anyone doing this race? if so did you ride it yet? any thoughts that might help a newbie?
I’m doing the race. Haven’t ridden the course. Supposed to be rolling, but nothing too steep.
i heard 5700 feet of climbing…seems like a lot, but I don’t really know as I’m kinda new to tri.
Well 5700 feet would be an absurdly large amount. That would contradict both my friend’s course recon and the race director’s report that it is an “11/23” course. Where did you hear that?
That sounds like the TTT. Speaking of which, you would have a good chance of winning it b/c of the difficulty of the bike segments.
i heard from a LBS owner (who is a serious duathlete - greg pelican - look him up if you want) who rides in the area…I know they just changed the route about 3 weeks ago (couldn’t get the old flat on approved). The LBS owner said one big climb is 16% grade for about .75 miles, the rest is more rolling with a few long lesser grade climbs…as a newbie I am a little worried about what I am hearing (don’t want to blow my legs up on the ride). I was hoping someone could put it all in perspective for me.
rapp, i see you racing in CT, where are you from?
Rode the course last weekend and its a tough course. Not sure how many feet of climbing. Very few opportunities to gain any momentum…its either up, down, or making a turn but mostly up. Need to be comfortable climbing and descending. I had a 12/25 cassette but could have used a 27 or compact. 11/23 is probably not enough with standard chainrings. If you have done the Lake Placid bike course, this course is harder. Sub 3:00 hour bike split on this course would be a great time. Highly favors strong climbers. Some newly paved rodes which is nice
It is probably one of the prettiest and scenic courses you will find around but also very challenging.
The course goes past my parents house. When are you getting into town? We can do a pre-ride if you want. Shoot me an email or stop by TARGETraining.
Rapp,
I rode and ran the course yesterday. They did change the course about a month ago. The new bike course is quite difficult. I dont know how much elevation gain but it is significant. This is my second year doing tris but this is my first HIM distance race. I am not an elite racer but I usually come in top 25% of the field overall. The following is the recon report I posted to my tri club’s message board.
"So I went up to ride the Nutmeg HIM course this morning. Those that have already rode it already know it’s a very difficult course. I would agree whole heartedly. Even a very strong cyclist would think so. Today I only rode the first big loop of the course ~36miles. The only road I didn’t ride on is South Rd which the directions say is a “climb”. It’s a road you take on the 2nd, shorter loop.
"The course has many moderate hills and some very difficult hills. As I went through the course I made notes on my turn by turn paper that I brought with me. In the beginning of the course, Angelvine Rd has a very steep climb. Then Town Hill Rd has a couple of good climbs. When you get onto Brick School Rd, there are a few rollers and then there are 2 good climbs after the second stop sign. Rt. 341 has a couple of moderate rollers in the beginning and then you go into a long high speed downhill. Use caution as there are some turns, you might not want to use the aerobars. Watch out for a bump that goes all the way across the road just after you pass South Rd on the first loop. Camps Flat Rd is not flat and has a pretty good hill. Geer Mt Rd starts out pretty easy with a gradual hill but then it goes up big time. There are 2 long sections of standing climbing, very hard. Treasure Hill rd has a moderate climb. Anderson Rd is a pretty long steep decent like they say and you definitely want to be careful at the bottom on the sharp left turn. Upper Kent Hollow rd is a fairly long moderate steady climb with one steep section about 3/4 of the way up, pretty tough after all the previous steady climbing. The second loop follows most of the same roads as the first loop. Thankfully, Angelvine and Geer Mt Rd are not among them but there are plenty of other hills to fatigue your legs.
"I also ran the run course today. It is a 2 loop out and back. Mercifully it is mostly flat. The only real hill is just after you pass the lake Waramaug State park when you go onto Anderson Acres rd. Just before the turn-around you go down a steep hill which of course you have to go back up twice.
“Final thoughts: I consider myself a decent cyclist, but I’ll tell you, I am seriously considering getting a 12-27 cassette for this race. I usually ride a 12-25 and this course kicked my ass and I only did 2/3’s of it. I think my legs were a little tired from my bike workout wednesday when I did some tough hill repeats so that could explain why I felt unusually beaten by this ride. I am determined that I will complete this race regardless of what they throw at me, but it makes sense for me to give myself every chance to do so.”
