When the tiny but vocal minority of whiners and pseudo-boycotters-posers bow out of WF, won’t that will make the race all that much better for the rest of us multi-timers from Cali? And out of curiosity, what specific race do you have in mind that comes even close in terms of calender, location, organization, ambiance, etc? Me-thinks you are blowing smoke.
//"And out of curiosity, what specific race do you have in mind that comes even close in terms of calender, location, organization, ambiance, etc? "//
The Pope Valley Biathlon. Show up 30 minutes before the start, pay your $20 and have a great time. You can’t beat a Big Al race.
How about any race that you don’t have to sign up for 6-8+ months ahead of time, show up three days early and pay $150 to stake your claim to a patch of a dirt parking lot, put up with 10,000+ people all standing in line for the bathrooms in the morning, sit in your campsite all weekend because you don’t want to tire yourself out waling up and down the hill to the expo, and race in crowded, unsafe conditions with blatant cheating and drafting fouls? not to mention paying for the privilege of having someone else’s religious beliefs blatantly shoved at you.
I’m a 6 or 7 time wildflower veteran. I’ll take Big Al over that crowded, overpriced mess any day.
J
I’m too tired and sick to post much of what I thought about the race overall, but thank you!!! You were a great example of humor and encouragement in a tough spot.
Okay, now I want to say one thing – on the run course – it was sooooo silent! Other than the campground. Why couldn’t the bikers riding by, athletes who had finished the race driving by in cars, etc. open their mouths and cheer on that last tough hill?! If you were not competing or done competing and passed runners in silence, shame on you. I showed up the next day to the Oly race and cheered my heart out for the collegiate champs and the very last bikers on the course.
Don’t include me in the multi-timer people in support of Wildflower. As a 10 time long course athlete (first race in '88) I’ve seen that race be driven into the toilet. There need to be some serious changes before many of us will ever think of returning. Terry has abused his cash cow too far. Which is sad, because the course is one of the best, and the venue is phenomenal. But overpriced camping, lack of racer support, allowing too many racers on the course, and pissing off the volunteer base for a remote race are not things I care to support. I appreciate Terry and Co for putting on races, but he’s gone too far. The newbies will continue to go and have a good time, but the old days are long gone. I would love for the Cal Poly Rec majors to take the race back over (they were the original race directors) and return the event to the jewel it once was.
I got penalized 2:00. I wonder what I did.
Some of the complaints in this thread deal with valid details (shuttle, that big hill to hump to/from camp, bleach water)…but nonetheless still details when compare to the larger issues of safety,the sheer logistics off thousands of people and 2 access roads to the transition area, etc. The rest of the crying is about subjective matters of personal preference that don’t really seem to connect, in my mind anyways, with the common good and what the sport of triathlon is all about (not enough drunk students…waa…not enough naked chicks…waa…a 43 second prayer…waa…they made a profit…waa).
Rambo- I feel for you, had a similar experience with starting late, 10:25 on Sunday. But, since I’m a weak swimmer, I got to spend the rest of the day passing people. I have to say that this year, the TNT folks actually seemed to do a lot better on the bike (this is my 5th WF). Most of them got out of my way when I called out ‘on your left’ instead of swinging out left and into me (like years past). I think the coaching this year might have prepared them better. Either that, or I’ve gotten used to working around the masses. It was impossible to avoid drafting, and I almost had to go over the yellow line a few times. There was a lot more purple at that event then I have EVER seen in years past!!
On a personal note, I finally ran the whole run this year, so I don’t know that I ever have to go back there again… :o)
I was hoping to have the Slowtwitch apparel in time for WF, so I can start meeting some of you. Maybe by the next event…
What did they do to piss of the support?
holding a dressed up blow-up doll (with a goatee?)
No, she has her mouth open ;). A lot of people definitely needed something to smile about at that point in the race. People were really struggle up that (and afterwards). Some folks I wonder if they made it through the run. I headed out and put in 20 miles and then came back onto the course to come into camp. People were struggling on the flat sections.
