Questions about the Naperville Sprint in August

Second to what Brian said -- the Naperville sprint is just about the ideal event for a first timer.  The course is easy/flat, there's tons of friendly volunteers, and the atmosphere is great. 

Think the run from the swim to the bikes is around 100 yards.  And the M swim comes back in the shallow water, but not all the way to the beach.

Go for it!

This is all great info for a first time tri.  Ex- runner lives in Naper so perfect race for me.  Need to know a lot, especially the biking.  So many rules.  How do you follow them on a closed loop course with so many people?  Seems like I would be backing up all day when people pass.  As a matter of reference I am 63 yo male. been biking about 2 weeks now and did 12 miles in 56 minutes.  I will probably come in between 45 and 50 minutes in the race.  What conditions can I expect in the race?

Welcome!!

I have done this Tri the last 2 years. You will have a great time! There will be a TON of regular folks racing there so don't sweat it.

The swim is a M shape in a pool like set up. They will have you line up in groups according to your projected swim time. Be honest here! Practice a 400y swim and time yourself. Unfortunately there will be many that will overestimate their abilities here so you will encounter traffic on the swim, but if you are honest, you won't be the one causing the log jam. They start you in groups of 4 every 5 seconds or so. It is a shore start so you will run into the water. It is all sandy with a hard bottom to the pool so it is nice. The lanes are wide and separated. You will not come all the way back to shore, but you will be able to stand up and walk/run around the middle buoy.

The run to transition from the swim is about 100 yards or so on concrete sidewalk. Transition is huge so you may double that if you get a spot on the opposite side from the swim/run in/out. Transition has 1 in/out for swim and run and one on the opposite side for the bike in/out so it stays fair for all.

The bike is a 2 loop course on closed streets so you don't have to worry about car traffic. There will be a ton of bike traffic. The streets are very wide though and I have not had a problem with passing, and there are not really too many concerns about drafting. There should always be a way to avoid any problems. If you are decent on the bike, you will feel like a superstar here as you will pass 100's of people making to 2 loops.

The run is generally a loop course on a mix of closed streets and paved trails.

The whole course is fairly flat. There will be every shape and size of person there young and old, so no stress about racing. Just go and have a great time. I did this as my 1st Tri a couple years ago, and I was a bit nervous beforehand too, but after I finished I was so stoked I wanted to go do it again!