Ironman Lanzarote 2013 (3rd weekend in May?)

Not that Im doing it, but when does Lanza normally sell out?

is it cheating if you check out the bike course before you decide?

Deff not cheating..

I prepared by downloading the course to my Imagic.  Rode the 1st 5 miles on the turbo and having decided it was easy didnt bother with the rest


Though the Lanza bike course is a tough one, its not the monster many make it out to be, true there are lots of hills but its the wind and open terrain that can make the race tough. 

Get used to riding long hills, I think the climb up through Teguisse to Haria is about 8 miles (not steep until a few bits near the end).  This is followed by a swift decent through hairpins then another stiff climb, Mirrador.

Much of the remaining 25-30 miles was very exposed when I did it and although not necessarily hilly a lot of it is pretty gentle uphill.

Just back from a training camp there, not sure exactly if I did parts of the cycle route as I was based in the north but I will check later.

Hills and heat are a given but it is windy which can be interesting on a descent but I managed to get down in wind conditions I would not have normally gone out in. The road conditions are great there was one section that was bumpy and another with sand blown across the road.

Operation Extravalanza 2013

Barley
Iron Tractor Boy
Purpletrilady
Orangecannon
Blueandy
SlowEngineer

Pinning my colours to the mast... It's an official IM (I haven't gone WTC yet). I love Lanzarote. I'm looking at going to La Santa anyway later this year. I just got a new credit card. Count me in.

Operation Extravalanza 2013

Barley
Iron Tractor Boy
Purpletrilady
Blueandy
SlowEngineer

However I'm out as there are other fish to fry......

I have had word that the provisional date for IM Lanza is 18th May

'Provisional but nearly confirmed'

;-)

Operation Extravalanza 2013

Barley
Iron Tractor Boy
Purpletrilady
Blueandy
SlowEngineer
Waffy McWaffington

Operation Extravalanza 2013

Barley
Iron Tractor Boy
Purpletrilady
Blueandy
SlowEngineer
Waffy McWaffington
Meldy McMuffin





Looks like the boys are in for a chicking  

does this sell out?

Not awfully quick but I wouldnt like to put a time line on it

Thanks. Will have a ponder. I'm defo tempted having watched the burger boys video.

The Burger Boys (Part 1)

The Burger Boys (part 2)

and a pre-emptive hello to Rowena who was recruitedby Jules at Hastings today and certified by me later on - she is doing Lanza and was pointed our way

Operation Extravalanza 2013

Barley
Iron Tractor Boy
Purpletrilady
Blueandy
SlowEngineer
Waffy McWaffington
Meldy McMuffin
new shoes


Can't think of anything else to do on my birthday in 2013 so why not Did a chunk of the bike course a few weeks ago on holidays and loved it, cant wait.. suspect that may be because of the pizza stop for lunch and multiple coffee stops!

M...eldy - I found you! Hi all!

Er yes, so Lanza is on my birthday and I thought that was as good a reason to do it as any. Just come home from swim class where I am confident I can do the swim so long as I can back stroke, dog paddle, breaststroke and synchronise swim my way to the end...?

I'm a bit scared of going down hill on bikes so this should be terrifyingly fun! Whhhhheeeeeee!

Hiya Rowena welcome aboard

Good to see the list growing, not long now till entries open.

just did a training camp on Lanza, including the full IM course on he Friday

PdC - el gofo - some flat but a few gentle climbs.... take it easy... was into the wind
el gofo - flat / rolling loop - hammer it
fire mountains, la santa, famara - uphill, flat but into the wind, downhill to la santa, then up / down to famara... this is the fast bit

famara beach -> teguise. - mirador long steady climb with the wind..... then climb to teguise, big climb to he top then drop to haria, then climb to mirador del rio
Mirador - teguise - x winds but big downhill followed by steady uphill back to teguise
teguise - vineyards - donkey track - home. steady climb through the vinyards, then cut left and fly home

so..... easy out, make up time to Famara, then its a 20k climb to mirador... take it easy. At this point (2/3) you think its all down hill.......some fast downhills, then a gentle consistent climb in the last third until you reach the vineyards..... once you cut leftand climg to conil, its all done an the final 20k is downhill

its tougher that Gemany / Regensburg, a lot tougher than outlaw, but (probably) easier than wales...
The wind is the big unknown. We had weird wnw winds which seemed to end up with headwinds/xwinds the whole way around with no t ailwinds


We had a solid group of 3 kona age groupers , one wanna be and me.......We got around in 6:30 ish - not much TTing but lots of group riding in a strong group

So get strong on the bike. The hills are log and shallow, so a strong TT on the flat helps just as much as short sharp uk style hill work

The wind is an issue..... get used to it and basically the stronger the biker you are the better


The camp also has a novice ride, they got around in 8 hrs ish

Hey Rowena, snap on the birthday.. was going to say something about being likeminded with singing up, but i might be mixing that up with a saying about fools... either way there will be birthday drinks at the end