It has been a while. I am clearly a poor bloger, but hey spring is in the air and I have been running, biking and remodeling the house. These things take up precious time. That being said lets try to get the thing back on track.
And speaking of tracks I had the chance to ride the bike course for the upcoming flower city challenge triathlon/duathlon. Being the super elite athlete that I am, this weekend entails a paddle triathlon on Saturday followed by a half marathon on Sunday. I have only been in a kayak about twice in my life so this should get interesting.
As a good preview to anyone racing I thought it would be a good idea for me to give an overview of the bike course. The bike is going to start in Genesee Valley Park near Elmwood Ave. Coming out of the transition area you take a right on Elmwood and there is a slight downhill that leads into a very sharp right turn onto Moore shortly after transition. Moore road is fairly smooth and winds threw the park. There should be little to no traffic so a good place to get settled into biking.
At the first mile the real course begins. Turning onto East river road miles 2-3 could be treacherous. This really is the only bad section of the course. It is a narrow two-lane road with no shoulder and the right side of the road is riddled with some serious pot holes. I assume this section has to be shut down to traffic being that it would be very dangerous to have so many bikers out there in traffic on a Saturday morning. If it is not, extra caution will be needed just to ensure everyone’s safety.
At mile 3 east river road crosses a set of train tracks and then Jefferson. From here there is a fairly nice shoulder and the road is pretty smooth. Miles 3-8 go along this road which has a few rolling hills. There will be a lot of shifting because you are either going up or down for this section. Nothing is very steep or long but there are a few small ring hills. If the wind is out of the north I would recommend taking it easy on this section to save some legs for the return trip.
About 8 miles in the course turns onto Erie Station Rd. Starting with a slight downhill this section seemed pretty fast. It was mostly flat with a wide shoulder and a good time to cruise in the aero bars. The road does wind a little and at the end (about mile 10.5) there is the biggest climb on the course. That being said, the climb is still relatively minor and should not cause too many problems. I think the total climb took me less than a minute and I was going fairly easy.
At the top of the “hill” the course takes a right Scottsville Rd. and this is the longest section of the bike. The course pretty much takes this road back to transition. There is a nice shoulder and most of this time should be spent in the aero position. This is part of the course is fairly open and if the wind is coming out the West or North the bike splits will be a little slower. If by chance mother nature wants to lend a helping hand and send in a nice warm wind from the South look out because you can really crank up the speed on this section. Near the end of the course the shoulder is no more but there are four lanes of traffic so hopefully one lane can be closed for the race. After that there is a slight right turn back onto Elmwood and into the park for transition to the boat.
Overall It seems like a nice course with the only exceptions being the first couple miles of river road and the last few miles with no shoulder.
To all those racing this weekend, stay safe and best of luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment