Sprint Gear
By Steve Fleisig
Doing a sprint race like the Hi-Tec may not be as gear intensive as a 5 day race but you still need to have the right stuff. NYARA has one possible suggested list. Let us know of anything else that should be included.
Gear |
Comments |
Mountain Bike |
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Running shoes |
Get a pair of those speed lace locks for your shoelaces so you can get your shoes on and off easily and not worry about your laces coming untied |
Socks |
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Biking shorts |
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Bike shoes |
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Bike gloves |
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Bike helmet |
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Water bottle |
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Sunglasses |
Get one of those straps so you can take them off and hang the glasses around your neck if you need to |
Headlamp (for night races) |
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Front & back bike lights with batteries (for night races) |
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Floor bike pump |
Use it before the race and if you need a good pump during transition or a special test |
Tire pressure guage |
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Topeak Alien / spare tube / tire levers / CO2 cartridges |
Should carry these during the bike portion |
Bike repair tools |
For pre-race adjustments or problems |
Strong surgical tubing, 3mm accessory cord & caribiners |
Strongly recommend you have an easy towing system for the run section if needed (and practice with it); the accessory cord is tied around the waist with a caribiner and the tubing is attached between 2 people. All racers should wear the accessory cord the whole time because it can be used for example to help get up a Crisco-covered wall and you can shove the surgical tubing in the leg of your bike shorts when not using it |
Motorola Talkabout Walkie Talkie |
Believe it or not, some teams have one person carry one for the first part of the race because after the start some of the special tests are revealed and your team would get advanced warning because a friend would see the special tests and tell you what's coming up while you're racing |
Spare tires |
In case you want to change your tires after you've seen the course |
C02 cartridges |
Should use these instead of a bike pump because they're much faster. Each person should carry 2 |
Camelback |
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Long or short sleeve wicking top |
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SportSlick |
For anti-chafing |
Bandana |
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Gatorade or other electrolyte-replacing drink |
Better than water for events longer than an hour. Alternatives are Accelerade, Endurox etc. |
Electrolyte caps |
To prevent cramping |
2 large plastic bags |
To keep stuff dry in the transition area if it's raining and to put your dirty stuff in after the race |
Salty snacks |
Eat a lot before the race to help you retain water |
Towel |
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Baby wipes |
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Change of clothes |
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