Wildflower Course Summary


First-timers will benefit from driving the entire bike course slowly and noting the following...

  1. Climbs out of the park (hold back)
  2. Early rollers (hold back)
  3. Long flat section in middle third of ride (work steady)
  4. Steep section on second half of nasty grade (mile 42) (hold back until past the aid station on nasty grade)
  5. Flat before right turn at top of nasty grade (save something for the final bit of the climb, recover here)
  6. Rollers in final 10 miles of the ride (these can kick your butt if you are tired)
Key areas to remember on the run....
  1. Rollers in first three miles (hold back, settle into cadence)
  2. 1.5 mile climb that starts at Mile 3.75 (nude aid station) -- hold back for a half mile past this aid station, the hill kicks up
  3. Long steady section from Mile 5.5 to 9 -- stay in the game mentally!
  4. Miles 10-12 -- they are never easy, everyone is suffering -- mental toughness!
  5. Lynch Hill -- the toughest race finish I have every done. High speed cadence work with blown quads. A classic!
If I was a gambling man then I would place money on the fact that it will be a hot day. You will likely feel quite cool for the first half of the bike (I'll be wearing arm warmers!). The air is very dry so your sweat rate will appear less that it really is. Hydration is a key part of WF success.

Wildflower Course Q&A


Question: How much and what kind of fluid did you take in on the bike? How about gels or solids?
Answer: BIKE -- 1.5L water from camelbak plus whatever I could grab on the fly at aid stations. 4 powergels, 500 cals of accelerade mixed overstrength in a single bike bottle, chase with water Water all over body to stay cool.
RUN -- Gatorade at 90% of aid stations. Water over head and clothes to stay cool.

Question: If you raced with your SRM, what avg. power output did you target? How did you manage the downhills with regard to power?
Answer: Wanted to hold 250 on the flats -- actually held around 240. Ceiling of CP12 for rollers -- 313. Ceiling of CP30 for long aerobic climbs -- 300. Watt average for ride 241 excluding periods of zero watts (ignored by SRM).

Question: What gearing did you use to climb "Beach Hill" and the steep part of "Nasty Grade"?
Answer: 42/23 with 700 wheels for steepest part of climbs. 55/11 for fastest parts of ride (used it quite a bit).

Question: Where do you think is the best place to make up time on that course (e.g., the difference between a 2:50 and a 2:40)?
Answer: 2:50 to 2:40 -- you can get several minutes from knowing the course and excellent pace management. Other than that, you need to review your own personal limiters. Focus on them for best results.

Question: What kind of cadence were you using with your 55/11?
Answer: 55x11 at 90 cadence is about 60 kph. Average cadence for most of the ride was in the 75-85 range. This appeared to have little impact on my run split (6:21s on average). My scientific advisors tell me to try to lift my cadence, my athlete advisors (who have had solid success) tell me to ride with whatever generates the most watts. Low cadences generate significantly more watts for me. I'll continue to seek to lift my TT cadence while racing with the highest average watts possible.

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