Really basic questions...

I've never done a tri & never seen one done. But, I think I'm about to enter my first tri. I'm wondering about the transitions. (Caution - really dumb questions following)

Do you just leave all of your stuff in one area? So, when you get done with your swim, you just put on your cycling shoes & go? Ditto with the run? Are all tri's a little different? The business manager/OCD person inside of me wants to assign a space to each person.:p

Do you pull on cycling shorts & if so, don't they get wet & squishy from the swim? OK, I'm not suggesting showers & towels here, but I'm just thinking.

I swear, I can complicate a clothes pin given enough time.

I didn't want to buy specific tri shorts either, not knowing if or when I'll ever do another one, so I picked a couple of pairs of likely cycling shorts and got in the shower with them on after a ride, to see how much water the chamois would take up and how well the fabric would hold its shape. The pair I chose that way worked just fine.

If you're okay cycling without a chamois for the sprint distance, then just about any shorts would work, or your swimsuit if you're not shy. People were wearing all kinds of things in the one I did.

Some tris I've done assign you your rack based on your swim wave. At first I wasn't thrilled with that, but it does make sense because it does make athlete traffic less hazardous.

Veronica

Most tris have both transitions (swim->bike and bike->run aka T1 and T2) in the same place. So you do set up all of your stuff in one place. Generally you organize it so that your bike stuff is in one pile and the run stuff is in another. That way you just grab your stuff and don't have to think about sorting it during the race.

You come out of the swim, run to your spot and throw on your shoes (and socks if you wear them), grab your bike and helmet and go. At T2 you strip off your helmet and bike shoes, rack your bike, put on your running shoes, and go.

Whether or not you need specific tri clothing depends on how long your race is. If you're doing a sprint, you may be able to get away with regular bike shorts. If the race is longer, then I think you'd be much more comfortable in a pair of tri shorts. There are cheaper ones out there: Aevero and Aerotech Designs make very reasonably priced ones.

Tris seem to be run by OCD business managers too--everyone is either assigned a space in the transition area or you grab a space and that space is "yours" for the duration. The space is roughly the width of your bike plus a bit more and some area in front of or behind your bike where you can set up a small towel on the ground with your stuff laid out. OCD skills come in handy--you think through very carefully what you'll need and when you'll need it and set your transition area up so that you can access what you need quickly.

In my vast experience (ummm, two races) I've worn tri specific shorts and top and just did the whole race in that get-up, although I did put on a jersey for the bike/run portion of my first race because it was a bit chilly outside. So yes, I just get out of the water, put on my cycling shoes and helmet and gloves and get on my bike. I LOVE my tri shorts and wear them regularly for riding--the thin chamois is perfect for me. They start out wet from the swim but dry pretty quickly on the bike, although you spend a couple of miles with water running down your legs. For that reason I've learned that there's no point in carefully drying off your feet after the swim. Just get rid of the dirt/grass/sand/goose poop you picked up as best you can and get on with it. I also go with cycling sandals and no socks because that lets my feet air dry really well and I don't get blisters. There's no reason you couldn't put on regular cycling shorts after the swim, but you'll either be wearing them over swim bottoms (which I don't think would be really comfortable and would defeat the purpose of having a seamless chamois in the shorts) or you'd be mooning the world while changing from swim bottoms to cycling shorts.

Everyone has her own system and you do what works best for you. I suspect that people who do a lot of tris spend the first half dozen tweaking their system to get it just perfect for them.