Last Sunday my 12 year old son competed in a duathlon. It was not an important event, but he was very determined to win because last year he finished in third place in this same event. He has raced in wet conditions before but never with rain as thick as this time.
I was very worried about an accident in the bike leg and maybe it showed in my face when I saw them take off on their bikes because a drafting marshal looked at me and asked if I wanted to ride with him in the back of his scooter. The rain had diminished in intensity a little bit before they reached T1 but that did not last long and it came back with the same force as in the start of the race. We caught up with a group of kids drafting. I do not like to see drafting in non-drafting events, but under those conditions I felt a little sorry for them when the marshal warned them. It was also clear that being so close they were at risk. We passed them and some others and then I saw a lone rider in the distance. It was my son. The marshal sped up but the rain was hitting him so hard in the exposed face that he was forced to slow down. “It is going to hurt to catch the leaders he said”. We finally caught up with my son and we rode beside him for a short time. I saw him pass other riders with surprising ease and I knew that he was going to have a great day. He did not notice that I was riding behind the marshal in the scooter and it was very exciting for me to have the privilege of watching my son at very short distance extremelly focused passing riders in the very heavy rain tucked in the aero position. We passed him and I noticed that only a few riders were in front of him with most of the bike leg to go.
He reached T2 and the finish line ahead of all but a couple of 15 year old kids of the older 14-15 year age group. He finished first in the 12-13 year old group by a very long margin.
Besides my son, none of the other boys in the two age groups competing together were using triathlon specific bikes. All of them were using road bikes without aero bars. I was also happy to see that using PYRO platforms for the first time in an event caused no problems and if there was any power loss in that flat road (and in surprisingly good condition for Mexican standards), it was minimal. I am not sure yet if he should trade his cycling shoes for the platforms in a triathlon but I am pretty sure that he will wear them always in duathlons.
My guess is that he would have won also with no rain but I think that not by such a wide margin. I am pretty sure that him riding in the aero position in that very heavy rain gave him an extra edge, but I will need a water tunnel to prove that.
great news. glad to hear the Pyros performed as expected. he may want to try them if you come up on a sprint distance tri with relatively flat bike course.
and it sounds like he can get a boost from adverse conditions. he’s an animal
Congrats to you and your son on his wonderful performance.
Over the years, I’ve noticed a number of times that my average speed on the bike increases in wet conditions. I’ve done some study on this and there are two things that seem to be at play. First, the contact patch with the road is diminished and, perhaps, “slickened.” There’s less rolling resistance. Second, ( and someone who knows something about physics will probably tell me I’m all wet) the molecular weight of water is actually less than that of air. It takes warm, moist air to reach saturation and when it does, it’s apparently less of an obstacle than drier air or cooler air. I’ve probably botched all the science in there, but there’s a kernel of truth somewhere.
I know everyone else in your son’s race was in the same conditions. Maybe many of them had good bike splits, too. Then again, maybe of them were nervous in the slick conditions and didn’t take advantage. I did an event 2 months ago in a downpour and I was passing folks left and right 'cuz I knew to make hay when the sun wasn’t shining.
More pseudo-science here perhaps. I am pretty sure that humid air is actually less dense than drier air. It’s supposed to easier to hit a baseball out of the park on a hot, humid night. Should also make for faster bike times. Provided you keep the rubber side down.
I am using the term “humidity” to refer to water in it’s vapor form, not the liquid form. While the origonal post is about rain, I suggest that it is the humid air associated with the rain that is the issue. Water can also be ice and I suspect ice-breakers encounter large amounts of drag as well.
After just having spent 5+ hours of IM riding in the humid air/rain, I did have one of my fastest IM bike splits but it seemed like your tires “stick” to the water on the pavement…water adhesion/cohesion? It seemed like I rolled better on the dry patches than wet ones. Plus your drivetrain gets all gunked up. My chain was chirping like a bird after about 2 hours. There has to be some lost power there. Probably the biggest plus is that the rain keeps your body cooler. Regarding humidity, I don’t know if it’s more “slippery” than air or not. But if it is a hot day and really humid, you probably won’t have your fastest day : )
I will love you to critique his position in another post. His Dual 48 is probably too small. He is growing fast. He passed by size 48 in only 8 months! I bought him a new Soloist in size 51 a couple of weeks ago but he just does not want to let go his Dual. We were planning that this was going to be his last race in the Dual but he says that he feels the Soloist “muy pesada”. We will take care of the change this next week. How can you explain to a boy that is winning races in his bike that he needs a new bike? Maybe he does not, but the nearest bike fitter is more than 1000 km away. I will need your help later.
The photo above shows Sergio Jr. at a different race in Ixtapa, México. The night before had rained a lot and the event took place in extremely humid and also hot conditions. He placed 7th competing with boys in his age group including the best of the nation. His times were as expected. He performed great in humid and hot conditions (usual in Mazatlan his hometown) but I did not see an increase in performance compared to the other known riders of the national circuit.
He was probably more determined than the other boys in this particular hard condition and maybe me checking the road a day before (the only obstacle found was a dead boa) gave him an edge, but he averaged at least 3 KPH more than in dry events. That took me by surprised when I checked his computer after the race.
Molecular weights sounds like real science to me. Pretty cool. i agree that it may not be significant. Things like staying cool and hydrated as well as bike handling issues are more important than air density.
I am pretty sure that humid air is actually less dense than drier air. It’s supposed to easier to hit a baseball out of the park on a hot, humid night. Should also make for faster bike times.
This thread reminds me of a customer who used to harass my RF engineer. He’d call up and rant on and on about his theories for as long as the engineer could take. One of his ideas was that cell phones work much better in the rain because the RF signal clings to each drop of water, then leapfrogs to another drop, and so on, thus travelling faster than through dry air.
At any rate, assuming that air is less dense in the rain, I would have to conclude that an aero position would be less of an advantage than in dry air.
So I don’t think your son stomped the field because it rained, Sergio. I think he’s just fast.
