I am a very trustworthy person but have been leery about leaving my belongings in transition – from checking my bike in the night before to belongings stashed for the race while out on the course. Am I being paranoid by placing all non-essential items in my car. I haven’t gone to the point of bringing a lock – I just put a towel over anything that might look tempting. I’ll seriously go freak-show if someone takes a critical piece of equipment. Has anyone had a bad experience?
There have been reports on here of the theft of expensive bikes or wheelsets, but I don’t know how many ‘minor’ items are stolen.
I agree with towel-coverage and think the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ principle is fairly applicable.
But still, after a race I’ll hop into the lake or river to cool down and then put my stuff away immediately.
I’ve been racing for 10 years and have no first hand knowledge of anything being stolen in a transition area. There have been a couple of stories here on ST, but I think transition theft is incredibly rare.
Thom
Transition theft does happen. Several years ago a friend and I did Eagleman. He had everything but his bike stolen. Wetsuit, helmet were taken. Even his used bike shoes. I leave all non-essential stuff in the car. I’m not too trusting of people.
Some here might disagree, but I’d consider the TA a safer place than my vehicle. I’m 10X more paranoid about crap getting stolen from my car. You do hear about theft in the TA, but it’s a lot rarer than someone jacking your car.
a brand new P4 got stolen from transition at NYC this year and they had a ton of security checks. You can never be too safe, I load all my stuff that im not immediately using in my bag … out of sight out of mind indeed…
In 2001 when IMCAL was full 140.6, I didn’t pick up my bike until the next day and found that someone had taken my spare tubular off the bike.
A local RD here claims they have overnight security - with GUNS to keep your bikes safe, but I still see people who only drop off their frame, and bring their fancy wheels in the next morning.
A local RD here claims they have overnight security - with GUNS to keep your bikes safe, but I still see people who only drop off their frame, and bring their fancy wheels in the next morning.
My races, and many other races pay for armed security over night. I have seen armed guards at IMLP and other events. An armed guard costs less than a theft deductable.
Was a funny post on here a while ago about the guy that had his runners stolen and put back after the race, guess the thief forgot his. Was an odd and funny story.
It would take a lot of planning and execution to steal a whole transition.
-Jot
Transition theft happens, but sometimes it’s not theft, but carelessness.
By that, I mean when you are packing all your stuff up at the end of the day, you might accidentally pack something up that wasn’t yours. It happens. Obviously, it’s inexcusable, but it does happen.
As an example, at the Pacific grove Olympic tri, I was packing up all my crap, and I grabbed the wetsuit that was laying on top of all my gear, exactly whre I had left it in T1. Right size, right brand, right model, matched my wetsuit exactly, and it was on my gear. I t was mine.
Except that when I walked away, I got about 3 feet, looked down, and saw my actual wetsuit laying about 3 feet away from my gear. I knew this one was indeed mine because it had my name mark3ed on it where I had marked my name in permanent marker. So, I almost stole someone else wetsuit. How my wetsuit got moved to where it was, and how his wetsuit ended up on my gear, I will never know, but the rush of transition is probably the cause. Fortunately for both him and I, I noticed it before I got too far. Completely my fault, and I know I should have checked for my name on the wetsuit I packed up first, but I make no claims to be perfect.
one of my friends lost an iphone.
I know someone whose fancy bike, SRM and wheels were stolen out of transition at a race that takes place over a long weekend…the thief had ample opportunity to notice who the bike belonged to and to make sure they weren’t around when they stole it - - the transition area was also the least secure of any race I’ve ever done.
I’ve heard of bike computers and small items disappearing at the Chicago Tri - - I think largely because the race is so huge and attracts so many non-triathletes who do that one tri a year (don’t consider themselves a part of any community so it is easier for them to swipe something).
To another point - - a girl next to me in transition must have worn identical googles as me. When I came home from a race and was emptying my bag I suddenly had two pairs of goggles - - only one was adjusted differently and was upon close inspection clearly not mine. I think in her haste to get on the bike she tossed them and they ended up with my stuff so it was totally innocent but due to her making some hasty moves while in transition or someone else kicking her stuff.