SF Wimps and Whiners

I have to totally agree with slowman’s article today.

I live in frozen Ottawa Canada, land of zero degree temps, and snow for 5 months per year. From June 1 to Sep 7, we have at least one triathlon every weekend at distances ranging from Sprint to Half Ironman. This area has only 1 M people, and likely one tenth the number of multisport athletes as the Bay area, but people are willing to step up to the plate and organize races and attend them. Many races are organized by athletes and like the new half Ironman in Auburn that Kearns is putting on, we have a few new events every year and the local multisport community go out and give it a whirl. No athletes = No races, so it is in our best interest to go out and do new races, so there are there when they are needed.

Each time I have visited San Jose/SF on business I have been amazed at what a wonderful area you have and so few races. Athletes can’t just expect RD’s to appear out of the blue. They have to become Race Director’s themselves. Clearly there is big demand for races in the Bay area, but few willing to step up and fill the supply. Looks like a great business opportunity for some enterprising triathlete with some organizational skill. San Jose is the land of startups. Surely a laid off triathlete can use his/her experience in a tech startup and help build the local racing scene :slight_smile:

I think the article may have been a bit strong.

There are plenty of other RDs in the Bay Area that put on fine races. I can think of 3 other organizations that put on 5-10 races a year as well as several others that may produce a <5 races a year. This includes events that have same day sign-up. The presence of these races will not diminish the popularity of races like Wildflower and Alcatraz and people will always piss and moan when they don’t get in. However, there are other races available.

I am sorry to hear about the projected low attendance for the race in Auburn, but this is the first I am hearing about this race. Unless I am mistaken, I don’t recall seeing a flyer in a race bag or booth at a race expo. Unfortunately, this organizer doesn’t have established races in the Bay Area whereby racers may stumble upon the new race while signing up for another.

The Big Kahuna Tri (in Santa Cruz) had it’s inaugural year in 2002. The organizers who put on the Silicon Valley marathon showed up at the expo at Wildflower last year and ran an ad in our free monthly CitySport. Even thought their turnout was modest last year, the reports from the race were very positive. The early PR work put the race on my radar and as a result of the good feedback, several friends and I opted to do this race this year.

I was just about to post the following about Big Kahuna:

Slowman, first-year races rarely sell out, even in the Bay Area. Being a sucky climber, I was turned off by the 5,800’ of elevation gain in the World’s Toughest Half bike course. However, an excellent half-ironman-distance race debuted last year and a lot of us in the Bay Area took the plunge and tried it. The Big Kahuna was a superb first-year race, and while it did not come close to selling out, I’d bet it will reach capacity in its second year.

The course is not terribly “ambitious,” as you say – it’s basically the Sentinel course, but longer – but the race filled a need for a new half-ironman-distance race and was a huge success. I raced it and had a blast.

I’m in mostly complete agreement with your assessment that Bay Area folks, of which I am one, are generally a bunch of whiners. My reasons may be different, but I won’t go on about the appalling sense of entitlement and the “rules-don’t-apply-to-me” attitude that seems to run rampant here – that’s a discussion for another thread.

Wow devashish! I don’t know who the wimp or whiners are around here. But it sure does sound a little whiney when you discuss the awful weather where you live.

And Slowman - what’s up with singling out SF to bash? Everyone wants to do Escape from Alcatraz - not just the people around the bay area.

But I do agree that people should look at the World’s Toughest races - that is a beautiful area and there are several different events during the year (a century, a mountain bike, and the 1/2)

I’ve been aware of the World’s toughest Half for quite awhile and have also seen bradventures fliers, but this is probably because Auburn is fairly close to home. Some of my training partners did his Worlds Toughest Century(since when is 140 miles a century?) last year and although they said it the toughest ride they’d done, thought is was a very well-run event. I’m sure if the race is well-received this year, that turnout will increase, although some will always be scared away by a race touting itself as the “World’s Toughest.”

AWC, you might spread the word about this one in the Bay Area. the terrain would suit you guys. I’ve ridden those roads and all I can say is ouch! Definitely will be tougher than WF. More climbing on the run and bike. Beautiful scenery, though.

http://www.worldstoughest.com/

And for those who take all year to train for a 1/2IM TBF(Total Body Fitness) do a fine one in Novemeber, south of Sacramento. They even provided breakfast munchies last year. I’d recommend their race.

