Spiddal Triathlon 21/5/2011

pgibbo

I see there's a new triathlon in Spiddal, Galway next year with closed roads. Seeing as Carna is not going ahead next year this could be a busy one as people prepare for Kilkee. Sprint and Olympic distances available too. A nice hilly cycle too. Should be fun

ronanmac

Cool stuff. Nice and local for me!

HardyEustace

Who's running it?

pgibbo

HardyEustace wrote: »

Who's running it?

No idea. I assume it's connected to the Irish Triathlon site as the look and feel is very similar. Maybe Seb is involved or might know who is running it? It looks like one of his 25.5 sites too plus there are training days before the event. I don't know anyone else that offers training days on the course when organising an event. I could be way off the mark though.

Just heard from a very reliable source that it's being organised by Brian Crinion.

groovyg

Is the Galway triathlon club not organising any tri next year then? Thats a shame despite the mess up with the swim in Carna .... I really enjoyed that triathlon.

pgibbo

groovyg wrote: »

Is the Galway triathlon club not organising any tri next year then? Thats a shame despite the mess up with the swim in Carna .... I really enjoyed that triathlon.

Correct. No GTC Triathlon next year. Shame as it was a good race, swim aside. Nice tough course. They have something else planned.

Any idea when the TI Calendar is being released?

X files

Nice road for cycling, water should be fun in may.
Good idea since 70.3 attracting the crowds and maybe not ti linked.

Daredevil78

I tried to register today but found entries have closed, if anyone is cancelling please let me know so i can get the organisers to give me a number! Sprint category, not Olympic!

hootini

2 stars (poor)

I just scouted the road for the Sprint/Olympic distance in Spiddal (21st May)? . I'm down for the Olympic distance and I dread to think of doing just one out and back (let alone two!).

The road is borderline dangerous IMO (narrow/poorly surfaced/potholed/ dangerous undulation etc). For a single cyclist it'd be ok - but a mixed course with some inexperienced riders?!

What were the organisers thinking? Its near farsical in my opinion.

Has anyone else looked at the route yet?

coill100

I have looked at it all right, the surface is not great, i think that this past winter has done quite a bit of damage to the surface.
At the top of the climb, and leaving the village for about 50 meters.
Mind the corner just as you come into the village on the return leg as there are quite a few loose chippings on the road.

mo_bhicycle

hootini wrote: »

Its near farsical in my opinion.

Has anyone else looked at the route yet?

Totally exaggerated, it's not that bad. Galway Bay CC run their club race on that road every Thursday night, going faster and closer together than any of the triathlon participants will be.
The road isn't ideal, but farcical it is not.

HardyEustace

groovyg wrote: »

Is the Galway triathlon club not organising any tri next year then? Thats a shame despite the mess up with the swim in Carna .... I really enjoyed that triathlon.

Galway Triathlon Club are having an aquathon festival this year.

hootini

2 stars (poor)

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

Totally exaggerated, it's not that bad. Galway Bay CC run their club race on that road every Thursday night, going faster and closer together than any of the triathlon participants will be.
The road isn't ideal, but farcical it is not.

mo_bhicycle - I accept your point on that the road conditions are less than ideal. I'm assuming that everyone in the Galway Bay CC is a seasoned experienced rider.... this may not be the case though on the 21st.

Do they do a similar out and back in ther club ride?

pgibbo

hootini wrote: »

mo_bhicycle - I accept your point on that the road conditions are less than ideal. I'm assuming that everyone in the Galway Bay CC is a seasoned experienced rider.... this may not be the case though on the 21st.

Do they do a similar out and back in ther club ride?

Galway Bay CC do not do an out and back. They start in Bushypark and go to Spiddal via Moycullen and then go to Bearna and up by Bearna Golf Club.

I haven't been over that way in a while myself so I can't comment on the surface. I never found it to be the best of road surfaces though. One section had nasty slits in the road around an inch thick and a few feet long. In saying that, there are a lot worse around the place. If the road is closed on the day as advertised it might not be all that bad to negotiate.

hootini

2 stars (poor)

pgibbo wrote: »

Galway Bay CC do not do an out and back. They start in Bushypark and go to Spiddal via Moycullen and then go to Bearna and up by Bearna Golf Club.

