Thanks to all of you who responded with St. Croix info and advice. Now that I’ll be having heat and Beast nightmares all winter… anyone have some gearing advise?
Thanks
Frank
I’m not a spinner type of a rider, but I used a 12/27 with a 53/39 on 700 wheels and needed every single tooth on my way up the beast. It allowed me to stay seated/ aero for most of that hill.
Never missed the 11/23 I usually ride.
Good luck.
Stefan Kusurelis
I raced there this spring. The beast is the least of you worries. I consider myself a good climber and I am definitley a spinner. I ran 39/53 with a campy 13-26. Complete bike weight was under 17lbs, including Reynolds Stratus DV UL wheels(1150g). I was either seated during most of the climb, but standing for some relief. When standing, the grade was steep enough that you really had to pull up with the calves/hammy’s. The calves use a ton of glycogen up, so thats when the cramping starts. The beast is followed by costal winds for another 28 miles with rolling hills. So it will be beneficial to sit and spin up the beast.
My advice, use a compact front crank, or a 12-27. If you run campy, get a midcage derailleur and a 13-29 cassette. DO NOT GRIND YOUR WAY UP THE BEAST… My run was 30 min slower than expected.
If you can, show up early enough to ride the course. Driving it does not do it justice.
Oh yeah, dont run in flats, the offroad section by the buccaneer is very rocky in spots.
AF
I concur. I did st croix a couple of years ago. The swim was great - way fun. Used a 12-15 and a 39-53 and it’s doable, but I think that my legs suffered from the pump going up that thing. I did not get enough salt during the bike and I completely cramped off the on the run with visible quad spasms and had to stretch. I was in the red for the first half of the run, walked through the aid stations, sucking on pretzels, putting ice down my pants, on my head etc - it was ugly. Took me 2hrs to complete the run - 1/2hr slower than I expected for a 5:10 or so in the end.
If I were to go down there again I would spin up the beast in a lower gear and ingest more electrolytes during the bike. The time saved taking care of your nutrition and legs on the bike will pay off big on the run.
I’m thnking about doing it and using a compact 50/34 with an 11-23. That seems like it might be perfect.
My bigger concern is the hellacious wind.
I did St Croix 2 years ago and everyone is right about the bike – other than the hills, heat, humidity and head wind during the last 28 miles, it’s pure pleasure. The one thing that I was surprised by was how hilly the run was. It goes uphill to the Buccaneer, through their golf course and has a few relatively short, but steep hills that really put a burn in your legs. I would definitely recommend some hill training for the run as well.