I had a great time cheering everyone on. I will do it again next year if my buddy goes down to race. I lost my voice cheering everyone on and got sunburned on my shoulders, but it was worth it. Even a lot of the ladies seemed to smile. I think I hit on every chick that was under 50 on the bike 
I got penalized 2:00. I wonder what I did.
Blocking. Next time, stay out of my way.
Matt - Someone uploaded the olympic run course on Motionbased. It had the run at 6.02 miles.
Paul
I am sitting here trying to recover from the race. Driving 350 miles on Sat, then doing the race on sunday, and driving 350 miles back. Should have just stayed in bed this morning.
This was my second year at WF. I do around 10 Tri races a season around Northern Calif. This race is real real tough. The donner has a killer ride also.
There was not one problem per se that I say on Sunday. Yep, lots of folks but that is the fun of it. I thought it was great to be able to get to sleep on Sat night at 9 so if this was because under age drinkers did not come, so be it!!
Darn weather was sure hot again.
YES, the bike course is scarey!!! This year I held onto the brakes on down hills and assumed there would be folks on the bike who did not know what they were doing. Because of this, I had not issues. Might have been lucky.
I did see those two guys in their thongs. Made my laugh.
I saw no top less college folks helping out the runners. But as I was coming up to two, I said if I show you mine will you show me yours. So I pulled my top up and got flashed by one of them. What was really funny is the other said she did not have enough to show. I think few seconds later the female age grouper passed me and made some comment.
So overall, it is by far the largest, best run tri I do all season! Now, the long course is just too much of a killer. Plus, with Napa doing half in two weeks that I signed up for with a max of only 500 folks, (I thought is was going to be 300 …) should be fun and tough in the hills.
Dave
Matt - Someone uploaded the olympic run course on Motionbased. It had the run at 6.02 miles.
Paul
I knew it was short…but if I had to guess I’d say less than 6 miles. They have me listed at 6:18 pace and there’s no way I was running 6:18s up all those hills…and I jogged down Lynch to spare my quads.
I bet dollars to donuts the long course run is over distance. I ran it recently in 1:28 at a decent tempo effort and I was definitely going faster than 6:45s…faster I’d guess than I ran yesterday.
I noticed my time was much quicker than last year, but, seems what ever the distance was, the route on Sunday was the same as before?
And what ever the length, it was the same for everyone.
Dave
yeah I know…I just wish they’d make the swim course .2 of a mile short too 
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Did any of you real swimmers think the long course swim was a little long? I am not a good swimmer so I wouldn’t know but I heard a few people after the race talking about it. If it was I would feel much better.
Dave
nah - look at the elite times, seems pretty close - e
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I wondered about that. That’s why I won’t do the Oly race since I would have started in the last wave. Too crowded for that small of a road.
As a last point there was definately a lot of drafting going on out there, I was pounding the bike out and on every strainght I would get passed slowly by a group of people drafting off each other, so I would drop back the 3 bike lengths and get out of their way but its still weak they were drafting, I saw marshals out there but checked the DQ board the next day expecting a list as long as my arm but nothing, way too much drafting for my liking, if there is a rule then they should use it. Also saw a few guys using headphones on the bike and also the oakley thump mp3 glasses, not right
++++++++++++++++++++++
According to the Officials, the race was pretty clean. One told me that he stalked lots of packs but they mostly resolved within the necessary time. In order for it to be drafting, it has to be 15 seconds or more; something you can’t judge while you’re in the race on a bicycle. In fact, the best racers come up fast, grab that draft for a few seconds, and use it to garner enough speed so the other rider is unable to foil their attempt when they actually make the pass. So if you’ve got several racers passing each other, it can well look like a draft pack when they go by you.
Even so, there was a long list of penalties posted and many were for drafting (which is a time penalty - not a dq until the 3rd penalty). There were also quite a few penalties for headphones. We don’t take them away, just record the violation. And some people just plain don’t care and would rather get penalized than give up their sound cocoon.
What is the time penalty for drafting? I got 2 minutes for something. I have no clue what it could be. I finished the Oly in over three hours. It’s not like any bad manuver I made is going to throw me into the top 10 in my age group. Penalize me? LOL