Flats at IM Louisville

At the finish line they said someone had spread tacks on the road.  But even worse I had a kid throw a stick at me.  Luckily I was going about 22-23 mph at the time.  I turned around and gave a big WTH.

I saw 6-7 people per lap with flats.

That makes me absolutely ill if it is true.  I heard a rumor about that too, but it wasn't in any of the papers or on any of the news coverage.  I really hope its just a rumor.....and gettting sticks thrown at you by kids?   Where were their parents?  Probably sitting on the couch eating some ice cream and potato chips.  How stupid.

My sister and her boyfriend were also ok too as far as flats, but that was a big topic of their conversation with their friends this morning at the lunch.

Also, don't know if anyone else saw this, and I hate to tell you this since it kind of made me sad, but Jen said she saw an IM logo with a line through it while out on the bike somewhere...

Even though we would like to think most are happy the race is there, there are still LOTS that are not.  There were a handful of other incidences that were similar that we experienced throughout the weekend, but I just want to forget about it.

The whole tacks issue is really unfortunate, but unfortunately it isn't unique to IMLOU. At IM MOO there is a farmer that drives his combine right down the middle of the road every year to protest them closing the road for the race. There have been a few tack incidences there as well. My parents live out in Oldham County on the bike course and there have been several incidents through out the year between motorists and cyclists training for the event. It boils down to the bad apples on BOTH sides making it a tough situation for everyone.

Oldham County still is rural enough that there is the "redneck" element out there that exsists in any rural (mostly southern) area. You are never going to change these peoples minds about cyclists and the OC Police for the most part does a good job of keeping them away from the race course on race day. Where the large portion of the resentment comes from (and this is just from talking to my parents and neighbors) are from the people that encounter the cyclists with bad manners and then lump us all together. My Dad was telling me about a Friday afternoon earlier this year where he was driving into LaGrange on 146 and got behind a line of cars that was being held up by a group of cyclists. This particular group consisted of 8-10 riders and had a car following along (like a team car in the Tour) behind. 146 is a main artery for that area and on Friday afternoon has more than enough traffic to begin with, these particular athletes used poor judgement by choosing to train at that time of day on that road.

The bottom line is that as a whole the citizens of LaGrange and OC welcome the Ironman athletes and their families and are genuinely excited to have a world class event in their community. That being said there is (and will always be) a vocal minority that is unreasonable and doesn't like to be inconvienienced by some freak on bike wearing spandex. We can do our part though as athletes to use good judgement and courtesy when we are out training on the course. Follow the rules of the road, train at appropriate times (i.e. not on Friday afternoon), don't litter, etc. We can also police ourselves by calling out fellow athletes that are not doing the right thing out there.

Well said Rocket Man.  I think every year the field of athletes has gotten larger in Louisville, and I've heard several people say this is their favorite.  Last year, if there was any lack of crowd support in the neighborhoods on the run, it could have very well been due to poor planning on IM or Louisville.  2008 race was on labor day weekend, and on the very same day as the UL/UK football game, which is a HUGE college football rivalry game here. 

Very well said!

~Mike

I saw a lot of flats out there too but wasn't sure why (but I guess the tacks explain that) and I saw the Ironman with a slash trough it on the course. .I just smiled at that.  The tacks are pretty bad and that makes me mad. . It is one thing to not like something, and if that is the case, then taking 1 day off from driving on that road or being in that area would seem to solve the problem. 
My impressions of the race and support are as follows: 
1)  VOLUNTEERS WERE/ARE AWESOME!!!
2)  The town(s) seemed to really embrace the athletes being there.
3)  Having the swim start .75 miles away from the swim finish is annoying.  I still think it should be a mass start.  I hated swimming through 1000 plus people in the narrow stretch of water.  True, I could have gotten up earlier than I did and camped out at 4AM, but that shouldn't have to be a decision in the first place.
4)  4th street live was cool, but still a long walk down to get massage/food/etc and then to get gear and bike. 
5)  Did NOT like the swim start, swim finish, transition, expo, run finish being so far apart from each other.  Not sure how other ones are, but CDA has everything right there.  Very easy logistics wise. 

With all of that being said, it was a good time and well put on.  I think WTC should look long and hard at this race.  Being in a big city is cool on one hand, but logistically it was tough for friends/family and at least me.