Bela Bela 5150

[Milkworx]

Last year's wave's were very manageable.....much better than other tri's where everybody starts together.

I also just had a tri-suit last year, was no problem, water was just quite cold.

Edited August 2, 2013 by Milkworx

[Stiggy]

I'm skipping this one and I'll do the one in JHB instead.

 

Main reason for skipping is I've read a couple posts about swimming in 1m of water. Dont know why but it really put me off.

 

Cant wait for race season...come on already!

You just don't want to do it cos you cant stand.......

[belindas]

guys can any 1 please tell me about the climb at bela bela, how long, and how steep. comparine the gradient to camoro in jhb south or steeper, or longer.....?

[KevG]

Belindas

You've obviously entered the race, and done some hill training as you in the south.

Its worse than comaro, not as bad as Suikerbos. But you want to finish, so just HTFU, you will finish.

Depends on how fast you want to do it

 

Advice? You will hurt, you will be tired, and you will hate it

Grit it

It'll be the quickest and most testing experience you do.

But you will love it

Trust me

[Bodhi]

Can't wait. It's my first Olympic distance. Making a weekend of it and plan to simply have a great time, kicks and punches in the swim leg notwithstanding.

[StevieL]

Speedo or wetsuit?

[davem]

Start groups are small enough not to have issues with kicks and punches. However, due to the extremely shallow water, there are a lot of guys who basically walk the swim or stop every 10m. The issue is swimming into the back of them. It was very difficult to build up a swim rhythm.

 

That said the whirlpool effect of everyone swimming in a circle is quite unbelievable. You will take at least 10 minutes off your best time. Personally I found it exceedingly unpleasant.

[davem]

A tip for those guys racing. It is so hot, your bike will stand in the sun for 3 hours plus from when you rack to when you race. I suggest you freeze your water bottles solid . They will defrost by the time you get on the bike and may still be drinkable. 32Gi tastes awful when it is the temperature of tea.

 

Alternately put coffee in your water bottle a have a nice cuppa before you start to pedal. Yes it is that hot.

[Garfield2010]

Also put raw eggs on your bike before the race starts. By the time you start cycling it will be cooked through and should sort out any nutrition issues you might have.

 

At the start, make sure you have the inside lane. Its faster to walk around in a circle when on the inside.

[Garfield2010]

Oh and on a serious note... don't take the road closure too serious. Last year a few "caravan families" forcefully made their way onto the route so I had to evade a couple of Jurgens/Sprites in the middle of the road while flying down a hill at 60km/hour.... and got pinned by the ref for blocking due to this....

[Milkworx]

Oh and on a serious note... don't take the road closure too serious. Last year a few "caravan families" forcefully made their way onto the route so I had to evade a couple of Jurgens/Sprites in the middle of the road while flying down a hill at 60km/hour.... and got pinned by the ref for blocking due to this....

 

Yip I remember seeing that random caravan on the course.

Thought I was hallucination my family coming to get me out of the heat. (yes I'm afrikaans and use to camp allot!! )

[StevieL]

Werner Smit:

We have changed the course in the sense that we will have 4 very big buoys in the water to force the route to the centre of the Ski Dam

 

Might make the swim more bearable...

[davem]

Don't worry about the hill. It is a hill, you cycle them often. The wind made it really tough last year. On the way back to town, with the tail wind, it was way too dangerous to ride flat out. Was easily over 70kmh being pushed around by the gusts with wobbly mountain bikes overtaking each other coming into the wind up the hill in the opposite direction. Hopefully they have somehow created a better separation between the two lanes.

[mon-goose]

anyone got any idea what the avg temp is in enmertia dam and at base 3 might be at the moment?

Edited August 7, 2013 by mon-goose

[Milkworx]

At Emmarentia

 

Temperatures at both sites were predictably lower in June and August during winter, converging between 14.6⁰C and 15.3⁰C at this time

[ADe]

I had a big training weekend planned, but I woke up with a cold this morning. Not good given how unprepared I am for the 5150.