Transition woes

So i had my first sprint race this past weekend and encountered a few problems and thought maybe some advice from a few of you could help my next event.

(1) T1 bike mounting- my mount line was slightly inclined uphill and made for a difficult engagement of my pedals. (i was in proper gears in prep for the hill) the argument of starting with shoes on the bike comes into play. I'm very comfortable with a running mount in bare feet, but is it better to strap shoes on 1st and slip n slide on engagement or is it better to bare run the mount and deal with shoes while you're at speed? (i have single strap tri shoes)

(2) T2 the running shoes- since this was a sprint race, i tossed the idea of wearing socks...my feet were damp coming off the bike and made for a sticky foot insertion into my running shoes, even after a quick wipeoff. What also made things a pain was that my saucony insoles wrinkled up when i put my foot in and created such a discomfort on the run, that at approx mile 1.2 i had to hop on a curb and rip out the insole and run without em. (which inevitably let to a nasty blister on my right foot-fun!). should i pop the feet out of the shoes prior to the dismount to assist in foot drying? i lost precious time in the T messing with my insole and lost pace on the run due to the folded insole...

what advice can you offer me?

Edited by halfpint 2009-06-29 7:17 AM