Indelicate, but I have to ask

Pee on the bike...seriously

Not so much at sprints, but in some Olympics and almost all longer races there are port-a-potties at the run aid stations.  Some do pee on the bike but I would have to be very desperate to do that, especially in a shorter race. 

If you gotta go, you gotta go, but if you are not going to win, take the minute when you have the opportunity.

Please peruse this all-time BT classic thread:

Going to the bathroom on the bike

Myself, I'll pretty much pee anywhere, anytime. Whether or not the bike is included. My friends know I sneak-tag their backyards (or front yards) ... I mean, I'd pee on the trainer but the Hobbit Maid (my household help) would get really, really mad.

I learned how to pee on the bike for long races by doing it during shorter races. And maybe it's just my mindset, or the hinky races I do, but porta-johns are just not that plentiful. But there's always plenty of road!

Ask the race director where the porta potties will be set up.  Some races will have more than others.

If no option presents itself, you always have the option of leaving the course to find somewhere to pee...so long as you reenter the course at the same point.

The last option of course is just going in your shorts.  As the above thread elaborates on, pooping in your pants is a very bad idea...unless you're trying to qualify for Kona like this guy...

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=3067249;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

Most races have rules against indecent exposure, so make sure you check about that (and that you're well-hidden if you have to go off-course).

My guess is they wouldn't be enforced in a true emergency, but still.

Just to continue being the gross ogre, I can assure you that if one little (or big) crap were standing between me and a 17:00 IM finish, you can bet your pants I'd poop mine.

Aren't those cups of water they hand out for "flushing"? One to drink and one to flush!

The wetsuit is always the best option. I scope out the course for porta-potties before a race but when you gotta go, you gotta go.

I worship the ground that Yanti pees on, listen to her!!

OMG!!!!  I'm laughing so hard, I'm crying! 

I almost always see a porta-john in transition or just nearby. . . that's your best bet.  I don't think I've ever seen a porta-john on the run course for an oly.   On the bike course, just find a quiet area with some trees like you would on a training ride.  Unless your competing for the race win, why would you ever consider peeing your pants? 

When I used to referee bicycle races the pre-race lines were always ridiculously long, and that was just for a bike race, w/o all the extras.  There were never enough of them.  I don't imagine the tri world is any better about it.

I laughed like crazy when one of the senior refs told me that if I saw a guy stop pedaling and fiddle with the cuff of his shorts to change lanes, in a hurry.  And then it happened during the Green Mountain Stage Race.  I've also seen entire fields agree to stop so the entire field could "take a natural" as they called it.  The first time it was a women's 3/4 race, the second was a men's 45+.  I watched one guy stop at a 7-Eleven too.

They had the rule against "public indecent exposure" too, but I never enforced it as long as the rider was trying to be discrete.

While riding the bike at the same time.  It would look awfully silly having him get off the bike during the race and just pee on it.

Love!

Just another reason to bring a bucket to transition.

In most Olympic races I have done, there are not usually portapotties on the bike course.  In those races I try to go while I am swimming and that's usually all.  Otherwise you will probably have to rely on the potties in transition.   If you're racing in a park, there might be park building options.  If you are a chronic peer (I know some people who cannot get through a whole race without going), you will definitely want to scope that out.  I think it's easier, for a shorter race, to moderate my drinking instead.

For my one half iron distance race there were potties at the water stops on the bike as well as several randomly placed potties in the run, usually near the water stops.   I am unwilling, so far anyway, to go on my bike. 

I love talking about pee and poop and poop and pee...  

If you're worried about peeing in your pants, just wear someone else's pants...