mmteixeira

In April 2018, I am part of a 7 person team participating in a 77.7 mile relay around a local lake - there are 21 legs of varying mileage around the lake of which each team member will have to run three - the runners switch up at 21 designated exchanges - while one team member is running, the other 6 will be riding bicycles to the next exchange point. In the end, each team member will have run 11 miles and ridden 66.7 miles.

What I am not sure about is how to transport the runner's bike with us when we ride to the next exchange. One way is to have an eighth team member to ride the open bike. I was hoping we could find a way to "pull" the open bike with us.

Any thoughts on a trailer or way to pull the runners bike along with us?

kevindsingleton 

This would be pretty easy to modify to suit your needs, although it's not inexpensive for one-time use, especially if you need several of them.


SLADDA Bicycle trailer - IKEA#

woodcraft

Is it 77 miles around the lake, or laps?

Ask the event organizers- this has probably been worked out.

NomarsGirl

Would you actually use 7 bikes or just 6 if one person is always running. Wouldn't the person running pass off his/her bike to the next runner? Of course, you would all need to be close enough in size to share bikes and you would have to be willing to share.

tyrion

Trailer would be faster but if not allowed you can "ghost ride" the spare bike.

How to Ghostride a Bike: 6 Steps (with Pictures)

AndreyT

Exactly. You only need 6 bikes at any given moment. There's no need to haul an empty bike.

If this were a cycling event, where each rider would want to ride their own individually-tuned bicycle, then having 7 bikes would make perfect sense. But in your case: 6 bikes, problem solved.

CliffordK

Seneca 7?

The Seneca7
The Seneca7 :: Course Map
The Seneca7 :: Bikes Belong

So, it appears to be a single loop, 21 legs, with each person running 3 legs of 3 or 4 miles each leg.

How close are the people to being the same height?

One option would be to have 6 bikes which would be ridden by their owners. One person would be the designated "floater" and would ride whichever bike they are handed.

I did a similar relay, Hood to Coast many years ago, but we had two vehicles. One of the things we did was leapfrog, so not everyone stopped at every exchange spot. But, with the 6 of 7 bike idea, the "floater" would likely end up riding to every exchange, although perhaps one could modify it so there would be two people doing the bike exchanges.

There are a couple of threads about towing bikes by bikes. I have an adapter I can mount on my bike rack allowing removing the front wheel and attaching the fork to the rack. I had just carried the wheel on my pack, but one could also build a quick way to carry it too.

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...bike-bike.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/living-ca...e-bicycle.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...l#post19883594

In one of those, I found a specialized tow rack designed to catch the front wheel of a bike, intact. I could imagine having two people with tow racks, sharing the towing duties.

I've also seen someone doing that with a stock cargo bike.

FBinNY 

I think the race is designed so there's no need to shuttle bikes. Simply use 6 bikes for the team.

The caveat is that people will be sharing the bikes so you need them equipped for fast adjustment to each rider.

Otherwise, if the rules allow, have a designated bike ferry person.

mmteixeira

Seneca7 it is - first time for me - looking forward to it...

I emailed the race for the rules for bike teams - 6 vs 7 bikes? an 8th rider? trailers? I am waiting to hear what they say...

Thank you everyone for the suggestions - we have 6 months to figure it out

rm -rf

The cycling strategy could be interesting. The website shows each runner taking turns, to do every 8th segment. That's about 22-25 miles of riding between runs. Each rider will do about 64 to 68 miles of riding, 9 to 13 miles of running. (Some or most teams will be driving to each segment, no bikes.)

Do most of the riders ride to their segments at a moderate pace, then stop and rest (for a long time!) where their next running segment starts? Or does the upcoming segment runner kind of ride along with the runner on the segment before, so they are warmed up for their run, and for runner encouragement?

Or hang out in a group at most segment stops, to see your teammate arrive, and to do a little drafting on the ride? This would make compatible size bike swaps a lot easier, too.

It's a staggered start, so the route shouldn't be very congested.

Sharing bikes
Perhaps: Flat pedals so you don't need cycling shoes -- it's an easy pace on the bikes. Share helmets, or carry the current runner's helmet in a lightweight backpack on the bike. Will you use cycling shorts (?) -- but that's a lot of riding in one day -- so run in the cycling shorts. [edit: if you wear bike shoes, all the riders will need to carry their running shoes on the bike. Doesn't seem worth it. ]

Decide who will be sharing which bikes. I think it's the same bike swap for each of the person's 3 runs?

Then mark the seatposts for each rider with a sharpie (either black or silver sharpie pen) for each rider -- the marks come off easily with rubbing alcohol. A 4 or 5 mm "L" hex wrench for the seatpost collar, along with the usual CO2, tube, etc. Make sure each rider practices a reasonable tightening torque so nothing gets damaged. (But riders with nice seatposts might not want to lower the post and get it scratched where it will show!)

CliffordK

One could swap all bikes and riders... end a segment, and hop on the bike for the person from the next segment. Or, designate one or two riders to do all the swaps (perhaps two very strong runners/riders).

When I did the Hood to Coast, we had a 12 person with 3 1/2 to 8 mile legs. The team was split in half so one half would drive 6 swaps ahead and wait for the runners to catch up. I suppose that would have been about 30 miles, so 3 or 4 hours down the road. The concept of doing that run as a bike/run race might be fun, but it would also be WICKED with a double century PLUS about 17 miles running. It is food for thought though.

The Seneca 7 sounds fun, but one wouldn't get to ride quite as far ahead and stop and rest.

Perhaps one could dynamically split the riders into pairs.

Start together. Runner 2&3 rides ahead to first swap point (then continue to second swap). Runners 4&5 ride ahead to 3rd and 4th swap. Runners 6&7 ride ahead to 5th and 6th swap. An odd number of participants could be a problem, but perhaps 1,2,&3 would join for the 7th, 8th, and 9th swap, ... etc. Or, perhaps swap one's paired rider. Perhaps one would need the fast bike adjustments.

Some runners are awfully fast. Down to the 4 or 5 minute range. One would have to do quick swaps and ride quickly to keep up with them.

CliffordK

Shoes and Pedals?

Do all riders use toe clips or clipless?

I think it would be a pain to be constantly swapping shoes, and carrying shoes for the current runner to the next stop.

Toeclips might be easy, but have gone out of style a bit.

I'm seeing some women's "spin shoes" that have an outward appearance of a running shoe, for example the New Balance NBCycle WX09, but unfortunately not offered in men's shoes.

The Pearl Izumi X-Road Fuel might be the closest that has a Men's model.

Yet, I can't say how they would feel on either the bike or running.

Are biathlon/triathlon contenders too serious to have combined sport clothing?