I haven't been over that way in a while myself so I can't comment on the surface. I never found it to be the best of road surfaces though. One section had nasty slits in the road around an inch thick and a few feet long. In saying that, there are a lot worse around the place. If the road is closed on the day as advertised it might not be all that bad to negotiate.

Thanks - I suppose that was my point. I found the return leg (back to Spiddal) much worse than the actual ascent in terms of poor quality surface. I did notice those 'caterpillar tracks' too.

Are you down for it too btw?

pgibbo

hootini wrote: »

Thanks - I suppose that was my point. I found the return leg (back to Spiddal) much worse than the actual ascent in terms of poor quality surface. I did notice those 'caterpillar tracks' too.

Are you down for it too btw?

Unfortunately not. I am working that day.

McTigs

hootini wrote: »

The road is borderline dangerous IMO (narrow/poorly surfaced/potholed/ dangerous undulation etc). For a single cyclist it'd be ok - but a mixed course with some inexperienced riders?!

tbh i was thinking the same thing. I know the road well and there is one bend in paricular at the bottom of a long decent about 400 meteres from spiddal and i will be flabbergasted if there isn't an accident.... especially with the two way traffic.

I would strongly advise anyone that can to cycle and study the course as best they can ahead of the race.

unfortunately my race is off cos of injury. must see if i can get my number released.

adamski8

Daredevil78 wrote: »

I tried to register today but found entries have closed, if anyone is cancelling please let me know so i can get the organisers to give me a number! Sprint category, not Olympic!

I'm in the same boat if anyone is thinking about cancelling I'm looking for 2 sprint numbers

McTigs wrote: »

unfortunately my race is off cos of injury. must see if i can get my number released.

Can you get back to us here and let us know if the organisers are letting transfers?

Incremental

Got an email from the Organizers today stating this is no longer a Triathlon Ireland event due to insurance cover on the Road Closure. Triathlon Ireland members will not pay anything extra but any Non-TI members will pay a €13 insurance charge instead of a TI licence.
As a newbie this does not bother me. Are there benefits to a participant if the race is a TI sanctioned event?

El Director

Well it's a week away guys, how are we all fixed? It's great there seems to be plenty doing this event here. Doing the olympic myself, many doing the olympic race?

RedB

3 stars (average)

I'm doing the Olympic distance but I'll be aiming for mid-pack territory at best. I haven't much speed work done to date as my training has got juggled around a bit and the Lost Sheep is my A race this year. Still, I hope to enjoy the day out and make the best of it.

I don't see anything on the site about registering prior to the race but I presume you can sign up on the morning . I'm hoping to come up from Limerick that morning rather than have to stay in Galway the night before. I emailed the organisers a while back to query this but heard nothing. I see Transition will probably open from 7am.

El Director

ya no mention yet of registration but transition is open from 7am. An early start for us I see too - 9am

Going to be making a night of it myself in the City later that evening if anybody is staying around :cool:

sconhome

El Director wrote: »

ya no mention yet of registration but transition is open from 7am. An early start for us I see too - 9am

Here's some info from the Spiddal website:

Sign-on will start in Nigel’s Cycles on Sunday afternoon, the 15th of May (exact time will be confirmed shortly). Sign-on will remain open in Nigel’s Cycles until Friday at 2pm.
Sign-on Friday evening

There will also be sign-on from 6pm-9pm in Boluisce Restaurant, Spiddal.
Limited sign-on Saturday morning

There will also be sign-on from 7am-7:45am in Boluisce Restaurant, Spiddal. Email richard@tri-planet.ie to arrange sign-on on Saturday morning.

Won't get to do this myself though Mrs. AKW is doing the Sprint.

spurscormac

Have a couple of Qs on this as its my first triathlon - the sprint distance).

