Anyone do the "Trinona"?

I'm signed up for the oly this year, my relatives down there have me paranoid about the lake being dirty, but my thought is, "I'm not the only one in there."

There are some race reports here http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/directory/link-detail.... for the oly, the sprint page has a couple as well.

I did the Oly the first year of Trinona - three years ago I think.   I thought the lake was fine.  And the whole race was even better.

I'm doing it this year again, and am looking forward to it.  By the way, I'll be on the lakeshore the evening prior with my fishing rod!

Thanks everyone!  Looks like they are already 90% full too!

Yep.  I also did the Oly Distance in the inaugural year (2009).  I have friends that went to Winona State and they were grossed out when I told them where the swim was held.  However, I didn't encounter any problems.  I think that they may dredge a lane through the race course to give swimmers a clear path through the weeds.  In fact, the first stretch of the course was made even easier because you can sight off of Sugarloaf. 

The rest of the race is a blast.  It's got a hilly bike course, but you're rewarded with a trail run around the lake.

Trinona is a great little race.  Have fun!

I love this race.  I did the Oly in 2010 and 2011 and am signed up again for this year.  They've won race of the year at the Minnesota Multisport Awards the last two years running.  That doesn't happen by accident.

Swim:  The bottom is muck, visibility is about 6 inches and you'll grab some weeds the first and last 100yd or so.  In other words, exactly like every lake swim in the TC metro or anywhere else in sourthern MN.  Pretty much guaranteed wetsuit-legal just because it's early June.

Bike:  The sprint course is a simple out and back with no hills of note.  The Oly goes up Garvin Heights, which is 1 mile at 9%.  The descent is wicked fun.  You spin out of whatever gear you have and the turns are gradual enough that you don't even have to think about touching the brakes.

Run:  The run is on a paved pedestrian path around the lake.  This is the flattest run course I've seen anywhere.  The biggest elevation change is a shin-high foot bridge over a ditch.  I've never come close to the run splits I've done on this course anywhere else, so I'm guessing the Oly course is a tad bit shorter than advertised.  No idea on the length of the sprint course, but it should be bang on since it simply follows the Oly course and turns back around a cone.

My advice would be to at least consider the Oly if you're up to it.  IMO The climb up Garvin Heights and the screaming 40+ mph descent back into town are what really set this race apart and the sprint course doesn't go that way.  The rest of the course is pretty standard.  That said the race organization is top-notch and gets rave reviews from the sprint participants as well, so you probably can't go wrong with either.

Wicked descent is right.

If you are planning on doing Trinona and don't live in the area, I HIGHLY recommend making a day trip down to Winona to ride the course.  Sure, you can practice on steep hills around the Twin Cities.  Moreso than any other course, doing it beforehand really helped me put the ride in perspective with the rest of the race.  At the very least, you can pick out some landmarks on Garvin Heights.  Example: "only 1/4 mile past that fence and this madness is over".

I drove up the climb today, and thought to myself "I don't have a hill like that near the metro to train on."  Seemed like it is slightly steeper than Grand, but not quite as steep as Ramsey, much more consistent than The Bell, and much much longer (for those of you who ride St. Paul).

Anyone have a better map than the one on the race website?

Saturday the 14th I'm heading down to ride some of the bike course.  If you want to meet me down there, I plan on riding Garvin twice, and suffering loves company...