Transition Clinic

We recently hosted the Triathlon Club of San Diego's monthly BYOC event. Our topic was Free Speed; get faster through preparation, organization and efficiency. We had local triathlete, fast runner, and Moment sponsored Brandon Mills and Rachel Wills, triathlete, shop employee, TCSD volunteer swim coach as the hosts for the evening.

Check out the pictures - Thanks Chris!

Here are their 10 tips for a faster transition:

#1 Practice 

Nothing new on race day! Make sure you practice your plan until you can do it without mistakes. Work on removing that wetsuit FAST after each swim. Before and after each bike, practice the flying mount/dismount (explained below). Train with the shoes you race in. Have a plan of exactly what you are going to do and practice it over and over again in training and then rehearse it mentally several times on race morning. By the time you are in transition in during race you should be moving on autopilot.

#2 Minimalism

Clutter will slow you down! Don't have any distractions on your transition mat/towel. Don't leave your body glide out, no extra water bottles, no sweatpants from the morning. Place all that stuff that becomes unnecessary during the race in your transition bag - out of sight.

#3 Shoes on the Bike

Coasting down the course at 15 mph while you put your feet in your shoes will move you far ahead of your buddy sitting on his butt in T1 doing the same task. Set your bike up in the transition area with your shoes attached to the pedals and rubber bands looped between the heels and frame holding them horizontal. On leaving T1, pedal with your feet on top of your shoes. Once you are cruising at speed, coast and slip your feet into your shoes. Keep your eyes ahead on the road, not down on your feet. On the return, slip your feet out of your shoes before you reach T2. Learn this skill first on an indoor trainer before taking it out on the open road.

# 4 Run with your bike

The distance from rack to mount line can be considerable at large triathlons. By running safely and quickly with your bike, it is easy to fly over this distance. Run upright with good form on the left side of your bike holding your seat with your right hand. Left arm swings by your side. Hold the bike upright to go straight and lean it to the side to turn. Practice in an empty parking lot.

# 5 Speed over the mount/dismount line

 Learn a cyclocross mount / dismount to cruise over this line without losing any momentum. In the race you will be doing this in bare feet but initially learn and practice this skill wearing running shoes.

# 6 Bike Organization

You have one task on the bike - go fast. Everything else takes up time. Make sure everything you need on the bike course is attached to your bike. Tape gels to the frame or use a Bento box, water bottles should already be on board (and have the appropriate number for the race distance), sunglasses looped to a cable, spare tube in a seat pack and CO2 cartridge taped to the seat post.

# 7 Tri Kit

Start the swim with your full bike/run outfit under your wetsuit. Any clothing changes will add lots of time.

# 8 Navigation
Have trouble finding your car in a crowded parking lot? A large transition area is even more chaotic and you don't have the panic button to help you out. Walk through transition before the race. Note where your rack spot is and how to find in from the swim exit and bike entrance. From your rack, know where the bike and run exists are and the quickest route to them.

# 9 Speed laces
Tying your running shoe laces in a bow takes time. Eliminate this step using lace locks or speed laces. We have plenty of color options at the shop to satisfy your matchey maychey needs. To help your feet slide smoothly into your running shoes, prime them with a sprinkling of baby powder or body glide to prevent blisters. Check out Yankz!
 
# 10 Grab and go
In T2, grab what you need and go. Put on your hat and race belt while you are running. It is always faster to complete your tasks moving down the course rather than standing in front of your rack.
 
Have fun, breathe, and go faster!
Brandon and Rachel


Thanks to Christopher (our newest employee!) for the great photos!

It's all in the little details

All of us at Moment Cycle Sport pride ourselves in providing the best bike service in all of SoCal. Part of this mission is allowing customers to spec out and customize their bikes with whatever they want. If the stock bike comes with a 172.5 crank length and you want a 165mm, not a problem. How about the B16 pictured above. Our customer wanted some upgrades from the stock build from Felt. He came to the right place, this is what we do! The drivetrain components were swapped for Dura Ace, white Adamo saddle, HED Jet wheels, white tires, and of course the green housing loop in back. And we don’t stop at spec'ing out the parts. Every last detail is considered, down to the color of the cable housing and the cable end crimps.

We take great pride in our workmanship here. It is always a thrill when a customer gives us ‘artistic freedom’ to make their bike ‘look cool’. It gives us a great deal of satisfaction when they come in to pick it up and see the attention to detail and notice the red cable crimps, or the way the bar tape is wrapped, or the cable housings oriented so you can read the Campagnolo label. And this holds true for all bikes from an entry level road bike, to an out of the box tri bike with some special touches, to a full blown, full custom dream machine from one of our custom builders.

