I've done several IMWI and rode the course numerous other times. I ride an 11x23 - but the * here is that I also have a compact crank.

There are no 'big' hills on the course - just hill after hill after hill.

If you go too hard on the out section and on the first loop it bite you on loop 2.
You will see tons of people flying up the hills - standing up - cranking away.
Let them go ... You'll see them again later in the day usually walking on the run, saying what a great bike split they had!
If you have a tough time with hills go with a 25.
Important thing is to stay controlled and you will be fine.

I was wondering the same thing. I don't plan on changing anything except what my bike came with. Everyone says the hills are nasty, freaking me out a bit. I plan on taking it easy on loop one, but how do I plan for what pace to hold? If in practice I normally average 19 mph on a "mostly" flat course (northern Illinois) on long rides, how bad does it throw my race plan if I'm only going 17? I'm probably over analyzing, but that's what we do!

[quote=RV]There are no 'big' hills on the course - just hill after hill after hill . . . You will see tons of people flying up the hills - standing up - cranking away.
Let them go ... You'll see them again later in the day usually walking on the run, saying what a great bike split they had![/quote]

+1 If you believe [url=http://www.trifuel.com/forum/16821/bike-elevation-gain-for-ironman-cours... numbers[/url], you will go with something a little more spin-friendly. I found 12X25, high-cadence and not mashing anything helped keep my legs fresh. The run has a couple of wicked hills on the campus. If IM Moo does have 7,300' of elevation gain, it probably comes in 73 one-hundred foot climbs. Seriously, it's non-stop up and down.

12-27 my first year with a standard crank.

12-25 with a compact last year and again this year. I could probably manage an 11-23, because I really only get into the 25 in maybe 4 places on the course. However, I'd rather give up a hair of speed on the rollers than risk burning my legs on the longer hills.

I've used a barometric altimeter and I think the longest hill is only about 300 ft. of elevation gain. But there are dozens of shorter ones as well as a couple false flats (Hwy 92 is basically a 4-mile climb disguised as a flat road) that really can wear on your legs.

It is not the hardest bike ride in the world, but it isn't easy either. The longest descents feature turns that force you to bleed off speed (or risk leaving the road to do a different type of bleeding). Other descents are followed immediately by climbs. When the winds come up, the "flat" sections leave you questioning your santity. Many of the roads are chip-sealed and in fair to poor condition, meaning your tires face high rolling resistance or you are hitting seam after seam in the road. It's all capped off by the return trip on Whalen, where hills you didn't notice at all 100 miles earlier all of the sudden seem awfully large.

All that said: you don't see the draft packs common in flatter races, the spectator support will be awesome (climbing Timber on the first loop is like riding in the TdF, with the crowd narrowing the road to about 10 feet, ringing cowbells, and screaming at you), and the run isn't that bad with the exception of miles 5-6 and 18-19 or so.

[quote=PJT]It is not the hardest bike ride in the world, but it isn't easy either. The longest descents feature turns that force you to bleed off speed (or risk leaving the road to do a different type of bleeding). Other descents are followed immediately by climbs. When the winds come up, the "flat" sections leave you questioning your santity. Many of the roads are chip-sealed and in fair to poor condition, meaning your tires face high rolling resistance or you are hitting seam after seam in the road. It's all capped off by the return trip on Whalen, where hills you didn't notice at all 100 miles earlier all of the sudden seem awfully large.[/quote]

That's exactly how I remember it. Up and down, and even when you have a long descent, it was headed straight toward a technical turn at the bottom. The hay bails are there for you, not the cows. The hills were spaced just far enough apart and the hill was just long enough that it was really hard to maintain momentum from the previous one over the next. The hill profile looks totally ordinary, but the in-and-out of the saddle will wear you down. Just make sure your front derailleur works too. If that goes out and your stuck in the big chain ring, you are toast. The crowds going into Verona were awesome on the first loop. They evaporate on loop two and either go do something better or go watch the finish.