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Bike Aid Stations
Woke up very early this morning for some reason so decided to capture my own race execution notes from my time on the course this past weekend.
Can anyone confirm that the aid station on Whalen Rd, at about mile 13, is only set up in the afternoon to provide aid as we come back on the stick? It's not available on our side of the road as we go out at the start of the bike, correct? See map below.
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I also carry a lot of speed eastbound through Cross Plains but picking up fluids there will be critical since there is nothing for the next ~45 mins which includes Old Sauk/Timber/Midtown. Also without the massive westerly wind we had last week maybe the trip through Cross Plains won't be so quick!!!
Does anyone know if the fluids on the bike will be handed out in regular bike type water bottles or in the thin plasticy pre-made bottles you'd buy in the store? At IMWI in '11 I recall they were perform bike bottles. But FL70.3 this year were the plasticy Gatorade ones.
Not sure if that's a difference between 140.6 and 70.3 or Perform then and Gatorade now.
My concern is, my cages don't hold the plastic ones very well and launched a ton of bottles at 70.3.
@Matt -- I don't know. Rather than breaking it down by hours I'm making a plan of what I do, take, eat between/at each station. The answer about the Whalen aid station (which I'm 99% sure is that it's not available to us on the way out) is one factor...but I'll solve it by carrying two bottles out of T1 vs 1.
Yes, the Verona aid station is high speed and very busy on the second lap. I plan to go water only after about mile 60 -- no longer drinking GE and instead getting calories and sodium from other sources, giving myself "I don't have to drink this crap anymore after Aid Station #X" to look forward to -- and will probably hit the Verona aid station on the way out of town on the second lap because (1) pretty confident I won't crash, (2) will be minimal slowing down, (3) I know I can drink/enjoy 1-2 bottles of water between Verona and the Whalen aid station, and (4) dorking out too much about an aid station is likely a sign that your head is in the wrong place: chill, get what you need so you can continue to hydrate, and carry on with a long day.
@David: GE will be in Gatorade sports bottles that you buy at the gas station, the ones with the PITA twist top vs a normal water bottle top that you can just bang on your chest or leg to close. In my experience these don't deform much and I run a BTA cage so I can keep an eye on it. The water bottles, however, are the super cheap plastic Costco water bottles that deform a LOT when you use them. I'll probably blow a little air in the bottle to re-inflate it before closing the nipple.
I'm running a Gorilla cage in the back (very secure) and a Bontrager side loading cage on the front, stolen from my mtn bike. Also very secure.@ Rich - Don't remember if the aid station is there in the morning or not. However, is set up on the South side of the road which might indicate that it's intended for the return trip only.
Also, at Coeur D'Alene the bottles for plain water were a different shape than the standard Gatorade bottle. My side loading cage would not hold a plain water bottle but worked fine for the Gatorade. Since then I discovered that the shape of the bottle (plain water) is the same as Propel. I would suggest that you try a Propel bottle in your cage.