wcb said:

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And Starky goes 4:01 on the bike. Unreal.

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Unless Hanson has issues, he's crushing it on the run. Record today?

I highly recommend doing your IMs and such pre-kids. Training for my first now (Mont-Tremblant this August) and it's a balancing act to give family, work, and training all the focus they deserve in a week. Being self-employed helps a lot though as I can train some during the day and get my work done outside the 9-5.

Dill-Ag13 said:

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CATAGBQ04 said:

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Who's running?

1724, my second and probably last one...gotta beat my first time!

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Best of luck man. The mileage you're posting up on Strava is inspiring me.

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This....except impressed, not inspired

Starty went 4:01...after he was hit by a car and dragged. Guy almost died last August and this was one of his better races. Plus he has a kid that is having issues and he had to give him CPR so that another level of added stress. Very impressive.

Hanson loves this race, hopefully he can peak again in October and be a contender for Kona

Great job everyone!

Man the weather felt nice volunteering. Nice cool breeze.

If anyone wants to volunteer I highly recommend Run Special Needs. For those that don't know, athletes get a bag to fill with whatever they want. They do three loops on the course and can access the bag once. Anything they don't take gets tossed (clothes are donated). The volunteer captain knew I was a triathlete so told me if I wanted anything that I was about to toss to feel free to take it. I walked away with a gallon size ziploc packed with Gu of all different brands and flavors Had a blast for 5 hours and got a ton of free nutrition.

I volunteered a bike aid station one year. Came home with a few "used once" Polar bottles. It is definitely a fun time working one of those races. Very inspiring as you get to the later groups.

Congrats to all who raced! We had a blast out there cheering and tailgating all day at Catapult Corner. It was especially fun to watch one of our teammates and a fellow Ag, crush the course to win his age group and to post the fastest amateur run (2:45 marathon, 4th fastest overall run).
It looks like the new bike course and the move into April has completely changed the dynamics of the race.

Awesome job,everyone. Took the boy and the dog to watch AG finishers and cheer on runners fora few hours on Saturday and BIG TIME got the itch to sign up again. Hope I can shake the feeling off for a few more years while kids are priority...

I already want to sign up again for next year but yes.......priorities.

Any reviews of the new bike course? I know going in the big concerns were:
1. Exposure - No shade
2. Boredom - No spectators
3. Wind - No trees/buildings to block it

From talking to a few friends seems like:
1. Exposure wasn't a concern because of the cloud cover

2. Yes it was boring as hell with no changes in visuals and no spectators to take your attention.

3. Once that front blew in it was a BRUTAL wind tunnel the last 20-30 miles. One female friend told me "At mile 90 I was breaking down in tears. Lord it sucked!"

1. Shade was not an issue due to cloud cover/mild to moderate temps
2. I was actually less bored than I anticipated. I expected there to be nobody out there except for people manning the aid stations. Surprisingly, there were a number of spots with people cheering. It ended up being better than I anticipated - but I expected the absolute worst. One of my favorite moments was on my first lap on the overpass over Crosstimbers (right before the turn around) seeing the downtown Houston skyline. I really enjoyed that as this is a hometown kind of race for me and for some reason it just had that impact on me.
3. I remember though on my last lap (mile 90ish) getting to the Beltway 8 and then considering how long it takes to get to The Woodlands is from that point driving and then contemplating how freaking long it was gonna take me to get there on my bike going into this monster headwind. It was brutal. Those last miles just dragged by. Fortunately I only had 3 miles left or so in my first lap before the front came through so I really only had to deal with the headwind on the final stretch.

Some other things to consider though - there is something to be said that 99% of this bike course was on an impeccable road surface. SO much of the old course was on this nasty chip seal stuff that while scenic - made that course a miserable grind in its own kind of way. Not to mention that the old course was still fairly exposed to the wind as it was. Also there was somewhat of a novelty in my opinion to riding my bike on a toll road that was completely closed off to traffic. I enjoyed that aspect of it as well.

I can't speak to the new course or the previous one, but I really enjoyed the original, single loop course. It was a pretty fast course and the vast majority of the road surface was nice.

As for spectators on the bike course, I've done three IMs and none of them really had that many bike course spectators. IMWI had the most, but even with that one there were very long stretches where there was no one along the course.

AggieOO said:

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As for spectators on the bike course, I've done three IMs and none of them really had that many bike course spectators. IMWI had the most, but even with that one there were very long stretches where there was no one along the course.

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Of the courses I've raced, the Lake Placid bike by far had the most people. There were sporadic fans along most of the route. The only place there wasn't any was the on the big screaming 4-mile decent early in the loop, which went thru and down into a mountain valley that had the most amazing lake to ride next to, therefore, no fans needed. Then the next 10ish or so miles had very few people. I didn't mind it though because that stretch was downwind and it was easy to put your head down and hammer for a while. The remainder of the loop had really good support, especially on the back side the last 10 miles in town. The last climb felt like climbing in the tour with the crowds on the roads.

there are sections of IMWI that feel like you are on the tour, especially going through Verona. Its amazing!

but there's a lot of riding out in the country, where there are no crowds. Its really not a big deal to me. crowds are a plus, but i don't need them.

I really enjoyed last years one off IMTX course. It was all over the place but in a good way. Plenty of people and activity on 1960, went through all kinds of different neighborhoods, had long stretches of shade. It was constant activity and interesting to me.