Of Triathletes, bikes and shoes

[mattc]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NRKajY5GlyI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/NRKajY5GlyI&rel=1</a>

(It's hard to believe I used to describe triathlon as a getting-dressed race ... )

[Julian]

I love that at the end, you see the single yellow shoe lying in the middle of the road. 

Cycling barefoot in cleats and then running... that's going to be painful. 

[andygates]

Poor gel.    Worst I've had was kicking a shoe off the bike and clean across transition.   

[Pippa]

It is exactly this sort of footage and horror story that led me to really think hard about my race tactics...so my plan was to stick to the back and sit down on the floor to put my bike shoes on....I managed to execute this brilliantly

Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it 

[mattc]

The phrase "a stitch in time saves nine" springs to mind. [There's probably a better one - ah, how about "more haste less speed" ?]

Anyhoo ...

remind me, tri-chaps and chapesses; does one usually change into proper running shoes after the bike leg? And is that still quicker overall than cycling with toe-clips in your running shoes?

[Julian]

On the one I did, I wore my SPD sandals which are the quickest thing evah to get on and off, and then stuck my feet into my running shoes courtesy of elastic laces.  Took seconds. 

[Pippa]

Yeah I switched from cycling shoes to running shoes. I did buy elastic laces but forgot about them until race day and then didn't want to try anything new on the day itself so just stuck with bog standard laces. Then again, I was just aiming to finish rather than do a certain time.

Plenty of people were in running shoes for the bike bit with or without toe straps.

The pros all seem to use cycling shoes (trispecific ones usually with only a single velcro strap I think) rather than running shoes with toestraps.

I honestly don't know how much time you might save by not having to change shoes versus how much time you gain wearing cycling shoes.

The other thing to consider is socks....

[andygates]

Socks?  Pff!

In a sprint, it's probably marginal; in an Olympic I think the shoes are worth a couple of minutes...

[Pippa]

Socks?  Pff!

Exactly. I realised this too late and when I tried running without socks it was TEH PAIN so I wore them on the day. But for next time I'll do lots of running without socks beforehand...