Ironman Barcelona

mloc123

Almost every race is a draft fest now? Organisers do not care.... cycle laps with that volume of people, it is not possible to not draft.

iwillhtfu

mloc123 wrote: »

it is not possible to not draft.

Even at the pointy end?

mloc123

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Even at the pointy end?

What do the pointy end do when they catch up with the blunt end after a lap?

peter kern

iwillhtfu wrote: »

One that stood out was BMC pulling out as a result of the drafting.

60 pros started 20 finished ...

peter kern

tunney wrote: »

Various facebooks rants suggest otherwise.............

big news ... but at least times are a bit more realistic this year

peter kern

EC1000 wrote: »

There was a hill on each lap this year that wasn't part of the course last year.

i guess same course as 2016 ?

rodneyr1981

peter kern wrote: »

i guess same course as 2016 ?

Yes same course as 2016 with the addition of a shorter out and back part to bring it up to the 180km.

Diego Murphy

Well that's my first ironman done and dusted. 12:20 finish time. Will post a full report when I get home!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

mloc123 wrote: »

Almost every race is a draft fest now? Organisers do not care.... cycle laps with that volume of people, it is not possible to not draft.

I disagree it is possible if you want to, and on that course.

BTH

Brynlee Thousands Sibilant wrote: »

I disagree it is possible if you want to, and on that course.

Is it possible to not draft and compete??

mloc123

Brynlee Thousands Sibilant wrote: »

I disagree it is possible if you want to, and on that course.

So what do you do? Drop back... and then the person behind you fills that gap... so you drop back again... and again. The course is too crowded.

TriFirst

mloc123 wrote: »

Almost every race is a draft fest now? Organisers do not care.... cycle laps with that volume of people, it is not possible to not draft.

I would be sympathetic towards this. When you have in excess of 2000 people cycling laps it is virtually impossible to not find yourself in a pack or constantly on someones wheel whether intentional or not.

TriFirst

Well done to the three Irish women who bagged 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 60-64 age group in Barcelona.

TheBazman

Did it as my first aswell. Finished in 10:38 which I was delighted with. Lost my goggles with around 1500m to go in the swim which made the rest of it interesting. Spent over 7 or 8 mins in T1 trying to sort my eyes out. The surface for the cycle was excellent - no climbs of note just one drag. Being honest I saw very little obvious, deliberate drafting or trains, however it was impossible with that amount of people on 2 loops not to cycle in groups a lot of the time. There was a couple of occasions when I was passed, slowed down a little, which means someone else would pass...and so on and so on. There was a lot of penalties handed out but it was fairly random. The run was tough going but saying that it wasnt particularly hot which helped. Such a buzz running up the red carpet - I walked the last 200 - 300m just before the finish to ensure I had enough energy to run down to the finish like a lunatic!

I think 2000 - 2500 would be more than enough on a course like that.

rodriquez

Sunday was my first full distance too. Finished in 11:33 which was much better than I was expecting. I pressed the wrong button on my watch as I was trying to pick the right moment to get into the fairly lively looking sea at the start. The swim was an experience in itself
I did see some groups of bikes but it didn't appear to be the draft fest some people have described it as. I saw lots of motos patrolling the roads, they were even still out there on the last 10k of the bike.
I have to say it really is some buzz going up the red carpet for the first time, definitely a memory i'll have for a very long time

pgibbo

mloc123 wrote: »

So what do you do? Drop back... and then the person behind you fills that gap... so you drop back again... and again. The course is too crowded.

Yes, that is what you do. I rode solo with no-one around me for very long periods at the weekend. I would say I had no-one within 50m of me for over 75% of the race. As Fran says it is possible.

Diego Murphy

pgibbo wrote: »

Yes, that is what you do. I rode solo with no-one around me for very long periods at the weekend. I would say I had no-one within 50m of me for over 75% of the race. As Fran says it is possible.

I agree. It can be a draft fest if you want it to be. I did have one peleton of about 25 that passed me at one stage, but other than that, from what I could see, ppl stayed pretty well spread.

I wanted to challenge myself in the spirit of the event, riding solo without drafting and it's very possible to do that. Unless you're looking to challenge for prizes,the ironman is very much a personal battle against yourself, so I don't really see the point in not going about it the right way. I really really enjoyed the event, as did many others that I met at it.

If I had one complaint, it would be the lack of lighting on the road out by the train track on the run. Running in complete darkness shouldn't happen. I can't imagine what it was like for ppl at the tail end of the event, running down there on their own.

TheBazman

Yeah quite a few people said it was very dark and quite lonely out there late on in the run.