I see all of you, or most of you, doing this, I can’t figure out how you do it, without busting your ass. There seems to be an art in this. I can do it, but I start weaving right and left, and I’m afraid of wiping out, other bikers.
Explain to me, step by step, how you get both feet into the shoes, and, when you are rolling the bike along, and are able to pull the straps over, without wrecking, or weaving into other bikers. Are you sitting in the saddle when you do this, or rolling it along, with yourself hanging over the top tube.
I’m guessing this is something which has to be practiced.
I jump on the bike with my feet on top of the shoes. ( I powder them good so my feet slip in easily) I pedal up to speed and pull one shoe on and strap, pedal a little more then do the other. Takes practice to not wobble but I save a good 20-30 seconds out of T1.
I’m already going to T1 to get the bike off the rack. Why not just step into the shoes, slip the strap over, then haul ass with the bike, out of T1, instead of later rolling slowly with the bike, to do what you are talking about.
Are the triathlon or bike shoes that big of a clog to run out of T1. That can’t be it.
What’s the time saved here, because, aren’t you going to lose some seconds getting your feet into the shoes, balancing yourself, “getting up to speed.”
Well, first of all, you have to have triathlon shoes or shoes with velcro straps. If you have shoes that it requires some effort to get them on standing still, they most likely won’t work for htis method.
So, already grabbed the bike with shoes on pedals. Jump on bike and put feet on top of pedals and then ride. Don’t put your feet in right away. Pedal up to say… 18 mph. Now put a foot in. If you lost lots of speed, pedal back up to speed again then put it in.
Oh yeah, don’t try to do this going up hill and practice on a trainer before hand! Good luck! Watch some ITU guys too. They’re awesome at it.
take little weak rubber bands (an afternoon in the sun helps) and rubber band your shoes to the frame or cranks. This holds your shoes in a platform position. Grab your bike by the seat take off running. When you cross the mount line move the inside hand to the handlebars. On the next step move the outside hand to the bars. Take a flying leap and land on top of your shoes.
This breaks the rubber bands, pedal a few times slide one foot in tighten the straps then pedal some more and do the other foot.
This is faster than running w/ your shoes on or leaving your shoes attached and running then stopping to mount.
Practice once or twice.
Boothrand, yes, it is much more time consuming to run in cleated shoes. (Especially if it is a large transition area and you can’t position near the exit) Yes you lose a few seconds putting your feet in but not nearly as much as you gain by not losing time standing still in the transition area! And oh yeah, like the other guy said, don’t do it on an uphill, pedal till flat or on a downhill.
So when you jump and land on your bike - do you land with your inner thigh on the seat and then find the shoes or do you jump and land with feet on the shoes and nothing on the seat?
I’ve played around with the first method on my mountain bike and its a bit uncomfortable and wobbly. Seems like landing on your shoes would be quite tricky - plus painful if you miss or your shoe unclips or your foot slips off…
But don’t you get a USAT penalty and auto DQ for abandoning the rubberbands on course?
;o)
In the very rare occassion I’ll have my shoes on the bike, I can just jump on a kick the shoe around and pedal. About 200 feet later, when I settle down, I’ll put the shoes on.
But, no matter what the distance, I’ll leave my shoes on the bike for T2.
I actually had to go walk through the process. I tend to land on the outside shoe which is in the forward position and some part of my upper leg on the side of the seat. The bike is angled in towards you as you leap making it one of less faith.
The most important thing is not to land in the aero position on the seat!
One thing not yet mentioned, is that when you take your foot off the top of a shoe you’ve been pedalling, it will rock backward then forward…it’s on the forward rock when you stick your toes in the shoe. Practice it a couple of times, it’s very easy.
I still don’t have the balls to do the leap of faith, so I tend to do the scooter start a’la Mike Pigg.
Cross the mount line, move out of the way, slide one foot in the shoe, push, push, push with the other foot, like you were on a scooter, swing the scooting leg over the seat and slide the other shoe on… I don’t know if it’s any faster, but Mike Pigg did it, and he was WAY fast, so I’m drawing that conclusion.
=)
bri
I’m betting I can run faster barefoot than in cycling shoes - especially mine with Speedplay cleats - those things are metal, not a whole lot of grip, there.
While you’re putting on your cycling shoes at the rack, I’ve moved 100 yards or more down the road.
I’m pretty much a spaz. Clipless pedals are difficult enough as it is. Until I get beat by someone by less than 15 seconds in a sprint or an Oly, I’m not too worried about learning how to do this. I’ll just work on running 2-3 sec. per mile faster
I put my glasses on, then helmet then grab the bike and go. Gels and stuff are on the bike allready.
Keeping both hands on the bars I jump on the bike landing on my butt (No it doesn’t hurt)
Pedal down the road untill I have a chance to safely put my feet into the shoes. If there are rocks and other debris on my feet then I wipe my feet on the top of my shoes.
I find that while running from the beach to T1 I will drag my feet on the grass to get any sand off of my feet.
Try this at home and time yourself. Practice 3, 4 or 5 times, it is easier than you think.
Seems to be concern for 1) jumping on the bike, and 2) getting feet into shoes without wobbling and crashing. So, don’t jump. Just a fast ‘normal’ mount from an almost stopped position is still faster than running out with cleats on. And, for getting the feet in, with tri-specific shoes there’s often (mine are Sidi T1’s) a notch or other device at the end of the velcro strap to keep the thing open and ready to receive your foot. The powder helps also. Rubber bands, if looped and attached to the back of the shoes’ heel tabs will break and rarely fall off.
I haven’t seen anyone discuss the other half of the ‘shoes on the bike’ thing…dismounting barefoot. A few hundred yards out, just loosen each shoe’s strap, place your foot on top of the shoe, and slow before the dismount line. Whether you do a ‘flying dismount’ by swinging your right leg up and over the seat and between your left leg and the bike or you do a more traditional ‘almost stopped and get off the bike’ dismount - it saves time.
I teach people that the fewer times you have to bend over in the TA the more you’re dedicating energy to moving forward - the secret to faster transitions. Also, especially in T1, keeping your head above your waist is a good way to avoid ‘head-rushes’ and getting dizzy from bending over for shoes and other stuff than standing up fast. Keep the glasses in the helmet, the helmet hanging on the bike, and the shoes attached to the bike - and T1 will be fast and you won’t be doing the T1 tango from dizziness.
Practice transitions during your recovery weeks. 10 minute bikes and 5 minute runs at an easy pace. Over and over again for an hour. Just lean the bike up in the garage. No fancy bike rack needed. Being new to shoes on the bike mounting, maybe practice on a local soccer field with hard-packed grass. If you have a mountain bike, can you put your road pedals on your MTB and use the MTB on the grass? IMHO, the greatest chance for falling is during the flying dismount. Yes, I’ve been flat out in the concrete driveway with my neighbors laughing at me. Wish I’d been on softer grass with no spectators.
What’s the time saved here, because, aren’t you going to lose some seconds getting your feet into the shoes, balancing yourself, “getting up to speed.”
In short races transitions are of increased importance. I won a race a few weeks by 20 seconds. The second place guy had a T1 time of 50 seconds. My T1 was 28 seconds. He didn’t pre clip his shoes.
I just got beat by someone by a foot. turns out I beat the guy in the swim, bike and run but he beat me in transitions, so I am defintely going to try the shoe on pedals thing next year.
