Lets say there is a triathlon with a 50 mile bike where the water is in the low 60’s and the air temp is 50 degrees. There is no changing area in T1. This means that coming out of the wetsuit, your tri shorts or suit will be wet.
How do you deal with that on the bike? What do you wear to stay warm? How do you get and stay warm/dry for the bike?
Length of race would help.
I’ve done a sprint where I came out of natotorium to 34* air temps and I didn’t add anything. I would add gloves and toe warmers next time but that’s it.
If your talking about 5+ hours on the bike at lower intensity that’s a different story.
How long is the race?
If for a sprint or an oly I wouldn’t worry about it. You will warm-up quickly.
I have worn calf sleeves under my wet suit though, but in the end felt like there wasn’t any real benefit.
For a 70.3 and up, I would probably pull on some arm warmers and gloves.
There is a de Soto video on a fast way to roll on your arm warmers. You can find it on Emilio’s YouTube channel.
The race is 50+ miles on the bike.
At 50 miles you probably aren’t redlining it, but are still working hard. If you have a tight fitting vest that might help keep the chill off you. Arm warmers too if you tend to get cold.
How long does it take your tri shorts to dry?
Did a HIM with the water and air temps both high 50’s. To give you an idea of my effort, I averaged 19MPH. I’m 5’10, 135 so I don’t have much insulation.
I had toe warmers and gloves. I wore a skin-tight, long-sleeved UA and a sleeveless cycling vest and I was good.
TBH, the only time I was ever cold was in T1. With the wetsuit, I was actually surprised how not cold I was (and I run cold in the pool). I did cramp from the cold a little in T1 and was shivering so it was no picnic transitioning, but I was fine on the bike after about 5 minutes or so.
The shorts dry off very quickly as they see a lot of wind.
The above poster makes a good point about transition. Your fingers will be cold so try and get your hands dry and blow on them on your way to T1. Have a towel ready.
I did a 70.3 tri when the water was about 70, but the air temp was 48 at the start of my bike. I wore arm sleeves and I put bubble wrap between my skin and the top I was wearing. The bubble wrap provided some nice insulation. When I warmed up on the bike, I was able to throw the bubble wrap away at the aid station.
Wear a cycling jersey. The loss of a tiny bit of aero beneift compared to spending 2.5 hours freezing cold is a small price to pay.
Route profile out of T1 may affect things too. If you hit hills straight away on the bike you’ll be warm quicker than a flat start with exposed, chilly winds.
I’ve dealt with worse in a full IM. Lower than 50 degrees for the whole day, wet and rainy. So cold on the bike that I kept dropping my food because my hands were numb.
All I really would have needed were gloves and possibly arm warmers. Wet or dry, I would have taken the time to put them on in T1.
That’s about staying warm. You don’t stay dry. Don’t waste your time trying.
How do you deal with that on the bike? What do you wear to stay warm? How do you get and stay warm/dry for the bike?
UA compression top and gloves. Shorts were cold but I lived.
I did a 1/2 distance tri a few years ago and a nasty cold front came in night before race. Wind chill was in the teens when we went into the 65 degree water. I only threw on arm warmers for the bike and was OK after the first 5-10 miles. I saw many people turn around though because they were too cold. I put on a long sleeve shirt for first lap of run but took it back off for 2nd lap. I tend to handle cold really well (other than my toes), though.
Wear under armor or some sort of under shorts you can wear under your swim gear, keep on in T1 and then under your bike gear (same idea for sports bras for the ladies). Everything else that got wet on the swim comes off, dry off, and dress up in dry clothes for the bike.
Lake Tahoe 2013 water temp was in the 60’s and air temp was at freezing and maybe got into the 50’s for the high. I was in layers. Under shirt, bike jersey, bike jacket, under shorts, bike shorts, long socks and gloves for the bike. It was all throw away for the jacket and gloves, but I ended up keeping them on the entire ride.
Moral of the story is to be as dry as possible for the start of the bike.
Throw on a long sleeve Under Armour top when you hit T1. When you get hot, pause at the top of a hill crest to take it off and wad it up and put in the back of your jersey. Stopping at the top of a hill is the most time-effective because you’re already going slow, and then getting back up to speed is really fast because of the downhill coming.
I raced a HIM with 60 water temp and 40 air temp. Had a tight fitting windbreaker at T1 and gloves. I didnt feel very cold coming out of the water so I didnt use them. It was cold AF starting the bike because of the winds but I warmed up pretty quicly. In hindsight, I would probably have swum with armwarmers so i could bike with them without bothering to put them in T1.
You’ll be fine.
I wore a relatively tight cycling jacket (not the most aero at all, but not super baggy), gloves, and toe warmers. It was 38 air temp at the start of the swim, water in the mid 60s.
Never once caught a chill other than waiting to get in the water. Run was perfect.
If you are afraid to be cold, buy a changing towel on ebay for 20 USD!
I hate the cold and for me ok to loose two mn but to start with a dry comfy cycling short instead of a wet one!
I did the event. I did change into dry clothes using a changing towel. I couldn’t have managed the bike wet.
It was 40’s at the start of the swim, but my wetsuit kept me nice and warm. 1st time with a wetsuit.
The biggest issue I had was uncontrollably breathing in when my face hit the water. Had to swim the 1st 300 yards with my head out of the water.
Other than that, I survived with my UA base layer, cycling shorts, jersey and gloves. But again, I changed into dry clothes. It was brutal coming out of the water in a stuff cold wind.