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Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread
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| General Discussion | Triathlon Talk » Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread | Rss Feed  |
 2010-09-16 4:08 PM |
 Las Vegas |  Subject: Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official ThreadWho's excited to race in two days? I went over and drove the bike and run courses for the Olympic. The bike leg should be interesting...pretty significant climbing to start and throughout! See you all on Saturday! Look for the guy in the muscle suit :) |
| 2010-09-16 4:52 PM in reply to: #3102918 |
Pro  6520   Bellingham, WA | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread Should be a great day. Looks like we will not need to worry to much about heat. Maybe a little wind and possibly a few showers but thats better than in years past when it has been hot. That first climb is pretty brutal and will be the focal point of my race. I plan on using the long descent back into town to recharge for the run. I did the HIM bike course so not too familiar with the part of the course that cuts across to the highway before the descent. The HIM course loops out to Almira and was a bear climbing back to the highway. I'm hoping to get over early enough to drive the courses again. |
| 2010-09-16 7:04 PM in reply to: #3102918 |
Pro 6520 Bellingham, WA | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread I was looking through the Athletes Instructions and didn't realize the Olympic started so late, 10:00 am. The swim course is also a little different than before. It used to be a simple counter clockwise triangle, now you go out, turn left, turn left again, but than have to cut back toward shore and pass a buoy on you right, shaped kind of like the number nine. There is morning bike drop off but one place says you have to drop off before 8:00 and another its says before 9:00. I prefer to drop off in the morning because there may be some showers at night. They are also doing race bags which I hate and don't understand why when T1 and T2 are in the same place. Made sense when T2 was below the dam in prior years but don't see the point in having to stuff a wetsuit back in a bag and than having to pull running gear out of a bag. Oh well. I guess there is a pre-race meeting Friday evening so I can get everything set in my mind. |
| 2010-09-17 8:30 AM in reply to: #3102918 |
Master 2235   Pacific Northwest | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread I did the HIM there last year. I was also confused by the T-bags. But when I saw the place where transition was, it made sense--very rocky and tons TONS of "goathead" thorns. You don't want bare feet there. Also, carry your bike into and out of transition, do not set it down. Those thorns go right into the tires. I happened to notice one in mine on race morning, and was happy that it wasn't imbedded too deep....but use caution! Watch out for the rocks at the swim start/finish....very sharp! That first hill is definitely a challenge, but once you are up it, on the Oly course I think it is just rolling hills until you hit the BIG downhill into town. The HIM is a really hard course, that 10-mile climb out of Almira was mentally so challenging! Do not attempt to eat at the Pizza and Pasta place on the main drag there in Electric City (I think, near where the bike comes into town). WORST SERVICE EVER. And they were out of bread and pasta, not to mention silverware. The night before a huge race in their town, they just ran out. Yeah. There is a buoy line in the swim which makes it so much easier! Have fun--sounds like we'll have similar weather at the Plutonium Man down the river from you.
Edited by Medusa_Ann 2010-09-17 8:31 AM |
| 2010-09-17 10:44 AM in reply to: #3102918 |
Pro 6520 Bellingham, WA | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread That explains why I saw so many people with flats out on T1. I had wondered about that. Good luck to you all down the river. Leslie, can't wait to hear about your PR!! |
| 2010-09-22 6:06 PM in reply to: #3102918 |
Member 16 Seattle, WA | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread I did the HIM over the weekend, it was my second after Lake Stevens. Much smaller event. Seems like a lot of nice people. But organization a bit wierd. T-bags suck. The climb out of town was no trouble for me. But the wind was just miserable. At about 30 miles in (there were 3 stations on the bike), I was almost out of hydration, and the second station was on a flat, so we were all going 20mph, trying to get hand offs of water. The first woman, was fumbling the bottles, so I couldnt get one from her, the second was a kid, the third only had water, the fourth was a guy, so I tried to get on from him, and dropped it. I had to ride 15 miles without about 3 gulps of hydration and half a PB and J. I almost got hit by a brown 1980's van who just had to pass me at the same time as oncoming trafic, and honked as he went by. Hate that! Amazing actually, since there were so few cars, maybe one passed me ever 5 milesThe downhill sucks, since it is right at that speed where if you pedal you dont get very much faster, but not fast enough that you can really tuck and go fast. As usual I had a hard time starting the run. Man, am I that old? Then we ran through gravel, which is a pain, since my shoes are perfectly sized to pick up rocks. I ran the whole thing click, click, click with about 12 rocks stuck to my shoes. Had a great time overall, no injuries, no mechanicals, and I didn't cramp up like Lake Stevens, but didn't push nearly as hard, and my time sucked at just under 6h 30m. Not that I am competing with anyone. It was a great wake up call for my Ironman in November. I need to swim and run more! I hope you all had a great time. |
| 2010-09-23 12:50 PM in reply to: #3112899 |
Master 2235 Pacific Northwest | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread rdhfreethought - 2010-09-22 4:06 PM I did the HIM over the weekend, it was my second after Lake Stevens. Much smaller event. Seems like a lot of nice people. But organization a bit wierd. T-bags suck. The climb out of town was no trouble for me. But the wind was just miserable. At about 30 miles in (there were 3 stations on the bike), I was almost out of hydration, and the second station was on a flat, so we were all going 20mph, trying to get hand offs of water. The first woman, was fumbling the bottles, so I couldnt get one from her, the second was a kid, the third only had water, the fourth was a guy, so I tried to get on from him, and dropped it. I had to ride 15 miles without about 3 gulps of hydration and half a PB and J. I almost got hit by a brown 1980's van who just had to pass me at the same time as oncoming trafic, and honked as he went by. Hate that! Amazing actually, since there were so few cars, maybe one passed me ever 5 milesThe downhill sucks, since it is right at that speed where if you pedal you dont get very much faster, but not fast enough that you can really tuck and go fast. As usual I had a hard time starting the run. Man, am I that old? Then we ran through gravel, which is a pain, since my shoes are perfectly sized to pick up rocks. I ran the whole thing click, click, click with about 12 rocks stuck to my shoes. Had a great time overall, no injuries, no mechanicals, and I didn't cramp up like Lake Stevens, but didn't push nearly as hard, and my time sucked at just under 6h 30m. Not that I am competing with anyone. It was a great wake up call for my Ironman in November. I need to swim and run more! I hope you all had a great time. I had heard they were going to change the run course--did they still do the two loops, where half of each loop is out through that gravel path, up and down that hill??? That was mentally so challenging last year!!! I would say that it was a much more challenging course than the Plutonium Man was, but maybe not, as last year GC was my first half so maybe no matter where I raced it would have been hard. We had the wind last year too, and I don't know how they found a course with so much uphill and hardly and downhill!! Good job for finishing it in tough conditions! I had a few friends who decided not to do it due to the forecast.
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| 2010-09-23 3:10 PM in reply to: #3102918 |
Pro 6520 Bellingham, WA | Subject: RE: Grand Columbian Triathlon - Olympic Course : Official Thread The run course was the same up and down the big hill just south of transition, out and back on the gravel rolling road. Once for the Oly, twice for the HIM. I told myself a couple of years ago that I would never ride this course again. It is not just the initial climb, which is 3.7 miles, 1,200 feet, up to 14% grade, but the subsequent hills and rollers that just never seem to end. Yes, the headwind made it all ten times worse. My first 10 miles averaged under 10 mph. Started good with a two minute PR on the swim and the run wasn't too bad considering the ride. I told my family I would never ride that course again after finishing but something tells me I'll be back. It was a fun trip with a stop in Leavenworth on the way home for German beer. |
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