Augusta 70.3 Bike Course
I rode the bike course for the Augusta 70.3 Labor Day weekend with a group of ATS athletes and friends as a recon outing, looking for hints, strategies and maybe warnings for athletes racing in September. I was lucky to ride with Atlanta pro triathlete Amy Kloner and we found the course, well, interesting and not exactly what we had expected.
In summary the course is indeed fast, but more rollers than we were led to believe, primarily based on the MapMyRide elevation profiles we had reviewed prior to the ride. (More comments on the MapMyRide elevation profile in another post). The majority of the turns are LEFT so beware on race day. I've got to wonder why not race the route in reverse, basically clockwise instead of counter-clock. The roads are occasionally rough and, in the Augusta area, pretty trashy, especially within our 1 meter USAT lane. On race day I'm sure there'll be plenty of volunteers and police to handle the 8 left turns, and hopefully street sweepers will have taken care of the broken glass, wires, bolts, and other normal road trash in town.
We also found out the map and course description have some errors, actually some missing info that got EVERYONE lost, including a couple of guys from Athens (not in our group)... just beware if you're thinking of riding the course at this [now] late date.
Now for a section by section rundown:
- First 5 miles, mainly Sand Bar Ferry, flat and fast (except for the Boundary Rd. U-turn added to bring the course up to distance). Just before the right turn onto Old Jackson Hwy it kicks up a bit
- Old Jackson Hwy is FAST and goes for 11 miles after the right turn off of Sand Bar.
Racers will certainly take advantage of this first 16 miles. Great to get the legs warmed up after what's going to be a cooler than expected swim for some.
- Old Jackson takes a 90 degree bend then dead ends into Atomic Rd, a four lane medianed HWY which you turn LEFT onto briefly. About 1/2 mile down you take a right onto HWY 1 (towards Aiken). This stretch features a couple of 2-3+% grades 3/4 mile long. Watch your heart rate or power carefully as these rollers are deceptive and you'll tend to instinctively try and hold your pace since they are almost false flats. Your power or eventually your heart rate (there's the rub using heart rate - slow to see the damage) will bump up so be aware and stay within your race. Varying rollers and slight uphill grades for 9.5 miles until a LEFT onto HWY 19.
- HWY 19 takes you about 1/2 mile to a LEFT onto Old Whiskey... Old Whiskey is about 2.5 miles of gentle rollers, less than 2%, but these rollers are stairstepping up. LEFT onto Woodland for a couple more miles of easy rollers... point here is rollers; even though they might seem easy, there's no rhythm to them so, again, stay in your zones, stay within your race.
- Woodland takes you to a hard right, almost a "U turn" onto Gray Mare for a fast three miles, slightly downhill, 1-2%. We had a tailwind through this stretch and I understand it's a prevailing wind so hopefully on race day... On a loop course what goes up must go down and here's where you get some of the elevation you gained on HWY 1 and elsewhere back. Plan to take advantage of it! The last 1 1/2 miles of Gray Mare take a decided kick up, 3% or so... watch out.
- Gray Mare takes you to a right on Silver Bluff and then a quick LEFT onto Boyd Pond. Boyd Pond is another fast section, 2.5 miles slightly downhill again with a few good 3% down spots. My computer says we were hitting 40mph through some of these sections as well as the earlier Gray Mare section. All good things must end though...
- A right turn on Horse Creek Rd. immediately brings 2 miles of uphill grade, some of it at 4%. Not a bad climb, but not flat!
- Another LEFT onto Herndon to another LEFT onto Pine Log. Gentle Rollers for about 4 miles, but rollers. The last half of Pine Log is pretty fast, slightly downhill.
- Right on Atomic for a fast 4 miles to a LEFT onto Sand Bar for a 5.5 mile fast finish.
Hopefully I'll get my Garmin back from repairs soon so I can share visual profiles of these rides and have better information to pass on. This is all from memory and notes. Amy will have better info from her Garmin and Saris data.
