Chilly Tri Tomorrow - Advice Needed !

p.s. One other idea I had is to do the swim with a wetsuit but no top, and then put dry tri top on in T1. Is that wise?

My preference is to wear my normal race stuff (trisuit under wetsuit) and then zip on a jacket in T1.  If it warms up on the bike you can unzip and you can probably just ditch it in T2.    I have raced in exactly that temp in the past and this worked well.

In a sprint once, I left my swim cap on (under my helmet) for the bike leg - figuring if you keep your head warm there's more energy to keep the rest of you warm. That helped.

That is what I did at a race yesterday. I put on bike jersey in T1. It worked well. The water wasn't that warm, and the air temp was about 45-50 for the entire race (it made for a nice run). My quads were cold on the bike, but the course was hilly, so they eventually warmed up.

So, I had a sprint Tri this past weekend. The air temp was around 48 F and the water temp was around 65 F, wet roads and slight drizzle. By the time I got out of the water I was extremely cold!!! It seemed that I was dizzier than normal during T1. I put on a long sleeve jersey, and went out on the road. Couldn't get warm for the whole 15 mile bike ride and it seemed that I couldn't handle the bike well. Poorest bike leg in a long time!!! Just couldn't get my core temp up and my performance reflected that. Finally Into the second mile of the run I began to feel normal. Wasn't a great day.

I've got another sprint Tri coming up this weekend. I know the water temperature will probably be slightly lower so I think I'll double cap for the swim. If the air temp isn't comfortable, I've got a long sleeve jersey with a wind block front panel that I might wear. I'll make my decision last minute.

Lesson learned, don't schedule a Triathlon in Upstate New York late September. The water temperature drops to quickly around here, especially for someone with let than 10% body fat. It's no fun racing and shivering thru the whole thing!!

If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Your clothes won't dry on that short of a bike ride. During a race last year I was so cold on the bike that I couldn't hold on to my water bottle and couldn't get my race belt clipped for a long time after leaving transition. Plus my feet were freezing and it felt like I had put my footbeds in upside down in my running shoes for the first mile and a half or so of the run. Very strange feeling as I regained function in my hands and feet. I had a veteran racer tell me to put hand warmers in my bike shoes while I was out on the swim and then tuck them into the little pockets of my tri top when I went out on the bike. I haven't had a race with chilly weather yet to try out her suggestion, but it sounded genius to me - warm bike shoes and then warming your core while you ride. You could ditch them at T2 since the run will probably warm you up plenty quick.