The first thing I noticed about this place is that a lot of people speak French there! I'm not sure what's up with that but no problem. It was kind of interesting watching peoples faces get all confused when I tried to use my high school French. Especially since it always seemed to come out more Spanish than French!
Anyway. The whole idea of the whirlwind visit was to get a quick sense of the course as well as the community, and that we accomplished.
The course is as interesting as I was promised by various bloggers and even by a few friends who did the half there this past summer.
The swim looks pretty well trouble free other than the start is a bit narrower than I would like. The lake is probably a bit chilly as well (we never tested it), but I'm pretty sure it will be quite calm as it seems well protected by the hills. And thankfully it is a big enough lake that it is a one loop swim. I hate getting out of the water and then back in again. One little irritant actually comes just after the swim as it is about 500 meters from the swim exit to the transition area. It's never any fun to run in your bare feet and wearing a wetsuit, immediately after having swam 4 kms!! Oh well....as they say "c'est la vie"!!
I think the transition area itself should be fine. We'll see what it looks like once it's full of tents and such but it's a fairly large open parking lot and should be good.
And that's when the fun really begins. The bike course is basically 3 out and back sections that you repeat twice. That's kinda cool from a spectator perspective since you pass the transition area on 3 separate occasions. And despite the fact that 'out and backs' mean a lot of turn-arounds the course is spectacular. There are very few flat spots, but the pavements is exceptional and includes about 70 kms on highway 117 which is a major 4 lane divided freeway. They actually close one side of the road completely so it's bikes only going both ways! Woohoo! And then of course there is the section that John and I rode which is absolutely hilarious. There is not one flat spot or one straight spot on the entire 20 kms, and you do this section twice. The first time at least will be exhilarating.
Anyway, back to the transition and out for the run which I already told you a little about. Five kms out to the trails, then 11 kms there before back to the transition where you turn around and do it all over again. Again this lends itself well to friends and family who wish to see there loved ones in intense pain and near death.
The fiinsh itself should be really cool as the race ends right in the heart of the Tremblant resort village. Very fancy!
So that's in on the course. I also scoped out an accommodations plan knowing that the closest RV park is 10 kms from the start. The idea was to stay art that park and then move to a hotel the day previous to the race. The hotel we stayed at was perfectly situated so I decided that was gonna be my spot and proceeded to make a reservation...........not so fast buddy....sold out!!! As is every other hotel in close proximity. Yup! Ten months before the event there is not a hotel room to be found. Shit!
Plan B....I like it better anyway. We discovered a parking lot about 2 kms away that will allow us to park the RV overnite. That's just a nice little walk on race morning and suits me just fine. And a whole lot cheaper than the hotel!
So "ENCORE" I say! Let er rip!
(walk jog 7 kms)
"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."---Jim Rohn
Love
Peter
Anyway. The whole idea of the whirlwind visit was to get a quick sense of the course as well as the community, and that we accomplished.
The course is as interesting as I was promised by various bloggers and even by a few friends who did the half there this past summer.
The swim looks pretty well trouble free other than the start is a bit narrower than I would like. The lake is probably a bit chilly as well (we never tested it), but I'm pretty sure it will be quite calm as it seems well protected by the hills. And thankfully it is a big enough lake that it is a one loop swim. I hate getting out of the water and then back in again. One little irritant actually comes just after the swim as it is about 500 meters from the swim exit to the transition area. It's never any fun to run in your bare feet and wearing a wetsuit, immediately after having swam 4 kms!! Oh well....as they say "c'est la vie"!!
I think the transition area itself should be fine. We'll see what it looks like once it's full of tents and such but it's a fairly large open parking lot and should be good.
And that's when the fun really begins. The bike course is basically 3 out and back sections that you repeat twice. That's kinda cool from a spectator perspective since you pass the transition area on 3 separate occasions. And despite the fact that 'out and backs' mean a lot of turn-arounds the course is spectacular. There are very few flat spots, but the pavements is exceptional and includes about 70 kms on highway 117 which is a major 4 lane divided freeway. They actually close one side of the road completely so it's bikes only going both ways! Woohoo! And then of course there is the section that John and I rode which is absolutely hilarious. There is not one flat spot or one straight spot on the entire 20 kms, and you do this section twice. The first time at least will be exhilarating.
Anyway, back to the transition and out for the run which I already told you a little about. Five kms out to the trails, then 11 kms there before back to the transition where you turn around and do it all over again. Again this lends itself well to friends and family who wish to see there loved ones in intense pain and near death.
The fiinsh itself should be really cool as the race ends right in the heart of the Tremblant resort village. Very fancy!
So that's in on the course. I also scoped out an accommodations plan knowing that the closest RV park is 10 kms from the start. The idea was to stay art that park and then move to a hotel the day previous to the race. The hotel we stayed at was perfectly situated so I decided that was gonna be my spot and proceeded to make a reservation...........not so fast buddy....sold out!!! As is every other hotel in close proximity. Yup! Ten months before the event there is not a hotel room to be found. Shit!
Plan B....I like it better anyway. We discovered a parking lot about 2 kms away that will allow us to park the RV overnite. That's just a nice little walk on race morning and suits me just fine. And a whole lot cheaper than the hotel!
So "ENCORE" I say! Let er rip!
(walk jog 7 kms)
"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."---Jim Rohn
Love
Peter
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