I either get permission to lean my bike against the end of the rack or rack supports. If I get a no go for that, I'll use the bars, but it's usually not an issue.

Hang it on the back of the seat between saddle and rear hydration. The only thing that needs to clear the rack would be the back tire.

This is what I do, if you have a spare tire kit, then it should work.

Though I did have one race where my bike was leaning a bit.

I have the same problem with my XL Ridley but my bullhorns are clear, so I hook them over the rack bar.

Whatever you end up doing, I strongly recommend you talk to your "rack neighbours" and, if you end up doing something out-of-the-ordinary, clear it with any race official in the transition zone just before the race, that way you won't be worrying about it during your swim.

This is from IMC's athlete guide:

"Bicycles must be racked in a manner such that the majority of the bicycle is on the athlete’s side of the bike rack"

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"It's Ironman - it's supposed to be hard!"

Author of "Letters to a Driving Nation: Exploring the Conflict between Drivers and Cyclists." http://www.brucebutler.ca

Same issue. I have a two bottle profile aqua rack on the back which I use to rack. From an aero perspective I would love to go single bottle zip tied to rails, but no way to rack then.

The bike is a bit perched, I've arrived at T1 to find it slumped over.

This. Some saddles (Adamo) have a racking hook on the back of the saddle. Or rig up your own out of a rear hydration setup or similar.

Alternative is to ask to rack at the end of a rack so you can tilt the bike to get it out, without knocking neighbors bikes off. Or swim really slowly and do the tilt in an empty T1.

I've had this come up on a few local races, I ride size 61/XL I have leaned my bike against fences, posts, trees and on the end of racks before but always got the OK from the race crew and also communicated with those near me in the racks. I haven't had this issue at an IM event or nationals, seems to be just smaller local events.

Can you rack it by a single brake lever and angle the front wheel so it cocks to the side? That cleared and wedged against my front bottle when I had to rack on a super low bar (not a tall bike). Luckily, I was on the end, so it angled off in front of the rack frame, not into another person's space.

i use the area between the saddle and the rear hydration wing as a transition hook. works well with my xlab turbo. if i'm doing just a sprint with no rear hydration, i'll put on my xlab delta wing on there with no cage just to use as a hook

Find my posts on here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...ack-jobs_P6195586-2/

I'm in Tuscaloosa if you're near and want to try it out.

Thanks all. Awesome to see that I'm not the only one. The problem is indeed really not that bad in 70.3 or 104.6, but in sprint or olympic I don't have anything behind my saddle. I had been thinking of fabbing up some kind of hook on my rails, but the clamp idea is the best! I'm going to pull out the welder this weekend and see what I can do.
Speed856, I'm in Fairhope. And I'm not involved in any way but a participant, but people might want to check out our local sprint, the Grandman.

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NO

I use a strong elastic band that breaks when I pull my bike away and is strong enough to keep it racked.
Sam

2 long zip ties around the rail and then use these to hang it by the brake levers. One of the officials showed me this trick.

That is friggin' brilliant. This would have saved me at least a dozen times from some yayhoo on the other side of the rack "locking" my bike to the rack with their inconsiderate racking method! ...a perpetual risk of racking by the bullhorns...

I'm 6'10".....I feel your pain.

I put my whole handlebar setup over the racks, so that its really my stem that holds the bike in place.

I switched to just using a regular bottle between the arm rests for this very reason.

I'm not as tall as you, but it seems that I've encountered some short transition racks in races near lower Alabama too. I can't rack by the saddle much of the time and I don't want to add clutter behind my seat just to hang on a transition rack. Fortunately, most the races that I have done allow me to rack by handlebars and I don't use any handlebar hydration systems that get in the way. I am across the bay from you in Mobile and have been doing triathlon since 1994 and I've seen a lot of short transition racks over the years.