Is Special Needs Bike Reliable?

jmoss70

I see quite a few posts of athletes questioning Bike SN and whether or not they can count on it.  3 IMs and I've never had a problem...roll up, volunteer has it in hand ready to go.  I could even do the rolling Macca tear it open with the teeth and keep moving if I wanted.  

So why do I hear about people not trusting it?  Specifically, why not split up your custom nutrition (Infinit) and place a 2nd half bottle in SN?

Coach Rich

Yes, it is reliable, as long as you are willing to stop if there is not a volunteer conveniently standing there with your bag as you roll by (ie, they are very busy). I've always split up my Infinit as you describe.

mancona

Jim, if you are referring to the comments I made, please realize that my personality is that I like to control everything that I can. For example in the last 3 years I can only think of one time I let anyone but me work on my bike, and it was a SRAM mechanic that works on the TDF bikes and he was simpling inspecting an issue with the open glide cassette design when backpedaling with an off center chainline (i.e. nto quite crossed but almost there) ... a very rare situation but he was well aware of it.

WTC races are very good at having aid stations and special needs setup and running very smoothly. I am just not willing to risk having to stop or slow down to pick up a bag so I choose to bring everything I need with me. I do leave a spare tube and C02 in special needs though and did need to stop and get that once but my race was already over due to having to fix the flat, they had the bag ready for me.

Nemo Brauch

I've never had a problem getting my BSN bag on course. As Rich says, it might take a few extra seconds to make that stop for your special nutrition, but that's about the only drawback. You don't worry about getting your Run bag, or your Bike bag, so why worry about getting the Bike SNB??

OTOH, I have had mixed results getting my bike SNB back AFTER the race. So be forewarned if you plan on sticking an expensive extra tubie in there, you might not get it back after the race.

Beth_S

I was bike special needs one year. We all wanted to get you out of there just as fast as we could. I split my bottle and store it and an extra tube/C02/morale note/licorice for volunteers there.

jmoss70

Yes, I started this thread based on your comments on the other post...

As an aside, that very same issue with SRAM Red is why I parted it out and sold it and replaced with DA 7900.  Have never been happier or had a more smooth/quiet drive train.

 

[Deleted User]

I volunteered at the bike special needs station last year at Lake Placid, so I can add my two cents from that perspective. In a nutshell though I think every single person who stopped to get their SN bag got it, and got it fairly quickly. With the exception of the race leader that is, who came flying by at 25 mph with a "where's my bag!" look on his face as volunteers scrambled to find it... He just kept going at very high speed without it.

Keep in mind that most of us never worked at the bike special needs station before, and just had a brief introduction of how it would work. The volunteer coordinator for that spot had done it several years in a row though, and is very good and will be back next year, I believe. So the bike SN at Placid anyway should be well run in 2011. I was a little surprised how apparently WTC had no direct oversight of our station. At least as far as I could tell it was left totally to the volunteers, leaving some risk if you happen to get a poorly led batch of volunteers. I think we could have totally screwed up and WTC would have been nowhere to be found.

The way it was supposed to work was that a spotter would radio in the numbers of approaching bikers, and the station leader would yell those numbers to the rest of us over a loudspeaker. We were each assigned to certain number ranges of bags, so if we heard a number in our section one person grabbed the bag (all bags laid out in numerical order), and tossed it to another volunteer who handed it off the the biker as he rode by, or, more frequently, held it open for the biker as he or she stopped and went through it and got what they needed. The system kind of broke down when many racers were coming in at the same time - so there can be a small delay. When it was really busy we pretty much looked at incoming numbers, and directed them to stop near the appropriate row of bags. I would say it probably took on average less then 10 - 20 seconds to get someone their bag. We were all learning on the job and got better as the day went on.

As Nemo said - retrieving your bag at the end of the race may be more difficult. During the heat of the race we just tossed used bags into a big pile - there was no time to do anything else with them. As traffic wound down, we put all the bags back into numerical order - not so much because we were directed to do that, but because we were bored and it seemed like it would be a useful thing to do. I'm not sure how long the bags remained in that station for pickup after the race, and I recall there may have been a rule against family members picking up a bag during the race. I'm not 100% sure about that. But it would be a good idea not to have anything of real value in the bag.

Steve West

@ Jim - great post and description. As a noob, I have been nervous about how the whole BSN thing worked and what i could expect. Thanks!

Coach Rich

At LP, BSN is right in town so I can't see it being a problem to get your stuff after the race.

At CDA, BSN is out at the turn around at the far end of the lake is actually about about mile...62 or so of the bike ride...I think. Anyway, it's a biiiggg parking lot/culdesac so in general the volunteers have more time to see you, call out your number and get your bag before you loop around to them. I recall that there was a big pile of BSN and RSN bags in the expo the next day and you just got your stuff. Mine has, as most, a tube and Co2 for I don't really care.

