IRONMAN TRANSITION tips on a smooth swim to bike transition, hazards to avoid and moreWhen it comes to your ironman transition to the bike be sure to use a "leaving-bike-transition" gear . Use a very easy gear and you will have more control. I mentioned this in my book "Ironstruck." It's extremely important to be aware of the gear you leave your bike in when you have it all set up in the bike rack before the swim start. You want to we well prepared for your Ironman transition to the bike. I call it "the leaving transition gear." It's important for a number of reasons. First of all, when you exit the water, you have been in the horizontal position for some time, and there might be a bit of dizziness, and even it there's not, it will take your body a little while to adjust to suddenly being thrown onto a bike. Your reflexes might not be all they should be and you may take several stabs at getting your shoe locked into the pedal. Once you get your shoes locked in, you don't want to have to stand up to get your bike going because you left your chain in the big wheel before the race even started. It's important to remember to have you bike in that easy gear for your transition to the bike.
It's much easier to maintain control of your bike if you are in a very easy gear when you leave transition. This is especially important if the bike starts with an uphill. The Great White North triathlon is a perfect example. The first few hundred meters are straight uphill. In the 2009 edition of the race I watched many cyclists lose control of their bikes because they were in a huge gear on the very first revolution and of course, couldn't get any momentum. Their bikes were all over the place and one girl blew her chain right off when she tried to drop into the small chain-ring while standing on the pedals. It's very easy to avoid this type of problem by simply putting your bike in the easiest gear before the race even starts. That way you will have more control, and be ready for any type of situation that will require you to maneuver your bike or to go into a climb. It's much easier to shift into a big gear from a small gear when the time is right, then it is to shift from big chain-ring to the small one. You will have a far more seamless ironman transition to the bike if you remember this one small tip.
Ironman Transition To Ironman Race Day Page
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These are recent testimonials from to new Ironmen and what they had to say about "Ironstruck" and what it meant to them.
First Name: John Country: United States
Ray,
"I just completed my first Ironman in St. George, UT. Your book, Ironstruck - 500 Ironman Questions and Answers, was invaluable in preparing me to get to the finish line. I didn't get any surprises during the race, thanks to the info you provided in your book.
Also, your advice about pushing big gears over the tops of hills to gain more speed going down was spot on. I made the bike cut-off in large part to this advice.
Thanks again for a great book and insight!"
First Name: CeesCountry: South Africa
hi Ray,
"About 5 years ago just moved from Holland to SA Port Elizabeth I was a spectator of Ironman SA and said to myself I want to do such an event myself onetime.Looking for more info I came across Ironstruck and had a lot of pleasure in reading your stories and I want to compliment you the way you describe these. I also wrote you an email asking you some questions and got response. I know its years ago but I just want to tell you that this year I finished the 70.3 East London 7.10 hrs and Ironman SA 13:10 hrs.And will do it next year again and 12.5 hrs will be my goal.rgds Cees"