Trinity Transition

Key
transition points for a duathlon.

BIKE HELMET

When
you get to your bike put your bike helmet on immediately before you even touch
your bike. If there is one thing to never forget it is this. Touching your
bike before you have your helmet on can sometimes lead to immediate
disqualification.

When transitioning from bike to run do not take your helmet off until you have
racked your bike. However, do not forget to remove your helmet before you run,
nothing looks sillier than someone running in a bike helmet.

 

RACE BELT

Make sure you put your race belt before the start of the race.

For the cycle leg the race number should be at the back.

For the run leg the race number should be at the front.

 MOUNTING AND DISMOUNTING YOUR BIKE

Make sure you are aware where the mount and dismounts points are, do not get on your
bike before the mount or get off after the dismount areas, again you will be
disqualified.

When transitioning from bike to run do not take your helmet off until you have
racked your bike. However, do not forget to remove your helmet before you run,
nothing looks sillier than someone running in a bike helmet.

 

Organise

Place everything out in an organised manner and keep your area clean.

 

Know your location

Remember where your bike is, it is amazing how in the heat of a race you can forget where your bike is, and you waste so much precious time running around looking for it.

 

Phil’s tips.

Use a plastic box (if allowed) to keep your things in, especially handy if it is
raining.

Place your helmet face up point to you so you ensure you put it on the right way.

Place your helmet on your handlebars.

Practice and do a dry run.

Keep it simple, take only what you need.

Use a bright
coloured towel as it will help you find your bike.

Check, double check and triple check the entry and exit points of the transition area.

Use elasticated laces if changing to and from running and bike shoes.

Ensure your bike is in the right gear.

For the last 100/200m of the bike leg drop down a few gears to spin the legs and flush out
any lactate.

Practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.

Laur's tips.

Practise walking/running through the transitions e.g. go to ‘Run In’ and walk to your
bike (take note of rack number, any landmarks to guide you etc) then imagine getting your bike and running to bike out. Physically check where the dismount
line is. Then practise walking/running back to bike rack from bike in etc. I
always walk through it several times and it really helps. If they can’t do it on the day due to other competitors, talk them through how to do visualisations.

Nutrition: plan when you are going to take on nutrition in the race. For a short distance, you may just need a gel or some clif bloks half way through the bike before the run. When to eat before the race - I usually eat 2 to 2.5 hours before racing.

If using bike shoes, they need to make sure straps are undone so they can put shoes on easily.