Santa Barbara tri - what's it like?

Triathlon Forum
1

I did the (very) short course 10 yrs ago. We’re doing the long course this year -Aug 27th- as an anniversary tri.

How is this course? I’ve heard that the bike is very hilly.

Col

2

Swim: Ocean is generally fairly flat in the morning. Only challenge is after the turn around, when you’re swimming pretty much due east, into the sun.

Bike has some hills. Most are fairly gradual. The toughtest climb starts at mile 24. There’s a hill that doesn’t look too bad, but is steep. Then you go up Toro Canyon, which is a good climb. (When you go down Toro on the first half of the bike, you half to be careful not to go too fast and miss the left hand turn).

Check out the web site, it has the elevation profile for the bike and the run. As well as a map. If you know Santa Barbara at all, the maps should help.

If you have time prior to the event, it would be a good idea to drive the bike course. Last year, even though it was my second time doing the race, I missed a turn on the bike because the volunteer was ambiguous in his directions, and I followed a group of other riders the wrong way.

3

Quite possibly one of my favorite races of the year.

Terrible timing though. Wish it were in July. There is no better place to party than SB on a Saturday night.

4

The year I did it it (1996) was incredibly foggy in the morning— we couldn’t see the buoys on the swim, so it was quite an adventure! The bike is remarkably technical. Narrow roads, rough pavement, climbs, descents, and twists and turns. A challenge, but beautiful! You have to pay attention the whole way. None of the climbs is spectacularly hard, but they kinda keep comin’ at ya.

The run is largely flat, but has two big climbs as I recall. Generally a pretty fast run course.

The unusual distances add to the challenge, you have to pace yourself “between” Oly pace and 1/2 IM pace.

Overall, a fabulous, fabulous race that I would LOVE to do again one day. The timing (date) just always seems to be a problem for me. At any rate, I’d highly recommend it!

TriBaby

5

Thanks to all for the replies. I’m a bit leery of the run after a hard bike as I have a chronic calf injury.

Tribaby! Good to hear from you after so long - I remember you from rec. sport.triathlon, a loooooong time ago.

Remember the athlete’s dairy thread? :slight_smile:

Colin