Best place to keep your stuff? - Triathlon Week

RedT · 09-17-2007, 08:52 AM

I have a wedge bag under my seat and a small bento box (for ride snackies), but I have heard that in a race I shouldn't carry anything that doesn't fit in the pockets of my cycling jersey.

Is this just some macho-cool-guy cyclist mumbo jumbo or is it better/faster/more aerodynamic/lighter to keep everything in the jersey pocket.

It sounds uncomfortable as heII and it seems like it would take some time to stuff all that stuff in the pockets with a much better chance of leaving something behind or dropping something. But I am willing to give it a try if it will in some way improve my performance.

Anyone have an opinion on this?

TIA,
Red

triNick · 09-17-2007, 03:47 PM

Do whatever you are most comfortable with.

First off your wedge bag under your seat will only work on training rides, not for races. Now, something like a bento box will work for any race type because it's easy to access the contents.

Now, I guess it would depend on the race length. For a sprint or an olympic distance race I would forgo the bento box. I would use a bento box for a half or iron distance race. For sprint and olympic distance races I put a gel on my bike top tube with electrical tape. I also sneak a gel in under my tri shorts and in my back pockets of my tri top. If I have a wetsuit on, they won't fall out for sure. It also depends on how much food you are packing. For half or iron distance race, I use a bento box and have it filled with what I need. I also have stuff in the back of my jersey. When I train, I usually have stuff in my jersey, sometimes even an extra water bottle, is it uncomfortable, not really, but I'm not bring everything and the kitchen sink.

Do what ever you are comfortable with, don't worry about what other tell you or push on you. Not sure if you've noticed, but sometimes you see people biking with camelbacks, this might be because the are not 100% comfortable putting the water bottle back in the water bottler holder while they are riding.

sfricks · 09-18-2007, 07:40 AM

Great advise Nick.

Regarding flat packs:
There are two factors that influence most people:
1) Competitiveness
2) Race distance
These two are some what interrelated.

If you're uber competitive and would rather DNF than finish middle of the pack AND if it's a Sprint or Oly then forget the flat pack all together. They also make very small packs that weigh almost nothing and have been tested to only pull a half watt which on a sprint equals virtually no time deficit. I don't recommend putting a tire and tube into your jersey at T1. Don't do anything in T1 that requires you to stop. Even if it only take you a few seconds, how much time would you lose due to weight and wind resistance if it were already attached to your bike? Search this forum for "transition" for some great advise there.

As far as the Bento Box goes, we're really talking about a place to store your nutritional needs. Again that's race specific. The rule of thumb is you have 2.5-3 hours of muscle glycogen available if you're properly hydrated and carbo-loaded. This means you can work in the 80%+ Max Heart Rate range without fear of bonking with no nutritional intake at all. Therefore, there's no need to take more than a bottle of GA (Gatorade) and or a GU or two during an Oly. At maximal HR, don't expect your digestive system to deliver any usable nutrition to your muscles unless its super easily absorbed, therefore I suggest GA or liquid nutrition only in a sprint.

At 70.3+ your bike is your rolling buffet but you've got to have a nutrition plan and simpler is better. That's been addressed elsewhere on the forum if you need more info there.

Personally, I use the following philosophy:
Sprint: tire, tube, lever, power inflater taped to the seat post. 1-20oz bottle of GA or PA.
Oly: same, but 2-20oz bottles with GA + Carbo Pro mixed to 300 calories.
70.3: Full flat pack with 2 tubes & patch kit + Carbo Pro 1200 in 2 gel flasks, one on bike and one in tri-singlet
140.6 same, same + 2 gel flasks with CP1200 in SN1 bag.

You certainly don't want to get stranded but more often in Triathlon, less is more. HTH.

Good Luck!!!