I assume as registration is open all week, any of us locals can drop in to Nigel's and get sorted.
On the day however, can anyone tell me what the process is with regards to setting up your transition spot.
I assume you wait until the morning of the race and sort it out ahead of the start.
Having said that, with all the various waves, do you need to have your transition setup complete before the first Olympic wave starts ?

Any other simple tips would be more than welcome.

RedB

3 stars (average)

spurscormac wrote: »

Have a couple of Qs on this as its my first triathlon - the sprint distance).

I assume as registration is open all week, any of us locals can drop in to Nigel's and get sorted.

Yes

On the day however, can anyone tell me what the process is with regards to setting up your transition spot.
I assume you wait until the morning of the race and sort it out ahead of the start.

Yes

Having said that, with all the various waves, do you need to have your transition setup complete before the first Olympic wave starts?

Yes

Any other simple tips would be more than welcome.

Transition opens at 7am and closes at 8:55am and its usually first come first served re getting a slot. People usually organise all their gear into a box or big gearbag the day before and carry their stuff in balanced on the bike with wetsuit slung over their shoulder. Rack your bike and memorise the location because it'll probably look different when crowded. You'll leave your shoes, helmet, etc there with whatever water, etc you want and you remove the box/bag then to allow more room for everyone. Give yourself plenty of time to do this and try to avoid pumping tyres, pinning on numbers, going to the jacks, etc at the last minute as time usually evaporates if you're not organised. Visualise the whole thing in advance and ensure you have everything you need when and where you need it.

catweazle

spurscormac wrote: »

Having said that, with all the various waves, do you need to have your transition setup complete before the first Olympic wave starts ?

Try and ensure you get there early and get the best spot to set up in transition. You will then get a big lad in a Giant Trinity bike trying to muscle you out of the way. Ignore El Director and continue working away - further infuriate him by mentioning this is your first tri and ask him for his pump, lube and a spare gel (he will have about 20 gels)

El Director

catweazle wrote: »

Try and ensure you get there early and get the best spot to set up in transition. You will then get a big lad in a Giant Trinity bike trying to muscle you out of the way. Ignore El Director and continue working away - further infuriate him by mentioning this is your first tri and ask him for his pump, lube and a spare gel (he will have about 20 gels)

Ha Ha...what a funny mofo CW is!! Don't mind him spurscormac, I am very well mannered in transition....CW on the other hand....well-just make sure you have a bike lock for while you are swimming and running!

hootini

2 stars (poor)

El Director wrote: »

Ha Ha...what a funny mofo CW is!! Don't mind him spurscormac, I am very well mannered in transition....CW on the other hand....well-just make sure you have a bike lock for while you are swimming and running!

LOL!

Jupiter36

Incremental wrote: »

Got an email from the Organizers today stating this is no longer a Triathlon Ireland event due to insurance cover on the Road Closure. Triathlon Ireland members will not pay anything extra but any Non-TI members will pay a €13 insurance charge instead of a TI licence.
As a newbie this does not bother me. Are there benefits to a participant if the race is a TI sanctioned event?

See todays article on the TI website: http://www.triathlonireland.com/index.php?id=107&nid=295

As it is not a TI sanctioned event, TI members are not covered by TI insurance if they enter this race. There does not seem to be any logic to why non TI members are being charged an extra €13. I would advise anyone participating in the event to ask why before paying it.

spurscormac

Thanks for the feedback, I'll watch out for those dodgy boards members.

hootini

2 stars (poor)

Spiddal Triathlon has been "modified" ... again.

"Currently there's a 30% chance that we'll have to modify the swim course if the 40kph winds forecast come true. There's two levels of modification." Run course laps have been changed - Sprint is now 3 laps (5.7km run). Olympic is now 5 laps (9.6km run)
Modification 1 for rough seas: the olympic swim will become 750m and follow the same route as the Sprint competitors.
Modification 2 for very rough seas: the swim will take place on a 375m loop in the shelter of the pier, with all competitors doing 2 laps (750m).

