Sean H wrote:
You need to start watching ITU races (they’re perfect for the trainer). The triathlonlive.tv is only like $30/yr or something, and you will get access to all the races from the last few years as well. Those folks have T1 dialed in (because they have to), and they practice a lot. Comparing yourself to other long course pros shouldn’t be your measure of success here, always strive to be world class in everything, even transition.
It’s not hard to have your shoes on your bike, and use rubber bands to hold them level (and wide open) so that when you land on the seat, you can slip your feet directly into the shoes. Then only have to tighten them up when you get a chance. I agree with you that putting your feet on top of your shoes and then having to work them in later isn’t very efficient.
There is a lot about transitions that can be learned watching ITU, some things to do, and some things not to do. SOME of those folks have things dialed... I've worked numerous ITU mount lines, and have seen as many trainwrecks as I have perfect mounts (it's actually alarming how bad some of the ITU folks are at transition, there are folks who have podiumed in the WTS, that don't podium more regularly because they miss critical groups in races due to poor transitions))... That said, you can learn from how clean, efficient and organized their transitions are (everything in place, the fewest number of things to do before leaving (grab your helmet, buckle and go...), etc.).
I'll agree with the comment, that shoes on flying mount is less bad then stop and straddle, but nailing a shoes on pedals flying mount would be even faster. It's not wrong to think that many people who do the shoes on flying mount may be losing time not getting into their shoes efficiently when riding (typically this is caused by trying to get into the shoes too soon while cruising at low speed, rather than riding 1-2min getting the speed up, which makes it much easier to get into your shoes while maintaining speed and line...), because an unpracticed transition of any form is going to be less polished than a practice one. For shoes on flying mounts, there's tons of YouTube videos on cyclocross mounting technique, which is exactly this... From there the transition to a shoes in pedal flying mount is easy because the only difference is getting into the shoes while making forward progress on the bike, rather than while standing still at your spot in T1 (note, I didn't say landing on your shoes, because if you do, you're doing it wrong, you should be landing on your inner thigh, and then sliding onto your seat and your feet onto your shoes, rather than going directly to the seat and pedals, since that approach drastically increases the TP Quotient (TP = Testicular Pain)...
Transitions don't need a lot of practice, they just need some regular rehearsals to not forget how to do it (could be as simple as a weekly brick workout where you actually practice your transition (I set up a makeshift T-zone in my back yard, I'll do a short run, finishing in the yard, do my T-1, using the end of the driveway as a mount line and then doing my ride, and then at the end of the ride transition into my proper run session...)). Yes you could do focused transition repeats when learning a new transition skill such as a shoe on flying mount and then a shoe off flying mount... but after that, it's less about spending 3min, it's more about spending 30sec more often...
