If you race long enough, eventually you will be faced with racing in the rain. Triathlon is an outdoor sport, mother nature doesn’t care about you going for that PR.
Event organizers and RD’s will have races in the rain as long as there are no severe winds or lightening, so here’s how to best be ready.
1. What you should bring depends on temps. If it’s 50’s or 60’s I might wear arm warmers or under amour top for the bike. Consider some old tube socks with the end cut out to ditch if it gets warm enough. If you can get past the cool morning and be in the 70’s in rain, you should be ok.
2. Bring gear you are ok standing around in being rained on if the start gets pushed back and there is a delay.
3. You may get bused out to the swim start with nothing but morning gear. Consider wearing your wetsuit in the rain if you get delayed.
4. Consider gloves with grip for the bike. Maybe some cheapies you can ditch if it’s a tad cold to start and warms up.
5. Maybe consider a rain jacket for the bike and stash in T1 bag. Leave it in the bag if not raining too bad or cold.
6. Dress warm to wait around. You don’t want to be shivering in the rain waiting to start.
7. Bring extra food and drink just in case to swim start. You could get delayed 2 hours or more in an IM event and still have a race to do. If you don’t use it, stash it in morning gear back to get it back later.
8. Have fancy carbon race wheels? Consider bringing backup wheels as the carbon wheels could have issues in the rain with expanding and getting water logged. It’s not a high chance issue, but some may not want to take that chance with high dollar wheels. If you do swap out, make sure to adjust your breaks for the different rim widths!
9. Have a road bike? It may be the best option to switch to a road bike from a tri bike if you don’t feel confident on it in the rain. If it’s a race you have to check in the bike the day before, it may not be an option, but something to consider for a smaller local event.
10. Most of all bring a can do attitude. RD’s will do everything within reason and safety to get a race to happen. It may get delayed, shortened, swim cancelled or who knows, so be ready to roll with the punches on race morning!
