BBSC Endurance Sports Newsletter

VOLUME 1 NUMBER 3

We are under one month now from the 2006 Land Rover PumpkinMan Triathlon, USAT Club Nationals! There are 32 states being represented 28 triathlon clubs and 3 countries being represented at this race, and with just shy of 800 athletes and 4 weeks to go; this race has now filled the spot as the largest triathlon in the state of Nevada, thank you all!

The hot summer weather has finally succumbed to some perfect fall temperatures, and the rangers at Lake Mead are telling us to expect low to mid 70’s for water temp as well. Should be perfect for racing!

The PumpkinMan athlete roster was posted on our site last week; this list will be updated every Friday, with the 13^th of October being the last update.

You can also view the bike course elevations and still have time to download the course to your Computrainer.

If you are racing in a Clydesdale or Athena division, you will have to note this on the change form at packet pick up. THIS WILL BE THE ONLY TIME TO DO THIS.

SPECTATORS: VERY IMPORTANT:

EXIT LAKE MEAD AND MAKE A RIGHT HAND TURN ONTO HWY 93.

FOLLOW HWY 93 ALL THE WAY TO THE STOP LIGHT.

TURN LEFT (THIS IS NV WAY STREET)

FOLLOW THIS TO NV WAY (YES, IT ALSO CALLED NV WAY) MAKE A LEFT THERE.

TURN RIGHT ON ARIZONA. USE THE PARKING LOTS THERE.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE CYCLISTS UP THE SAME WAY. YOU WILL FIND YOUR SELF DRIVING INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE TRANSITION AREA.

With all the great sponsors that we have that have supported us and our athletes from the beginning, we would also like to welcome some newest sponsor that has recently joined us for 2006.

Welcome Function Drinks!

Founded and fueled by pros in the sports, health, and media fields, Function Drinks has been hitting the beverage industry with innovative products since 2004. Click here for more information.

Cook Insurance Group can assist you with all your insurance needs. You can contact them at 702.436.0088

REI, has recently joined us in bringing this event to Las Vegas.

We could not do it without you! Whether you have just a couple of hours to spare, or the entire day, your help will make a difference.

If you are not racing, please consider volunteering to help bring these athletes to their finish. We still need some extra hands to help set up on Friday for a few hours at T2/ Finish and also on Saturday at T1/Swim start for a few hours. We also discount race entries for those of you who are planning on racing that have some extra time on Friday or Saturday to help set up, or tear down after the race. There will be free food and drinks as well as a cool goodie bag,event volunteer shirt and the satisfaction of helping out such a great group of people. Visit us at www.bbscendurancesports.com and click on “Volunteers” to be a part of this National Championship race!

If you are not familiar with the area, the bike course is not flat by any means. Be sure to get in plenty of training on long hills.

The last 6.28 miles of your bike course is all uphill at an average grade of 3.84%. The grades on the RMTL are average of 5% and Nevada Way max out at 8.4%.

Both short and long course Computrainer downloads are now available on our website, by visiting the PumpkinMan event page. Bike Course profiles are also online.

This is a point to point race. October 14th at packet pick up, we will have a MANDATORY run gear bag drop off for T2. All of your gear that you want waiting for you at T2 (bike to run) MUST be dropped off with us at this time. We will provide you your gear bag inside your race bag kit. If you do not bring this on Saturday, we WILL NOT guarantee that your gear will be waiting for you at T2. PLEASE BRING YOUR RUN GEAR ON SATURDAY. Thank you.

On another note, athletes will solely be responsible for packing all their swim gear back into their swim gear bag before taking off on the bike portion of the race. There will be no race staff/volunteer assistance with this.

TIMING MATS: Electronic timing for this event is ChampionChip.

To make sure everyone goes the distance, there will be timing mats at ALL bike and run turnarounds! PLEASE BE SURE YOU GO OVER THE TIMING MATS AT YOUR TURNAROUND! FAILURE TO DO SO, WILL RESULT IN NO TIME and may confirm course cutting, resulting in a DQ.

On the bike course these mats will be in the bike lane.

NOTE: Intermediate Course Cyclists will be riding over the Short Course timing mats as you continue to your turnaround point.

NOTE: Intermediate Course Runners will also run over the Short Course timing mats as you continue to your turnaround point.

Swim Starts: Swim Starts will be wave starts in groups of 250 athletes. Followed every 15 minutes by another wave start.

Spectators will be able to drive up to T2 after the swim start. Please follow police directions because of road closures. Click here for driving routes from T1 to T2 for any spectators trying to get around.

Shuttles will be provided for athletes only to retrieve your vehicle at Lake Mead National Recreation Area after the race, no bikes etc on the shuttles. Shuttle times will be from 10:00AM-1:00PM only. If you feel you will not be finished with your race by this time, Please make arrangements to have your vehicle brought up to T2 or have a ride back down to T1 arranged. Please leave your bike etc secured in T2 when retrieving your vehicle. Thank you for your help.

Price increases on October 14^th if there are still spots. Don’t wait until then!

The electrolyte drink that will be served at each aid station will be Gatorade. Water, Hammer Gels and Fruit will be supplied at each run aid station. You can expect to see run aid stations every 1 mile on the run course.

October is a very busy time in Las Vegas for conventions, and the city of Boulder City is used as an overflow for out of state conventioneers. Please click here to see a list of hotels/motels in the area.

You may also call 702.293.2540 to reserve your camp ground right next to the swim start.

