cold/rainy race day - what to wear on bike?

For my first tri this year (indoor swim) it was in the high 30s, windy, and rainy. Thus, I took the time to dry off a bit, threw a long sleeve cycling jersey and a cycling raincoat. It took awhile, but I was quite happy with my decision.
-k

I'll be honest, for a sprint, I will be going ALL OUT and they are pretty short, I think I would probably be warm enough with just tri shorts and top. 

I might consider arm warmers or a bike vest for an oly since I would probably be biking for over an hour...

My personal opinion about sprints?  Just show up and race as hard as you can.  Don't worry about nutrition/fluids/weather/etc.  They are too short to for any of that to matter, IMO.  I don't even pack my bike tools/tube.  If I get a flat, I call it a day (never happened yet, thank goodness)

I used a rain jacket like this:

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1009638_-1...

With a full zipper it only took a few seconds to slip on over my Trisuit. I took it off in T2 before the run.

Great question - and one that I should have already answered in my initial post. On a typical cold/rainy day I would just wear shorts and a t-shirt - because I would be in my basement on the trainer! I have very limited cold weather riding experience, and NO cold/rainy riding experience. On chilly mornings when I take the bike out, I usually just throw on a long sleeve jersey. But I don't think I want to try to get a jersey on over my soaking wet body in T1 at a short sprint race.

My last tri was in October. It was in the upper 30's/low 40's, windy and rainy. I wore my regular tri-suit for the indoor swim. I remember running out the door and the wind hitting my wet body. Brrrr! And I'm a South Dakota boy who's pretty well acclimated to cold weather.

In T1 I put on a long-sleeve shirt over my tri-suit. I had cycling gloves, but opted not to wear them. That was a mistake. I mentioned in another thread today that by the time I hit T2, had I not had speed laces, my hands would have been too cold to tie regular shoelaces. I pushed it hard on the bike, but the harder I pushed the more wind I was generating. I survived, but I wasn't real comfortable.

During the run I warmed up enough to where it wasn't too bad. The slower speeds moved a lot less air over my body.  However, five minutes after I crossed the finish line I was out in the parking lot digging my jacket out of the car.

I'm thinking option #2 or #3, with the addition of full-finger gloves on the bike leg. If you go with option #3 you probably don't need the jacket on the run.

I would suck it up and wear the tri-top. I had a March race this year and the year before. The first year I threw on a wind breaker in T1. I had a crappy transition and a miserable (but warm) bike split. I regretted it all year. This past March I sucked it up and wore just the tri-top. I shaved a lot of time off my race.

Thanks for all the feedback - still don't know what to do! I'll try to figure it out today.

I think it depends on how important this race is to you.... If you really want to nail this race, then go all out and do the whole race in the tri suit. It'll be over relatively quickly, and I'm sure you'll survive.

If it's more like a "C" race, and you want to be more comfortable on the bike, then take the time to throw something on over your tri suit for the bike - could be a light-weight jacket, long sleeve technical shirt, thin fleece, arm warmers, etc. If you don't have arm warmers, you can improvise a pair by cutting the toes out of a long pair of socks - but if it's raining those will probably just soak up the rain and not provide that much warmth. You might want to consider a pair of gloves as well, as your hands will probably get pretty chilly on the bike.

I'll be right there with you at the same race Sunday. I've been debating the same thing and believe I'm just going to wear my Tri shirt/shorts and deal with it. I keep hoping for a change in the forecast but it just gets worse!

I just raced in similar conditions at the end of March.  I wore my tri-suit and threw on a light wind resistant jacket for the bike.  You are working so hard for such a short period of time, by the time I was off the bike I got rid of the jacket and ran in just the trisuit - and was hot!  Just be sure to bring warm and dry clothes to change into after if you plan on hanging around - ask momo and olliedawg - I was FREEZING standing in the sunshine in sweats!

Option #3, jacket.  If you have a running jacket, that would work fine for this.  Anything zip front will go on faster. 

How competitive are you planning on being (how long on the bike?).  I'd probably throw a jacket on but that will cost you time in transition.  But I think riding while wet is chilling no matter the temp and don't want to start the run freezing.  But if it's really short then you should be fine.

I will be competing against myself only - as a guy who does the occasional sprint distance triathlon just for fun (and to force at least some workouts), I will certainly not be threatening any records or the podium.

I might see if I can pick up a cheap bike jacket tomorrow, and then make the final call Sunday morning while setting up my transition area. All my cold weather running stuff is pullover (not zip up), so I don't expect that would be too good for T1 (could take a while to pull something over my wet body).

As far as gloves - is there anything special about bike-specific gloves, or could I get by with my running gloves on the bike (I would not wear them for the run)?

FYI, I'm looking forward to my first Olympic distance this year also (July).

All the spring races around here are as you described, moderately cold and rainy. In T1 I have a cycling vest(zip front windproof) and full fingered thin cycling gloves. Never arm warmers. They are way to slow. Cycling vests are quick to put on and will keep your core warm.  If my hands and core are warm the rest of me is fine.

running gloves will work if they keep most of the wind out. Dont worry about getting wet just cold.

Thanks again for all the feedback everyone. Last night, after picking up my race packet, I went to Performance Bicycle in Philadelphia and found a cheap wind/water resistant jacket that I liked. (This was the 4th bike shop I had been in over the past few days - it was a last-ditch effort).

I was very glad this morning to have that jacket on for the race. It was definitely cold out and I was happy to be warm. Interestingly, my gloveless hands were not cold at all, but my toes were freezing (wet socks).

I'll put up a race report later, but long story short - I was having a great race until I got a flat tire (I guess it had to happen to me during a race eventually). I tried riding on the bike with the flat as long as I could - after a couple miles I was on the rim only and the real wheel was sliding all over the place... I unfortunately had to get off. I ran in with the bike for the last 2 miles, then did my 5k run.

Personally, I'd just wear what I normally wear. I had a race last year where the temp when we arrived and were checking in was in the 30s. It was maybe 45 by race time. The water was warm though (as yours will be), and honestly, once I was moving, I didn't even notice the temps.