Race Review and Q&A’s from 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 12:24:57 PM

BeccaMC22 said:

Thanks goes out to everyone involved — the Volunteers, the Petrillo’s, the town of Blue Ridge, the caterers; in my eyes, it was an absolute success !!

This was my 2nd triathlon & I am now, officially ‘hooked’. Even I, who am not accustomed to cycling hills, found myself taking in every bit of beautiful scenery and having a great time (aside from ‘footing’ a few of the hills ; ) What an awesome bike course.

My dream is to live in the N GA Mountains — perhaps I’ll make it Blue Ridge one day ; )

Thanks again – I feel so honored to have been a part of this inagural race and am excited to be a part of the 2011 Tri The Mountains race !!!

Becca

Monday, July 26, 2010 5:13:59 PM
JustinHHamilton said:

Great Race, Great Venue, Great Everything! Very much enjoyed my time in Blue Ridge this weekend. The course was very well set up, challenging, but not too challenging. AWESOME Shirt too!! Looking forward to next year.

Monday, July 26, 2010 7:04:25 AM
Kjclark said:

My wife and I are from Florida and have a vacation home in Blue Ridge. We have done many Tris around the country and have participated in some smaller and many larger. But we have to say we were quite surprised by not only the turn out but also how well organized it was. We also loved the down home atmosphere of the race, especially at the post race party and awards ceremony(even tho I myself ended up 30ish seconds off the podium lol). What a great event and beautiful venue, we cant wait to come back next year. Great job to all involved and a SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS!!!

Monday, July 26, 2010 6:17:33 AM
TriLou82 said:

Awesome race! Everything was perfect!

except….I’d love to see some results posted online so I can take a look at my splits Any chance of this happening soon?

Monday, July 26, 2010 5:41:00 AM
ferley said:

This was my first triathlon and I was going to judge my desire to do another on this one…Now I’m hooked! The course was great. I rode a hybrid Trek and did great on the bike course, and of course I want a new bike now! The run finishing up in downtown was awesome! I had forgotten how beautiful it is there! The seemed event to go off without a hitch and that’s great for an inaugural event. Can’t wait to get a few more under my belt and come back next year to better my time! It was great to do my first one in my home town.

Monday, July 26, 2010 2:23:12 AM
raybrown@mindspring.com said:

I will start out by saying I am bias. I have a home in Blue Ridge! BUT this race was fantastic. What a great job by everyone involved. You would think it had been done 10 years in a row instead of it being the first. My only concern now is everyone will see how beautiful the Blue Ridge area is and come up to train on my secret training grounds! Cant wait until next year!

Sunday, July 25, 2010 1:18:42 PM
MadDog67 said:

Congratulations to the Petrillos, the organizers, the sponsors the city of Blue Ridge and all who participated in this wonderful inaugural Tri the Mountains event. What a perfect venue for my first triathlon! The sun coming up over the mountains behind Lake Blue Ridge was a sight I will never forget. I just can’t wait for next year! The event was very well organized and well staffed. The course was well laid out and just challenging enough. All the participants were friendly and helpful. The Comfort Inn was extremely accommodating to all the racers who stayed and were in bed early and up at 4 AM..walking their bikes through the lobby! Even the bossy guy on the microphone at the start could not ruin the day! Thank you so much!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 12:57:31 PM
BeccaMC22 said:

great news — thanks for the affirming reply that I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew ;

I am so excited and a group of us (only 2 doing the race) are staying in a cabin – we’ll be up Friday morning & plan to ride at least 1/2 the course on Friday afternoon, so we should be good to go.

Thanks — I was told I would be “hooked” … and this is my 2nd and I’m definitely doing a 3rd (possibly a 4th) before the end of the year. What a fantastic way to have fun & stay healthy !!

Look forward to (hopefully) meeting you & your family !!!
Thanks
Becca

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 12:33:36 PM
A.J. Petrillo said:

Hi BeccaMC22,

Congrats on doing your first triathlon! I promise you are not getting in over your head. Our club is comprised of allmost all new triathletes and they are able to ride the course with no problem. It really is a fun bike ride…sorry if I made it sound too dificult:) We have a lot of first time triathletes signed up for the race, plenty of aid stations and a great meal planned for after the race. If you can come up and pre-ride the course, I am sure you will feel much better about it. Thank you for signing up for our event!

