Your bike can handle being wet so there is no need to cover it. I've seen lowering it by 10psi as a good rule of thumb but maybe others can chime in. obviously, be a little more cautious on the bike especially around turns.

Don't forget clear or yellow glasses...it's amazing how much water and grit gets spun off the tires at 20+

not fun, but keep your mind positive and you'll be ahead of a lot of others who look out the window and think, "this is going to be terrible".

lower tire pressure and coat your chain with a heavy lube/oil. Your obviously going to have to clean everything after the race, but a heavy lube will protect it from rusting over night or washing off during the race. 0w-20 weight sounds about right.

good luck and keep the rubber side down!

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

If I'm racing in cold (or even not warm) weather and rain, I like waterproof booties on the bike. Cold and wet feet make me miserable

Drop pressure.
Clear lenses with Rain X on them.
Don't corner too fast or with hard side forces.
Use vaseline or similar on your crotch and other parts that get rubbed- have more crotch lube in transition if you need it.

Definitely drop your tire pressure, to what it depends on what you normally ride at and your body weight, but a good rule is to take your normal number and subtract 10-15psi... It'll handle much better. Watch your line in any tight corners... in the dry things are more forgiving, in the wet, good lines are rewarded more (or rather bad lines are paid for with skin, or time), in that you will need to slow down less to corner with a sound approach than with a sloppier line. You'll likely want to use something to prevent chaffing (unlike other suggestions, I would not use vaseline, it ruins clothing, you're better off with something like body glide... something to layer like a vest might not be a bad idea, depending on temperature, because it can drop much faster if you're soaked.

I wouldn't worry about covering the bike, I would use a good quality dry lube (tends to have better staying power in the wet than a wetter lube). I would however slip the running shoes into a plastic grocery bag, to keep them dry in transition...

I'd add something you really shouldn't do - Don't blow yourself up on the bike trying to beat the rain. Stick to your plan as long as you can and then adapt as the weather changes.

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Munq

Careful with wet painted surfaces (street lines, etc.), these depending on the type of paint and how fresh the paint is can become super slippery when wet. You don't want to be going into a turn at 20+ mph and having your wheels slide out from under you because you tried to turn on a slippery wet painted surface.

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2x Deca-Ironman World Cup (10 Ironmans in 10 days), 2x Quintuple Ironman World Cup (5 Ironmans in 5 days), Ultraman, Ultra Marathoner, and I once did an Ironman.

In college I left a bike outside for 6 straight months and while the chain got rusty at month 3, it staid rideable. Overnight is nothing.

One tip, particularly applicable if you do not have a lot of wet riding experience, is not to get "shamed" into taking corners faster than you want based on what other riders around you are doing. They might be better than you in the wet, or more likely they are just idiots. Either way, following their pace through a corner could lead to you crashing. You do not have to slow down to a crawl. But no matter how good you are in the wet, in a tri race you probably are seeing every single corner for the first (and only) time so you need to have margin of error built in.

Add to that:

Stay off of white lines (and yellow for that matter). They are slicker than snot when wet.
Be cautious of bumps in aero. Things that just cause a bump will cause a spill when your wet fore arms slip off the wet aero bar pads.

It wasn't in a race, but my highest recorded average power for a 40 mile local ride that I do was last weekend when I was caught in a thunderstorm with torrential rain and a 15 degree temperature drop. I was wet, cold, and just wanted to get to the garage.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

In addition to what others have said- a pair of dry socks to start the run is nice, especially if you kept your run shoes dry. Having a dry top handy can be nice too if the ride is a soaker. Personally I have never aired my tires down due to rain but at 100 PSI, Hed Jets and Conti 4K2s have been fine in 5 hour down pours. Last Full distance I did it rained steady for just about the whole ride, some folks were pretty cold off the bike even in August.

A bit of positive news. Racing in the rain lowers crr so you actually can be faster (that was the case in my first HIM, at any rate).

I think everything has already been mentioned:
Easy on the corners
Avoid painted surfaces like the plague
Change brake pads (eg Kool stops) and clean braking surface
Overall, more cautious approach on objective road dangers
If cold, then consider emergency survival blanket layering underneath tri suit (rappster idea . Read his Norseman report).

Then let it rip on the straight line.

...and remember, everyone will be challenged by the rain. So just play it conservative when it makes sense.

Hope this helps!

Agree on avoiding wet painted surfaces. Another one is try to avoid puddles (even small ones) whenever possible since here's a good chance that a pothole etc hiding out of sight underneath.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Having been unfortunate to racing in the rain, I would recommend that you pick up a tight fitting cycling rain breaker. It is lightweight and should keep you dry (and warm). To add to the comments of the need for caution, there will likely be a high number of folks on the bike that are being extremely caution, thus slow, so watch out for them.

Thank you for all the feedback! This is all really, really helpful! I'm hoping that the storm continues to shift to the east and the rain will hold off until after the race. Like I said in my first post, this is my first 70.3 and my longest race ever. The course is super hilly and now the rain just adds more fuel to my anxiety fire (haha). But I will lessen the air in my tires, stay away from puddles and paint, get a light jacket, and continue to look for clear glasses with rained for the lenses. I'm not fast on the bike, but the corners and other riders will be approached with great caution. Again thank you all!

Hilly course. Be very careful on the breaks. Once they lock, your going sideways.

You and your bike will be fine. I imagine your shoes will be in a plastic back if it is IM doing the race so they will be fine. I also imagine the course will be flat so not a lot of braking. My only rainy HIM, I quit during the bike because there was a cold driving rain making it hard to brake on a hilly course. I figured I would probably be safe enough, but decided probably wasn't good enough and stopped. If I had had disc brakes on the other hand...

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2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3

Probably obvious, but the folks in front of you will be trying to avoid all the dangers described above. Be extra cautious and vocal when passing someone, as they may make some unexpected maneuver when you are in the process of overtaking them.

Good Morning!

Just wanted to follow up with a huge thank you to all of you for your feedback! The rain started that morning but let up by the time we toed the water. It came back again during the bike, but it was brief. Thank you for helping with keeping this long course tri newbie safe. I can officially say that I've completed my first 70.3 and still feel like I'm on cloud 9! What a rush!!

Thanks again y'all!
~Marcy