Ironman 2014 - 10 Years of Ironman in PE

[JGR]

Damn its windy in Cape Town at the moment, normally the wind stops right after the Argus, but not this year. At least its not raining.

Terrible to train in

 

Did you do the Argus? I decided against it on the day as I didn't want to risk a crash, which might have been the case as I see there were a number in the group I would have ridden in.

 

3 IDT instead ... horrible stuff

[Sidekick Racer]

Damn its windy in Cape Town at the moment, normally the wind stops right after the Argus, but not this year. At least its not raining.

 

Should be counting our blessings..

 

 

If we going to race in the wind we should be stoked to train in the wind

[AndrewF]

Should be counting our blessings..

 

 

If we going to race in the wind we should be stoked to train in the wind

 

This was exactly my thoughts at the start. Considered heading back to the hotel, but then realised riding that wind can only benefit. Crashing was a concern, but hey, that's with every race/ride

 

Managed 3:27 and a 4:50 per k 17km run after - good day!

[Red Zone]

Terrible to train in

 

Did you do the Argus? I decided against it on the day as I didn't want to risk a crash, which might have been the case as I see there were a number in the group I would have ridden in.

 

3 IDT instead ... horrible stuff

Yes, I did it, C group, which ended up catching B group after about 2 minutes. Up until Smits it was pretty hairy, quite a few spills and some pretty poor riding. Glad I did it, rode to the start and then home, ended up with 160 km including a three hour hard effort

[Foxbat]

All I can say guys is that the bike course is tough even with the west blowing. Did the full 2 laps last Saturday in a moderate west at an average of 30km/h. I'm not sure if I would have been able to run a 42 after that. Only ran a 6 and was buggered.

[Garfield2010]

All I can say guys is that the bike course is tough even with the west blowing. Did the full 2 laps last Saturday in a moderate west at an average of 30km/h. I'm not sure if I would have been able to run a 42 after that. Only ran a 6 and was buggered.

 

Have you done the old course under same wind conditions? How much tougher would you say? I need to quantify it. I don't mind hills as you get downhill's afterwards. But what bothers me is that EVERYONE is saying its gonna be so much tougher. Are we looking at 15min slower in terms of the old course? Can someone put some science into this? Perhaps calories burnt doing both courses at the same speed?

[Sidekick Racer]

All I can say guys is that the bike course is tough even with the west blowing. Did the full 2 laps last Saturday in a moderate west at an average of 30km/h. I'm not sure if I would have been able to run a 42 after that. Only ran a 6 and was buggered.

 

Compared to East London?

[Sidekick Racer]

This was exactly my thoughts at the start. Considered heading back to the hotel, but then realised riding that wind can only benefit. Crashing was a concern, but hey, that's with every race/ride

 

Managed 3:27 and a 4:50 per k 17km run after - good day!

 

Some nice solid running there!

[AndrewF]

Some nice solid running there!

 

Thanks! Also ended up pushing a guy who broke his chain on the way out of Camps Bay for 2.5km on his bike. Checked my garmin and those 2.5km were at 4:45 per Starting to notice the training! yay!

[shawnvan]

Have you done the old course under same wind conditions? How much tougher would you say? I need to quantify it. I don't mind hills as you get downhill's afterwards. But what bothers me is that EVERYONE is saying its gonna be so much tougher. Are we looking at 15min slower in terms of the old course? Can someone put some science into this? Perhaps calories burnt doing both courses at the same speed?

 

Would also love to know if anyone has some real world data / experience. According to the maths and Mapmyride, the new course has approx 1546m climbing over 176km, vs 1050m over 177km for the old course. So approx 48% more metres to climb. As for how much this will actually affect overall speed (bearing in mind that as you say, what goes up also comes down), is pretty difficult to quantify. You never make up the time lost going uphill with the downhills - there is always a net loss. I would hazard a guess that the new course will be about 2-4% slower, so 7-15 minutes for a 6hour rider. This is all an thumbsuck however - a bigger factor will be wind direction & strength on the day.

