What does wheel in / wheel out mean? I see it in race pamphlets.

It means the wheels you put in the wheel pit are the wheels you can take out if you get a flat. That's so you know they won't be providing spare wheels and you don't take someone's mistaking it for community property.

It's the hokey pokey for cyclists.

Not always. Especially in road races, it can mean you only get a wheel from the wheel truck if you put one in, but you don't necessarily get your own wheel. If you think about the logistics of rummaging around through a pile of wheels, it makes sense not to lose all that time searching for a particular wheel.

This has been my experience as well.

Ah yes. Forgot about that. I have never had to use the wheel pit (knock on wood) so I forgot about that little detail on road races)

So I assume you figure out the wheel situation after the race... whos you have and who got yours?

That should be the promoter's responsibility. Someone in the wheel truck should have recorded the name or number of the rider whose wheel was given out, and the rider receiving it.

Is there a standard ID system used on the tires

I put an index card with my number on it, and wedge it firmly in the spokes.

assuming the wheels were id'd in the first place. often, there's just a pile of wheels in the staging area following a race, and you just go and get yours.

standard id system? I put a notecard like a 3x5 with name, team, and tele # on mine (good idea to put your race # on there too if you have time), cut a + type hole in it, and affix it over the skewer

So if I don't have wheels in the truck I can still get a wheel provided I throw my wheel in, or am I SOL?

I unscrew the quick release, and stab the card with the skewer, then rescrew the QR. Can't get knocked out that way

Thanks for the info. I thought I was the only one not in the know.

You're SOL, although I don't think they have any way of knowing if you had put spares in the truck before the race or not. But that would be cheating, and nobody cheats in sports.

definitely sol.

just to clarify a bit. in a crit if you put wheels in you take your own wheel to swap (there should be an official in or near the pit to okay it). in a road race you take the wheel they hand you, you really don't want to spent the extra minute(s) to get YOUR wheel out of the tangled pile in the back of the truck or van you want the wheel that gets you back on the bike the soonest for your best chance to catch the pack.

Many races will cap the number of wheels that go it the wheel van, after that number is reached all wheels go neutral.

That's a problem I discovered with radial spoked front wheels.

Write your name on the sidewall of the tire. Or better yet, write your team name and only throw in 1 set of wheels.