Relay Team Tri Question

[Andrea]

I probably should have asked this earlier, but I just thought of it tonight...

In the morning, I'm riding the 10 mile bike leg of a triathlon with a relay team. It just occurred to me that I'll be waiting around for my partner to swim 1/3 of a mile before I hop on and start busting a gut for 10 miles.

Do you just stand around during that time?! Or can you ride around up until the start and/or while the swim is going on in order to warm up? Heck... how long does it take the average swimmer to swim 1/3 of a mile? :D

[Possegal]

I'm curious to hear the answer too. :) I'm supposed to do a 24 mile bike leg as part of a relay team in September, and I'm really quite triathlon clueless in general. However I just found out my swimmer is being deployed to Africa for 3 months and won't be back in time. I fear our registration money is lost to us, as they say they don't allow you to substitute. ARGH. I'll see what if I can convince them otherwise.

Good luck on your relay!

[ilima]

I did a relay as a last minute thing once. Since there are 3 on the team, that means there are two in transition. The two not swimming watched the relay wave start and then made their way to transition and just gabbed until after T2 when we went to cheer on the runner for our team. We were racked near the other relay teams, so we chatted with them, too.

I think you'd be in the way to set your bike up on a trainer in transition. In and out of transition is controlled, so you wouldn't want to be riding around, either. Normally, all bikes are racked well before the start of the race. You'd be in the way of fast swimmers if you tried to take the bike in & out. Relays often start last, so there will be a considerable number of people finishing the swim before your team's swimmer gets in.

Bring running shoes if you want to warm up your muscles.

Plan on 7-12 minutes for the swim time, depending on the swimmer's speed and how far they have to run to get to transition.

Possegal, if you or the runner do the swim, no one will ever know you didn't have a 'complete' team. I know folks that have divided up the three events by two people on purpose.

[Andrea]

7-12 minutes isn't that bad- I normally warm up for ~45 minutes before a 45 minute crit and end up having about 15-20 minutes between the end of my warmup and the start of the race. I'll probably do the same sort of thing and get my bike all set up just before the race starts. Thanks!

[Possegal]

I guess that would depend on the rules of the race you are doing. With mine, I have to have my bike in the transition area and racked the night before it all starts. So there would be no way to warm up on it anytime after the day before. Not sure how common that is, but I would imagine they all require the bike to be in the transition area hours before the swimmers even start. But again - I'm a total novice, so all I can really speak to is my race this fall.

[HillSlugger]

I'm doing a relay in August and I don't know these answers. I'm doing the swim so I don't have to worry about keeping ready but I know my rider is concerned about this. I suppose if there's room somewhere you'd be best off to bring a second bike on a trainer to stay warmed up.

1/3 mile is abut 500m? That would take me about 10 minutes to swim.

[Andrea]

I ended up warming up until the race started, then I waited with my bike in the transition area. It worked out very well :D

[kacie tri-ing]

How did your team do?

[Andrea]

We won the mixed relay division (as well as beating the 4 male-only teams by almost a minute :D) !

[Possegal]

Outstanding, congrats!