It is a curious choice. At this time of year in NA, you have: PCB, boulder, chatt, omaha, eagleman. Those races all have a little more established prestige than happy valley. PCB, boulder, and chatt are way easier for travel.
No objection to it, happy valley is driving distance for me so maybe i’ll go spectate but not the venue i expected to replace st george!
I don’t think you have drove much… more places you should try before throwing shade on Pennsylvania.
New Mexico, Kansas, Iowa, west Texas,
Oklahoma…lol
…Nebraska. Longest drive of my life.
I wonder if they chose it based on it’s closer resemblance to the WC course for the next few years (and to boost lagging attendance)
PCB is flat
The Boulder run is on a dirt trail
Chatt with a down river swim
I was thinking maybe they’d go with Tremblant.
Hey hey hey
I think it’s a net positive.
The area is used to hosting an influx of folks for football season, so there should be more than enough supply to meet demand for accommodations that price gouging should not be an issue.
Disagree that the area’s scenically boring. Driving the highways or backroads have been pretty scenic in my experience.
College campuses have been fun to race through. Student volunteers and cheering spectators have a special energy (e.g. IM Wisc). Although June may not have many students on campus at that time.
Fun fact - there’s even an airport just off campus that’s served by a major carrier (United, if I recall). So it’s easy to fly to/from the area. I heard the airport was built so it’s easy for the football program to fly recruits in/out vs. having them drive/from to PSU.
Does worlds usually sell out?
If so the choice makes perfect sense from a business point of view
Not much. Several years of driving from Maine to Florida and back then Maine to Indiana and back. Maine to Indiana was forever in Pennsylvania.
But it was also back in the Atlas age so you look for mile markers and land marks to pass the time.
Well, I don’t know anybody there so it would be strange if somebody missed me. That being said, I didn’t know there was ice cream either. How about I race and if you beat me, I’ll buy you ice cream, if I beat you, you buy me ice cream? No age adjusted time, just chip time.
Pricing wasn’t exactly a great deal at this PA location either when I checked.
I like this move. A tough and honest course. I grew up in Pittsburgh so this is familiar terrain to me though I have only been to state college a handful of times. And I haven’t been there since high school. It is a bit of a pain to get to for those that need to fly. Most connections are going through PHL with AA if you want to fly to State College (bike boxes could be an issue). I would probably fly into Pittsburgh and make the 3 hour drive personally.
Wow, one of the coolest places I’ve ever driven was through Pennsylvania. Yes some areas are bleh (but not exactly rural Texas boring), but there are some interstates and highways that have you going up and down and around forrested scenic valleys, hills, etc. Definitely a beautiful country there.
I will add that Cheesesteaks are overrated. I’ll die on this hill. You want a real sandwich, get an Italian Beef with cheese from Chicago.
Ironman should promote this ice cream to build excitement, lol. Looks great. I remember the cheese and a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game when I raced Wisconsin Nationals years ago. Still looks tough to fly or drive too. I’ll try to fit it in though, just for the ice cream.
Ahhh breezewood, such a gem. Kids today won’t know the joy of stopping there for a book of Mad Libs before getting on the turnpike.
Growing up yinzer, stopping in Breezewood were more exciting than wherever it was we were heading to. 100% Americana. I’d drive from Pittsburgh just to show this 8th wonder of the world to my family.
Have they put a bucees there yet or is that still sheetz territory?
Still Sheetz no Bucees. The closest one just opened down 81 in Mount Crawford, Virginia. Ironically (is it ironic) I actually passed it the day of it’s grand opening on the way through Breezewood lol
