I’ll be racing the Wildflower long course in a couple of months and am wondering how it compares to the Lake Stevens 70.3 course. I watched the Utube video on the Wildflower climb from miles 41 to 45 and it gave me a bit of concern. Living 20 minutes from Lake Stevens I try to train once a week on the course when the weather permits (only 3 rides this year so far) and have been told that the Lake Stevens course is one of the toughest out there. Any input would be helpful.
I wouldn’t be too freaked out about the wildflower hill. The hill is tough, but IMO described to be a lot tougher than it is. The harder hill to me was the first hill after the swim on the long course. You only get a couple miles in after the swim before that one hits.
I agree with the comments about Beach Hill (the first hill). You really only have a mile from the exit of the T1 to the start of that climb, and it is steeper than the Nasty Grade. It takes a few miles to recover from that effort and settle in to the ride. The Nasty Grade climb is longer but not as steep. I agree that it is over-hyped.
Both Beach Hill and Nasty Grade are good hills. They will wake you up and get your heart pumping. But neither will kill you, end your race, etc. I’m a flatlander and I can make the hills without problem. I find Nasty to be harder just because it’s a lot warmer out by the time I get there, so I sweat all the way up it. Train for hills if you can, but don’t stress over these hills. They are what they are, and nothing more. Also, when you drive in, you’ll drive up Nasty Grade (shortly after you cross the river on Nacimento Lake Dr), so you’ll get the preview as you arrive.
Have fun - it’s a great experience.
I haven’t done wildflower but i did lake steven’s last year, they describe it as rollers, they aren’t rollers, or people from washington have a completely different definition of rollers than I do. I think the course is probably more of a road bike course since there is really only a few miles of flat. I saw some of the craziest descending by people ever done on a bike on that course. The road was wet and people were descending at 50+ into blind corners, the course is not closed. the course is beautiful and you get to run a hill 4 times on the 2 loops. I would do the course again.
Agreed, neither will kill. And Beach hurt more.
but a clarification (I think…) The only part of Nasty Grade you normally drive up from Paso is after the right hand (bike course) turn near the top. Don’t want the OP to be mislead while driving in (actually, the hill coming after the Lake Nacimiento dam crossing is worse, I think).
As you are driving in on Lake Nacimiento Road, you will come to the Interlake Road turnoff, where you drive left. If you stay on Lake N. road and go straight, you will go down Nasty Grade. There is still a little climbing on Interlake Road, but the meat is still down below. map - http://www.mtbguru.com/...long-course-bike-leg
That said, I’ve only done it once, going back this year, the hard parts of the bike are the first 10 mles or so (hard to settle in as the hills keep popping up) and the last 14 or so (starting at Nasty). The middle part is actually quite nice and easily hit 22+ for a sustained period on the flats.
not to hijack this thread but what about lynch hill on the olympic course? How long is that hill and what is the grade?
I haven’t done the Oly, only ridden and ran down it in the half. It sucks running down at the end of a HIM, can’t imagine what it’s like to ride up in teh first mile of an Oly. I’d say it’s a half mile long as a wild ass guess? no idea on the grade. If you just settle in in the low gear, should be ok
There’s a video out there somewhere of Macca last year running Inikos (sp?) down, follows him all the way down Lynch.
edit - just g mapped it, from the bike exit to the corner at the top is .8 miles, and looks like it rises somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 feet.
Done them both in the same year twice. Hands down Wildflower is harder. Beach hill is tough coming right out of the water, nasty grade is something you expect. Not the worst thing in the world if you live in the PNW and ride hills. What gets me at Wildflower is the final 15 miles of endless rollers. You don’t expect them but they’re there. I like Lk. Stevens and how it has consistency in the hills. They’re not the wicked climbs but they are some quality rollers.
Time comparisons 2007 WF 2:44 Lk. Stevens 2:32
Time comparisons 2008 WF 2:38 Lk. Stevens 2:50(broke chain at mile 54 had to walk would have been a 2:30.
The only time in my life I “broke” while cycling was up Nasty Grade. I just could not turn it over. I would have been faster up the hill if I had walked. Sure, my race pacing was WAY off from where it should have been (I am older and wiser now), but coming into the hill I felt fine. Short time later: not so fine.
I am going back to Wildflower LC this year and plan on holding back quite a bit out of respect for that damn hill. Breaking was no fun.
Contrary to others opinions, I did not think the first hill was bad at all. Maybe my Nasty Grade experience has tainted my mind concerning the first hill, but my mind tells me the first hill is not noteworthy.
I think the course are fairly similar though the challenge is a bit different. At Lake Stevens, especially with the new course, you are always going up or down. There is very little rest, some technical descents and 3 moderate hills per lap. The thing that I think hurts you the most there is the 2% - 3% grade you get in the first 7 miles of the course. Wildflower has Lake Stevens beat from the hills aspect, but there are some long aero runs in there. The challenge is the first hill comes at you quickly so you need to watch your HR. I’d bet most decent HIMers could ride Lake Stevens a few minutes faster, but it is by no means easier. I also think Wildflower is an easier course to run off the bike from. Just my opinion however.
Ok, just as a clarification to driving in on Nasty Grade:
I go to Wildflower from the North on Hwy 101. I turn off near Bradley, then follow Lake Nacimento to Interlake. By doing this, I actually drive the last 20 miles or so of the Long Course, in the same direction as the LC goes. So I drive over that bridge, then up Nasty, then on to the campsite. If you approach from any other direction, you won’t have the pleasure of driving up Nasty.
Well, that just shows my Los Angeles-centricity. I assume everyone comes from here cuz it’s so crowded.
So, depending on where you are coming from, you may or may not drive it! 
Wildflower is a tough bike course, but not a extreme as its rep. Beach hill is steeper/harder, but shorter (about 1mi. with some 8-10% grades). It’s just 3 mi. into the ride so spin up. Nasty Grade is fairly constant, just remember that when you get to the guy in the bunny suit (no joke) and it levels out, there’s still some more undulations before you are really done climbing (figure you’re about 2/3 done), so save a little.
You can easily do Nasty Grade as a seated climb. Every year I see guys thrashing by, out of the saddle and going massively anaerobic to gain 30sec…and I see them again on the run. The run is far worse than the bike (I’ll do Nasty Grade twice if they’ll eliminate that hill that starts just past mile 4), so save something. The only saving grace is that the last mile is downhill (steep!), so even if you collapse at mile 12 your corpse will roll across the finish line a few minutes later.
Those 2 were my first half im’s and i thought both courses were challenging. I was in pretty poor shape for both (5:09 LS,5:20 WF) but i thought the WF course was more difficult, not significantly though. I had never rode WF or read the course description before i showed up. When i saw the course description the morning of i did say fuck out loud.
WF run was a lot more technical, but also more enjoyable.
Both races were very well run. Doing both again.
the last mile is downhill (steep!), so even if you collapse at mile 12 your corpse will roll across the finish line a few minutes later.
aint that the truth…i don’t know what would hurt more: rolling down that thing or your legs the day after running down it…lynch is BRUTAL on your body
I vote for Wolflower as slightly tougher hills, and much more crappy road surface. I love the lake Stevens course…nice constant up and down. The Grand Columbian is somewhere in between.