I haven’t written about it much, but I’m in preparation for Ironman Wisconsin, which I also did in 2013. Over the next several weeks I will revisit the course, environment, and lessons learned. Make sure to follow Crushing Iron on Facebook to catch all of these posts.
It’s noon in Nashville and I’ve yet to ride today, but all thoughts are on the Wisconsin Bike Course, especially after watching the Mountain Stage of the Tour de France the other day.
I’m not here to say it’s as crazy as the madness on Mont Ventoux, but as an amateur Ironman, the crowd support on the hills is as good as I’ve seen.
The Ironman Wisconsin Bike is surrounded by lore that’s hard to get out of your mind. It’s synonymous with hills, and while I realize it’s relative to where you train, I don’t think it’s quite as bad as its reputation.
The hills aren’t devastating climbs, but they are certainly relentless. You cannot ride this course well if you’re not ready to eat them for lunch. There are many corners and around most of them waits a new hill a tantalizing climb for desert.
The mindset has to be attack. Your head will likely drop at the sight of another hill, but keep attacking and recover a bit on the descents. Eventually they will be over until you get back to the Helix and have to ride up a swirly to return your bike. But, you will be dying to put your feet on the ground and that last climb will feel like nothing.
In general, I think this picture is a pretty good representation of what a day on the Ironman Wisconsin Bike Course will look like.
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I did my first loop of the season last week, a bit behind on my training over here! I’ve decided I’ll be doing the loop every weekend until race day! Those hills! They don’t seem to get any easier!
Ha… thanks for the reminder! I”m trying to convince myself that they’re not as tough as the reality! Surely some have eroded a bit since the last time I raced?? ha