Nades's Transition Tips

Transition Setup

• Bright coloured towel on the ground beside your bike
• Lay out gear in the order that you need it, eg cycle shoes close to the front, runners at the back. Leave room to stand on the towel to wipe off your feet
• Helmet upside down on aerobars, place on top of cycling shoes if no aerobars
• Pre-fit helmet to your head so it can go straight on without having to adjust or remember to adjust in transition. Also make sure helmet is sitting so you can pick straight up and place on your head the right way round.
• Talcum powder in both sets of shoes, makes it easier to slide wet feet in
• Ensure shoes are sitting with tongues sitting up, again easier to slide feet in
• Use elastic laces in your runners, saves time doing up laces and they don't come undone
• If wearing a cap for run place it under your runners so it doesn't blow away
• If wearing a race belt place this in your helmet so you remember to put it on
• Also place glasses/sunglasses in your helmet if you plan/need to wear these
• Ensure bike is in a gear that will be easy to take off in
• Work out what hand you have on your bike when you run and set up accordingly, eg I run with my right hand on my bike so looking at my bike in transition I set everything up on its right so that I can just turn around and run rather than running to the other side of my bike
• Make sure drink bottles are on bike as well as toolkit/bag
• If planning to put a top on before the cycle make sure this is placed on top of your helmet, its a little difficult to put tops on once your helmet is on
• Do a walk through of transition to see where the entries/exits are
• If not at the end of a row look for distinctive items at the end of your row so you can easily find it, try not to use the bike at the end as an identifying item, it may well be gone when you get there

Swim/bike Transition

• Cap and goggles off while you run to bike, throw to back of your transition area/towel
• Stand on towel and wipe feet on towel while putting on top/helmet/glasses/race belt
• Shoes on, do them up (No socks unless you absoultelyhave to! If you do need them set them up by putting them on your feet at set-up and then roll them off so you can roll them back on. It's not easy to put socks/clothes on when you are wet)
• Head off to transition bike exit
• If it's a wetsuit swim, get wetsuit down around hips by the time you are at the bike, then push to knees and use feet to step out of it while putting on helmet etc

Bike/run Transition

• Change into an easier gear when cycling up to dismount, this makes it easier for your legs to transition into running
• If you can, get your feet out of your shoes while on the bike. Don't try this for the first time on race day, it's not as easy as it looks!
• Run to rack, keep helmet on until bike is racked
• Hang bike back up, cycle shoes off if not already
• Helmet off
• Runners on
• Grab cap/top if wearing one, you can put these on while running
• Run to transition run exit

Thats about it, its been awhile since a race day so I may make some changes after Sunday but I think thats most things covered. I never wear gloves or socks when racing, I find them too fiddly to put on while wet so don't bother. I rarely put a top on before the cycle leg, I normally race in a tri-suit tho, perhaps if you are in tri shorts and top you may want to put a top on before the cycle leg, if you do this have it sitting on your helmet placed in a way that you can just pick it up and put it over your head. If you don't have a race belt you will need to put a top on with your number on it, some races you can get away with doing this just for the run section and by then you are a lot drier and you can put a top on while running. For longer distance races you will also need to ensure you have your nutrition on your bike or if carrying it in a pocket place it in your helmet so you remember to take it with you. Other things you may want to think about are if you need to carry an inhaler or something along those lines and ensuring that you have it somewhere easy to grab in transition. For longer races you may want to have a thermal top or running jacket in transition in case the weather turns bad while you are out on the bike.

I have done transitions this way since I started racing and used exactly the same process for the Half IM last year, only difference there was that I had extra nutrition to grab at the second transition. It does work, I am generally pretty quick through transitions, I go with the theory that you need to keep moving forward so spend the least amount of time standing still that you can.

Let me know if something doesn't make sense and I will try and explain.