Accommodation booked. Laylands Farm in the campervan, £15/night…
Qualifiers from this year https://www.tri247.com/triathlon-features/analysis/ironman-uk-2019-kona-qualifiers
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The ups and downs I can deal with usually but Bolton’s downhills were more technical imho compared to let’s say Wales. Add in the poor road surface and you just didn’t get the rewards for the climbing, were that a European course you’d usually have a sweeping decent on great tarmac following a climb where you can get a good speed going, not the case in Bolton.
I’m at a slight disadvantage as my brain won’t let me really get going on the steeper stuff since my front wheel washout on a 90 degree right hander at the foot of a hill a few years ago but others I spoke to were having problems without that history.
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Road bike or Tri bike?
Got a 52/36, 27-12 on the roadie and a 55/42 23-11 on the Tri bike.
I barely made it up Birdy Brow at Clitheroe with that Tri bike gearing.
I couldn’t have done another Hill after that.
I’m also (currently) garbage at climbing and descending.
But…are there enough long sections where the Tri bars would make an advantage?
Or, are the descents technical enough that drop bars are a pretty decent trade-off?
Road bike is a decent BMC TeamMachine SLR02, rim brakes because I’m a Luddite! So it’s nice and aero, super stiff and compliant and a beauty at climbing. I’ve got a 50-34 that I could put on, for some spinning action.
Is the course okay to ride on a Sunday, from say Ramsbottom (nice parking and pies at the pub there)
Cheers!
Gearing is obviously very individual. On the various podcasts he did post-race interviews on, Brian Fogarty said he was riding 1x and something like 62-27 as his smallest gear 
42-23 as an easiest gear is obviously pretty mad for an AGer (it really must be flat near you as you always say!). I have 36-28. Can you not just get some different rings and a new cassette and chain for the TT bike?
I think the whole road bike / tri bike argument almost always comes back to compete or complete. You’re not going to see a pro riding a road bike on any course, so for me, that says it all. I definitely run better off a TT bike as well, and find it more comfortable for a prolonged period of time (because I can support my upper body on the extensions - but I guess you can [kind of] achieve that with clip ons). I also have no real concerns climbing on my TT.
@Matthew_Spooner saying he was going to ride a road bike at the 70.3 Worlds this year is probably one of the first times I’ve heard a quality cyclist planning to go road over TT.
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If your decision is to leave that gearing your TT then it is definitely one for your road bike.
There are long sections that are definitely better for the TT but the descents are much better on a road bike.
If you had 52/36 on the TT then I’d use that if I was a strong biker.
Cheers both 
I don’t have any outer rings for the TT bike, have a 39 inner, but then the chain is slackAF and the jump is atrocious.
The 50/34 is a different standard. Annoyingly.
34x30
Needed it on the second loop… on a tt bike.
Proper brakes or breaking onto alloy would be really really helpful.
If it rains on race day it will be like whacky races with Lycra …
It’s a great race!
I’ll probably go out for a loop over winter, just to see what it is like.
Be doing Outlaw in 2020, then looking to this in 2021.
Everyone who beat me overall was on a TT bike if that’s saying anything. From your results and training commitment now you’d definitely be up at the pointy end of the things in 2021 if carried on.
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DI’d do it because it’s local and actually looks “fun” (like @Mungo2 says - if it doesn’t rain!)
Not after anything special.
Just a nice day out and to see if what you lot are saying is right…
…but it’s the tenth anniversary of Bolton in 2020.
Bigger field? Better times?
Maybe less people and slower times in 2021 
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Mark Livesey you mean. That were a right proper northern podcast.
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No. I mean OA.
Episode 241.
Foggy was on Mark’s podcast. At one point I did think they’d start talking about ferrets and whippets, it were a bit Northern, even for me!
Yeah just meant it as a guide that most people your ability would be on TT bikes.
As for overall results I still assume this year was a freak less competitive year rather than the bike course being that slow. I hear Foggy is amazing on the bike, but is it normal that only 25 age groupers were within an hour of him?
Cheers, but I’d say you’re better than I am!
Your result was proper mint and something that I’d be properly proud of 
Foggy is mad good. Just had some awful luck recently.
He’s one of these AGers who are really bloody good.
He had the belief in himself to know he could take his game to Brownlee and tried to beat him.
I doubt I’d get to within an hour of him.
Fair, I only heard of him a few months ago when met someone through work rather than tri who happened to say casually that their friend (Foggy) was also training for IMUK.
Then saw his name on Mark Livesey podcast pre-race discussing the course and realised he was a whole other league to us mere mortals.
Foggy is an animal on the bike. He outbiked all the pros as an age grouper and holds the old bike course record.
He was on that loop every weekend, so will know it well…however 298 watts NP?!.. Hes always going to shift, he could probably bike with all but the very best Pros.
So…you can enter this and Staffs and get a massive 3% discount…
…then transfer your IMUK entry to the following year.
Seems like a nice way of getting an entry at a reduced rate and avoiding future price rises
Where do you see that?
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https://m.eu.ironman.com/organizations/ironman-tour-series/european-tour.aspx
UK (1) IRONMAN 70.3 Staffordshire
09/06/2019 IRONMAN UK
14/07/2019
(1) 3% Bundle discount available until 13/12/2018
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