racing

Hi,
I was in exactly the same position until a couple of weeks ago.
I am also a roadie who does TT's as speed training.

I limit myself to 10miles, but on wednesday just gone i set a new PB of 22.57. This time is not great but a few alterations to the bike certainly helped.

I use clip-on aero bars on my road bike to do TT's. The first thing i did was to lower the bars so that my hands are lower to start with. I then put the bars parallel to the floor. At this point my back was almost straight when in the 'position'. The next part was to find a comfortable gear.

I rode the course before and split it into 3 sections, at 3.3 miles for each section. I knew what time i wanted to do and worked out what time to do for each split. By the second split i was up on the time i wanted, so i just hammered it knowing that i couldn't blow up too much in 3.3 miles.

I usually lose concentration in the first 3miles, but i remained fully focused this time, i guess i was 'in the zone'!!

What is your 10mile PB?

Give me a RR any day.

Chris

hi my personal best for a 10" is a 27.00. i am on restricted gears because of my age. What do you prefere to keep your eye on most cadence or heart rate? do you think that by using a heart rate monitor could help improve my time?

Hi,
How old are you?
What is the course like?(hilly, flat)

I personally go for 'feel' in a TT. I only ever use a HRM to test my fitness on a TT.
I would find a gear that you can turn with resistance but not too much so that you blow-up.
The more TT's you do the more you will know how hard to push yourself.

Do a measured effort, so that it is constant throughout and in the last couple of miles up the pace until it is really hurting.
I don't know what country you are from but if you see a picture of any TT'er they always look in pain. I was thinking of Stuart Dangerfield In particular. Lance Armstrong is another example.

Chris

Hi Chris

i am 15 yrs old. The course i am riding is a mixture of hill and flats ( 10 miles). I am not wanting to get into the habit of pushing big gears as i am not wanting to become a pure time-trialist. I have been told by my coach that if i spin my gears that it will also help my Road-racing. I think that there is quite a difference in the way that Armstrong time trials and Dangerfield and Hutchison time-trial. Armstrong has a high cadence rate and Dangerfield just crunches big , massive gears. That is why i have been told Dangerfield cannot RR. The reason i am asking if you use a HRM is because i think that it would help get you a more accurate reading of your effort for different courses and then possibly just ride on feel. What do you think.

quinno121 said:

Hi Chris

i am 15 yrs old. The course i am riding is a mixture of hill and flats ( 10 miles). I am not wanting to get into the habit of pushing big gears as i am not wanting to become a pure time-trialist. I have been told by my coach that if i spin my gears that it will also help my Road-racing. I think that there is quite a difference in the way that Armstrong time trials and Dangerfield and Hutchison time-trial. Armstrong has a high cadence rate and Dangerfield just crunches big , massive gears. That is why i have been told Dangerfield cannot RR. The reason i am asking if you use a HRM is because i think that it would help get you a more accurate reading of your effort for different courses and then possibly just ride on feel. What do you think.

well Dangerfield's not a bad roadie, and he'd get just as thrashed by Armstrong in a TT as he would get in a road stage... so I think all that tells you is that Armstrong is a better cyclist than Stuart Dangerfield!!

a HRM definitely helps if you have difficulty concentrating through the timetrial, but, as above, so does having time checks to work to. And working to power measurements would be more accurate than either, you takes your pick. I *very* rarely TT, usually either team timetrials or as a prologue stage in a stage race (which are both different kettles of fish entirely) but when I do ride a 10m event I just aim to start as fast as I possibly can and ride the first quarter virtually flat-out. By that time you can often see the guy that started in front of you (especially if it's a UK timetrial as they're always on long boring dual carriageways) and then use him as a target in front to help keep the pressure on.