Learning the flying dismount- take two

We are solidly in the grips of summer here in Florida.  Yeah, yeah... it's been hot elsewhere too; but, your hot will go away.  Ours will stay until October.  The heat tends to fry my brain this time of the year-- I've become a slacker in Blogland, I have turned my great room into a rainbow via a splattering of paint chips (none of which are perfect, of course) and I have been busting a move on my triathlon transitions-- forcing myself to learn how to execute a flying dismount without biting it (see below).

A little over a one year ago, I made the decision to work on the flying dismount into T2.  I practiced it, oh a dozen times or so (not in a row-- spaced out here and there), but never really felt all that comfortable doing it.  Still, I could manage to get my shoes off and I hadn't fallen, so I decided that the dismount was on for race day.

This is what happened last year.  Ouch.  I probably should have never tried the dismount on a such a crowded sprint course-- there were 900 participants!  Insane, right? Anyway, I managed to get my shoes off without colliding into another participant, got my dismount game face on, swung my leg over my seat and glided towards the dismount line... and then I promptly hit the front break.  My dutiful bike stopped, but I kept going.  Face plant. I often wonder to myself what that dude behind me was thinking.  Girl with sperm helmet nearly ruins my race because she obviously has no dismount skilz.  I promised myself that there would be no further attempts at the flying dismount until I was truly capable of not injuring myself or someone else.

Fast forward 14 months.

About a month ago I decided that it was time to get back on the saddle and learn how to do a proper (and confident) flying dismount.  I began by attempting one at the end of every ride.  I never ate pavement on any of those attempts, but my bike handling was squirrely and I continued to lack confidence in general.

I decided that a few dedicated dismount training sessions were in order. Scott would be my eyeballs (since he does a flying dismount like nobody's business) and would give me pointers.  I would repeat the dismount over and over and over.  Essentially, creating muscle memory.  Learning this dismount is really no different than learning how to clip in and out of bike shoes.  I think it's just a matter of being able to do the following:

*Maintain control of the bike during the shoe removal/leg swing/dismount process
*Hold your line during the dismount process.  No weaving.  You may hurt yourself or someone else.
*Execute shoe removal by feel-- no looking down to find the shoes or to position your feet.  It needs to be instinctual.
*Decide what form works best for you.  For example, my husband uses his toes to flip his shoes over and place his foot on top.  I have to actually hold my heel tab (to hold the shoe steady) while placing my foot on top.  For whatever reason, my toes can't find the shoe on their own.
*Know that you are probably going to crash and burn the first time around-- and if doesn't happen the first time around, it will eventually happen.  Know this, love this, get back on the bike saddle after this.
*Do not hit the front break. Don't even feather it.  Actually, don't have your fingers anywhere near it.

After many repeats, slight form tweaks and a whole lot of patience, my flying dismount was born.  Is it perfect?  Not a chance.  Is it serviceable?  Very.  Am I confident enough to attempt it on the 17th?  Yes, but only if the dismount line looks safe.  I'm not going to chance running over someone-- especially a newbie.  This is a local YMCA sprint race and it's been heavily advertised by the Y as a "tri-a-tri" in order to attract first timers.  That being said, this is Florida and 'newbie triathlete' is a very relative term.  The caliber of athlete that simply pops out of the woodwork down here rivals that of Colorado, Arizona & California.  On second thought, maybe I should just say screw it... game on, get outa my way!?!

And if you are curious- there will be no attempt on my part to master da flying squirrel T1 mount anytime in the near future (ask me again next year).  That maneuver looks like a person could easily pull their hamstring, calf, quad--you name the muscle group.  Seriously, I admit it, I have no game when it comes to being able to jump vertically.  Any attempt at this mount would most likely produce the same picture as shown above.

For your viewing pleasure, a flying dismount video from yesterday.

Finally, does life get any better than this?  Seriously.  I want to swim in these veggies!  Can you smell those carmelized onions and char-grilled baby bellas through the intertubes?  I fairly certain that I've been driving my neighbors bonkers with the daily grill smells.

Good luck to all those who may be racing this weekend and a big HELLO to all of my Blogland friends.  I'm very behind on blog-reading, but I hope to try to catch up soon.  Best wishes to everyone!!!