k, I'm new to cross racing and am wondering about warming up in wet weather? It's supposed to be raining all day tomarrow and was wondering if people generally do a portion of their warmup under the warmup tent or warm up in the rain? Also, if I were to warmup on the trainer should I change wheel to a road wheel for the trainer or would it not hurt my trainer?

Dave

If it is cold and rainy, I like to bring a ton of clothes and warm up in the rain, drop most of the clothes and maybe put a dry race kit on, drop a warm up at the start, race then have some more dry clothes to cool down, then a complete set of street clothes to change into after. I tend to like a pretty warm outfit to put on when my day is done, and a hot shower is always nice. You can't take enough clothes to the race as the season progresses.

guess I'll have to bring some extra clothes then, just seems like a major pain in the butt. Anyone else?

put a road wheel on if youre going to go on the trainer.

burney in his book says to pre ride the course with your spare shoes and spare jersey/shorts/etc. then change into your race stuff, then warmup on the road/or on trainer.

the goal is to hit the starting line comfortable about the course and your body warm. do what ya gotta do to do that.

thats my opinion
jeremy

You have to do some recon on the course, so if it is wet you will get wet. If you don't get out and see the course, you are at a significant disadvantage. I bring my clothes in a large laundry basket and just toss the wet stuff in the basket as my warm up and cool down progresses. The biggest hack move a person could do is come out and race in the cold rain and snow and have to stand around after the race in wet clothes, or even drive home in that sodden condition. Not good. Change everything, right down to the socks, don a fresh Carhart jacket and a dry ski cap after the race. In a few weeks we'll be racing in the snow, no way to avoid the need for a drawer full of winter clothes, it's just part of the sport. Racing in this crap tears you down after a long season, you need to take care of your body in the cold to stay in the pink of health.

Also, don't forget the embrocation and some stuff to clean it off after the race, mmm... smells like racing.

Good luck to us both Sunday!

yeah, you gotta get on the course even w/ the rain. I raced a few in the rain last year. I figured, I was going to get wet racing anyways. 2 things that I appreciated the most.

1) A roadie rain slicker before the race. That helps keep me pretty dry beforehand, plus the fact that it only has sides vents keeps me pretty warm since the body heat doesn't escape much.

2) Wool socks. Holy smokes, those are lifesavers. As they say on the ski slopes, cotton kills. Wet shoes w/ wool sox are no prob at all.

This year, I'm gonna try to find some shower caps to put on my helmet so my head doesn't freeze. I already use an Under Armor skull cap and that helps.

Buy rain gear-I did my on course warm up today in neoprene booties and a full goretex outfit (very cute), stripped off most of it when I got on the trainer and the rest before I got to the line, dropping off a jacket at the line. Started the race clean and dry (that didn't last).

...a shower cap?? are you bauld?