Looks like CDA is gonna be chilly this year. The forecast for Sunday has a low of 45ºF/7.2ºC and high of 60ºF/15.6ºC, with a 50% chance of rain. I’m not terribly concerned about the swim; the water temperature was 68ºF/20ºC this morning, and with that air temperature I think a shortened swim is in the cards again. I’m more worried about hopping on the bike wet with the temperature in the fifties, so I’m curious if anyone has advice. Right now I’m thinking:
Wear my regular one-piece trisuit, towel off as best I can in T1, hope for the best. I’ll be cold, but if it rains, at least it’ll dry quickly.
Wear tri shorts for the swim, put on a long-sleeve cycling jersey in T1. I’ll be warmer, but if it rains it may not help all that much. It’ll also slow me down.
One of the above, but try to grab a rain jacket or gilet at the expo, if they have any. I’ll be dry, but it’ll slow me down even more.
One of the above, but also wear full-finger gloves and toe covers.
What would you do? I’m leaning towards 2 & 4, but curious if anyone has any advice, or any other tips.
I wouldn’t count on a shortened swim with the water at 68F.
Yes to toe covers - that’s basically free. Use socks on the bike. Put a form fitting cycling jacket in the T1 bag if you have or can find one. Or you can stuff something in your jersey in T1 to block wind.
On really cold days I’ll wear a thin skullcap under my helmet. For this forecast that’s overkill for me personally. But if you get too warm you could just toss it at an aid station.
You could also tape over helmet vents if you expect heavy rain.
Ear plugs in swim (helps with the cold water headaches)
Double cap
Arm sleeves and leg sleeves under wetsuit.
Socks on in swim (I think Rico Bogen did this recently, saves putting them on while shivering and you cant feel fingers). Test the swim with socks first.
Warm water in thermos you pour down the suit before the swim.
Emergency foil blanker stuffed down the tri suit in T1
Shoe warmers inside your bike shoes so when you get there they are warm. They make toe ones that are low profile. Or just pack the shoes with regular ones and toss them out when you get to the bike.
Shoe covers on bike shoes
Nitrile thin, grippy work gloves on bike. Low profile, thin, grippy and disposable to throw away at an aid station if you warm up.
Eat more calories than you’ve planned. Your going to burn 30% more in the cold.
lol that’s exactly what I thought when I saw the forecast. Thankfully the water is almost certainly going to be warmer than in Boise that year, so hopefully it doesn’t come to that (also I’d be bummed if the bike gets shortened).
OK, I am at bets a MOP competitor but the only event I have done that I planned on it being cold (didn’t expect IMAZ to be as cold as it turned out to be) was Indian Wells. For that, I just had some of those compression sleeve things I put on in T1. I ended up rolling them down about 20 miles into the bike ride and then taking them off entirely about 10 miles later. They’re cheap enough you could just toss them, or stuff them in a pocket until you get to T2.
Gloves and a newspaper down the kit should suffice. It’ll be cold for a few miles but the effort will warm you up. Plus you’re only looking at ~2.5h. That’s short enough and warm enough to tough it out
Yeah, right now I’m leaning towards toughing it out, and wear my normal trisuit, toe covers, and full-fingered gloves. I’ll towel off as much as I can in T1 and bring my long sleeve jersey to transition so I have the option, depending on the conditions.
I might also think about a piece of a plastic bag under your tri suit on your chest to keep your core temp from dropping too much if I were you. That has really worked well for me in past cold races.
I would go with arm sleeves and something down the suit and not a full baselayer. It may be comfortable on the bike but far to warm on the run! (depending on your fitness, pros generating a lot more heat than hour typical 60 year old female but most are somewhere inbetween)