We offer this service to all customers. It all starts with the best bike fit in San Diego, then a detailed conversation to discuss exactly what you want on your new ride.  Our professionally trained mechanics then perform a Pro Bike Build, with an eye for detail, culminating with the delivery of your new toy. If you have some ideas in mind about what you want to do with your next purchase and want to stand out a little from the others in your peloton or club, stop in and see what we have to offer.

You won’t be disappointed, we guarantee it.

It's windy in here!

Cory in front of "the fan"

JT, Cory, and Rachel headed to the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel for some positioning adjustment for a client. We spent the morning dialing in his position on our fit bike and set up both his track bike and tt bike positions to match. Here are some picture of the day. Visit our Picasa site for more!

testing the track persuit bike

Swapping out for the TT bike - Giant Trinity SL with Di2

After getting setup at the wind tunnel, we tested many things with his position such as arm pad width, aerobar drop, aerobar extensions (length and bend), different helmets and different head positions. His initial fit which was most comfortable and powerful ended up being the most aerodynamic in the end as well.



3 seconds/minute faster. Great result for someone who only races for 12k



Moment Cycle Sport is minutes away from the LSWT and San Diego Airport.  We are taking appointments to help squeeze more time from your race results without training any differently!  Give us a call to schedule your fit and wind tunnel appointments! 619-523-2453

Boulevard 2011

Moment Race Team was out for their first race of 2011 at Boulevard! Great races all around, and a great training day for others. :)

The ladies were up early to register and warmup (barely - seriously they need to work on it) before rolling out at 7:10am. Temps were variable and unfortunately had quite a bit of a downhill to survive before the climbing started. Wardrobe choices?!

Luckily they made it all through the first crash, 20 sec into the race, where someone hit a cone and took down a couple other racers. Best of luck to their recovery.

Kimberly and Lynne were with the main pack for most of the race, while Melissa and Rachel were working with the 2nd pack and hopefully holding the pack back. Lynne placed 5th and Kim was 7th. Great work ladies!

Up next was the Men's Cat 4 and Cat 5. They started around 9:30, and it sure did heat up by then so no wardrobe debates. JT was off in the Cat 4, while the rest of the guys headed out with the 5A group. Chris, Evan and Kyle were in the front group while Greg and Mike were controlling the back. JT had a mechanical and was out. Chris ended up passing some of the Cat 4's ahead, so the finish was a bit clustered - but he ended up hanging on for 2nd, while Kyle and Evan finished with the main pack.

Here are some pictures from the day.

ready? (nice knee warmers!)

lynne and rachel (what?) and obviously wearing too many layers

JT, "what are you doing out here?"
("taking pictures of you!")
on his way out on the 2nd loop



Chris on his way to the 2nd place finish!



kyle - almost there!

Evan charging for the finish

Greg making his way towards the finish



chris taking over the rear seat in the mothership. best team car ever.



all smiles before the race (and always)

kim charging



the girls (melissa, kim, lynne, amanda, rachel)

 It was a great day out there (after the initial freeze). Good teamwork and a great first race for Mike, Melissa, and Kimberly! Looking forward to a great season ahead!

BikeFit certification class

This past Sunday and Monday we had Paul Swift of BikeFit.com here to show us his methodology of bike fit. We learned about cleat/pedal interface and wedging which we will now fully incorporate into our dynamic fit process. Check out that new guy on the left - it's Christopher - Our new mechanic! Stop by the shop and say hi!

We had a two day hands on bike fit experience. We look at the varus/valgus angles of the feet and learned how to properly wedge a foot. Why wedge? Check out this article. Dan Empfield of slowtwitch.com has also endorsed the use of the product as well. Check out his analysis here. Wedging not only improves the power of the cyclist, but also the comfort. Your legs weren't meant to be strapped to a pedal - let us show you how wedging may work for you!



mmm, Kyle's feet after a day of rock climbing...who wants to measure?



my fit results (I'm a 1 wedge, 2 pedal spacer both sides girl)

playing with Chris's cleats. (he's an spd wedge cleat guy!)

Schedule a Dynamic Bike Fit appointment today! You won't regret it - we guarantee our fit and are committed to making you happy on your bike. Whether you are looking for pain relief, more power, aerodynamics or comfort, we are here to help!