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Put some shit out there. I'll start...
-Wurf will win the men's race by more than Ryf wins the women's race. The Hawaiian gods are sick of Daniela's shit, and the jellyfish were the first attempt to stop her last year. This year she'll be attacked by one of those crazy goats that roam the lava fields.
-Heather Jackson will finish third, and the race for third among the women will be the best race of the day.
-Sarah True will remain conscious for all 140.6 miles.
-Starykowicz will finish in the top 15. I'm pretty sure he'll be the heaviest guy ever to crack the top 20.
-Cody Beals will finish in the top 5. I feel more confident about this than anything else I've written so far.
-Ali Brownlee will DNF. Actually more confident about this than Beals finishing in the top 5.
-No professional athletes will have a positive doping control in the months to come. But a handful of South American age-groupers will test positive for all the drugs.
-If Daniela brings up how great Sutto is during the presser, I will ask a question about child rape and probably lose my credential before race day. Because apparently you can't talk about sexual assault in 2019.
-Nasser bin Hamad al Khalifa will not repeat as "Ironman World Champion."
Comments
Also, is he lighter than Ain-Alar Juhanson who went 13th in 2008?
Who finishes between Ryf and Jackson? I say Anne Haug gets real close to the top step in a close battle with Lucy Charles. HJ in 4th.
Kienle? Frodeno? Lange?
I want Michi Weiss and Stefan Schumacher to accidentally get drafting penalties.
My heart still goes out to Terenzo Bozzone who should have had a stellar Kona 2018, but then got hit by a truck. Hoping his rehab has gone well and he crushes it.
Wurf is going to lead off the bike but then blow up on the run.
Brownlee is going to drop out on the run.
Ryf will win again.
Lionel will make top 20 if he is lucky
Women top 5 Ryf, Charles, True, Jackson, Haug
Ryf.Charles.Fernanda Keller.
Queen of All Donut Awards
Groovy Auntie to Roosters everywhere
Queen of All Donut Awards
Groovy Auntie to Roosters everywhere
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Queen of All Donut Awards
Groovy Auntie to Roosters everywhere
We'll see oodles of top-notch exercising going on.
There will be 20x as many AG dopers than pros (in part because the AG field is so much bigger).
Disc brakes, thru axles, and press-fit bottom brackets will continue to optimize the stiffness and speed gains of absolutely nothing. Hydraulic brakes will cause no fewer than two dozen bike box disasters and/or panic attacks trying to find the tiny, proprietary parts to fix it before bike check-in.
See also: Good luck with neutral wheel support on race day, with the combined horror of 9-speed, 10-speed, 11-speed, 12-speed, quick release, thru axles, rim brakes, disc brakes (see also: different rotor sizes and placement) 700c, 650c, 650b, and probably more new standards that I'm forgetting. Some asshole will also be on a single speed, with his dingus buddy on a fat bike.
The count of bikes, wheels, components, helmets, etc... will tell us a lot about who is successful at last-minute marketing, free product giveaways, and not a whole lot about the actual marketplace or what keeps bike industry companies in business.
MY PATREON!
p.s. Want to be quoted in a pre-bike count story? Call you tomorrow?
MY PATREON!
MY PATREON!
Also, Dan invented bike counts and Kona after he came up with the bike itself. Monty remembers...
Lionel bikes faster than Wurf (but doesn't catch him) and runs a 4:22 marathon.
Ryf has the best female bike split by over 20 minutes.
Brownlee 2nd, Beals 3rd.
Haug is the only woman to run sub-3hrs.
Lange gets a drafting penalty, runs a 2:39 marathon, finishes 4th, and calls off his engagement at the finish line.
Wurf wins and @bbculp is super humble about his early prediction.
Would you then have to say he's better than Kienle and maybe on par with Frodeno?
Jan has shown he can win across all distances and in some different conditions. Jan has also shown he can win any individual leg of the race (or multiple) depending on what conditions call for on the day.
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I'm not saying that any of these companies rely solely on OEM spec (or rentals) - just that it's a very clear influence that gets glossed over or ignored. I think the Kona count started with good intentions, but it became a big marketing play for companies to use (i.e. if your sponsored athletes don't win the race, you can still "win" Kona by winning the count, and marketing it heavily). And with that came companies gaming the system i.e. Rudy giving away their product to anyone that races Hawaii.
MY PATREON!
I just stress to folks to take ALL marketing with a grain of salt, especially that which uses the bandwagon fallacy. Four out of five doctors recommend this medicine... did they maybe receive a nice vacation from the drug company to help persuade them?!
MY PATREON!