Beach to Battleship

Anyone know if organizers plan to cover the metal grates on the bridges? I remember doing a tri many years ago and the grates were slippery even when dry. Heard about the runner last year falling as well ending up with serious injury. Yikes! Hope the problem is going to be taken care of?

Last year they had all of the steel grates on the cycling leg covered with carpeting (and maybe plywood underneath? Can't remember.....), so surely they will do the same this year. Luckily, you'll dispense with the steel grates in the first 10 miles of the ride (three of them, I think), so you'll get them out of the way early. One warning - you'll want to get out of the aero bars as you approach, as they are not a smooth ride, even with the carpet. And don't even think about passing on the bridges - that's a sure ticket to falling onto an industrial strength cheese grater.

And please please please do not slow down going over the bridges. The secret to getting over them successfully is momentum. So keep going.

The first, very short bridge will still be there on the course this year. I hope they do something about the awful carpeting on the metal grating. That's no solution. But that bridge is short and isn't much of an issue.

Fortunately, they're changing the bike course to eliminate the second bridge crossing. I don't know the area, so I can't detail the change here. Somewhere between Wrightsville Beach and Willmington there will be a turn to the north and we'll get on an expressway loop that will take us up to Hwy. 421 without having to cross that second, long metal bridge. It's all detailed on the main website now.

I have to agree with two of the posts. 1) Please get out of aero and don't plan to pass in that VERY short part of the ride. 2) Keep up some momentum. I had never riden over anything like the metal bridge until race morning and I was quite nervous but did just fine. Then again I was not trying to save 3 seconds by doing something crazy on those short carpeted areas.
This ride/race is SO fun and was very well done last year. Enjoy and expect a PR on the bike portion for sure!

Thousands of people pedal across the metal drawbridge every year without problems if it is dry. As mentioned before just keep moving (not fast - out of the areo position) and relax as you cross the bridge and it should be no problem. That said if it is wet I recommend walking your bike this short portion. Race mgt will hopefully make you walk if it is wet. There is a metal sidewalk that is not "grated" to walk on. It too is slippery when wet especially with cycling shoes. Just be careful. I have ridden the bridge for 30 years and have only heard of two people falling and that was in the rain. jim