General:
The Woodlands is a very spectator-friendly venue for a race. There are shops and restaurants all around, plenty of places to rest and recharge. It's not the most spectator-friendly bike course, being on giant loop out into the Texas hinterlands, but the swim, run and finishline areas are all great for watching yoru athlete all day. Go stroll around the finishline area of Market Street before durring and after the race and patronize those great shops. LuluLemon had a great display of all the athlete names. The Cupcakery had yummy sweets. The line for Starbucks will make you want to cry. the H.E.B. also has a coffee bar...the line will also be insane. Chipolte is there for lunch. Go calm your race-day nerves at Tommy Bahama's bar.
The Woodlands is great.
Travel:
Book your hotel *early*. They pretty much all sold out. People from Houston booked rooms in The Woodlands to avoid the race-morning drive. There is a Marriott directly across from venue that is the official host hotel. If it's not already booked for next year I'd be surprised. But there are many others. Don't hesitate. Book and if you end up not needing it, cancel your booking.
Pre-race.
The expo is set up in a big parking lot across from the finish area. It's a nice expo. The check in took no time at all when we were there Thursday morning. Our athletes were in and out. The good folks at World Triathlon Corporaton have apparently taken a page out of the Disney book and the registration tent dumps you out into the merchandise tent. Exit through the Gift Shop, indeed. My fellow sherpas and I couldn't resist the IMTX cowboy hats. Why not?
My one beef here was there was no 'volunteer' tent. There was no one place you could, as a registered volunteer, go and say "here I am, where's my T-shirt and my parking pass." This caused some stress as we weren't sure what to do race morning. Coordinating with our volunteer team captain was a bit of a pain since he was so busy getting stuff set up but we eventually managed to sort it out. It seemed like if you weren't part of a 'group' of volunteers (like, ours was run by the very nice people from Team in Training) they kind of left you hanging.
There are a million places to eat and shop but we stopped at Rudy's BBQ just off of I-45 after packet pickup for a bit of a chow-down.
Race day:
We drove up from Houston so were up very, very early to make the 45-min drive. It was easy to get into the venue to do athlete drop off. There is official parking in designated parking garages. Do try and use these if you can because if you try and park in unauthorized lots you will be towed. We got a bit lucky by going in a secret side entrance and it worked out OK but there were reports that people who parked at the nearby Mall and by the ampetheater were being towed. That'd be a really crappy end to a very long day so you're better off playing by the rules.
Swim:
The swim start is about mile from transition. Plan for a crowded walk. If you want a spot on the bridge crossing the lake to see the start, get there very early and say goodbye to your athlete at transition. You can also bushwack a bit to stand on the east side of the lake to watch the start. the main Swim in side of the lake will be crowded but there is a lot of room and this is where morning clothes drop off is.
You should have plenty of time to walk back to transition/swim out before your athlete gets there.
Bike:
Bike out has a nice, long road you can stand along to get a shot of your athlete leaving. I'd advise not sitting right at the mount line because it's very crowded. Head a little bit further out and you should get a nice clean shot and they'll also be able to pick you out of the thinner crowd.
The course, as I mentioned above, is one, huge loop. You can get in your car and drive north on I-45 and connct back up with the course in the national forest. HOWEVER, I strongly advise not crossing over the course to the west side. The traffic is terrible getting back across, my inlaws sat for more than an hour to get through one intersection. Getting back into The Woodlands, the greater community, not just the downtown, is very, very difficult from that side. If you miss your athlete in the forrest, cut your losses and head back down I-45 to come back into The Woodlands from the east side.
Run:
The run is a three-loop course along the canal. Plenty of great places to watch your athlete. The finishline goes in a loop around the Market Street area. There is a park in the middle you can set up camp in.
More General:
Medical was set up in a building just past the finishline along the north side of the park.
The H.E.B. across from transition is a huge win. Having a giant grocery store right there is amazing.
There are 'real' bathrooms adjacent to transition, just be mindful of athetes who need them
We used TriBike Transport to get Mr. TheyTri's bike too and from the race. It was hugely helpful to not have to worry about bike assembly/disassembly. They *are* open in the expo area until midnight the day of the race so you can take bike out of transition and bring it over to them for transport immediately following the race. Note that if bike has a disc wheel, you'll need to take it off and replace it with a spoked wheel before you turn it over to them. (unless you're totally beside-yourself exhausted and look like you're gonna cry and then they'll take pity on you.)
