Ironman Lake Tahoe Course Recon
I got the chance to spend the afternoon checking out the IMHoe course last week and thought I would post my thoughts/findings to keep them organized and hopefully pass on a little information.
I was on a non-triathlon vacation with my Wife and kids. We rented a motorhome and were camping on the opposite side of the lake. The promise of a great lunch and a ride to the top of Squaw Valley earned me the afternoon on the course. 
We drove about 45 minutes and got to Kings Beach on the North Shore of the lake. I have been coming to Tahoe since I was a kid, but never spent much time on the North Shore and certainly never applied a critical eye to King's Beach, home of the IMHoe siwm and T1. King's Beach is basically a wide spot on Hwy 28, the road around this peice of the lake.
Here is a look at the swim course:
According to the IMHoe website, you enter on the West of a very small little pier and then swim out and return on the East side of the same pier. Looks like a little 50 meter run back to the West side and then repeat. Based on my drive by of the site. T1 could be a snug fit for 3000 bikes. The area between the water and Hwy 28 is pretty narrow. Which makes me think T1 will be long and thin. Here is a little pic of the pier. I took this out the window of the motorhome for the boat lunch on Coon St. You can see it on the map.
Interesting about this picture is that no one is in the water. The beach is packed, but the water is empty. The issue is the temp. Water had to be in the lower 50's.
Here is a shot I took from the car while on Hwy 28. I was trying to get the pier in the photo, but you can't see it through the trees. I told you it was small. The reason I post this is so you can see how narrow the real estate is between the water and Hwy 28
The bike course was really the focus of my recon mission. I had hoped to swim the beach, but it was wicked cold, I had no wetsuit and my kids were hungry..... So, on to the ride....
Here are a few different resources describing the course; WTC site, RidewithGPS.com and Mapmyride.com
Here is the WTC map of the course:
Link to ridewithgps.com: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1322648
Link to mapmyride.com: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/104170657/ ;
The course goes from T1 at King's Beach headed West on Hwy 28 toward Tahoe City. Tahoe City is actually a pretty upscale little town with plenty of focus on food, booze and fun. The route along the lake is exactly as you would expect it. basically flat with a little kicker here or there. Nothing you would call a climb, but a few place where you will likely shift and a few others where you might just get out of the saddle a wee bit.
The road then sweeps to the right and becomes the Hwy 89 headed to Squaw Valley on the way to Truckee. The road here is really quick. You are going downhill follwoing the Truckee river as it drops away from the lake. This road is in nice shape, it's wide and will support a fast decent. My thinking here is that you could potentially spin out a 50/11 combination in some spots. To give you an idea, there are many rafting operators running little rides down this section of the Truckee.
Here is shot of Hwy 89 just North of Squaw Valley. The road here will be fast.
As the 89 flattens out near Truckee, you make a right on a smallish local road called West River. Here is West River after the turn:
The course is really pretty flat here as you naviagte a few little turns a traffic circle to get into Old Town Truckee. The road here is a little conjested but pretty. Old Town Truckee is like old western townish sort of tourist hang out. Here is a look:
This pretty much the bottom of the course. From here the thing climbs up to Hwy 80, the main route between Sacramento, CA and Reno, NV. Here is the little climb up to the Highway:
Then, after a few little turns, you are on the 267 headed up and back to the lake:
After you get going on the 267 it would be a straight shot back to the lake, but the course makes a bunch of little crazt turns and kinda gets lost in a neighborhood before rejoining the 267. Here is a look at the 267 after getting past the 80. This is the section near the airport:
This is just to add a little distance. It is the area on the WTC map that is zoomed in. The terrain here is up and down, but nothing major at all until there is a little gain to the ski area called Northstar. The area is pretty plain and sage brushy for the most part with a few pines and NO shade. Here is one look at the terrain right aff the 267:
Once you rejoin the 267 after passing Northstar, the real climb on the course begins. This is the steepest section, but it is not that long and really pretty manageable.
Here is a couple looks climbing up to the top before decending to the lake. Base of the climb where you join the 267 after Northstar:
Middle section of the climb and probably the steepest section, at least according to how the 36 foot motor home was screaming:
Then we make it to the top! According the Bounder, it's about 2.6 miles of climbing from Northstar to the top:
After the crest, you are plumpeting to the lake. This is easily the fastest section and will probably spin out the biggest gearing combinations. The crest flattens and turns left:
The decent is also really straight with a nice view of the lake on your right side:
Then you smack into King's Beach and need to make a SHARP 90 degree right to get back on to Hwy 28.
This little merge is beyond the swim start and T1, but probably way to early to be lapping folks, but you never know. The course calls for another perfect loop, but you will extend several more mile to get back to Squaw Valley. The climb up to Squaw Valley's massive parking lot and T2 is fairly gentle and shouldn't be any kind of issue.
Here is look at the massive T2/ Finishline area:
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And a shot of my Bounder and clever co-pilot:
Run course coverage tomorrow....
Comments
@ Steve, I think I'm leaning towards staying near T1...thanks for all the info through PM. Wife likes the idea of being near the water, how can I argue with that. I think tonight we are going to go through all the choices in Squaw valley just to compare...either option has you needing a Car or shuttle at some point during the day...
This event looks like it has some promise. Just a couple of thoughts!
Regarding the water temp, does anyone know if there is a significant difference in water temp on the north end of the lake versus the south end of the lake? I did some long open water swims on the south end of the lake a couple seasons ago while on vacation. Took my wetsuit on VAC and water temp was very comfortable. This was in mid-August.
I've done "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride" 100 Mile cycling event up at Lake Tahoe. The event did take us down to Truckee and back. Ascending from Truckee isn't bad (and I'm a horrible hill climber), but the altitude will be a game changer if sensitive. I went up two days ahead of the event, did two short rides two days in a row and was fine for the event. To give you an idea, I live at 500 ft to 600 ft above sea level and Tahoe is at about 6000 ft(?).
Thanks for the Recon!
Here is a link to a UC Davis weather site with water temp at the North Shore pier. Today, it's 60.2 F. We can re-check come September to get a good prediction for the race, and eliminate all the rumors and guess work.
Dino, Huge thanks for the work on this report. very cool coverage of what lies ahead...The bike course looks great!
http://blog.trainerroad.com/293/
From Steve Swanlund:
I road this course three weeks ago, and there are several of those bridges that are scetchy to cross and they are at the bottom of decents as well so you moving 30 mph. The hill at 7:15 will be a death march, use the EN way or you won't live to see the run. The second loop on the hill will be carnage! The first leg from Kings beach to Tahoe City is rollers and a bit tougher than I expected especially since we will be on this section 3 times.From Tahoe City to Truckee its really fast. The section from Truckee to the top of 267 is a very tough area EN execution is a must. And most important....watch for cars! This is where I was hit by a car and broke my collarbone, thumb and destroyed my bike.
I will be up in Tahoe Aug 6-11 for a wedding and training. If anyone is in town let me know and we can hook up.
That's probably a good call