Tiffany Springs what did you think

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Albino on November 1, 2008 at 5:19pm

I agree, that race hurt and will be a little sketchy with 200 riders. There's not many good places to pass so I hope you got registered early. Maybe they'll mark this thing a little wider for Nat's. There were skinny places at Nats last year though.

The course was literately up or down aside from a couple flats. A good course for those power house riders. Not much technical skill needed. Sure there were off camber corners and rollers, but those are all manageable. The weather will play a HUGE roll in this course come December. Those off camber corners will be killers in snow or ice.

What's that? Didn't think I was going to be able to race today. I got away from work and registered just in time for the 123 race. Oh, lucky me! Racing 60 min is for the birds, but at least I got to race.

Permalink Reply by Sydney Brown on November 1, 2008 at 6:02pm

My legs are wiped. That's for sure

Permalink Reply by Tyler Schumacher on November 1, 2008 at 6:35pm

nice job in the 123's I would never try that

Permalink Reply by Albino on November 1, 2008 at 8:55pm

Trust me, it was unintentional. : )

You riding at all Sunday?

Permalink Reply by Chard on November 1, 2008 at 7:35pm

Great day.

I wasn't too sure about the course during my warm-up, but I started figuring out the flow during the race (right about when Sydney passed me). Course for the most part is cool, but I agree that it should be widened in spots, especially by the sketchy stairs. And I hope we get some slop - should help slow things down a bit!

Permalink Reply by Gary Calton on November 1, 2008 at 9:23pm

I raced the 45+ and the 3/4's. My legs were totally wiped after the second lap of the 3/4. Those climbs really sapped the strength out of your legs. Here is a link to "youtube" of a lap of the race from my helmet cam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxMCSbYP2ag

Permalink Reply by Sydney Brown on November 2, 2008 at 8:46am

Nice job with the cam. I took the liberty of embedding it in my blog post. Let me know if there's another link you'd like me to include.

Permalink Reply by JB on November 3, 2008 at 5:45am

Man...I am still undecided about this venue. Personally I raced well, and felt good. However, if you FFWD this to December and we half the weather we did last year, KC will get a bad rap and it will be a looooooong time b4 we see another nationals. 2000(knee deep snow and below freezing air temps) 2007 (kitchen sink weather and course conditions) 2008?

Granted, they will modify the course in places to accommodate a larger field, but i am just thinking of the ridablitly in bad weather. THE ONLY thing this course has in its favor if the weather goes bad, is the southern exposure.

Sorry to so wish washy...i just cant make up my mind if i like it or not. Local race? Yes. Nationals Championship? undecided.

Permalink Reply by Mike B on November 3, 2008 at 10:07am

I'm squarely in the "sore legs" camp.

This seems to be a hard, but fair course. There's that balance that I always look for..something for everyone. Some power sections, some flow, some places to put the hammer down. Throw in enough technical to keep you from dozing off...and you have a course that will ensure that only the worthy will go home with hardware.

As to the changes between now and Nats...my guess is that it'll be taped wider in quite a few places, though there are a few spots where what we got on Sunday is it. (It was all regulation width.) I'm hoping that the stairs get wider steps or are filled in a bit. I had visions of snapping an ankle on those bad boys.

Weather is going to be a huge player in December. I can think of at least three places that will turn into potential runs if we have a lot of mud, and ice will make the downhill sections white knuckle city. About half way through my race I made a mental note to add another run workout to the schedule, just in case.

Permalink Reply by Patrick Angell on November 4, 2008 at 9:24am

Such fond memories...

Permalink Reply by Joe Fox on November 4, 2008 at 1:04pm

It is indeed a tough course, and with the chance of nasty weather it will become a real hard man's race. The course will be at least 3 meters wide in every section (saturday's race there were a few sections that were only 9 feet wide), so it will be a little wider for Nationals, primarily the stair section. Luckily we will have a much larger budget to clear out and improve that section as well. I believe the largest field at nationals last year was 109, and this course will be able to handle that. The start section will be about 100 meters longer to string the field out before the grass as well.
We really like the venue, but the terrain is killer. It has great parking (up top), southern exposure, enough pavement, and adequate land to make a 3k course. We're hoping that it drains better than last years course as well. Out of town riders should be pleased with the proximity to the airport.
All in all it should be solid, good climbs, good flow, and a great course for spectators. I too have added a run day to my routine.
Thanks to those that came out, and I'll see you this weekend. Don't forget about the Gravel race in Lawrence. These events are a really fun way to get in a hard workout before racing cross on Sunday.