Ironman California 2022 - Bike Course Recon

#ironman #imcalifornia #courserecon #reconnaissance #triathlon #teamzoot
As part of traveling to 70.3 Worlds, I stop on by to Ironman California as a volunteer. Prior to that shift, I did a ride of the bike course (there are two loops, I only did one as it's the same out and back) and tell you about the unique elements of this bike course. In short, it is flat and fast, but headwinds and crosswinds combined with narrow roads make it challenging to navigate! Miles in the time stamps are approximate.
Time Stamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:45 - Start of the Bike Course
1:14 - Mile 5 / Mile 61
1:34 - Mile 10 / Mile 66
3:05 - Aid Station 1
3:14 - Mile 15 / Mile 71
3:43 - Mile 20 / Mile 76
4:12 - Mile 25 / Mile 81 / Aid Station 2
4:33 - Turnaround at Mile 28 / Mile 84
4:57 - Mile 30 / Mile 86
5:26 - Mile 35 / Mile 91
5:47 - Aid Station 3
5:57 - Mile 40 / Mile 96
6:16 - Mile 45 / Mile 101
8:14 - Mile 50 / Mile 106
8:51 - Mile 55 / Mile 111
8:59 - Thoughts on the bike course
11:10 - A brick run that turned out not to be

[@nickkarim3]

Thanks for the recon! I might use this as deciding factor to sign up for 2023 since I’m looking for flat bike courses 👍

[@jacobmanalac5698]

Any insights about the run course? I look at the website and they say it's flat but I also saw a Strava activity of a friend who completed the race and the run shows 6K+ ft of elevation gain. I wonder if that was just a glitch on his watch or something.

[@yoshijlee]

The run is pretty flat, minus a few "climbs" to get to the bridge or levee levels which generally are around 30 feet up or down. Probably a total of 300 feet of elevation gain through the entirety of the run course. It likely is a glitch on the watch if the altimeter stopped working as I have had similar issues with my other watches with wacky elevation gain due to altimeter issues.

[@jacobmanalac5698]

@@yoshijlee Thanks for your response and insights! Building up my confidence here, I'm tempted to sign up for 2023.