Triathlon Clubs, If you would like to set up a support/info tent for your members, you may do so for free by contacting us at info@bbscendurancesports.com.

If you are a business and would like to be a part of the Endurance Village, please contact us at info@bbscendurancesports.com to find out more information. Click here for the preliminary layout of the Endurance Village.

Friday October 13th, 2006
1 p.m. - 5 p.m.: T2 set up. Located at Gov’t. park in Boulder City.

Saturday October 14th, 2006
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Athlete registration/ race packet pick up. Located at Gov’t. park.
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Endurance Village Expo opens. Located at Gov’t. park.
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Mandatory bike/run gear bags check in; located at Gov’t. park. (T2)
10 a.m. – 1:p.m: T1 set up at Boulder Beach.
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Swim course set up.
11 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Race-Day Nutrition discussion from Brandon Nichols among other great information and a chance to win an RMR measurement and Comprehensive Sports Nutrition Consultation.
ALL DAY: The ENTIRE SW Board of Directors for USA Triathlon will be available to direct athletes to resources, ask questions learn what the region does for members and they will be conducting a Membership drive at registration.

Sunday October 15th, 2006
5 a.m.: Transition Area #1 at Boulder Beach opens.
7 a.m.: Pumpkinman Intermediate Club Nationals Triathlon Begins!
7:30 a.m.: Pumpkinman Short Distance Club Nationals Triathlon begins.
8 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Endurance Village Expo opens.
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Shuttles back to T1 to pick up your vehicle.
11 a.m.: Pumpkinman Award Ceremony and sponsor raffles.

Have you ever violated a rule in a triathlon? Do you even know if you have or have not? For a complete list of regulations please visit www.usatriathlon.org and refer to the current USA triathlon competitive rules.

The entire USAT SW Regional Board will be present at this event.

They will be available to answer any questions about USA Triathlon, rules and regulations and memberships at the membership drive happening at packet pick up.

There will be 4-5 USAT officials out on the course this year, please take advantage of the USAT staff to ask questions about rules etc.

If you are racing with your club this year, be sure that your club is registered.

For more information on point and division breakdowns, visit Club Scoring
For more information on club eligibility, visit Club Eligibility

For race information and registration, visit the PumpkinMan event page.

USA Triathlon is dedicated to growing and developing multi-sport from the ground up. To this end, USAT is excited to announce to all clubs competing or thinking about competing in the National Club Championship in 2006 that the sprint event will be scored, along with the intermediate distance event, to decide the overall club champions.

By including the sprint event in the scoring, USAT is hoping to see a greater turnout from club members- from the first timer to the veteran, all working towards the same goal. The club system is an important vehicle to introducing new participants to the sport and we want to encourage all club members to contribute to the overall team score at the national championship.

The point breakdown will be the same for both distances. Clubs will be placed in the division that corresponds to their total team roster. The sprint distance points will be added to the intermediate distance points to decide the overall club champions in each division.

The 4^th Annual Rage Triathlon is set for Sunday, April 22^nd 2007.

Rage is the official Team in Training Triathlon in Las Vegas for 2007!

We have raised this cap from 500 to 600 this year, as we already have over 100 athletes registered for this event. From the first Rage Triathlon in 2004, this race has been growing at a great rate, don’t miss it this year, as it will be capped at 600 and no doubt will sell out this year. With all of the feedback we received last year, we will be keeping the 2005 bike course. For those of you that raced, you know what we are talking about…

Registration is now open for this race, and early bird pricing will be open until January 1 2007. Don’t delay!

Contributing Coaches: Andrea Watkins and Steven Pye of Practical Coaching.

Before we know it we will be under the warm desert sun racing and supporting the clubs that make doing triathlons so much fun. Every race is an opportunity to learn something and put another experience, so to speak, in your pocket. Since we have done most of the training we are going to do already for this race we thought it would be fun to put together a TOP TEN LIST

Top ten things learned while racing:

10. Never let someone go because you are afraid you can’t beat him or her.

9. Always pack some food in your bag. You never know when a race is going to be delayed.

8. Hydrate during a long course race, or you will end up in the medical tent.

7. Have the clothes you are racing in on under your warm up clothes. Some races make you get body marked before you can enter transition. It could cost you getting a good transition spot.

6. Know how many buoys are in the swim course so you don’t turn early and get sent back on course by a kayaker. Makes for a lousy swim time.

5. Bring your own toilet paper

4. Fill water bottles up the night before the race

3. Know an alternative route to the race, or at least have a map of the area. Sometimes they close the roads hours before a race and your like, “How am I going to get to the start of the race?” (Yes we made it, but it was stressful!)

2. Pay attention while biking or you could end up off course.

And the #1 thing learned while racing:

Even if you have an accident in your wetsuit you can still have a kick butt race!

There are clubs from Florida to California represented in the participant list. It will be so much fun meeting everyone from so many different places. We would love to meet you at the Agave food area, eat some fresh tortillas, and hear your top ten list of lessons learned while racing! Do you think they will have Mojitos?

If you can’t wait until race day to share your #1 lesson learned at a race email Practical Coaching at: info@practicalcoaching.net. Hearing from you would make our day.

We hope your training has went to plan this year, and that you are all as excited about the 2006 Land Rover Pumpkinman as we are!

Good luck to you all and we wish you all a safe trip out here and hope you enjoy your race.

Cheers,

Brogg Sterrett

Race Director
BBSC Endurance Sports
race@bbscendurancesports.com