leaving your shoes on the bike is something I don´t do. I still believe I would loose more time doing that than putting them on on T1 and going on the bike without having to clean my feet and worry about getting them in my shoes. I start pedaling right away.

But that´s just me!

Put your shoes on your feet, run out of transition, jump on the bike and start pedaling. Much easier.

Red5,
I just disposed of my IM athlete info packet, but I vaguely recall that they had some strange rule about what you could and could not have on your bike pre-race. IIRC, hydration was OK, helmets were not, and I can't remember what the shoe rule was (I don't do clipped in starts as of now b/c I can never seem to get my shoes tight enough when on the bike--so whatever the rule was it did not affect my normal procedure.). Anyone else remember this?

Which is why it's important to do it properly or not at all. Everybody should just do what they are more comfortable with, but I challenge you to find a single pro that runs out of T1 wearing shoes. It IS faster, done right, so I make sure to do it right.

PJT, in Clearwater you could put on your waterbottles ( but this I did on race day, not day before) and helmets where eventually allowed, but I'd put it in my swim-to-bike-bag, because you can put it on running to your bike. We where allowed to clip on our bike shoes, which I did. It does save time, if executed correctly.

Noel.

If you're comfortable with your shoes clipped in then it will generally be faster...you're not supposed to slip your feet into your shoes until you're up to speed.

I thought I would have big issues initially, hating sand, dirt, or anything on my feet. Most of the time I find it's not an issue. Those times when I do I simply spray a little bit of water on my foot before putting the shoe on (foot is going to be wet from sweat in minutes anyway)

When you're practicing, do it in steps. How my groups always do it...:

Start with your shoes clipped in, to the side of your bike with your most comfortable mounting foot (and shoe) forward (about 9-10 o'clock). Step on top of that shoe and get your leg over the bike to sit on your seat as you're going forward from the power of that first downstroke. Lean a little bit forward as you do, it makes raising your leg over your seat much easier, especially if you have behind the seat bottles. Practice this, with starting and stopping, getting your leg over your bike both ways until you're comfortable.

Next step - while you're going along at a steady pace work on getting 1 foot into a shoe. Since your feet are on top of the shoe, grab the back of the shoe before lifting your foot (don't want the shoe dangling). Slide your foot into the shoe but don't worry about tightening the straps necesarilly. You can do that after you have both feet in and can pedal between motions to keep up your speed.

Once you're comfortable with that practice reversing the process, preparing to get off your bike. You should be able to bring your leg over the bike so you're coasting in the last few meters with your whole body on one side (the bike is counter leaned for balance) and simply slow to the point where you can hop off and run.

There are two other things I do.

I don't tie or secure my shoes to keep them level. I figure, worse case, I lose a second or two rerotating my shoe to front (though it usually stays there nicely). I'd rather have to do that, and have a scuffed shoe, than worry about a rubber band or string getting into my chain/gear and possibly wrecking/derailing my system. Though, this is coming from the perspective that I mount on the left side, so my right shoe (chainside) will be back while my left shoe is forward...the danger is greater on that side than the left side.

The second...when you're running through transition be comfortable running while holding onto your seat. If you're running with both hands on your handlebars it becomes much more difficult to make a quick swerve or something to avoid a collision. You're also not trying to run beside your pedal that you're invariably hitting on your calf or shin. If you need more stabilization, one hand on the seat and one on your handlebar as you need to stabilize.

The main thing...you just have to practice. We'll commonly take an entire practice session (1-2 hours) just drilling this until people are comfortable, then integrate it into the followup brick workouts later.

It's easy to get discouraged about it taking (or seeming to take) longer. I remember it did when I was first learning. After a few practioce sessions, though, it's generally about a 5-10 second period of getting on the bike, feet in the shoes, and shoe straps adjusted to how I like them.