A Duathlon virgin needs advice!

[passmyglassplease]

Hi, am thinking about doing a duathlon mid May and I have no idea where to start! It will be a 6 k run and a 25k cycle

My biggest worry at the moment is should I be using a road bike or will my mountain bike do?

Can I run in cycle pants or should I change.

How does the cycle parking work etc etc?

Thanks for any advice

No advice but watching with interest as i to am taking part in one in September although distances not as far as yours! although we are running twice .

Quick response is (i) definitely use road bike as it will be much less effort (unless of course the course is off track?) and (ii) definitely try get some tri style shorts which will give you a bit of padding but otherwise can be run in. You do not really want to be fiddling around changing in transition as there is enough to worry about with unclipping helmet and changing shoes without having to remove any other garments (I think although others may disagree - I tend to treat it as a proper race which means taking as many time saving measures as possible).

Duathlons are a lot of fun and great preparation for any tris you may consider!

do you have to change shoes? i won't be able to do that and stay upright! i was hoping to cycle and run in my cross country runners.

I've never done a duathlon, but definitely use a road bike if you can, if you can't put the thinnest fastest tyres you can get away with on your mountain bike, it makes a massive difference.

I would have thought you would be fine cycling in your running shoes, I assume people only change as they want to use clipless pedals, if you're not intending using these then stay in your runners?

Yes of course you can use same shoes but I think getting cleats for my bike improved my times quite considerably. What some do is out those toe clips on their bikes which avoids the need to change shoes.

I'm watching this thread as I'd love to do a duathlon!

i have thise toe clips, although never actually used them as yet! might be time to find and fit them.

Thaks alot, DRZ you should enrol in one, if i can do it anybody can .

interesting about the tri suit, I must have a look online for some, hopefully they are not to expensive!

As its my first I plan to run and ride in the same shoes as I am a bit nervous about trying cleats yet, although I could have done with some last weekend as I threw myself down a mountain in Wales! well at least I lived to tell the tale

I don't normally wear cycling shorts when I ride so I didn't have the shoes dilemma when I did the London duathalon.

And if you don't want to change shoes, how about cages for your pedals? They are not as good as cleats, and the bike shop youth will sneer at you when you buy them, but they are cheaper if you are not convinced about clip on shoes long term, and they are faster than normal pedals. You can do some pulling up with your legs as well as pushing down, and your feet are in the correct position so it does help.

I can recommend the London duathalon if anyone is thinking about it. Not very cheap but well organised, Richmond Park gets shut to traffic for the day which is lovely, and the staggered start times mean you never caught in a jam, there are always people racing near you to give you that race atmosphere.

hi fridayschild what do you wear if not padded shorts? surely it hurts if you don't wear them or am I just a wuss?

yes I was looking at the London Duathalon but it is quite expensive at £55

Mother nature has given me plenty of padding of my own! I wear the lyra leggings I wear to run in. I cycle to work normally and get on fine - 8 miles. I had various sore bits and pieces after the Duathalon but none of them were to do with not having cycling shorts

No one seems to have answered the "bike parking" question yet
Not sure exactly how it will work with a run, bike race as I only know about duathlons that have a run, bike, run format but you will need to rack your bike in transition before the race along with your helmet and anything else you need for the bike. The racking could be numbered or first come first served. You do the run bit which will finish in transition. Before you remove your bike from the racking you must put your helmet on and do it up.
When the format is run bike run you come back into transition after the bike bit and rack your bike before you undo and take off your helmet, and back to running and thinking of the finish!
i hope that I haven't been stating the obvious here as I'm not sure how much you know about duathlons.
Should probably add that I have never done one just have a DH who is a race organiser!

there is no way I can ride my road bike without padding, saddle is like a razor in your bits...

make sure your trainers are either not laces or you can hide the laces - you can come off the bike easy from a lace in the chain...

hi all, tis me again
whitelefant, I know NOTHING about duahtlons

I have another question, re carrying kit ie spare inner tube, pump etc as well water and gels, do you carry a back pack or just have it all in pockets dotted around yr person.

I am arranging to change the tyres on my mountain bike for road ones.

Will probably cycle without padding, I wonder if I will ever be able to sit down again after the event?

I am treating this one as a "try it and see"

Most people will carry spare kit on the bike itself, you can get various small bags which fit on differt bits of the bike such as these www.evanscycles.com/categories/bicycle-accessories/bags/saddle-packs

oh thankyou, I would never have thought of them

am off to the local shop to get tyres changed and will get one of those bag things as well

you can get a spare iner tube and two to three energy bars along with a puncture repair kit - but my pump - and it is small only 7".. has to go in a small bag like this

but whether you can get that on your back and off again..not sure.

your mtb saddle shoudl eb fine - its just road boke saddles are razor like and do odd things to lady bits [oooo]