Ironman 70.2 Mooseman : Official Thread (Page 2)

Manya: The best hill that I know of - and i think it's about the tallest constant climb in NYC - is Alpine Drive.  Head across the GWB, take an immediate left, and then another one onto River Rd.  The end of River Rd. (about 40 minutes out, ends at a police station on your right side) is the hill they call Alpine.  Most weekends you'll find lots of people doing hill repeats on that.  If repeats aren't your thing, just do it once, then continue on going north on 9W.  Head past Piermont and Nycack, climb the mini-mountain to Rockland Lake, and head back (about 3 hrs round-trip).  If you wanna go up to 4 hrs or more, just keep following 9W (break off when you see signs for bike route 9 and follow those - it's well-marked).  There are nicer routes - but this is the basic one with some decent climbing.  Over a 4-hour ride you get 4000+ feet of climbing in.

Seriously? How about "Heartbreak Hill", it's the fourth of four hills on Commonwealth Ave in Newton. My hamstrings have siezed more than once while ascending these hills. I'm sure it's just as much fun on the bike!

I actually rode the hilly part of the course (the top loop) yesterday.  I am glad I saw it prerace; it is a bit rough.  The Devil Hill is pretty difficult the first time.  I has a lot of false flats and turns that fool you into thinking you are done, and is steep, of course.  I measured the bulk of the hill at about 3mi, with an elevation gain of about 900ft.  The main hill is followed by a mile of flat to slight uphill, and then the roller coaster!  The 4 or 5 miles until 25 is sort of a nail biter the first time through!  You could really fly through here if you are comfortable, because it is all downhill except for the turn onto 25 which is a 90 degree after a little flattening.  If they cap the speed here at 35, it is probably a good thing; I kept on my brakes pretty hard.  Once on 25, there is about 5 miles of downhill but not heavy grade, with a wide shoulder.  I think this will be my fueling/aero part; until I got to this part, I wasn't sure if I wanted a tri bike, but this stretch is perfect to tuck and eat.  It ends with a decent hill, then some downhill until North Shore Road, (cutoff after first lap; I didn't ride around the lake).  There is one nasty little hill on North Shore and a fun little downhill back to Hebron, which would leave you about 2 miles to Devil Hill, part two!

Other notes:  Still ice on the lake, especially the southern end.  Water looked super clear and it was quite beautiful!  Roads themselves were a bit "fun"; they looked a bit worse then then were, but to be honest, were the main thing keeping me on the brakes on the descents.  In hindsight, the were better then they looked, but that was by myself and picking my lines all of the time versus with a bunch of other riders.  Thankfully, there was also NO traffic (I am sorry, 2 cars passed me over 9 miles) until 25, which was somewhat busy.

It should be a fun race!

Does anyone know roughly how many miles can be spent on the aerobars for the bike course? Also, what cassette is everyone using?

thinking to register last minute: I need to go to Orlando for a conference on friday the 3rd early in the morning, then I am thinking to bring my bike a fly over Boston + drive to Newfound lake for the race.

Do you think Boston airport is the most convenient? which airline is better for saving $$ for the bike?

I did Mooseman last year and I can tell you that you would have to bike up Heartbreak Hill quite a few times to come close to the big climb.  It has a 16% grade at it's steepest point, which I think was just before the trash transfer station.   Just a clarification, this is not Devil's Hill.  Devil's Hill was on the old course, now you get to ride down it twice!  (The woman in the devil's costume does pick a spot on the new Purgatory Peak.) 

Went up on this past Saturday for a preview of the course.  Yes the hill is as big as they say.  One poster had it nailed, for about 3.5 miles you climb just over 900'.  We only did the loop once as we also ran the run course for a brick.  Run course was really nice.  See the attached file for the bike elevation.  Again, this is just the entire course 1 time (with the exception of the cut through to start the second loop).  I did switch to a compact for the race, at the minimum you should consider an 11-28 cassette.

Is anyone coming through Laconia Sunday AM before the race?  Could I hitch a ride? I would pay for the gas.   I hate to wake my family up at 5p to get to the race. 

Run course as requested.

(Mooseman Run Elevation.jpg)