IM Nice bike course

paulie gaultieri

Hi guys

Anyone done the race and has tips for the bike course I'd appreciate them. I'm torn between compact or semi-compact with 11-28 cassette.

Any observations on road surface would be great too in helping with tyre choice and psi levels.

Comfortable enough doing 2000m of climbing normally but have never ran 42.2 km afterwards.

Cheers

catweazle

Road Surface was beautiful....not a blemish on it.

I went with standard gearing with a 11-28 on the back, apart from one 400m-500m ultra steep climb at around the 30k mark its remarkably consistent, very rarely if ever did the percentage go into double figures

3 climbs, the first is the worst at 20k long but again find a sustainable gear and you nearly don't need to change it again, just work away on it

There is another 2 climbs after that, both around 5k long you hardly notice they are that long after going over the first one. Descents are fantastic if a little hair raising to say the least but they are well marshaled, before particular nasty turns they warn you with a different color flag so its the one after the next turn which needs to be treated with caution

Its about 50/50 as regards TT v road bike

Run is flat as a board up and down the promenade but it might be changed now after the terrorist attack as they are doing some type of work there i thought i read

Fantastic race, I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat - hoping to see if I can sneak in on the new 70.3 next year when it is announced

My report is here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=96092785&postcount=371

iAcesHigh

Indeed, bike surface is grand and in general, although it was my first long race, this was the best organized bike part I've witnessed. You indeed have few climb, first one being the hardest, but since it starts with 12% for something like 500 meters just to slow down and become flatter but consistent it's not such a big deal as the numbers suggest.

With that in mind I had 2 big issues during the race, both my faults: 1. When we left Nice where it was around 30 degrees and came closer to the top the temperature fell down significantly and with the rain that soon started I don't know if I was ever as cold as that day (note: check weather for the whole course next time). 2. Going down on that slippery surface and being a newbie=I fell down pretty hard going around 35ish km/h. Luck is always with the idio*** so I was glad to see that other than a scratch on my hip (still have it to date) and few on bike I could continue...

Run was on a flat course on the promenade, but I also heard they have to change it up

My report: http://goranmarkus.com/en/i-am-an-ironman/

paulie gaultieri

Many thanks for the valuable insight Catweazle and iAcesHigh.
Catweazle I'm going to go with the road bike.....i'm just not comfortable enough on such descents on TT. Given the good surface I'll go GP4000 with normal/slightly above normal psi.
iAcesHigh I might pack some armwarmers just in case. I fully agree getting cold is not part of the race plan.

Have my pb from another IM and with the first baby due later this year I plan on enjoying this race and the few days by the beach afterwards. God knows if / when I'll be allowed train for another full distance event

Thanks again.

paulie gaultieri

Many thanks for the valuable insight Catweazle and iAcesHigh.
Catweazle I'm going to go with the road bike.....i'm just not comfortable enough on such descents on TT. Given the good surface I'll go GP4000 with normal/slightly above normal psi.
iAcesHigh I might pack some armwarmers just in case. I fully agree getting cold is not part of the race plan.

Have my pb from another IM and with the first baby due later this year I plan on enjoying this race and the few days by the beach afterwards. God knows if / when I'll be allowed train for another full distance event

Thanks again.

MojoMaker

Just curious, why would you run your tyres over pressure?

Best of luck with the race, it's meant to be a great (but tough) day out.

paulie gaultieri

I'd normally go with 100ish on the back given my more ample frame and the state of Irish roads. The surface in Calella last year was superb and i was advised by someone far more proficient in all things triathlon to add some more which I did and it worked out great.

I know we're comparing apples and oranges course wise but European road surfaces are just so much smoother than here.

paulie gaultieri

Apologies for taking so long to get this report up. I see the Race in Nice this year is sold out already which is in stark contrast to the 2017 event which didn’t sell out and walk-up entries were taken up at registration. The 2016 terrorist attack was cited as the reason for the low numbers last year. There was a very noticeable gendarame presence all along the promenade in the days leading up to the race and moreso on race day itself which I personally found very reassuring.

My overall thoughts and reflection on the race and the course are as follows. I went with my roadbike with tribars as opposed to the TT as I didn’t trust my descent skills enough to risk the TT bike. Given the heat (which I will get back to) almost everyone I met racking their bikes were deflating the tyres overnight. I was using deep aluminium wheels but still deflated the tyres marginally. I was glad I did as even going to bed that night the temperature was hovering around the mid-20’s and was hot.

Anyone who has been to Nice knows that it’s an expensive city. I got an aparthotel about 2.5km from the swim start and used the city bikes (tricky to register but once you have it down they are very convenient). Now the city bike docking stations along the prom are locked all weekend of Ironman but there are stations a few streets in from the prom that operate as normal so find these if you are planning to use this amenity. I used the bike to make my way to transition the morning of the race. As I had feared in advance the docking stations closest to the start were all full so it did take almost 15 minutes to dock the bike and make my way to the start. I didn’t mind being almost late and I speedily loaded my bike, reflated the tyres and jogged to the swim start. At this stage the marshals were getting animated at me so I increased my pace. The Marseillaise had finished and the pros were starting when I made my way to the 1h 5m cohort of swimmers. The entry zone into the water on the rocks is carpeted so don’t worry about bring flip flops, slippers etc.