[shawnvan]

Have you done the old course under same wind conditions? How much tougher would you say? I need to quantify it. I don't mind hills as you get downhill's afterwards. But what bothers me is that EVERYONE is saying its gonna be so much tougher. Are we looking at 15min slower in terms of the old course? Can someone put some science into this? Perhaps calories burnt doing both courses at the same speed?

 

Would also love to know if anyone has some real world data / experience. According to the maths and Mapmyride, the new course has approx 1546m climbing over 176km, vs 1050m over 177km for the old course. So approx 48% more metres to climb. As for how much this will actually affect overall speed (bearing in mind that as you say, what goes up also comes down), is pretty difficult to quantify. You never make up the time lost going uphill with the downhills - there is always a net loss. I would hazard a guess that the new course will be about 2-4% slower, so 7-15 minutes for a 6hour rider. This is all an thumbsuck however - a bigger factor will be wind direction & strength on the day.

[Red Zone]

Below is Alex Riddle's tracking for one loop, he has the climbing at 830 m per lap, which seems to be in the ballpark. Its quite a nice little tracker, you can play through his ride, check out the gradient, power, speed etc... It looks to me that there are no seriously steep hills, which certainly does help keeping the legs from fatiguing too much.

 

To me it looks like fast 5 km start, then you got to ride conservatively and within yourself for 40 km and then keep seriously aero and tap out good consistent power for the last 45 km of the lap. Then repeat. The key is going to be to not panic with a slower average speed for the first half of the lap and make up time on the second half.

 

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2081464

[ADe]

Compared to East London?

I would also want to get someone's take on one lap PE vs one lap EL

[Garfield2010]

If there is a Westerly then I think the course could be better. If you work the first 45km against the hills and slight wind (as we are protected mostly by trees etc on the way out) then you could fly back along the coast with the wind really helping.

 

This will also mean you get off the bike legs rested almost due to the wind...

 

I would even consider taking a Disc if there is a nice 30km/hour Westerly wind. What does them locals say??

 

(Kyle tweeted the other day that it is gonna be tough with the new route)

[hboli4]

I am not a local currently but have ridden the course a couple of times in the last couple of months. I have done the previous 2 events but cannot really compare as the first one was as we know ridiculous wrt the weather and last year I went into the event carrying some injuries and struggled in the latter part of the bike...I am also not the strongest cyclist so take that into account.

 

I think the toughness of the course will be determined by the wind on the day. If it doesn't blow, it will be tougher for sure as the extra climbing will take it's toll. A moderate west will be the best (we all know the old west is best east is the beast) saying....You are a bit sheltered on the hills but not as much as one would think. The 'extra' bit we have along the coast back to the finish can be really fast and will definitely help in making up time. Conversely, if the east is blowing it is going to be that extra bit tougher due the extended time into the east. As mentioned, the hills do shelter you from the wind a bit but will not help that much on the climbs as you mostly climb in a northerly or southerly direction on the new section.

 

Nothing on the course is very steep as in all can be ridden seated but I mainly use my granny on two of the hills and spin at a high cadence to save my legs.

 

My advise, ride more conservatively than you think you have to on the hills and especially the first lap. Even if you feel good on the stretch back with a west in the back do not push too hard, you will regret it second time around. If I'm feeling good on the day I will only push a bit more once I have finished the hilly section the second time around.

 

There is a lot of talk around saying that the course is roughly 30% tougher and that if you finished after 15.30 hrs last year you will not finish the new course. Well, all I can say that one cannot 'measure' determination and willpower and that we have to ride the conditions and course on the day.

[shawnvan]

To me it looks like fast 5 km start, then you got to ride conservatively and within yourself for 40 km and then keep seriously aero and tap out good consistent power for the last 45 km of the lap. Then repeat. The key is going to be to not panic with a slower average speed for the first half of the lap and make up time on the second half.

 

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2081464

Hit the nail on the head.