in the store right this minute…
“Holy shit!?! What tires should I use now!?!”
They should be freakin cause the forecasted temp is started to creep up like last year! In the beginning of week last year it was forecasted to be 70, ended up being 90.
Ed your right, she’s blowing cool out of Canada right now. Plenty of time for a warmup, 80 is the forecast high for Sunday. Plenty of time for 90. As for tires, sell em all ultra heavy Pave tires.
I was going to post something about this a bit earlier today, but didn’t have a chance.
I was actually in Madison yesterday and rode one loop of the course. As other have described there is a section that lasts approximately a mile that was very recently covered with pea gravel. Although it has rained a little bit, with the amount of gravel laid, as is usual for the Madison area, there is a pretty generous amount.
Due to earlier posts, I tried to pay close attention to the area as I rode through it. I did notice that just off the edge of the road that many of the weeds and growth were black to about 3-4 inches. In other words, the township (I’m assuming) actually sprayed the road prior to laying the gravel. Although I’m no authority on the process, I have never experienced an additional layer of tar laid on top of the loose gravel that is currently on the road.
As I rode down the stretch, I also thought to myself that if it was to be fixed, even with the proper equipment, it would probably take the better part of a full day. I would think there are only a few ways to resolve the situation. Spraying tar (which would have to happen within the next day or so to set in), a watering truck pressure washing the surface or driving a steamroller out there and give it a couple of passes.
With respect to riding on it, it is not the worst that I have seen, but it’s pretty bad. The gravel is not all that loose, it’s fairly well packed down, but there are some mushy spots. I’m not trying to be overly dramatic, just trying to give a reasonable assessment. Tire paths are starting to wear in slightly, but if that is all that happens between now and race day, there could very well be excessive flatting.
It’s normally a section of road that can be taken at fairly high speeds, but with this stuff present, I’d be cautious to choose your line carefully. Better to stay to the right and survive without problems than have your front end sink in or wash out in the middle of the lane.
As for equipment choice, I would think there are two schools of thought. First, if you’re going to flat, you’re going to flat, so why not stick with what you know and hope to escape unscathed. The other approach would be to ride sturdier tires assuming they will protect you from the debris. To me the first approach would be the best course. With this type of debris, if it’s oriented to go through a tire casing, it’s going to penetrate a Conti GP or Tufo just as easily as it will a Specialized Armadillo, IMO.
If it matters, I was on 700cx23 Continental Ultras that are well worn. About halfway through the section I wondered if I would be needing the cellphone in my pocket to get home. On a normal ride I wouldn’t have ridden that section of road, but after reading the board last week I was curious about it.
If anyone has additional questions that I didn’t address, feel free to post them here. Hope this helps.
Good luck to all the competitors!
I’m not doing the race, but any chance of them rerouting the course around that section?
Kahuna
“On a normal ride I wouldn’t have ridden that section of road”
Thanks for your post and the information. You must live in an area that has some nice roads. Where I ride, we have many frost heaved, cracked, rutted and broken paved roads. Often the good dirt and gravel roads are better! In a 100 mile ride from my place you will experience every form of road quality - glass smooth pavement right through to teeth jattering stretchs of pavement that make the Arenburg forest in Paris-Roubaix seem smooth!
All I know is that if it does get hot you all are going to have to once again suffer with the thoughts of a bunch of Madisons finest - non leg shaving, hairy armpit, no deoderant wearing, dirty hair and teeth pot smoking chicks in their idiot John Kerry tee shirts that have the sleeves and mid drifts cut off.
Sometimes I hate Madison…State St there needs a serious bath…needs a better gene pool.
I lived in Madison for about ten years. Unfortunately the route they chose allows them to bypass a large highway.
In looking at a map, I don’t know if they could avoid the section but if they did choose to, there could be a way.
If the course were to continue out of Verona on Hwy 69 for another mile they could take a right on Riverside Rd, basically parallel to the original course. From there they’d take another right on Spring Road Rd which would take them back to the original course with a left on Cty G.
I know that Riverside Rd is relatively flat, but Spring Rose might have a few little climbs on it. Nothing to be worried about in either case though. Overall this route would be flatter than the original.
NOTE: I have no idea what race officials are planning. This is just from my own assessment and looking at a map of the area.
I would definitely go to the race meeting and ask questions if I were competing.
Ooooh…I love that correlation between idiot pot-smoking women and John Kerry. I know he was a fellow Navy officer (I’m retired these past 5 years), but the guy just leaves me cold.
