Subject: RE: apparel for cold water tri (sprint distance) Definitely you need to wear something under your wetsuit LOL. Normally you don't change in a sprint-distance tri--you wear a tri suit, or at least tri shorts (for guys ), under the suit and then you are good to go once the wetsuit comes off. There are variations, like some guys will just wear shorts under the suit, then put on a top or bike jersey in transition, or women might wear a swimsuit and either do the whole race in it or put something on over it for bike and run but the most comfortable option is tri-shorts and top or suit. They are designed to get wet and dry quickly; the shorts will have a little padding for the bike but not so much it will absorb a lot of water on the swim. (Regular bike shorts will feel like a wet diaper after swimming in them! ) There should also be little issue with riding in wet shorts, since they dry quickly. I've done several half-iron distance races with tri suit or shorts, including ocean swims, and don't recall any chafing issues due to being wet on the bike.
For a sprint, you can probably get by with jammers or compression shorts (plus sports bra for women ) and pulling on a top in T1 (what I did for my first sprint--there were no tri clothes in country ), but biking is less comfortable with those options, especially when wet. My first race had a 25 km bike leg, and I had more problems with chafing than I have in any race since when wearing a well-fitting tri suit or shorts! |