First HIM: Rhode Island vs Vineman vs Wildflower
459
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2763 days
Joe_H posted 4 weeks ago.
I did vineman as my first half way back in '01 and it's agreat race. fantastic organization and scenic course. river swim and ride thru the wine country. some rollinghills but nothing impossible.
heard good stuff about Wildflower but haven't done it. very cool location but very isolated a lot of people camp there for the whole weekend and make a big event out of it. also heard it's hilly.
dont' know anything about the RI race
what I'm up to:
http://www.athletefocus.com/forum/sport/triathlon
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474 days
Workerant47 posted 4 weeks ago.
I grew up in RI and did the RI 70.3 this past summer. It was my first half so it would have been hard not to be nostalgic but here are a few things to note:
• The swim was pretty nice. Hard to beat that area of the state.
• As you know, the RI roads are crappy. Once you hit West Greenwich/Cranston the rest of the way is pretty bumpy. T
• Planning for the event is kind of a pain in that you start at Rogers Beach in Narragansett but end in Providence at the Capitol. It ends up being a nice finish ambiance but you have to spend the Saturday before shuttling your stuff around to various sites. I brought my bike and swim gear the morning of with no problem. They do offer a truck to shuttle your finisher bag up to Providence. You have to leave your run gear overnight at T2 next to the train station.
• The run up and down college hill, twice, was a good challenge. They could have used more aid stations, they were only every 3 miles and it gets pretty hot and humid that time of year, as you know.
• The course was surprisingly more challenging than I had expected.
I followed this up with the Timberman 70.3 up in NH and it was fantastic. It's an extremely energetic environment at the race and everyone was very friendly. The organization was great, the course was the best in my limited experienced. It was a very fast course: great roads, clearly marked with lots of aid stations. The lake was a great swim.
If you're going to fly back east I'd suggest doing the Timberman instead. It's a great race. My plan is to do the Vineman and Wildflower tri's this year, maybe I'll see you there;-)
178
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834 days
wirebook posted 4 weeks ago.
Having done both Wildflowre and RI....
Wildflower is a beast of a course. But it's not as difficult as some make it out to be if you're prepared. I'd best summarize it as the bike is over-hyped, and the run is under-hyped. The run is a trail run, so you should train for trail running. Sure, there's a few miles of roads, but there's many more miles of really nasty trail. The bike has basically one major climb that people get all wrapped up in, but if you approach it evenly, it's not too bad.
The RI bike is easier, but the run is honestly probably a wash. That's because RI is mid-summer back-east, and the weather will be hotter, more humid and there's still that nasty hill that you do twice in the course. While Wildflower has plenty more hills, you don't have to content with the heat or the humidity.
Swim-wise, Wildflower is easy compared to RI, because it's...ummm....a lake. RI this past year was fairly rough for the earlier waves, but not too bad for later waves.
Wildflower is an awesome event though in whole, and a huge party - tons of fun. Plus, at the WF course you might see topless ladies...which I define as positive (more about that in my race report).
Here's my race reports for those races:
Wildflower 2008
RI 70.3 2008
RI 70.3 2009
-Ray
Tri Blog: Http://dcrainmaker.blogspot.com
Planning on doing my first HIM next spring/summer and was initially planning on doing the Rhode Island 70.3 since I grew up running in Providence and have lots of family for support/accommodation around there (even though I'm now based in LA).
Now after calculating airfare, bike shipment, etc. I'm wondering if sticking to some of the recommended CA tris would be better. I've heard great things about both Vineman and Wildflower. Basically, not sure if the nostalgia/family support is worth flying to Rhode Island when there are some good tris here in CA. Though, I guess I would still have to factor in gas/accommodation, etc..
Thoughts on which are best for a first 70.3?