Fraiser/Mile stone/wet suit

Couple of things, I road Ft. Fraiser Sat morning for the first time and I must say, I enjoyed very much. It was a good break from my Lake and hill routine that I started out on when I bought my bike 4 weeks ago. I went down and back twice, which was my longest ride so far. I road around PCC for a little while to make it an even 30 miles.

I also broke 300 miles on the ol' bike on that ride.

Question ....how important is a wet suit for a sprint? I am doing the Cypress Gardens race in Oct and didn't plan on purchasing or even trying to borrow one for that matter. I just figured I'd wing it. I also plan on being substaintaly smaller by the time the next season starts and didn't want to blow a ton of cash on something I'd ware once.....

Thoughts?

I rode the same trail Sunday morning. It was my first ride on my new bike and also enjoyed it very much. If you're going again next weekend let me know and maybe we can train together. For that matter, if anyone else wants to join in how about Sunday morning at the Highland City Trail head. 8am? 9am?

Good question on the wet suit. I'm doing Cypress Gardens for my first Tri- as well. I hadn't planned on a wet suit as the water should be warm enough? Am I wrong? I also read somewhere that if the water temp. is above a certain level wet suits are not allowed. What do I know right???? It's my first go, too.

First off, I am thinking the water will be too warm for wetsuits. The threshold is usually 78*, and even if it's a couple degrees below that, it still feels fine. Also, if you wore one during a sprint, the time taking the dang thing off in transition would kill you time.
There might be info on the race website regarding the estimated swim temp. You ought to give it a look.

Good luck at the race, you two!

I agree, event if it is within 5 degrees of begin legal i would say NO WAY on the wetsuit. I did St Anthony the last 2 years at the beginning of tri season when it was wetsuit legal and didnt wear it. It will add at least 3 mins to your transition and if you havent ever worn before count on a few more minutes trying to figure out how to get your feet out Honestly if the water temp is 72 and above and it is anything olympic and below your adrenaline will keep you plenty warm.

ironmanx2 wrote:I agree, event if it is within 5 degrees of begin legal i would say NO WAY on the wetsuit. I did St Anthony the last 2 years at the beginning of tri season when it was wetsuit legal and didnt wear it. It will add at least 3 mins to your transition and if you havent ever worn before count on a few more minutes trying to figure out how to get your feet out Honestly if the water temp is 72 and above and it is anything olympic and below your adrenaline will keep you plenty warm.

But, but..... I feel like a superhero when I wear my suit!!!! I say transition time be damned, wear your wetsuit and look cooler than everyone else!!!!



















Just kidding!

only if you go for the complete look and paint a superman S on your chest and throw the cape in dramatic fashion when you enter the water

I am going to fall somewhere in between with my opinions on wetsuits. I agree for a sprint (especially if the swim is less than 1/2 mile like 1/3 or 1/4) and the water temp is above 73 degrees or so, forget the wetsuit UNLESS you practice getting out of the pool with it and getting out of it (while tired) several times. My first few races with one it probably cost me 2 minutes or so in transition messing around with it. Now, I can get out of one in two pulls and it probably does not cost me 15-20 seconds. For Olympic distance triathlons, unless you were a college swimmer, WEAR IT if it is wet suit legal per USAT rules. Forget the transition time, you will subtract 5 minutes or more from your swim time just by wearing it over a mile swim. This is mainly due to the fact that most less-than-perfect swimmers (like me) drag their legs in the water at a downward angle. The suite keeps them up and makes you feel like a dolphin knifing through the water instead of a manatee podding along...

Oh yeah, if you do wear one TUCK IN YOUR STRAP because you don't want to have some guy crawl up your back rounding a marker and yank down the zipper flooding your suit with 10-20 pounds of nice water. Yes, this happened to me at St. Anthony's this year and I had to swim over to a Kayaker, get out of the suit, throw it over the deck of her boat and continue on...

P.S. Yes, I love the Ft. Frazier trail also, it is a great place to practice time trial style bike positioning without getting yelled at by a bunch of snobby road bikers...