First Time Trial - any tips?

I did my first and only TT race using my regular road bike with no aero bar. I knew I was in a disadvantage (other than the fact that I am not that strong either). But I did (IMO) a good ride. One thing you want to do is warm-up before the ride. Also, gauge yourself to ride the whole course to your max. Basically, like driving a car with just the EXACT amount of gas to get from point A to point B. Also, don't forget to have fun 🙂

Buddy2004 said:

Hi,

I joined a club this season and have been out for several rides, averaging around 20mph, which I am comfortable with (terrain mostly flat, with minir hills).

For the heck of it, I am going to enter a club time trial this Weds - just to see how I do. The course is 10 miles long and mainly flat. I am going to use my regular road bike - any tips on how to approach it e.g. pacing myself, keep the same bike set up etc?

There are lots of things you can do in the future, but for your first TT, I would focus on (1) a reasonably aero position in the drops and (2) a pacing strategy. As to the aero position, check your bar height vs. your seat height. You want to be able to get your back relatively horizontal and this may require dropping your bars. A good check of your position is to have a friend ride next to you and check two things: back and forearms relatively close to horizontal. You'll want to do some 10 minute intervals in this position to get used to it -- your neck will get sore. Your knees come up between your elbows at the top of the upstroke. Basically, you want to cut your frontal area as much as possible. As to pacing strategy, this is a very complex subject. Essentially, the goal is to ride the course as close to your limit as possible, but modeling and pacing tactics of top riders suggests that they apply considerably more power in the slow sections (uphill and upwind) for brief periods and ease off a bit to recover in the fast sections (downhill and downwind). I assume you've got a HR monitor. If you've got some idea what your maximum HR is that you can sustain for, say, 15-20 minutes, you can probably hold that average pace for the ~30 minutes of the race due to the extra adrenaline of race conditions. But, you might want to go over the top a bit on the climbs and into the wind and back off a bit on the downhills and downwind sections. A 20 minute warmup with a couple of 1 min race pace intensity pushes immediately before your start time should get you ready to go. It's too short to get all technical about food, but you'll want to take a couple of swigs of water just before the start and during the ride -- drink on the fast sections because you'll lose less time. Relax -- the best about TTs is that you don't usually crash.

I always try to ride out to tt's on the bike that i will race on. this firstly allows you to make any slight changes to the bike before the start and it also gives you a warm up.
But as the others have said make sure you don't go out too hard, gauge your effort.

Also it will hurt but it will also end sooner rather than later. And you are only racing yourself.

Keep your legs warm for the signing on and try to roll up to the start just as the rider in front is leaving, when being held by the start assisatnat spin your legs backwards so they stay warm.

Make sure you are also in a good gear to start with, nothing worse than starting and spinning out in the first 10sec, but not too big a gear so that you push too hard to get going.

Hope some of this helps, and good luck

Just two big tips,
But if you are like me, you wont follow them for your first time trial.

#1 Don't start out too hard, ride the first 1/3 or so easier than you think you should, then build.
#2 If someone passes you, (it happens to everyone) dont lift your pace to try and stay with them/keep them in sight.

For your first time trial I personally would not mess with my bike if I already have a comfortable riding position. Just try to stay in the drops and dont be afraid to downshift on climbs/rollers. Use your gears, you payed for them use em.

Good luck

Chris

one important tip is visualisation focus on what you are going to do and how you are going to do it, that way you will be mentally prepared for the time trial and will be able to push your self to your limits another thing is concentrate and focus intensely trust me it works i do 10 mile time trials once a week and i am riding in my lactate threshold zone pretty much the entire time and by focusing it doesnt hurt so much

ah yes, a man alone against the clock, a a man alone with his stomach.

the race of truth.

warm up for a good 20 plus minutes at a sub threshold pace, then a bit less than that at threshhold, and the have it timed to roll up to the start immediately while the hr is up.

start out hard, but not all out. you will feel like the ultimate man on earth for a couple miles or so and then...reality sets in. this is gonna have to be deliberate.

find a rythym. if you are in too big a gear, you will find your legs become heavy and slow.
if you spin too much, you will raise your heart and breathing rate and start to fade.
try to find the (un) happy medium between the two and keep it there steadily.

there will be discomfort. you can and will handle some of this if you want to go as fast as your current ability will permit.

apply yourself mentally and do not succumb to negative self talk or doubt.
a rider is capable beyond his norm when on the clock.

your goal is the steady application of output. do not leave any effort unspent, yet do not go hard early on and fade before the end.
you should finish pretty wasted, yet not slowing or able to sprint.

if you use a hrm, stay below your threshold or what you have found able to hold for about 30 min.

watch your speed, try to stay at 25+ as a goal, this is a traditional good time
in general.

when you are done you will be acceptant of your time yet dissatisfied, ready and driven to beat it. a true racer would not react any other way.

keep your elbows in. torso down. constanly scan your position in order to remain aero.
remember to look ahead, you would be suprised to find mishaps occur mishaps in tts from not doing so.

Buddy2004 said:

Hi,

I joined a club this season and have been out for several rides, averaging around 20mph, which I am comfortable with (terrain mostly flat, with minir hills).

For the heck of it, I am going to enter a club time trial this Weds - just to see how I do. The course is 10 miles long and mainly flat. I am going to use my regular road bike - any tips on how to approach it e.g. pacing myself, keep the same bike set up etc?

Hypnospin said:

your goal is the steady application of output.

