Just signed up for my first ever race (10 ITT)
Discussion
And I'm bricking it! Granted its only a club 10, and I'm no where near able to frighten the course title holder. I thought it would be good to do something now the nights are getting lighter and I'm not doing on call for work anymore 
The club have been very welcoming in the contact I've had with them so far and have told me not to worry about being snail slow!
I'll be doing it on my Ribble on 25c's, so nothing special and the course is rated as E2/10, and looking at the profile, I'm guessing the easiest!
Has anyone got any tips? Apart from the obvious of not starting off to quickly and warming up properly.
The club have been very welcoming in the contact I've had with them so far and have told me not to worry about being snail slow!
I'll be doing it on my Ribble on 25c's, so nothing special and the course is rated as E2/10, and looking at the profile, I'm guessing the easiest!
Has anyone got any tips? Apart from the obvious of not starting off to quickly and warming up properly.
http://www.strava.com/segments/770427
If it's this course, 17:14 is shifting for a 10.
Good warm up, steady away and then just smash it all the way back from the turn so you feel like puking as you come over the line. Concentrate on keeping your speed up, is easy to drift.
Oh and enjoy, it's supposed to be fun.
If it's this course, 17:14 is shifting for a 10.
Good warm up, steady away and then just smash it all the way back from the turn so you feel like puking as you come over the line. Concentrate on keeping your speed up, is easy to drift.
Oh and enjoy, it's supposed to be fun.
CD, if you're going to enter the E2/10, then you can't be too far from Audley End.
Walden Tri run Thursday evening club 10 mile TTs from Audley End out to just beyond Great Chesterford and back. £4 for non members to enter, no need to sign up in advance, just rock up, sign on, pay up and ride.
Strava segment here... http://www.strava.com/segments/8595637
Club website here... http://www.waldentri.co.uk/index.php/training-sess...
Advice on 'turning yourself inside out' for half an hour (or less) here... http://www.waldentri.co.uk/index.php/club-info/new...
Really pushing myself to (and beyond) my (perceived) limits was something I never learned to do, which was why, in my 3 attempts back in 2011, I never got below 30 minutes for that course. Time trialling just wasn't my strong suit. I've not entered a TT since then, but I'm considering having another go at least once this season, but now I'm back home in Hampshire, so it won't be on any of the Essex/Cambridgeshire courses.
Walden Tri run Thursday evening club 10 mile TTs from Audley End out to just beyond Great Chesterford and back. £4 for non members to enter, no need to sign up in advance, just rock up, sign on, pay up and ride.
Strava segment here... http://www.strava.com/segments/8595637
Club website here... http://www.waldentri.co.uk/index.php/training-sess...
Advice on 'turning yourself inside out' for half an hour (or less) here... http://www.waldentri.co.uk/index.php/club-info/new...
Really pushing myself to (and beyond) my (perceived) limits was something I never learned to do, which was why, in my 3 attempts back in 2011, I never got below 30 minutes for that course. Time trialling just wasn't my strong suit. I've not entered a TT since then, but I'm considering having another go at least once this season, but now I'm back home in Hampshire, so it won't be on any of the Essex/Cambridgeshire courses.
If you can breathe/speak on a 10 mile TT then you are not trying hard enough!
OKGO can probably provide more useful advice but as an 'enthusiastic amateur' without a powermeter I set my Garmin to show cadence/HR Zone/distance, I try to balance cadence being circa 90-94ish (I know that is where is produce the most sustainable power) and a HR zone of 4 - distance is just to give me an idea of when to 'empty the tanks' (if there is anything left in them).
Main thing is to enjoy it, and use the guys who go off before you as markers - I find picking them off one by one a great way to 'make progress'...
OKGO can probably provide more useful advice but as an 'enthusiastic amateur' without a powermeter I set my Garmin to show cadence/HR Zone/distance, I try to balance cadence being circa 90-94ish (I know that is where is produce the most sustainable power) and a HR zone of 4 - distance is just to give me an idea of when to 'empty the tanks' (if there is anything left in them).
Main thing is to enjoy it, and use the guys who go off before you as markers - I find picking them off one by one a great way to 'make progress'...
Using other riders as markers is a good one when you are more competitive, see your minute man up the road and mark the time where he is, to try and reach that same point inside a minute. Use an ultra aggressive mindset to swallow up that gap.
OP at your novice stage, you may find this game a bit demoralising though but if and when you are caught by others, try to see how long you can raise your effort to their speed without draughting.
I started club TTs in my teens, first attempt yielded me 26'33" on a flat course and I'd managed mid 24s within that season and I was totally hooked. Over the years I only got as far as mid 22s and just sub hour 25TT, so not star material. I got into road racing a bit later and never looked back.
Good luck and enjoy yourself.