Have a great race!
AJ

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 12:19:26 PM
BeccaMC22 said:

A.J.,

A friend of mine and I did My First Triathlon at Lake Lanier on June 5 this year. Although we have been training considerably since that time, we do very little “hilly” cycling. I’m beginning to wonder if I am getting in over my head — I’m already registered and very excited to participate, with the exception of hearing you say “very rolling with few flat sections”, I am in for a surprise or what ; o )

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 5:43:35 AM
A.J. Petrillo said:

Hi Christi,

Great question. The course is very rolling with few flat sections, but I would suggest a standard since there are no long sustained climbs or anything too steep. We tried kept the course on the flattest ride in our area..no gaps to climb. The course is faster on the way back with some fun downhills. For someone that has never ridden any hills, a compact might be a good idea..but not necessary. If you want to pre-ride the course, it is really easy to figure out. Start at the Blue Ridge Marina. Turn Right on old 76 heading North East. Follow that 9 miles and then come back. It is a low traffic road and smooth. I think there is a group meeting at 6:00pm on Wednesday to do a mock tri on the course as well.

Thank you for participating in our race!

AJ

Monday, July 12, 2010 3:14:26 PM
CGongola said:

Hi A.J.,

Do we need a compact or an 11/28 cassette to race this course? or will a standard do the job?

Thanks! Christi

Thursday, July 01, 2010 8:41:18 AM
A.J. Petrillo said:

Great question! The race committee has contracted 2 full size busses to transport athletes and spectators from the finish to the transition area after the race every 10-15 minutes. There will be a full meal provided to the athletes and a formal awards ceremony. We will have 2 busses that will be transporting spectators to the finish after the athletes start the bike. These will leave the transition area once they are full. Spectators can also drive to the finish as well. There will be plenty of parking in Downtown Blue Ridge. This is an inaugural event, but the race is put on by GA Multisport, the largest race organizer in the tri-state area, and promises to be a top notch event. St. Judes has also partnered with us on the race. If you sign up for the race, you can sign up to be a St. Jude’s hero. This makes it easy to raise money for this incredible charity and also earn great prizes. Let me know if you have any other questions. AJ

Thursday, July 01, 2010 7:49:12 AM
flyan bryan said:

Is this a newbie triathlon event? Cannot find any past details or race results. Can someone tell me how we retrieve our belongings at T2 after run into downtown? GM providing bus transpo back?

Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:20:06 AM
A.J. Petrillo said:

We do have groups that train together in Blue Ridge. We do open water swims every Friday morning together and some Sundays. We also have differnent levels of group rides that bike during the week and on the weekends. E-mail me with your info and I will get in touch with you about our schedules georgiamountains@hotmail.com.

Thursday, June 24, 2010 5:55:48 AM
GladAyer said:

A.J., can you tell me if there are any groups that meet to train for tri’s in Blue Ridge?

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 1:50:29 PM
A.J. Petrillo said:

In response to Bill’s question about the lowering of the lake: No, this will not affect the race at all. They can only take it down so much in 10 days without flooding everything down stream. Even at the lowest point, which will not be until October, we would still have water to swim in. If you have any questions, please call the race director or me directly. Thank you!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 1:32:21 PM
Original Bill said:

I heard they were going to start draining the lake for maintenance on July 15th? Is this going to affect the race?

Tuesday, May 04, 2010 11:41:52 AM
Michael A Berger said:

This sounds like a fun and scenic race. The past Ga MultiSports events I have competed in have been very well organized. Hey, if A.J. Petrillo says this is an incredible race in a triathlon mecca, then it truly must be. I’m signed up!!

Thursday, March 04, 2010 11:51:27 AM
A.J. Petrillo said:
This will be an incredibly scenic race in the North GA Mountains! The swim will be in the crystal clear waters of Lake Blue Ridge. The bike is an 18 mile out and back crossing over the lake with mountains towering in the background. The run will be a point to point and end in Historic Downtown Blue Ridge. Awards and the after party will take place in Historic Downtown Blue Ridge and should be one to remember. If you have never visited Blue Ridge GA, put this on your race schedule! Come see why Blue Ridge is becoming a triathlon mecca!