At WI, BSN is way out in Verona. I don't recall what the post-race bag retreival dealio was for the race. Nemo? Beth?

Beth_S

At Wisconsin, BSN retrieval is the morning after, at the Terrace. You pick up your RSN bag at the same place and time. Super-easy!

Nemo Brauch

Florida is similar- SN Bags (bike and run) picked up the following morning near transition. "Easy" yes. But guaranteed you'll get your stuff- no. I'm about 50/50 on this front. The reality is there is very little organization to the day after special needs bag pickup. It's more like a big pile you sort through and there's no number checking to be sure you only take your own bag.

GMAN 19030

I could have got my SN bags back at IMFL but didn't worry about it. I never saw the SN bags at IMTX the next day. I'm not sure anyone got them back at IMTX.

mcstrangelove

Thanks for this post.  I was planning on trying to be completely self-sufficient while on the bike.  Is this a pipe dream? Is it a bad idea to:  only have 1 tube in my kit?  rely only on Infinit (i.e. no solid foods)?

Same with the marathon.  Is it really necessary...or would it be a newbie mistake not to have one?

Nemo Brauch

Nothing wrong with planning to be self sufficient. But the SNB is a good use of "in case of emergency" stuff. For example, if you flat in the first 56 miles of the bike- you use that 1 tube and CO2 and now you risk not having anything if you get another flat (and for some reason, like the death of famous people, flats always seem to come in 3s for me). So throwing a spare tube/CO2 into the SNB and using it as your ICE backup (only stop if you need it), is a nice option to have.

On the run- depends on how long you are going to be out there and what race you are doing. For example, at IMFL it gets dark EARLY and it actually gets a bit chilly as soon as that sun drops. So a long sleeve shirt in the SNB might be more of a "need to have".

Coach Rich

Personally, I would hate to have a race ruined by:

• Lack of a tube or Co2. I carry 2 sets with me and a third in BSN. Don't care if I get it back.
• Mulitool, or the lack of a 4,5,6mm hex. I spent 3hrs at the start of the hills at CDA, about mile 26-28 on the course. Had a chick come up and ask if we had any tools. Her seat post bolt had come lose and the saddle had dropped alllll the way down. Easy fix but she had to deal with until the next aid station where, hopefully, someone had some tools, or she could beg one off an athlete, etc. Not a good place to be.
• Lack of dry socks, something to fix a blister with (duct tape), etc.

liebs45

For those of you who split your Infinit over an IM and use BSN for your second bottle - do you premix it, ice it, or do anything special with it? Do any of you just bank the powder in a bottle in your BSN bag then add water at BSN? Trying to avoid nastiness of a hot congealed Infinit bottle late in the morning a la my recent Eagleman experience. If you don't think it's an issue would love to hear it. Thanks team. Liebs

gilliatt

x2 on the might not get it back, btw if you ever see a homeless person in madison walking around in a 2003 official Boston Marathon shirt, please give him or her my contact information and tell them I am willing to trade some fortified wine for it back.

Al Truscott

Posted By Jonathan Lieberman on 10 Jul 2011 11:26 AM

For those of you who split your Infinit over an IM and use BSN for your second bottle - do you premix it, ice it, or do anything special with it? Do any of you just bank the powder in a bottle in your BSN bag then add water at BSN? Trying to avoid nastiness of a hot congealed Infinit bottle late in the morning a la my recent Eagleman experience. If you don't think it's an issue would love to hear it. Thanks team. Liebs

I have tried these three possibilities: (1) powder + fluid already mixed CONGEALING in SN bag; (2) dry powder in fresh bottle in SN bag, toss old bottle @ SN and fill with aid station water (lose a bottle); and (3) SEE BELOW.

What I am doing nowadays: I have three bottle cages: aerobar, down and seat tubes. I have the seat tube one free, and take on a water bottle @ the aid station before SN. In my SN bag, I have a ziploc with my powder. At SN, I stop for 20-30 seconds, and fill my nutrition bottle (which sits on my down tube) from the ziploc bag, and then from the seat tube water. Shake and go.

Possibilitlities are seemingly endless. Coach P has advised freezing half a bottle of water overnight, adding powder in the AM and putting this in SN; it will slowly melt. Pick up @ SN, and add water as needed.

Paul Hough

@ Mac - I did IMFL and IMCDA without preparing any special needs bags. I took 2 tubes and 2 COs with me. For IMAZ, I prepared special needs bags for the bike due to the forecast for cool rain and wind, and for the run in case I wanted to change shoes/socks due to mostly concrete course. I did not use either bag and got both back else I would have lost a cycling jacket and pair of race shoes. However, I think Coach Rich's advice is good. Putting out a spare tube/CO2 and blister kit is probably good (and low cost) insurance.