After three years I was finally selected for my first Swissman race! I have done the Alaskaman extreme tri in 2019 but would love Swissman tips. Anyone here completed the race that can give advice?
I plan on racing with my tri bike but see a lot of road bikes on the course. With some brutal climbs I can see the benefit but I don’t want to burn my legs for the run
Any tips on clothing needed? I imagine it gets cold on the bike.
I haven’t done Swissman, but having been born and raised in the country, and done those climbs, I’d do it on a road bike personally. Apart from the first 30-40 kms, you either go up or down.
Plus the first climb (Gotthardpass - Tremola) is cobblestones. You’ll be happy to have your road bike I think. The descent of the Gotthardpass and after the Furkapass are quite wide roads and not super technical. But they are very fast on a road bike, so not many gains to be had on the tri bike there (i.e. you won’t want to go too much faster than you will).
In terms of things to do after the race: you’re finishing in the Berner Oberland. Plenty of things to do (you’re right in the middle of the Alps) if you stay there. Or take the train and visit places (Luzern not too far, Bern the capital is actually a really nice city centre). You could take the scenic MOB train from Interlaken to Montreux (on the shores of Lac Leman or better known as Lake Geneva).
I did the race in 2019 on my tt bike. Wouldn’t do that again, roadie is the better choice. In the first 40km I was within a pack of riders and all there support cars. So I need to stay a lot of time in the base bar.
Clothing wise (back in 2019): Start in Ascona with temperatures around 20°C, at the climbs/passes was snow so temps below 10°C and rain. I start short, put the rain jacket before the gotthard pass, switched all clothes at the gotthard pass (+ put on shoe covers) and switched again to short running clothes in T2. I finished before 9:00 pm (around P100 overall), 30min later it starts showering. We had sunshine and more than 20°C at the Brienz. So all in all I would bring everything you’ve got clothing wise…
My biggest problem was, that my support crew missed the exit in Brienz. They arrived 30min after me in T2, so I had to wait for my running equipment. After the race I heared that this has happen to some more athetes so be aware for that problem!
Congratulations on getting in!! It’s a wonderful experience.
I’m not sure how I could do it better, but road bike definitely, and it swung between 55F (12C) in the valleys between climbs and 32F (0C) at the tops of the passes. I kept throwing on and taking off my jacket and stayed reasonably comfortable, but it was challenging and took a lot of time.
While you’re there, enjoy the area around Lago Maggiore. It’s beautiful. Lugano and Como as well are awesome.
Once you get up to Switzerland, you can’t go wrong either: Thun, Interlaken, and Brienz are all ridiculously beautiful, and if you turn right instead of left as you go up the valley from Wilderswil (you’ll have a long time to look at it while you’re running), you’ll end up in Lauterbrunnen instead of Grindelwald. Both sides of this fork should be explored at length.
Have a great time. Be nice to your support crew: they will save your day a dozen times before it’s all over.
I attempted one XTri last year. I’m registered and training for one next year (ICON).
Road bike, and put the biggest cassette you can on there. I’m running a 50/34 x 11-34 11sp.
And keep open water swimming as long as possible. I’m still getting in weekly open water sessions to try and adapt. Theyre not long swims, but just getting in, getting cold, and force myself to warm up by swimming. Water temp was 58deg on Sunday.
haven’t done the race, but live in zurich and know the area about interlaken quite well. i’ll be doing the inferno next year, so we’ll be partners in suffering.
if you need any local knowledge about other stuff, hit me up, but the suggestion to visit lauterbrunnen would be one of my first ones too. i’ve travelled to 70-something countries, i think, and i believe lauterbrunnen is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
After three years I was finally selected for my first Swissman race! I have done the Alaskaman extreme tri in 2019 but would love Swissman tips. Anyone here completed the race that can give advice?
I plan on racing with my tri bike but see a lot of road bikes on the course. With some brutal climbs I can see the benefit but I don’t want to burn my legs for the run
Any tips on clothing needed? I imagine it gets cold on the bike.
Recommended places to eat and visit while there?
Any other general tips would be appreciated!
I participated in 2016, but DNF-ed. Long story, but it wasn’t my day. As for the training part, here is my N=1. The swim for 2016 was canceled because of storms, but I swam a bit the day before and it was unremarkable. If I were giving training advice to anyone, I would say bike, bike and bike. I wasn’t one of those (did most of my bike training in the local Washington DC area), but I would guess even stronger cyclists will burn a fair number of matches on the climbs. Gearing will be super important so know your power. I would use a road bike again, though this time I would bite the bullet and bring my own (I rented a bike - dumb). The climb for the run is very challenging, but amazingly beautiful.
Now for the great part - the area is simply beautiful. My wife and I had tagged on several days in Grindelwald, and then in Murren and Interlakken after the race, and it was easily one of the nicest vacations we had been on. In fact, I had entered the lottery for several years after (and didn’t get in), but we went anyway a few times for a summer vacation. We like hiking and have since spent a fair bit of time traipsing all over the Jungfrau.
I’m not sure what else valuable I can offer from my experiences in the area, but I’m glad to share.
Couple of things. Bring all your gear from warm to cold. Was 70s down low with 30s and anything from snow to sleet at the peaks. For shoes I would go road shows until you get to the final climb. Nice part about having your support crew follow you along is you can bring plenty of clothes and shoe options and cahnge throughout the day. One thing is to make sure you have mapped out the roads to get to each transition area for your suppprt crew. My crew was 10 min late getting to T2 as was hard to navigate the roads and signage isnt in english. Outside of the transitions they have suggested areas for support but we noticed quick you can kind of stop anywhere that is convenient. My wife was smart wearing a super loud shirt so when she was finding an unplanned spot to offer support/wave I could see her from far away. Couple other small items was she had bottles filled for me so could swap out vs refill which isnt much time saving but when was freaking cold, wind, or snow was nice vs dealing with the tops. Such a great event and hope you get to spend time at both ends of the race in the area!
I drove over the Grimsel on Swissman day once. It was blowing a gale and sleeting at the top. The guys on tri bikes and with aero helmet visors were having a nightmare.
I can’t wait! And I did Alaskaman in 2019 with similar support setup. It does sound like the roads might be a bit harder to navigate…Thanks for the tips!
I don’t know if you already have yours as you didn’t mention it, but it’s a big part of your success on the day! Even if you’re tired during the event, don’t forget to be kind as supporting on this race is mentally taxing. Finding the route (you’re not allowed to follow your athlete at all times, and some parts of the course are prohibited to cars!), finding a parking slot in some places, being on time and at the right place for the pre-planned meet-ups, preparing the right snacks and drinks, having the right words… The whole part is not that easy! And it’s a long and busy day for the supporter too!
I second the comments on the Brienz part, it’s easy for the supporter to take a wrong turn there, it happened to me and I barely made it to T2 before my athlete arrived. Definitely better to have a functioning GPS while driving, especially when you’re not on the race course, which is the case in that section before T2! Another tip: after T1, I was not 100% sure about the road so followed a supporter car (we have a big sticker on the rear shield) with a Swiss plate, assuming they knew better than I did, and it worked lol !
All the other advices sound good to me. I would definitely ride a road bike (with a pair of light clip-ons) and bring my whole closet of cycling and running gear. You can change all you want with the help of your supporter so why not?