T1... Cycling Shoes already on the bike or not?
Deano
Posts: 4
in General Chat
Being a newbie to this sport, can anyone offer any advice at to wether or not its worth practising getting on my bike with the shoes already attached to my clipless pedals at T1? If it is worth trying... any tips?
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I'm new to tri and currently I'm just putting my bike shoes on in T1 and running in them to the mount line, it's not too bad with cleats and you shouldn't have a massive distance to cover. I won't start having the shoes on the bike until I'm fully confident I won't screw up the mount
Having said that, when you do pull it off, it is very satisfying. I tried it at Blenheim the last time i did it and my T1 was in the top 10 and not much slower than the pros. I haven't done it since though, as you have to practice a lot to be able to do it properly (if you spend the 1st 100 meters on the bike struggling with a strap, you might as well not have bothered) and i have other things to spend time practicing - such as swimming faster, running faster, cycling faster and posting comments on forums.
Practicing T2 is easier (getting out of your shoes and then scooting into transition) and will save you time. You can just practice doing this at the end of all of your training rides and during brick sessions. It is also very satisfying when you get it right.
the thing with all of this stuff, is that we're talking seconds in terms of time saved. And possibly minutes lost of you cock it up.
Have the shoes fitted to the pedals and use the elastic band trick to keep em in place.
Leap on if u want or just stop at the line and climb on - tho I reccomend you do choose the latter to do it to one side in case others are about to leap aboard behind you.
Final tip.....have it in a low gear
Good luck