This will also require a 1km run from the swim to the transition. (.....in a wetsuit!?) :eek:

http://www.galwaytriathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Spiddal-Tri-Briefing-doc.pdf

catweazle

hootini wrote: »

Spiddal Triathlon has been "modified" ... again.

"Currently there's a 30% chance that we'll have to modify the swim course if the 40kph winds forecast come true. There's two levels of modification." Run course laps have been changed - Sprint is now 3 laps (5.7km run). Olympic is now 5 laps (9.6km run)
Modification 1 for rough seas: the olympic swim will become 750m and follow the same route as the Sprint competitors.
Modification 2 for very rough seas: the swim will take place on a 375m loop in the shelter of the pier, with all competitors doing 2 laps (750m).

This will also require a 1km run from the swim to the transition. (.....in a wetsuit!?) :eek:

http://www.galwaytriathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Spiddal-Tri-Briefing-doc.pdf

Ahhh give them a break Hootini, isnt it better than them just cancelling the swim at the last minute and doing a duathlon, at least they are taking measures to cater for the weather in advance and not just announcing them on the morning

RedB

3 stars (average)

hootini wrote: »

This will also require a 1km run from the swim to the transition(.....in a wetsuit!?) :eek:

So would that count as Ireland's first Quadathlon (Swim/Run/Bike/Run)

DaveR1

4 stars (good)

hootini wrote: »

Spiddal Triathlon has been "modified" ... again.

"Currently there's a 30% chance that we'll have to modify the swim course if the 40kph winds forecast come true. There's two levels of modification." Run course laps have been changed - Sprint is now 3 laps (5.7km run). Olympic is now 5 laps (9.6km run)
Modification 1 for rough seas: the olympic swim will become 750m and follow the same route as the Sprint competitors.
Modification 2 for very rough seas: the swim will take place on a 375m loop in the shelter of the pier, with all competitors doing 2 laps (750m).

This will also require a 1km run from the swim to the transition.(.....in a wetsuit!?) :eek:

http://www.galwaytriathlon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Spiddal-Tri-Briefing-doc.pdf

1. At least they have a plan in place? Better than every1 standing around at 9 on saturday morning without any idea of what is happening.

2. No rules as to when u take off your wetsuit so u can take in off when u get out of the water and run with it in ur hands.

All in all, its much better than having to turn it into a duathlon with no swim!!!

hootini

2 stars (poor)

catweazle wrote: »

Ahhh give them a break Hootini, isnt it better than them just cancelling the swim at the last minute and doing a duathlon, at least they are taking measures to cater for the weather in advance and not just announcing them on the morning

In fairness I was being a bit cheeky.

I'm relieved really with the fact that they have a backup plan in place.
I agree it would be a disaster if it turned out to be a duathlon.

On a side note I was swimming in Blackrock yesterday and it was a b*tch to swim in, anyone else do any galway sea swims in the past 48hrs ?

Tinder

Hi folks,

Just a quick question, my first tri this weekend and I am not sure what to do with the two numbers I got, is it one to go on the back and one on the front of your tri-suit? Also when do you put them on, surly you don't have to pin them on in transition?


Also does the timing chip go on your arm or leg?

Cheers
T

DaveR1

4 stars (good)

Numbers can be pinned on before race. They'll be fine under the wetsuit. I wear a race belt but i'll even have this under the wetsuit. Have to be on ur back for the cycle and front for run. So you can pin on two, one front and one back, or use a race belt.

Chip will be on ur ankle

Dave

El Director

Wet and very windy it looks like-going to be a miserable morning it would seem...

http://www.accuweather.com/ukie/forecast-hourly.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&postalcode=spiddal&metric=1&hbhday=2&hbhhour=7

O well, it's the same for everyone and we will just have to HTFU

shotgunmcos

2 stars (poor)

DaveR1 wrote: »

...Chip will be on ur ankle

Dave

Do you plan on keeping on for the whole race this time

gombeen99

hootini wrote: »

Spiddal Triathlon has been "modified" ... again.

