I had a race the other day and after looking over my transitions, and race results in general I found about 2 minutes of free time that I left behind. Time that would have taken very little effort on my part. My transitions were slow because I didn’t practice getting in and out of shoes or wetsuit. I did not know or practice a cyclecross mount/dismount. I also happened to crash coming out of T1 because I was an idiot. Stuff like that.
So I was wondering what little tricks people out there have to get some free speed.
Perhaps it is a little thing in transition or something else. For the purpose of this thread lets stay away from obvious aero toys (helmet, frame, wheels, etc.)
For those that want to know I’m 99 years old and not in your age group.
At almost every race I’m at there’s someone running around in T1 or T2 looking for their transition spot. It never fails.
I won’t be that guy that has a nice bunch of green and purple balloons tied to my rack but I will remember that “my transiton spot is aprox 10 yards south of the DB with all the balloons”.
RUN through transition, the clock is running, so should you! I nearly always pass people between swim exit and bike, they just negated part of their swim by plodding through transition.
Shoes on the pedals, put your feet in 'em while riding if you aren’t faced with a climb right outa transition; 9x outa 10 its faster.
minimize transition junk. You just need shoes, helmet, race #. If you swam nakid up top, bike/run that way.
use speed/elastic laces
legally draft everyone you pass, this is truly free speed and the 1/4s add up
don’t be shy to yell at people to get outa your way on the bike (sorry to everyone I yelled at during CapTexTri last week…)
draft on the run, if possible
Edit:
ride the smoothest pavement (white line, car worn groove, etc.) and shortest line where possible (no blocking!)
This isn’t just for me, but a good reference for anyone.
My transitions are actually good. With the exception of a couple missing things. I struggled to get one leg out of my wetsuit. It was a new suit and I had not practiced at all.
I struggled getting into my running shoes because the elastic laces were tight around the top of the shoe. So I practiced that.
I didn’t do cyclecross mounts because I was scared…I’ve practiced that and will continue to practice.
Other than that my transition is bare minimum. For the bike I have helmet, sunglasses, shoes. For the run I have shoes, visor, race belt/number. That’s it. And I think that is a good tip for newbies. Don’t have a buffet in T1 or T2. Keep things to a minimum.
Any other oddball tips/tricks others may not know about?
RUN through transition, the clock is running, so should you! I nearly always pass people between swim exit and bike, they just negated part of their swim by plodding through transition.
Shoes on the pedals, put your feet in 'em while riding if you aren’t faced with a climb right outa transition; 9x outa 10 its faster.
minimize transition junk. You just need shoes, helmet, race #. If you swam nakid up top, bike/run that way.
use speed/elastic laces
legally draft everyone you pass, this is truly free speed and the 1/4s add up
don’t be shy to yell at people to get outa your way on the bike (sorry to everyone I yelled at during CapTexTri last week…)
draft on the run, if possible
Bad advice. This will get you either disqualified or time in the penalty box in the vast majority, if not all, triathlons.
minimize transition junk. You just need shoes, helmet, race #. **If you swam nakid up top, bike/run that way. **
Bad advice. This will get you either disqualified or time in the penalty box in the vast majority, if not all, triathlons.
Funny, hasn’t happened to me yet, about half my races are nakid up top, along with plenty of others in same races; none of these are IM-branded. Perhaps its an injection of common sense by race officials when its 90deg/80% humidity…
I think it’s 10 or 15 seconds, listen to the pre race announcements for sure.
This is the only perck of starting in a late wave, lots of people to slingshot around during the race.
**Post:** - legally draft everyone you pass, this is truly free speed and the 1/4s add up
What’s legal drafting?
Stay in the draft on approach, pull out and pass w/in 15sec, get in the draft of next rider, etc. It means you’re gonna do some weaving left to pass, right to draft, left to pass, etc. The little bit of weaving is more than made up by the few seconds of draft you get before each pass. Doesn’t work for REALLY crowded or REALLY sparse bike legs or if you’re moving too much faster than passee, best in light-to-moderate crowds.
Ride up to their rear wheel and then move to the left and pass at the last second.
It’s only illegal if you’re in the ‘zone’ for too long.
If you are riding 24 mph and they are moving along at 14 mph and just enjoying the day I can’t see any real benefit in trying to get a free and legal draft, it’s sort of like with a parked car really.
I know you are supposed to stay to the right except when passing but if I’m not blocking anyone and there’s no offical around I won’t weave in and out trying to get a legal draft.
I am new to this sport and was so wound up before my first event that I wrote down everything I would do on race day. This included how to set up my transition spot and what order I would do things in T1 and T2. This helped me see inefficiencies and adjust the plan accordingly.
As for tips, I used a loop of tape on my aero bars to stick my helmet to so it was less likely to fall off if it were to be bumped. I also brought some sidewalk chalk and put an ‘X’ at the end of my row and another in front of my bike. While warming up I rehearsed the T1 route using the marks because I knew I would be a little disoriented coming out of the water.
