Bike Aid Stations

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2011-06-06 8:46 AM

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Regular
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Indianapolis
Subject: Bike Aid Stations

So I will be racing my first 70.3 in a month. Training is going great and I feel that if the race were this next weekend I could complete it. That being said, the one thing that worries/scares me is the bicycling aid stations. These will be a first for me. I've run through at least a hundred run aid stations but I was able to slow down, grab what I needed and move on. Could someone walk me through (or ride me through) a bicycling Ironman 70.3 aid station?

Will I be able to slow down, possibly unclip, grab what I need and then move on? Or do I need to continue to ride and try and toss the old, grab the new, and ride at the same time with no practice what-so-ever?

Thanks

2011-06-06 9:14 AM
in reply to: #3534455

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Subject: RE: Bike Aid Stations
Get a buddy to help you a few times before the race if you think you're going to have issues.

Random notes in no particular order:

Watch out for yellow scrunchies, they'll be all over the road.

Do NOT stop in the road. Pull over to the grass or as far over on the shoulder as humanly possible. The person behind you is still doing 20 and does not expect you to stop.

People who are not great on the bike will slow down to about 2 MPH. Be wary as all hell about this. They will also weave a lot and will swerve directly in front of you at the last minute just as you believe you've cleared them.

If you're going to keep truckin' without grabbing something, stay against the yellow lines on the left of the lane.

When you're coming up to the aid station, yell (top of lungs) WATER or GATORAID and the people will point to which end you need to get your drink.

Once you determine which side of the line you need, point to a person and look right at the person. Every else will then back off a bit and make it safer for you.

Hold your hand angled at about 30 degrees from front (just slightly off center in other words) and when you touch the bottle, let your elbow bend and your hand ride back with the other person. This keeps you from yanking the person's arm off and/or trying to catch a bottle at 20.

The person should either have the bottle standing up on their palm or have loose hold on the lower half of the bottle. The top half and hopefully the detent ring is yours to grab by.

2011-06-06 1:05 PM
in reply to: #3534455

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Master
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South of SLC
Subject: RE: Bike Aid Stations
Good advice ^^. The only item I would add is if you aren't 100% comfortable grabbing bottles on the fly, for goodness sake pull over. It may save you some skin in the end.

Mike
2011-06-06 1:08 PM
in reply to: #3534529

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Alpharetta, Georgia
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Subject: RE: Bike Aid Stations

DanielG - 2011-06-06 9:14 AM

People who are not great on the bike will slow down to about 2 MPH. Be wary as all hell about this. They will also weave a lot and will swerve directly in front of you at the last minute just as you believe you've cleared them.

Also be wary of the "people who are so awesome they don't need to slow down below 20mph" - they will weave a lot because they aren't in control and usually drop the slippery bottle right in front of you at the last minute because they weren't considerate enough to slow down for the hand up.

 

2011-06-06 1:20 PM
in reply to: #3534455

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Subject: RE: Bike Aid Stations

I had my first experience with bike aid stations this past Saturday.  Luckily all the aid stations were at the top of a hill or incline, so it wasn't possible for people to be going faster than 15 mph through the aid stations.  Most people slowed down to about 10 mph or less.

My only advice from this one experience is to just BE SAFE.  In a 70.3, a few seconds to slow down is not going to kill your race.  Keep distance between you and the rider in front of you as you approach the hand off area.  If they slow down more than you would like...just slow down with them and be patient.  And don't be in such a hurry to pass once you get your bottle...because that's when accidents happen...as you dart out left into someone trying to pass you, or someone you're trying to pass darts left in front of you.

I could tell the first aid station at mile 10 I was going to come up to was going to be congested.  So I moved way left to skip it.  Well, turns out that someone wrecked about 20 seconds before I got there...lying unconscious in the road right near the handoff area.  Again...this aid station was at the top of a hill...where most people were going 10 mph or less...so even if you aren't going 20 mph...you still need to be very careful.  Losing 10 seconds to slow down and be safe is better than a DNF and a trip to the hospital.

2011-06-06 1:40 PM
in reply to: #3534455

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Veteran
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Morgan Hill, California
Subject: RE: Bike Aid Stations
In general, how long are the bike aid stations? I'm going with an Aerodrink up front and a bottle on down tube. I figure I'm going to be tossing out the bottle on down tube and trying to refill the Aerodrink. Is there space to do that and toss out that bottle too? Or just put it on the down tube and refill later and hold onto it until next station?

2011-06-06 3:27 PM
in reply to: #3534455

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Master
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Central Indiana
Subject: RE: Bike Aid Stations
Be safe is great advice.  Even pros sometimes go down at bike stations.  I seem to recall a year or 2 ago the defending female 70.3 world champ (Johanna Zeiger???) crashed at an aid station & broke a collar bone.
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