My wife and I will be there. We rode the bike course last week as did a lot of other people. The wife is doing the shorter sprint course though. Road conditions - meh. Not bad but not awesome either. A good amount of the road sealing lines to fill in all those frost heave cracks that mess with the roads up here. The water is nice (no idea the actual temps… wetsuit of course). See you there!
The out and back bike course looks like a lot of fun.
I’m sure the water temperature will be similar to that of Mirror Lake - this is my tune up race for IMLP.
Just wondering if anyone here has done the race or plan on doing it! //
Ya, i did it once, back in 1982. Remember it was 47 degrees(outside) water was freezing(no wetsuit swim) and it poured rain the entire race. Did it all in my lycra one piece suit i just invented, and loved every single minute of the race. Think i won by over 12 minutes, basically the time everyone else spent getting warm and putting on clothes i would guess.
But now with global warming and all, probably get some nice weather for the race there, have fun… (-;
I did it once way back in 2001; I remember the swim being hard to see from all the tannins in the lake but otherwise not bad, the bike had good rolling terrain, run course had some pretty good hills on it. There was a section that went through the woods on a fire road where the footing was dicey in some spots, but I don’t know if the course has changed since then. All in all it’s a good race and one that has been around a long time.
I did it once way back in 2001; I remember the swim being hard to see from all the tannins in the lake but otherwise not bad, the bike had good rolling terrain, run course had some pretty good hills on it. There was a section that went through the woods on a fire road where the footing was dicey in some spots, but I don’t know if the course has changed since then. All in all it’s a good race and one that has been around a long time.
Thanks for the info. I’ll definitely look out for any potholes. And if there’s a trail section in the run, I’ll be really looking forward to that
A small contingent of STers race Tupper almost annually, though this appears to be an off year. I’ve done it four times, and it’s an excellent small town race that is very well run (hence why it’s been around for some 30 years). Normally, I’d tell you not to expect any lavish treatments (considering the modest price and venue), but Toughman has taken over the race, so I cannot tell you what they have in store.
Some notes on the course:
The swim can be choppy depending on the wind direction leading up to the race start. There aren’t a ton of landmarks for sighting, and the back half swims directly into the rising sun. Keep these things in mind when preparing.
The out-and-back bike course is basically half rolling and half pancake flat. The first 15-16 miles are consistently up and down, but the remaining 12-13 miles to the turnaround have minimal gain/loss. Keep your head down in the middle section, but remember that you’ll need fresh legs when you hit the rollers on the return.
The run is quite fair. There is one steep downhill (about 2 miles in) and a couple of sustained uphill segments that will zap you in the early miles if you’re too ambitious. The final 7-8 miles are quite flat, but contain one small set of rollers that will put you in the red if you’ve overdone it. Trail sections are very short and only serve to get you from one road to the next.
I’m registered, have raced Tinman 3-4times, looking forward to seeing what Toughman does with the race. Sorry to hear that the road surface hasn’t improved from last year.
I’m camping out the night before the race, so I’m hoping for a dry night. The heavens can let loose all they want during the race though.
In my experience, it can and probably will. In each of the four years I’ve raced there, it has rained heavily for at least 1-2 hours during the race; most often on the bike.
Proper lens selection will help a bit if you’re swimming into the sun (though, as stated above, the sun is not often a concern). In the past, they have used bright orange cargo netting at the swim exit. It makes for a decent sighting target once you’ve completed about 2/3 of the loop.
Proper lens selection will help a bit if you’re swimming into the sun (though, as stated above, the sun is not often a concern). In the past, they have used bright orange cargo netting at the swim exit. It makes for a decent sighting target once you’ve completed about 2/3 of the loop.
What lens do you normally use? I swim with plain, semi tinted lenses but nothing fancy like the TYR polarized goggles that I see most IM competitors use.
I usually take two pairs into transition; a standard, clear pair, and a tinted, polarized pair. When it’s time to head over to the swim start, I grab whichever goggles suit the conditions.
I usually take two pairs into transition; a standard, clear pair, and a tinted, polarized pair. When it’s time to head over to the swim start, I grab whichever goggles suit the conditions.
I’m assuming the polarized pair is for sunny conditions? And clear for overcast?
Does anybody know if there`s a race packet pick up on Saturday morning, and where it may be located.
Yes, there is packet pickup saturday in transition. I emailed the RD today to ask that very question since I’m staying an hour away.