Been there done that…and I’d do it in a gravel race, if necessary.
There is no way I could ever pee off to the side on the bike…I honestly don’t know how pro cyclists do it. But I did eventually get myself to be able to p*ss myself while riding. A nice long downhill and a very full bladder are the keys for me. Relax, let it flow and then a quick douse with a water bottle…good to go!
Peyson had a pretty good story on his podcast last year about almost wrecking in a race while holding his bike with one hand and holding something else in his other hand. Not exactly the story you want to give when someone asks how you broke your collar bone (or other unsaid body parts).
Someone, years ago, told me that triathletes often pee on their bike while riding because they can’t slow down or stop. It makes cleaning them a chore and mess. Is that true? I guess I could see the need to not stop/slow down, but peeing ON your bike?
You can slow down/stop. Just the people competing at the higher levels pros or even AG athletes that time can mean winning or coming in 10th. If you are trying to get a championship slot that’s a big deal and people are willing to sacrifice some extra cleaning later for that.
I just do 70.3s call it a 2.5 hour avg bike leg. I pee coming into the end of the swim leg and can generally hold it fine until T2 to pee before the run, 2 min at that point isn’t going to make a difference since I hate running.
But for a full distance double that time and you can see why someone is likely going to have to pee. Stopping, peeing, and getting going again is going to cost you 5+ minutes even if you are fast. If the other top people in your AG are not stopping, that is a ton of time lost.
Edit, also tri shoes have holes in the bottom to let the pee drain out.
Shameful or not, I ride solo, like 99.99% of the time. I can’t stand group rides, I don’t hook onto others out on the road. I will go as far as avoiding, usually by changing my route where possible, going around people knowing that they are going to try and hang on my wheel (usually uninvited and unwelcome).
Ha! I’m pretty much the same. Aside from races, I’ve met with others… 3x… ever.. on bike rides.
The group rides tend to stop way too often and way too long. Seems there’s gas station/coffee stops for 20-30 mins (at least) every 2-3 hrs. My rides are generally for training - my solo centuries may have 5 mins of stopped time.
They often ride to hard/interval-ish than I care to ride for my easy zone 2 rides.
Most the rides in my “area” are also much further away and later in the day than I care to ride. I have young kiddos at home and feel guilty enough already gone the hours I am.
If the above things weren’t an issue, I am envious of the socialization aspect that many people gain in cycling. Someday when my schedule allows more and the kids are older. I’m sure a day will come when they’re too busy to hang with their old man, so enjoying it while I can!
At the 2024 World Time Trial Championship (WTTC) in Borrego Springs, after I had exited the pit area after a stop, I was back on the course and headed north (for those who know the loop) and something felt ‘off’. Turns out, my helmet was off. I had left it back on a table in my pit area. Fortunately, my pit area was just across the (sand) field and I was able walk back, grab it and walk back to my bicycle.
And I’ll confess on behalf of my wife… Whenever we are out in the Borrego / Oceanside area (after the WTTCs or before crewing for RAAM), I/we stop by the Canyon USA HQ in Carlsbad. I had wanted to to get my wife on a nice bicycle, so we took that opportunity after this past WTTC. About 45 seconds after she left the HQ on the bicycle, my phone rang. She ended up wiping out and breaking a femur. The fantastic paramedics took her to Scripps in Encinitas, where she ended up with a rod and a few screws in her leg. Fortunately, we had brought three drivers for our two vehicles, and she survived 1,100 mile drive back to Colorado. To make it worse, last month she had to have our local ortho surgeon redo her femur surgery (the way it should have been done the first time).
I wouldn’t really describe that as shamefull or embarrassing. My Summer, winter/commuter and TT bikes are all rim braked and I don’t feel shamed or embarrsed by that, especially when I’m pulling away from folks weighed down with discs or when I’m silent braking (that noise is more embarrassing). My only bikes which have discs are the two gravel bikes (one of which I should sell really); discs are seem only needed there. But then again maybe they are not folk were mtb, cyclocrossing etc for years without them.
When I ride the trainer I just use my garmin to do a simulated grade and then change gears to change intensity.
The shameful part (though I can’t say I actually feel shame about it lol) is that for Z2 rides I ride with a -1deg simulate grade. I like the higher inertia feel but I also like that it makes my ‘speed’ ~23mph. I rationalize that as it makes up for all the noodley rides I might do but don’t record throughout the year like up to the neighborhood pool or other small trips.
lol it’s clear lots of people here didn’t grow up swimming competitively. You get over the weird feeling quick when you do a FULL body shave 2-3 times a year as a 16 year old and then you have to go back to high school on Monday.