OP at your novice stage, you may find this game a bit demoralising though but if and when you are caught by others, try to see how long you can raise your effort to their speed without draughting.
I started club TTs in my teens, first attempt yielded me 26'33" on a flat course and I'd managed mid 24s within that season and I was totally hooked. Over the years I only got as far as mid 22s and just sub hour 25TT, so not star material. I got into road racing a bit later and never looked back.
Good luck and enjoy yourself.
Not sure I can provide any better advice really, for your first time where time isn't going to be an issue (standard doesn't look that high judging from the times, you may surprise yourself and beat a few of them!) then just gradually opening the tap is the best bet. Make sure it feels fair easy for the first 25% then wind it up and end in a massive pool of lactate.
The great thing about time trials being you can compete on not a lot of power if you're willing to make an investment into being aerodynamic.
The great thing about time trials being you can compete on not a lot of power if you're willing to make an investment into being aerodynamic.
Sorry, its not an E2/10, is and S1/10.
As some of the roads are my weekend ride I might incorporate it into my ride this weekend, just to give me a base line, and so I know the course.
This is the course
http://www.bikemap.net/en/route/1611801-cc-ashwell...
As some of the roads are my weekend ride I might incorporate it into my ride this weekend, just to give me a base line, and so I know the course.
This is the course
http://www.bikemap.net/en/route/1611801-cc-ashwell...
TT's are good fun. IMO they are not as nerve racking as crits or RR's. A TT is just you and the clock. Good advice above regarding the pain.. make sure you are on your limit to the point of being sick and you will know you have done the best you can.
The more you do it, the quicker you should get.
The more you do it, the quicker you should get.
neenaw said:
I asked someone for some advice about TT's last year when I was going to do my first one. Their advice was to eat some strawberry yoghurt before the race then when you throw up at or near the end it doesn't taste so bad 
Love that kind of mentality.I'm going to do a bit of TT this year. Similar to described above, I'll just turn up and get a time a few times before I decided to throw some mortgage overpayments at it...
I completed my first TT last night, a roadman's TT (i.e. no aerobars, deep sections, etc) on UC189. Really close to my house on a loop of road I use frequently training so no excuse really.
https://www.strava.com/activities/281670847/analys...
Really enjoyed it! I was aiming for a 20:00 so happy with my time. Caught my minute man halfway around which was a big psychological boost.
I feel bike number 7 coming in the shape of a TT frameset...
https://www.strava.com/activities/281670847/analys...
Really enjoyed it! I was aiming for a 20:00 so happy with my time. Caught my minute man halfway around which was a big psychological boost.
I feel bike number 7 coming in the shape of a TT frameset...
Op,
You'll love it. If yorur first club 10 is inside 30 mins, then that's realy good. To do that, you need to average over 20mph. Since you're likely to me more tired at the end, make sure that you're at 21mph average at the 5 mile mark, then just try to keep it there till the end - or if you're really full of beans go mad in the last mile
You'll love it. If yorur first club 10 is inside 30 mins, then that's realy good. To do that, you need to average over 20mph. Since you're likely to me more tired at the end, make sure that you're at 21mph average at the 5 mile mark, then just try to keep it there till the end - or if you're really full of beans go mad in the last mile
I very much doubt I'll be under 30 TBH, if I'm lucky I'll be under 35! In a moment of madness, I've just strava'd the route.
Its not a flat as the club website makes out! I don't climb at all well.
https://www.strava.com/routes/2099191
Still, after a summer I should be a lot lighter (currently 90kgs) and certainly a lot fitter if I'm doing this every week!
Its not a flat as the club website makes out! I don't climb at all well.
https://www.strava.com/routes/2099191
Still, after a summer I should be a lot lighter (currently 90kgs) and certainly a lot fitter if I'm doing this every week!
Well that puts a different spin on it!! IMO 30 mins is good for a flattish club 10 - my local gets the winner doing 20's quite often, record is down 19 somewhere.. Strava says the record on that segment is 22 seconds plus change - so yeah a 35 would still be a result to be proud of first time in.
https://www.strava.com/segments/ashwell-club-10-st...
https://www.strava.com/segments/ashwell-club-10-st...
Some Gump said:
Well that puts a different spin on it!! IMO 30 mins is good for a flattish club 10 - my local gets the winner doing 20's quite often, record is down 19 somewhere.. Strava says the record on that segment is 22 seconds plus change - so yeah a 35 would still be a result to be proud of first time in.
https://www.strava.com/segments/ashwell-club-10-st...
Your local one might be more used though. I don't think ops course is that popular. https://www.strava.com/segments/ashwell-club-10-st...
Profile doesn't look dissimilar to my club ten course which also gets used for a few open events each year, certainly not always gunna be fast with the elevation changes https://www.strava.com/segments/629691
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