The Flying Cowboy

There are 5 major parts to a triathlon: swimming, biking and running, of course, but also transitions (between swimming and biking, called "T1" and between biking and running, called "T2") and nutrition.

T1 usually takes longer than T2 as you have to get out of your wetsuit, get your bike gear on, get your bike, and go. Anything one can do to speed up their T1 time is a great way to effortlessly remove seconds, or even minutes, from their race time, as transition time counts!

A couple of weeks ago I took a clinic from LA Tri Club on transitions where they taught us the "flying cowboy" bike mount. Basically, you pre-click-in your shoes to the pedals, use rubber-bands to keep them top-up (and not dragging), and then when you are ready to ride, you run with the bike, plant your foot, jump in the air, land on the seat, and start pedaling on top of the shoes. When you are settled and able to breath, you reach down and slip your feet into the shoes. Voila: tons of time saved, and if you don't kill yourself in the process you look mucho cool.

So this morning, after doing some core exercises and a bit of resistance training, I got the bike and some rubber bands out and practiced flying cowboy mounts in the street. I did it about 20 times and I think I've got the hang of it. I still need to work on getting in (and out) of the shoes while riding, but I've got 2 more days to get that down (our mock tri is on Saturday).

If you have any tips on this let me know!