Bike HOT

I was at the Colorado Department of Transport (CDOT) office last year discussing our bike course and noticed several photos of cyclists on local roads. On closer inspection it was apparent that these were before and after shots. Before being “before we put in the bike lane.” Small brass plaques noted the national awards for safety and improvement, not surprising given the county leads the nation in bike lanes and bike paths per capita.

Despite the abundance of smooth, wide shoulders and bike lanes adorning the roads around our race site, CDOT and the police departments were not overjoyed at the idea of having cyclists racing around their roads at night. Especially a Saturday night, and I couldn't disagree.

After decades of adventure racing, where we typically go for a week or more with only a few hours sleep, I am well aware that it is motorists pose the greatest danger to cyclists. As one officer put it, a flashing light is like a magnet to a drunk driver. Despite a 12 ft shoulder on highway 119, flashing digital displays, bright orange announcement signs, cones every 100 yards of the bike course, and police with patrol cars at every intersection there was still a collective holding of breath.

One of the concessions we made was to use north 55^th St and Monarch Road, both dirt, and away from most of the traffic. This course also minimized intersections and turns, reducing police and traffic staffing (still a $20,000 cost on my event budget) and making a much safer course.

The challenge of having dirt sections (34% of the bike course distance) was to make sure it was rideable on at least a road bike. For local cyclists this is no problem, in fact handling (and better still enjoying) the local dirt roads at speed on a standard road racing bike is regarded as standard. The Boulder Roubaix is a must-do on the bike racing calendar, and 80% of the course is on dirt, replete with steeps and tight turns. Imagine the fun with categories sporting packs of over a hundred riders. Yippee.

24 Hours of Triathlon is no Roubaix, and I was determined to cater to all comers, including out of towners who may not be familiar with local dirt conditions. To this end CDOT graded the course the weekend before the race, and I rented a roller to drive along the shoulder pre and during the race. The net result was a surface that some competitors rode on their TT bikes, although I would have chosen a road or cross bike.

Some of the athletes were smart enough to bring several bike choices and used a combination or road, TT and mountain set ups. Our “retro bike” competition brought out all sorts of beautiful classic machines (you had to ride the bike for at least one leg), and we saw everything from beach cruisers to 1970's "10 speeds" with coaster brakes and even a vintage 1950s European racing bike.

This year's bike course will be on smooth bike lanes in Cherry Creek State Park, no through traffic and virtually vehicle free at night. This is assuming our permit comes through, oherwise we'll back in Boulder, just as picturesque, and a little more challenging to boot.

Boulder HOT

When I moved to Colorado in 1991 I was amazed at the caliber and number of athletes. Actually, I was most impressed with the caliber of Boulder athletes. This small college city, well it’s technically a town since there are less than 100,000 permanent residents, is packed with runner’s, cyclists, swimmers, climbers, skiers, paddlers, … and has aptly been named "the endurance capital of the world."

There is a particularly famous bike ride every Tuesday and Thursday year round in Boulder called “the Bus Stop Ride.” This refers to a strip joint called The Bus Stop, which is named for the bus stop next to it on Broadway. The riders meet in the parking lot before rolling out north on highway 93 to Lyons and then the excrement starts to fly.

It’s not uncommon to see pro riders mixing it up with talented amateurs as the pack thins and stretches out, then explodes as the pace goes ballistic. The bus stop ride is a test piece, as is Boulder Peak Triathlon and Jane Scott’s (sister of Dave Scott) masters swim program. Any athlete worth the salt crust on their jersey has at one time or another jumped in on the Bus Stop Ride, the Peak or Jane’s swim squad.

As an Aussie native (and now US citizen), I pride myself in being able to swim a bit, meaning that like most Aussies I was born and bred around the water. Swimming to Australians as like Apple Pie to Americans, so my first experience at the local masters swim squad was humbling, more like apple crumble for me. My expectation from swimming at Aurora Masters was that I would comfortably slot in to lane 5. Not in Boulder. Try lane 3 or 4. Ouch. Olympians and pro triathletes took up 7 and 8. Age group champions filled 5 and 6.

The same experience can be enjoyed at the Bus Stop Ride, any number of the dozens of weekend ride groups, running groups, triathlon groups, masters groups … and I mean dozens. There are more than 20 masters swim groups each week and cyclists in their hundreds fill the roads on weekdays, thousands on weekends. I constantly ponder if anyone works in Boulder, then remember that I am one of “them.”

Now don’t get the wrong impression here. Boulder is not all about elite athlete’s strutting their cut quads and sleek carbon bikes. Sure you can watch the Japanese and Kenyan marathon teams glide along the roads around the reservoir at sub six minute mile pace, but there is also a huge number of mortals. The Bolder Boulder is a good example. It is one of largest and most prestigious 10K road races in the world and also caters to 50,000 walkers, joggers, families and crazies in costumes who shuffle, leap frog and party through the picturesque streets on Memorial Day.

This was another inspiration for 24 HOT. The near perfect climate, outdoor environment, pervasive sense of community athleticism and race friendly permitting bodies all converge to embrace new ideas and events. I love it!

Swim HOT

Brass tacks. That’s what athlete’s see. From their (our!) perspective it starts with the initial impression of the race, advertisements, magazine articles, web sites, blogs, pod casts, newsgroups, or good old word of mouth. Our challenge as a first year event was to let people know the what, where, when and how’s of the race.

It’s pretty easy to describe the basics: swim, bike and run in small circles repeatedly for 24 hours. Those covering the greatest distance win. The reality is less straightforward, and considerably more interesting.

We were restricted to having swimming only between the hours of 6:30 am and 6:30 pm, so we wanted rules that kept the race fair and unbiased. Our original idea was to keep the run-bike-run-bike order and allow swimming at any time to make up for “lost” swims at night. After a lot of to and fro between triathlete clubs and discussion groups, we came up with modified USAT rules to allow swimming in any order at any time during light hours.

Eventually we came up with the a leg rule that required the first three legs in swim-bike-run order, and then legs in any order after that. “Complete” triathlons count towards the total (and no night swimming), with the possibility of an additional swim and bike counting since they are in "triathlon order." This means a competitor could have, for example, ten complete triathlons plus one swim, or plus one swim and one bike.

The leg rule lead to some fascinating strategies, with most people opting to bank swims on the first day to account for the weather, cramping and fatigue, then adjust the next morning. I'm really not sure how it will play out this year, but competitors are already formulating their strategies.