In summary, fast out and fast back with about 30 miles of rollers and gentle hills in the middle. Road surfaces are spotty, not as good as Macon for instance, but the course is pretty and traffic was very light on Sunday. If you ride it before the race there is a store just after the turn on to Old Whiskey which is about halfway.
-
In summary the course is indeed fast, but more rollers than we were led to believe, primarily based on the MapMyRide elevation profiles we had reviewed prior to the ride. (More comments on the MapMyRide elevation profile in another post). The majority of the turns are LEFT so beware on race day. I've got to wonder why not race the route in reverse, basically clockwise instead of counter-clock. The roads are occasionally rough and, in the Augusta area, pretty trashy, especially within our 1 meter USAT lane. On race day I'm sure there'll be plenty of volunteers and police to handle the 8 left turns, and hopefully street sweepers will have taken care of the broken glass, wires, bolts, and other normal road trash in town.
We also found out the map and course description have some errors, actually some missing info that got EVERYONE lost, including a couple of guys from Athens (not in our group)... just beware if you're thinking of riding the course at this [now] late date.
Now for a section by section rundown:
- First 5 miles, mainly Sand Bar Ferry, flat and fast (except for the Boundary Rd. U-turn added to bring the course up to distance). Just before the right turn onto Old Jackson Hwy it kicks up a bit
- Old Jackson Hwy is FAST and goes for 11 miles after the right turn off of Sand Bar.
Racers will certainly take advantage of this first 16 miles. Great to get the legs warmed up after what's going to be a cooler than expected swim for some.
- Old Jackson takes a 90 degree bend then dead ends into Atomic Rd, a four lane medianed HWY which you turn LEFT onto briefly. About 1/2 mile down you take a right onto HWY 1 (towards Aiken). This stretch features a couple of 2-3+% grades 3/4 mile long. Watch your heart rate or power carefully as these rollers are deceptive and you'll tend to instinctively try and hold your pace since they are almost false flats. Your power or eventually your heart rate (there's the rub using heart rate - slow to see the damage) will bump up so be aware and stay within your race. Varying rollers and slight uphill grades for 9.5 miles until a LEFT onto HWY 19.
- HWY 19 takes you about 1/2 mile to a LEFT onto Old Whiskey... Old Whiskey is about 2.5 miles of gentle rollers, less than 2%, but these rollers are stairstepping up. LEFT onto Woodland for a couple more miles of easy rollers... point here is rollers; even though they might seem easy, there's no rhythm to them so, again, stay in your zones, stay within your race.
- Woodland takes you to a hard right, almost a "U turn" onto Gray Mare for a fast three miles, slightly downhill, 1-2%. We had a tailwind through this stretch and I understand it's a prevailing wind so hopefully on race day... On a loop course what goes up must go down and here's where you get some of the elevation you gained on HWY 1 and elsewhere back. Plan to take advantage of it! The last 1 1/2 miles of Gray Mare take a decided kick up, 3% or so... watch out.
- Gray Mare takes you to a right on Silver Bluff and then a quick LEFT onto Boyd Pond. Boyd Pond is another fast section, 2.5 miles slightly downhill again with a few good 3% down spots. My computer says we were hitting 40mph through some of these sections as well as the earlier Gray Mare section. All good things must end though...
- A right turn on Horse Creek Rd. immediately brings 2 miles of uphill grade, some of it at 4%. Not a bad climb, but not flat!
- Another LEFT onto Herndon to another LEFT onto Pine Log. Gentle Rollers for about 4 miles, but rollers. The last half of Pine Log is pretty fast, slightly downhill.
- Right on Atomic for a fast 4 miles to a LEFT onto Sand Bar for a 5.5 mile fast finish.
Hopefully I'll get my Garmin back from repairs soon so I can share visual profiles of these rides and have better information to pass on. This is all from memory and notes. Amy will have better info from her Garmin and Saris data.
In summary, fast out and fast back with about 30 miles of rollers and gentle hills in the middle. Road surfaces are spotty, not as good as Macon for instance, but the course is pretty and traffic was very light on Sunday. If you ride it before the race there is a store just after the turn on to Old Whiskey which is about halfway.
-
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6:52 AM
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