So, there is a race in Davis, CA on Sunday and the forecast calls for rain…
HTFU and just deal with it or should I pack some gloves, jacket, pancho, rain boots, etc. to race in?
any tips on race apparel or transition ideas?
How cold/windy will it be?
Low of 40, High of 54 according to weatherbug
Hi: 54° Rain showers likely. Windy. Highs 51 to 57. South winds 20 to 30 mph. Gusts up to 60 mph decreasing to 40 mph in the afternoon. 
Lo: 40° Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain showers. Lows around 41.
Epic!
Pack a good beanie for the bike. Also, ride a little conservatively in the turns and downhill. I vote vaseline on the legs instead of long pants of any sort.
HTFU and just deal with it or should I pack some gloves, jacket, pancho, rain boots, etc. to race in?
any tips on race apparel or transition ideas?
If you want to HTFU into a DNF, then go for it…
Take the extra time to put on some clothes-leg warmers, booties, and the tightest fitting, most rain-resistance vest you have or can find (I say vest, since if you’re going hard, you’ll probably get colder with a jacket after it becomes filled with sweat…)
Wow, with that wind I’d plan to put on some protective gear like a vest and arm warmers, at least. I often put a windbreaker vest under my racing top…this keeps it from flapping in the wind.
Depends on how long the race is. Last year Harriman was similar conditions and pouring rain for all of the bike. I put on leg and arm warmers, jacket, chemical heaters in my shoes, gloves and a hat under my helmet. Lots of people who tried to HTFU dropped out. Murphy’s Law got a free ride to the hospital after uncontrollably shivering on his bike. It was pretty much the consensus that the 2 mile mark of the run was when feet were no longer numb. Good luck.
I’m signed up too. It is going to be “interesting” to say the least. I’m hoping the wind has calmed down by the time the 30+ Men wave (last wave of the day) starts.
Rik
How it go out there seanathan? Any other STers at the UC-Davis race yesterday?
I thought we got a reprieve in the last wave of the day - sun was shining at the start of the swim. But it started to rain again during the swim and the bike leg started out into the teeth of a pelting, near-hail rain with crazy wind. Weather station reports for that time showed 22-23 mph winds w/ ~30 mph gusts. Since I was soaked to the bone immediately, I think I was colder with the double long sleeve jersey that I threw on than I would have been with just a short-sleeve skinsuit!
The volunteers did a stellar job standing out on that course in the rain for hours.
Fun to talk about it now, but I hope never to race in conditions like that again!
Rik
I was signed up, but when I saw 2 of the first 4 collegiate males crashed on the bike I decided it was a bad idea to race. It seemed too dangerous with the wet roads and the wind, plus I didn’t want to risk knocking down my immune system and getting that nasty flu/pneumonia that’s been going around.
It’s a huge bummer to go through the week-long ritual of tapering for a race, packing up your gear, shaving your legs, getting up early and going out to the race course to decide not to compete. I think it was the right decision for me, but was sad/pissed the whole day!
Lets see. I got up at 4:20 and left the house in pouring wind driven rain at 5:30.
Registered at 6:45 and got in the car to try and avoid the horizontal rain and wind.
At 8 I watched the first swim wave go off in the rollers in the pool, and saw them killing
themselves at the first bouy at the corner since I thought there were too close to the edge of the pool.
I then went back soaked into my car and watched folks come from the swim to the T1 bike.
I watched folks slip down to the ground just trying to leave T1. At 9 I decided to go back
to the pool to see how things were. The rain continue to be driven horizontal by the wind, and it
was clear that no clearly was changing soon. So, since I was the last wave at 11:00, I asked myself,
since I was not 100% over the flu, was it worth the risk of getting sick again? Was it worth the risk
to slide my bike out again and break my collar bone? I walked back to the car and told the boss I give.
This is now 0 for the last 3 races I have paid for that I made a donation. First race I have ever DNS’ed at.
But, with Stanford being next weekend, and so far the weather looks much nicer, will give the 4th one a try.
At least I wussed out Sat getting ready for Sunday. But, spending 2 hours on the trainer when I got home
was no fun but sure a lot better than being out in the POURING rain.
So for anyone who did the race, you are a stud!!
Dave
But at least I came home with a nice little DRY towel. :o(
Dave
I did the race in Davis and also spent 4 hours sitting in my car soaked after setting up transition. It was crazy out there!! The rain and wind must have went to my head because I made the brilliant decision to do the bike leg without any jackets, gloves, etc… Just wore my tri suit. Not very smart. 
It took all day to recover from being so wet and cold!
Man, that means you went of at the later time, and it sounds like it got no better than when I left at 9.
Still bummed I have yet been able to do a race this season yet. Doing Stanford next weekend?
Water will be COLD.
Dave
My wave time was 10:20 and it wasn’t any better! No Stanford next weekend. I am going to do a 10 mile run race in Redding. After that I am headed to Oceanside for the 70.3. Have fun and good luck at Stanford.
Speaking of not smart: I had my rear disc (cover) and front Hed3 wheels mounted on my bike (what can I say, I was planning on the weather calming down by 11!)
I can now state that it is possible to ride in a 20-30 mph crosswind in aerobars with such a wheel setup on rain-sheeted roads. It also is probably not a very good idea. I got on the base bar for some of the cross-wind portion when I got a little freaked. That and also because my whole upper body was cramping up from the cold. The cool part was the few miles of the return leg that had almost a direct tailwind. Averaged 32 mph using around 230 watts!
On the out portion of the bike leg in the stinging rain that felt like small hail, what little I could make out of the clouds through my sunglasses looked pretty wild. Stark contrast between light and dark clouds. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a funnel cloud at that point.
Fun stuff! I’ll always remember this race.
Rik
Ha! That’s funny. I saw 2 people with rear discs. I guess you were one of them. Glad to hear I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t making brilliant decisions. Agree on the rain; it was painful. I figure that no other race conditions could be this bad. We’ll always have this experience to draw back on. Plus you can tell people that you averaged 32mph. Just don’t them for how long or how windy it was!!
yea, as stated before
conditions were terrible
i went out on the bike and it was hailing, and all i had on my legs was the one piece race suit leg portion. Rain, wind, some hail, lots of cursing the gods, but it eventually ended and the rain just about stopped when the run got on and that part was fine. Nice and flat, although very poorly planned course at one point coming under a bridge. Anyone who raced this should know what I’m talking about…It’s a small downhill leading under the bridge on a small path and the people coming back are on the same path. it’s a blind turn right next to a small river and i wouldnt be surprised if there were collisions there or someone fell into the water trying to avoid another runner.
Definitely no loss of respect for those who DNS because I was wishing I hadnt for the majority of the race.
No stanford next weekend…UCLA is having a race that same day, but I think i’ll have to miss that one as well.