Hi Mel, I see from your schedule that you are planning to race at Campbell River XTC. Can you give me an idea what the course is like, particularly the bike course? If you can relate your answer to the XTC Buntzen Lake course as a reference it would be a help as I did that last year as my first off road tri and am concerned that the course might be as severe. Also, what tire selection would you suggesT?

Thanks for any assistance you can give.

Julian

Hi Julian,

I would say both are about the same technical challenge. Vancouver has one section of pretty technical stuff and a lot of not very technical but steep trails... Campbell River has mostly flat stuff but it is a little more technical with more single track in the trees. The XTC courses would compare sort of to Richmond in terms of level of technicality. It is tough to recommend tires without knowing the weather, but the Maxxis CrossMark is a good all round tire that has low rolling resistance but actually works in wet conditions. That is a good one. Also, the 2.1 Ignitor is a good tire if it is very wet.

Also, the run in Campbell River is very similar to Vancouver, you run out on road/non technical stuff, run some steep, treed, technical trails and then run back on non-technical road and do two laps.

Usually Campbell River XTC race has a short swim though.. .only 1000m or so.

I like both courses a lot, I would say Campbell River is my favorite of the two.

M

Post edited by: melanie, at: 2006/05/01 12:04

Hey Mel, thanks for the information, I am glad to hear that there is a lot of single track within the trees as that is bread and butter on our UK trails, kind of difficult to replicate the buntzen course over here!

I use the Bontrager Mud X in muddy/wet conditions and find them a very good tyre, and will look out for the Crossmark.
I hope your training for Temecula is going well and look forward to seeing you racing at Campbell River.

J