Run course laps have been changed - Sprint is now 3 laps (5.7km run). Olympic is now 5 laps (9.6km run)

Not looking forward to 5 laps for the Olympic run course which I'm certain will all feel into the wind - mentally tough! Lap 1 find my legs ...2 can't feel my legs & this lap is really really dragging ... 3 that demoralising feeling when you realise you've only done 3 when you are certain you've at least 4 done, ...4, can I just pretend I've done 5, would anyone really notice ... , 5 magically the legs come back to life 400m from finish.

hootini wrote: »

Modification 2 for very rough seas: the swim will take place on a 375m loop in the shelter of the pier, with all competitors doing 2 laps (750m).

This will also require a 1km run from the swim to the transition. (.....in a wetsuit!?) :eek:

Fair play to them for having the contingency plan ready in advance rather than leaving it to the last minute & total confusion. Let's hope for just normal rough rather than very rough seas - don't fancy a 1km run back with wetsuit either on or in my hand. On a logistics point, if this happens, does anyone know if we will be able to leave runners at the exit point from the water for the 1km run back to transition?

hootini

2 stars (poor)

gombeen99 wrote: »

On a logistics point, if this happens, does anyone know if we will be able to leave runners at the exit point from the water for the 1km run back to transition?

I just picked up a pair of state of the art / ultra light racing flip flops for EXACTLY this scenario!


...... €2 from Penneys.

gombeen99

Good thinking - I'll get down to Penney's straight away before the word spreads among the tri community of this incredible offer!!

pgibbo

Good luck to everyone tomorrow. Hopefully the weather won;t be as bad as predicted. Lovely day here in Gawlay at the moment. Still windy but not as bad as the last few days.

The cycle route is fairly exposed so I'd advise having arm warmers at a minimum as the wind is quite cold and the rain is unseasonably cold also.

Good luck and enjoy :cool:

spurscormac

Hard to know how the weather will hold up - weather.com forecast not as bad as accuweather, but the rain does look very likely from ~10:30 onwards.

shotgunmcos

2 stars (poor)

pgibbo wrote: »

... and the rain is unseasonably cold also.

Can't say I've experienced hot rain anywhere else in the country so seems Galway is not on its own there

hootini

2 stars (poor)

spurscormac wrote: »

Hard to know how the weather will hold up - weather.com forecast not as bad as accuweather, but the rain does look very likely from ~10:30 onwards.

I'd factored in heavy rain and a biting wind but how do you go about factoring a huge "predicted" earthquake during a tri!?

http://www.reuters.com/video/2011/05/18/end-of-the-world-as-we-know-iton-may?videoId=210922093&videoChannel=2602

Best of luck tomorrow everyone - it may be our last.

El Director

Best of luck to everybody this morn, especially first timers. Had to make the tough call myself and pull out-damn cold has spread into my chest and I'm not chancing it...got pneumonia last year under similar circumstances

Bambaata

Sorry to hear that ElD but im sure its the right decision. best of luck all

spurscormac

In the same position as El D, woke up this morning felling pretty crap. Got all my gear together but wasn't feeling any better so decided the best plan was to avoid pneumonia and get some sleep.
Looking at the weather now, and the fact I still feel like crap, I'm glad I opted out to be honest.

Hope everyone out there got through it ok, and there weren't any serious spills on what's probably a very greasy road.

El Director

spurscormac wrote: »

In the same position as El D, woke up this morning felling pretty crap. Got all my gear together but wasn't feeling any better so decided the best plan was to avoid pneumonia and get some sleep.
Looking at the weather now, and the fact I still feel like crap, I'm glad I opted out to be honest.

Hope everyone out there got through it ok, and there weren't any serious spills on what's probably a very greasy road.

Ya sitting, here now on my sisters couch in Salthill looking out the window-it is actually end of the world stuff out there! Utterly, utterly miserable out there! I have swam in worse but I really really hope it is not like this come Sept

gottarun

Word is the conditions were awful for racing in. Theres several hundred drowned rats hanging out in Spiddal this afternoon.