Swim went great despite my tardiness and got myself a PB. Upon exiting the water though I started to get a sense how hot the day was going to be. T1 was fine and hopped up on the bike. Used the very flat Playa des Anglais to carb up and hydrate. By 08.00 it was starting was getting noticeably hotter. Some reports on the race I had read had argued against using tri bars given the profile of the bike course. I wouldn’t agree entirely with these as the first and last 20km stretches are nice and flat and the aero position especially on the return leg was a blessing imho especially given the strong headwind. There are signs saying the use of the aero position while passing the airport wasn’t permitted but this was largely ignored by participants and I saw no marshals enforcing this rule.

The aid stations didn’t not have any specific mechanical stations (that I could see anyway) but there were staff members with track pumps and spare tubes. I had a puncture which I fixed but and reflated with a CO2 canister but I did deflate the tyre and reflate it using a track pump at the first aid station. As a side, I normally go with 95 psi on front and 100/105 on the back. The road surfaces are decent but I personally wouldn’t go higher than what you normally go with.

A lot is made of the first major incline – this is easy to recognise about 18-20km in as numerous marshals are blocking the main road and directing cyclists left. Even if you are caught unawares there is still 50m or so to gear down before the incline really kicks up. I would consider myself a good climber but I did think this was an uncomfortable 60-90 seconds over what felt like about 500 metres. After this there is about 50km of steady climbing from what I can remember. Nothing too bad and only once would I have liked another gear (I went with 52/36 chainset and 11-28 cassette). The heat was really starting to ratchet up at this stage and I did my best to carb up and hydrate as best I could. Upon reaching the top of the major climb I felt a five-minute rest / pit stop was in order. Only when I stopped I noticed the hot it was. There was a nice flat section after a short decent where the aerobars came in handy again. This not-so-long section was tough though as the headwind was very strong but at least it was cooling. After this there was another rotten little climb around 105km if I recall correctly but then passing through a little town the local fire brigade had a sprinkler system in operation which was heaven to pass under as it provided a brief respite from the heat.

If you are a good descender, then the downhill section is fine and could be easily tackled with a TT bike. I didn’t go crazy on the descents but I felt I made good time. This is not to say the section isn’t exempt of technicalities and there are some fairly sheer drops on the right-hand side. An American guy in front of me for a split second lost control of his back wheel on a particularly dangerous corner only to recover an instant later much to my amazement as I thought he was in for a very nasty crash. I caught up to him a few kms later and joked with him that someone or something was watching over him that day. He agreed as he himself thought he was a goner too. The only other descent to note is the short decent down the first major spike described above. It is very short but requires some concentration. I saw a lady in a very bad way at the bottom of it.
The flat run-in was great and the aero position was well needed after all the descending. There is a strong headwind for 20kms or so but despite this it was really starting to get hot. Overall I was happy with the bike leg and did it in under 6.5 hours. The cycle course when I look back on it that day in the glorious sunshine was pretty spectacular and it is a real pity I didn’t enjoy it more. Do try and enjoy it if you can.

T2 was fine but thankfully I had pack sunscreen as there were no marshals administering it that I could see. Despite applying sunscreen, I was left with some very obvious tan lines around my trisuit. These are still obvious 6 months later so let that be a lesson to those taking on the race in future – it can be that hot!!!

The run is 4 laps out to the airport and back and is practically devoid of shelter. I asked my wife a couple of time when passing her what the temperature was and she told me she would tell me when I finished (turns out when I started the run it was 35c and ‘cooled’ to about 30c on my last lap. The run for me was a disaster and I was almost an hour slower than my usual IM run time. The medics on the promenade were kept really busy on their rollerblades and I definitely counted 10 plus participants requiring major treatment due to the effects of the heat. I had stuck religiously to my hydration plan and even exceeded it on the bike but when it came to the middle section of the run I just felt empty. I struggled to keep anything only water down during this period and I was among man participants wrenching up along the barriers. There are water sprinkler showers at some of the fed stations – roughly half of the runners were using them while the other half were avoiding them. I used them the first few times thinking they would cool me down but I stopped after a short while as I felt my shoes were getting too wet to run in.

I thought the support along the run was very poor but to be fair it is difficult for spectators to brave the heat in such an unsheltered promenade. Anyway, long story short I finished about an hour later than I had hope but given the extreme heat (I really can’t stress it enough) I was very happy. As courses go it was by far the hardest I had done. I’m glad I did Nice just to have tackled it but the heat did scar me a little so much so that it was at least 3 months before I managed to go for a run longer than 5km.

If any boardies are tackling it this year or in the future feel free to PM me with any questions.