HILDEKQ'S Magnificently Motivational Mentor Group - CLOSED (Page 3)

Hi all,

 Hilde seems to already be teaching you all the right ways of doing things so you don’t look like some of us during our first tri’s.  I wish I had known her before I started!

Some thoughts as I was reading your posts:

Bricks never get easier but you can make them a little less painful or jarring by going into an easier gear and spinning at a higher cadence or the very last part of your bike ride (in a sprint race, I’ll try to do it for .5 of a mile).  It seems to allow my body to feel not quite as heavy legged as I begin the run (and I have heavy legs to begin with).

Equipment – Because I wear contacts, sunglasses move from the really nice to have to almost the necessary category on the bike.  Between wind and road debris flying up, I can barely function on the bike without them.  One ride was all it took to convince me to never go without!

T1 / Rolling Socks - If you are going to use the rolling sock technique (and you should because it works!), practice it on some grass before you do it in a race.  I practiced in my living room and ended up with a sock full of clover during my first race.  Having to put on a wet sock is bad enough but pulling it off, dumping out clover and putting it back on it even worse!  Depending on the length of the grass, I may just put my foot down on a hand towel to get my sock on.

I also split the difference between standing and sitting and kneel down to put on my socks.  The first time I tried standing during a race, I was so dizzy from the swim I nearly fell over.

Unclipping – I just got clipless pedals this year and have totally shared in your falling over pain.  The worst was when I fell over to the right because I unclipped with the left but tried to put my right foot down.  I then got up,  clipped in my left foot to get started, hit a rut or something and immediately fell over to my left.  *sigh*  At least my wife thought it was amusing, once she saw that I was okay.

A little tip that my bike shop gave me about clipping and unclipping:  Always try to unclip with your left foot first so you don’t fall over into traffic.  It was something that I had never thought about and makes pretty good sense, especially for those of us in more urban areas.

I hope this helps!