I’m thinking of writing in John McCain again, this time, like I did in '00.
A little OT, but this year promises to be the ugliest run-up to the vote that we’ve ever seen.
I can’t wait 
Kahuna
for god’s sake will you freaking tri-geeks get a grip on yerselves?
listen to me, it is going to be fine.
they did the same thing two years ago on the road around the little bridge just before the radio tower hill section. everybody got their undies in a bunch, and then guess what. cars drove on the road ( imagine that ) and it packed down fine and dandy. just like it is going to do this time.
i honestly love you guys, with your bizarre conspiracy theories, and wanting tom demmerly to tell you what tires to run for that tiny little 1 mile section of road. and, of course, those of you who have to call this stretch of routinely maintained rural roadway that little old grannies drive to church on in their buick skylarks and 10 year schoolgirls drive tractors on - - - - - -“tricky” or better yet, " DANGEROUS ". CLASSIC !!!
all in all it reminds me of when the idiot tri-geeks were going to lynch the RD back in '02 for recklessly putting in that insane death trap parking lot helix and actually expecting people who like to call themselves “athletes” to be able to coast their 4000 dollar bicycles safely down it.
ride your bikes, tri-geeks. good lord.
Dude, if you don’t like the tenor of the conversation, read something else. Don’t put down others reasonable worries just because they don’t meet your skewed ideas of what constitutes a real "athlete.
Calling people names like “idiot” and such is really contributing to the general discussion level, I’m sure.
Kahuna
ten-four, kahuna. go ahead and strike that “idiot” from the bit about yayhoo’s attempting to claim that the parking lot helix was “dangerous” back in 02. my bad.
futher, lets all just say that THAT bit of whacked out perspective ( being upset about being asked to coast your bicycle down a parking garage ramp ) was ALSO, as you describe, a reasonable worry. carry on.
I understand what you mean, but there are a lot of people out there who might not be as crazy as you or me. Hell, I went to SEAL training in '83 as a very young hospital corpsman and I know for a fact that I wouldn’t do one-tenth of the goofy stuff that I did back then, today. Same with my chief’s initiation in '87 and getting into an alcoholic stupor and drinking “truth serum” (an evil concoction, to be sure) and swallowing a dozen live goldfish.
I just give 'em credit for getting out there and trying. I’ll take their concerns any day over the apathy shown by the majority of the couch potato population today.
Kahuna
“Holy shit!?! What tires should I use now!?!”
Sell them cross bikes. Then I’ll have at least a chance of beating someone into T2.
Seriously, a buddy of mine lives in Mt. Horeb. I talked to him last night and he said the road isn’t that bad. Yes it has gravel on it, but its over tar, and a lot of it has been packed down/washed away. Best bet is to try and ride in the tracks that the cars make and stay away for the edges of the road, that’s where all the loose stuff ends up.
Chris
Your right. Although a concern, no reason to get overly excited about, just deal with it. Cant worry about the things you cant control. Im more worried about the heat, gotta go get back in sauna.
You’re right. We had a race out here on Oahu called the Perimeter Ride, in which you rode around the whole island (about 134 miles, total). There was a section at the northern end that went through Kaena Point, which was dirt road and trail, and for which you really should have a second bike, either mountain or cross, waiting for you for that bit. I’ve seen guys just take the road on with their regular bikes, damn the offroad character, and they were fine.
Kahuna
Have you been here? Not too much fits what you have described. Maybe that was in the 60s and 70s - but the convenient little stereotype that is propagated god-knows-where just does not really accurately describe what you will see nowadays. You see more suits than dashikis. Now, I could see that some people from more sheltered or homogeneous parts of the US might see one or two hippies, or even hipsters, and be really taken aback. Maybe that is what happened when you visited. Most of the racers this weekend will see a lot of spectators and volunteers who are some of the huge number of people that make Madison one of the most athletic cities in the country - and they will see a lot of the hard-working middle class people that make Wisconsin their home in the heartland.
And it’s “midriff.”
While tire selection is not something everyone should be all worked up about, I can say that one should not just go for it with their $12 Bontrager Selects that came with their Trek 2000 they bought 9 months earlier.
So it was a rookie mistake and four flats and riding the last 6 miles on my rear rim, I still finished. Next time I’ll be that much smarter.
BTW last year had a similar section of recent tar and gravel although I think it was a few weeks old by race day.
Steve Corner