I saw on the race website http://www.endureitmultisports.com/ the race dir says on one of her posts “gearing and other fun” that she rides with a 11-23 cassette. That would be very impressive. I know you are a terrific cyclist and a great athlete overall so maybe you’ll be ok with whatever you usually ride. I just saw this thread last night and after riding and running the course I thought you might want to hear a bit more about the course.
Good luck to you.
I’m assuming that Amanda’s comments on the site relate to the original course, not the new course. I live in the area, and ride almost every weekend in that area. I also was with Greg (the aforementioned LBS owner) riding the course last weekend, and had an Ergomo on my bike, so here are the lengths and grades of some of the more signifigant hills.
- Route 341 right out of transition- 1.1 miles at 2.9% grade
- Angevine - .88 miles at 7.8% grade (middle part is .47 miles at 11.0% grade on freshly graveled roads)
- Miscellaneous climb (mutliple roads) after Angevine - 2.74 miles at 2.1% grade gradually rolling uphill.
- Multiple short, steep rollers thereafter
- Camp Flats road to Geer Mountain section - total of 4.3 miles during which you gain 748 feet net (896 climbing and 144 descending) - the “meaty portion” of Geer is 11.7% grade for 0.6 miles, although small sections of that approach 16%. The false flat that follows that is .82 miles at 3.3% grade.
- Upper Kent Hollow is 3.2 miles. It climbs 640 vertical feet (696 up, and 56 down) for a 3.8% average grade. You get to do this 2X.
I’m not sure of the total climbing (had to get down to NJ and only rode the 1st loop), but the first loop had 3,337 feet of climbing on it, so 5,700 sounds a bit high to me, but certainly is possible.
Everyone on ST seems to compare climbing courses in the Northeast to IMLP, Harriman, and Timberman. I’ve raced all of those, and this course is without question materially harder than any of those 3. There is very little flat on this course, where you can just get comfortable in the aerobars and hammer. The descents are steep and technical, and you don’t make up as much speed there as you lose on the climbs.
Having said all that: The course is breathtakingly beautiful. I’m looking forward to it, and I applaud Amanda and John for having the gumption to put together a bike course that will be epic. There are too many cookie-cutter courses around and this one will be anything but that!!!
Has anyone spoken to the RD and found out definitively which bike course the race is following? The website clearly has the “new” course, but her comments on the site (i.e, nothing longer than 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile, and nothing steeper than 8-10% grade) clearly relate to the “old” course. I assume the race is being run on the “new” course, but with less than 2 weeks to go, and folks like Jordan having heard that it’s a 39/23 course, there still seems to be a bit of confusion.
Hey, can you recommend a place to stay? It looks like only high-scale inns/B&Bs close to the race cite. Is there someplace nearby with cheaper options (I’m thinking Days Inn/Super 8/ Holiday Inn/etc.)
thanks,
-C
Your best bet is probably Danbury, which has every hotel known to man. Its only a 30-minute drive on race morning, just enough time to drink your coffe & listen to some tunes.
A quick search on expedia just turned up 2 alternatives in new Milford (12 miles closer to the race site than Danbury). The Rocky River motel is $98 per night, and the Red Carpet Inn and Suites is $58. I don’t think that you’ll mistake either for the Ritz, but they’re close and cheap!
The Homestead Inn in New Milford, although it is a B&B, is not un-reasonable. It is also a straight shot up 202 to the lake. Maybe 15 minutes away. Further down Route 7 in New Milford and Brookfield will have some chain options. Also look in Torrington to the north.
Places to stay up here are scarce. That’s what makes the area so nice 
Word on the street is that it is as much ele gain as IMLP in half the distance.
Does anyone have a profile for the course? Doesn’t matter to me too much in terms of difficulty; I’d just like to know for gearing… 5700ft of rollers is quite different than 5700ft of climbs/flats.
I heard their website has the elev profile, but haven’t looked
.
There is a google map of the course on the webpage. There is a link on the page to show the elevation profile.
-C