I hate to quibble, and I also once believed the steady application of power was most efficient, but this is only true if the course is board flat and there is no wind. Most courses are undulating and are closed loop with at least a breeze. So, on most courses it is undisputably faster to increase power in the slower sections (uphill, upwind) and to reduce power in the faster sections (downhill, downwind). It takes some practice to learn one's limits, but intervals at and above max TT power can be used as the basis for a basic pacing strategy (e.g., increase by 40w in the slow sections, decrease by 40w in the fast sections until HR has recovered to max TT power). Andy Coggan's Normalized Power algorithm can provide a scientific basis for the variable power strategy. The OP had lots of things on his mind for his first TT and I would not advocate the aggressive use of this pacing strategy for one's first TT, but I also didn't want to let this unequivocal statement go unchallenged as an optimal pacing strategy.

Just curious but....what is the normal average speed for such a non-competitive fun TT event? and length? is 10 miles flat the norm?

Thanks,

So, Howd you do?

rdaddy,
thanks for the insight. been tossin' this round as i ride and i have gone from scoffing to catching on after some miles of in the saddle analysis.

i guess one could know and apply this instictively, but to have the concept explained and quantified has been educational for me, thanks.

this could be likened to taking a pull in a paceline, you get to the front
("hard sections" as you describe"😉
then peel the heck off so as to sit in and recover for the next turn at the front.

lots of strong riders do not get this, as they can adjust their pace to equal those they ride with by applying more output.

witness those who maintain speed as they pull through on a grade and blow the group up.

this is the fascinating aspect of cycling, the dynamics behind the pedaling output. oh, yeah, and the cool gear, too.

RapDaddyo said:

I hate to quibble, and I also once believed the steady application of power was most efficient, but this is only true if the course is board flat and there is no wind. Most courses are undulating and are closed loop with at least a breeze. So, on most courses it is undisputably faster to increase power in the slower sections (uphill, upwind) and to reduce power in the faster sections (downhill, downwind). It takes some practice to learn one's limits, but intervals at and above max TT power can be used as the basis for a basic pacing strategy (e.g., increase by 40w in the slow sections, decrease by 40w in the fast sections until HR has recovered to max TT power). Andy Coggan's Normalized Power algorithm can provide a scientific basis for the variable power strategy. The OP had lots of things on his mind for his first TT and I would not advocate the aggressive use of this pacing strategy for one's first TT, but I also didn't want to let this unequivocal statement go unchallenged as an optimal pacing strategy.

Hypnospin said:

this could be likened to taking a pull in a paceline, you get to the front ("hard sections" as you describe"😉 then peel the heck off so as to sit in and recover for the next turn at the front.

Exactly. There's no question that the steady application of power is easier (physically and mentally), but not faster. The variable application of power must be practiced and, unfortunately, the algorithm to achieve a target normalized power number is not simple. It would be nice if it was symmetric (e.g., +40w for 5 mins followed by -40w for 5 mins). Maybe one day we'll have power meters with the normalized power algorithm built in. You could plug in your MP for the given ride duration and there could be a "green light" icon when you have recovered adequately from a push above your MP to ramp up to MP again. At this point, that's difficult to figure out during a ride. HR and RPE are misleading indicators because they are poor proxies for acidosis recovery. But, you are exactly on the mark when you liken it to paceline riding. In fact, after some experimentation and observation of my power and HR numbers following group rides I am much more comfortable going to the front and pulling at a level that I know I can't maintain for a long time because I know I will get to really recover when I get on back. I've been astonished to see the differences in power at the front vs. sitting in (e.g., 100w).

ah, your refference to RPE, i hadda look this one up.
Rate of Perceived Exertion, it is.

imagine a combination hr/wattage/customizable reading, perhaps with info based on personal lactate vs. output tested levels, all displayed as a dynamic redline/recovery meter display, based on your concept.

ultimately, we would still need to ride though.

RapDaddyo said:

Exactly. There's no question that the steady application of power is easier (physically and mentally), but not faster. during a ride. HR and RPE are misleading indicators because they are poor proxies for acidosis recovery. But, you are exactly on the mark when you liken it to paceline riding. In fact, after some experimentation and observation of my power and HR numbers following group rides I am much more comfortable going to the front and pulling at a level that I know I can't maintain for a long time because I know I will get to really recover when I get on back. I've been astonished to see the differences in power at the front vs. sitting in (e.g., 100w).

Hypnospin said:

imagine a combination hr/wattage/customizable reading, perhaps with info based on personal lactate vs. output tested levels, all displayed as a dynamic redline/recovery meter display, based on your concept.

ultimately, we would still need to ride though.

Well, yes and yes. For now, our brains have to serve as the customizable computer display. But, it's actually not that hard. I have been working on a simplistic pacing model for myself. Right now my 40K MP is about 275w. I still have to check my algorithm and my math, but I have worked out a power symmetric/time variable pacing strategy at four key power levels: 25w=1.42, 50w=2.02, 75w=2.86 and 100w=4.02. Now, I would round those off to 1.4, 2, 3 and 4 and, if necessary, I could put them on a wristband. Application of the pacing strategy is actually pretty simple. For example, if I push it at 325w (+50w) for 90 seconds (e.g., to climb a hill), then I need to recover for 2x90=180 seconds at 225w (-50w). Now, many will say that's over-thinking the problem. They may say, just go out and ride as hard as you can. Well, that has a nice, simplistic appeal to it, but it happens to be a pretty stupid pacing strategy. My brain is not working very hard, even during my most intense efforts. I figure I may as well put it to work and make it sweat as well. As to your valid point that I still need to ride the race, that's true but fortunately riding and having a pacing strategy are not mutually exclusive.