Tips for the Santa Barbara Tri

Triathlon Forum
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Any helpful tips from Slowtwitchers, not in my AG (40-44), for the Santa Barbara Tri this weekend? I’m not sure how to approach this race since it is a weird distance kind of in the middle between an Oly and a Half.

How far off shore do you swim before turning parallel to swim? Are you beyond the swells/rollers?

I’ve heard the bike course has a few steep hills. Are these sit and spin type hills or just big ring it hills? Disc or no disc?

The bike is my strength, so I tend to push it hard and not conserve much for the run in an Oly and just gut out the run. Will that strategy work at SB with the longer run?

Thanks.

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Make sure your bottle holders are good, I lost all my bottles on the bike. I have not ridden the area since the race last year so maybe it is better?

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Damn, that’s this weekend? I had to sell my spot an DNS for health reasons… had a nce hotel room across the street from transition… love that race… anyway

Swim - Both times I’ve done it the swim has been ass biting cold. I would recommend two caps or a neoprene if you get cold. It’s right on East Beach, very well protected from swells by the Channel Islands. There is no surf zone. You go out, as I recall, not very far, and then it seems to me as if the stretch along the beach was not very parallel, but angled out a bit. Coming back, if it’s not foggy sun will be RIGHT in your eyes, there’s a small hump of land to sight off of right before the last turn buoy (left to shore)

Bike - Yes, there are 3 or 4 hills. For me, sit and spin in my 27. Going out, not so bad. Going down Toro can be scary, sw a couple crashes there. At the bottom of the hill is where the “stop” sign is, i’ve never had to stop, but a CHP will be there directing you. Coming back up Toro Cyn is a bitch. Take it in elevated steps, it’s got a steep part, then flattens slightly for a bit of recovery, then steep, then flattish, etc. No idea re: a disc, but I would think there’s enough flat to warrant it.

Be careful on the downhill after the little one lane climb thru the avocado grove (2d climb, Gubenator or something like that). VERY bumpy, unevan and crappy roads, I think this is where Barbara Warren was killed last year.

Run - Flat for two miles, up for a 1/2 mile, flat for a mile, up, down, then climb back up. There’s a “pit” right in the middle. THen reverse coming back, should be a negative split given the terrain. But 10 miles with a couple decent hills is pretty far to gut it out. First year I did it I hammered the bike and absolutely suffered on the run

Good luck and have fun

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The swim is pretty cold even though it is summer…be prepared for a bit of a shock when you hit the water. No real waves to be concerned about. You swim out to the the first buoy and then turn right, swim to the turnaround and come back. The transition is pretty close to the water so your transition should be fast. The bike has some pretty good hills including some downhill on the out section that is a bit scary because the roads are narrow, road is rough, and tree cover makes it a bit dark with sunglasses on, so be careful. The climb coming back is a little steep, 12-25 gearing or higher would help depending on how well you climb. The ride is pretty crowded also…quite a few people on the course at the same time depending on when your swim wave starts. The run is out and back and includes both a climb and descent in both directions, the climb on the way back is short but steep, however the last 3 miles is nice downhill to flat and if you are feeling good you can really stretch things out to the finish. You have to watch your pacing a bit, because you can be fooled into thinking the race is really not much longer than an olympic distance, but if you go too hard, those last 3-4 miles will really hurt.

Fun race, good luck.

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I live in Santa Barbara and ride/swim/run parts the course all the time. I haven’t looked at the course maps yet, but Ive heard they changed parts of the bike and run just a bit; overall bike is semi-flat with a few rolling areas, one bigger hill which I’ve heard is shorter this year as it doesn’t go all the way up (Toro Canyon rd). I’m planning on using a disc.
The swim is a longer across the beach type, don’t think it goes too far out, but that doesn’t really matter much, there’s chop out there but not much of any big swells the way that beach is.
I swam out there yesterday, I think it was around 59 degrees or so if I had to guess. Cold but not terrible like it was in March. Good luck everyone.