That’s true about Alcatraz – lots of non-Bay Area people want to do it.

There really are tons of other triathlons around here that don’t sell out. They just don’t have the cachet of Alcatraz or Wildflower. Slowman, I think it was you who first postulated that what makes it so hard to get into those two races was lack of supply to overwhelming demand for races in the Bay Area. I think that no matter how many good races there are, everyone will want to do these two. That’s just the way it is. They’re damn good races.

And for those who take all year to train for a 1/2IM TBF(Total Body Fitness) do a fine one in Novemeber, south of Sacramento. They even provided breakfast munchies last year. I’d recommend their race.

It’s canceled for this year.

They are putting the TBF HIT on a one year hiatus beacause they picked up the contract for the Golden State Triathlon and there were scheduling conflicts.

I/2 IM’s take a massive time commitment to train for, and I will be lucky if I can get two in this year. One thing the Bay Area needs more of are good Olympic distance events - and no, I’m not talking about things like Treasure Island or Pacific Grove that cost $175 to do. I am talking about events that are between $50 and $100. I did one last year out in Bethel Island, which was OK, but the course was flat as a pancake and they used every square mile of road in that town for the bike course - the map looked like a starfish. Nice thing about this one, though, was the price - I think it was $35. They were trying to do one out at Lake Del Valle in Livermore that would have been awesome, but Alameda County refused to grant a permit.

Anyway, I feel bad for the Bradventures crew, but maybe they brought this on themselves - too big of a race at the wrong time of the year. If it were an Oly distance, I would be there in a heartbeat - I like the idea of riding and running in the hills.

Also, Slowman, aren’t you being a bit hypocritical about the Bay Area people and Wildflower? One of the reasons I decided to do it was because it’s on the Slowtwitch Party Tour and you made it sound like a really good time. Maybe with a good race report you can generate enough interest in the “World’s Toughest” that it becomes a “happening” of a different sort. Who knows, if I it turns out that I don’t like the Wildflower course, or if the “World’s Toughest” sounds more fun, I may be in Auburn next May.

let’s see, you have: Ralph’s Big Rock Wildflower the new half IM in Phoenix World’s Toughest Half

think maybe there is a saturation point for half Ironman racing in California for the Spring?

Dan, are you racing Wildflower, or are you wimping out? :wink:

Dan, I think you’re a little off base here. It sounds to me like a buddy of yours is putting on a race that he hasn’t publicized very well, and you’re bashing the SF area folks for not having heard of it? Yes, I stayed up till the wee hours to register for WF and Vineman this year, but I also plunked down my $400 over a year and a half in advance for the inaugural CaliforniaMan IM next May (2004) while I was at it. Why? Because I know J&A Productions puts on great races, and furthermore J&A advertises so people have actually heard about the race. I also attended J&A’s inaugural Folsom Intl last year, which sold out and was an awesome race. I don’t think it’s quite fair to say that we don’t support first-year races; we support the ones we’ve heard about. To be fair, yes J&A sponsors the Silicon Valley Tri Club, which I belong to, so I hear about all their races that way and also get race discounts. But, isn’t that all part of getting the word out about your races? Why do you think WF is as in-demand as it is? Because it’s so well known.

Dev,

I agree. We have been visiting Southern Calif. several times for races and training. Its a great place to train but to tell you the truth I have been a little disapointed with the race scene. Often times it is hard to find a race whereas in our area back east we can always find a race (at least a 5k) within an hour drive. If anyone can clue me into some good race sites let me know.

I was a bit suprised when entering a 10k I ended up winning an AG award and my wife got 1st place AG. We even did a marathon there this year and my wife again ended up getting an AG award even after having a bad spill at mile 25 requiring 8 stiches at the med tent afterward.

I know there are some good local cycling pro teams like “Schroeder Iron” http://www.schroederironprocycling.com/ . Once I have run across some fast rides around the Rincon and Casitas Pass. For the most part I have not been able to hookup with some good training rides while visiting there but will keep looking.