More about Cedar Point and Revolution3 Full Iron Distance race

Earlier today I posted an announcement that Rev 3 Tri is planning a full Iron distance event on September 12, 2010 at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. I just want to give a few additional details about Cedar Point, and what a superb race venue it is for a Full Iron Distance Rev 3 Tri event. I am super excited about this announcement.

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and have made an annual pilgrimage to Cedar Point pretty much my entire life, even after moving to North Carolina. It is the absolute best Amusement Park in the World. There is simply no comparison to the variety of fun things to do there. And there are a gazillion really super fast roller coasters At Cedar Point. My favorite ride is called the “Wicked Twister” – with the “Millenium Force”, “Raptor” and “Top Thrill Dragster” also on my list of favs! The park is very clean and the staff is friendly. Your family will love playing all day while you race. Check out their website at http://www.cedarpoint.com

As for the athletes…here is a map showing the Terrain of the land near Cedar Point. You can see it is mostly flat. There are probably some gentle rollers and false flats. Definitely not going to be any serious climbing on that course!

I have never actually ridden my bike in Ohio – except as a teenager riding my bike around town as a means of transportation. That is because I began my Triathlon lifestyle after moving to North Carolina! However, I have driven to Cedar Piont enough times in my life to know that Sandusky is a very rural area, so I imagine it’s good biking territory. (if you live out that way, please post a comment here telling us about the roads).

There will definitely be wind to deal with, especially on the causeway leading out to the park. Note on the map above how you have to drive over part of the lake to get into the Amusement Park? It would be wickedly fun to ride my bike on that!! Some days at Cedar Point, they have to close my favorite ride, the Wicked Twister, due to winds, because it’s right next to the beach and exposed. That always makes me sad. In the 5 years I’ve visited Cedar Point since that ride was built, it was closed twice due to winds. So, I guess that’s about a 10% chance you will have wind out on the bike course. Scientifically speaking, of course. LOL! (Note, the wind does not affect the gazillion other awesome rides!)

The Cedar Point waterfront is a pristine white sandy beach with small breakers just like beaches in North Carolina on a nice calm day. Here is an aerial view of Cedar Point. The red arrow points to the beach area. There are a bunch of hotel resorts on that side of the island too.

Can you tell that I really really really like Cedar Point???

One last picture for you. Just for fun. It’s the Terrain view map of Lake Quassy, Middlebury, CT. That is where the half iron race was last weekend. I talked about that race as being a ‘brutal test of mental toughness’ and ‘stupid hilly’. I hope you didn’t take that the wrong way. I actually loved the hills on the bike. The run, not so much. But you know what? I ran one of my short hilly loops today. It felt EASY! How cool is that?! I guess that is why the pro triathletes train out in Colorado!