There are those (and I was amongst them) that considered time trialling far
too much brutal honesty for most of us club racers to cope with, in that
there is no where to hide and you are left with few excuses about why your
time wasn't better.
But as an objective indicator as to whether a training program is or is not
working doing the same course all on your paddy malone a few times a month
apart is pretty good feed back on whether things are improving (or not!)
Have now tried a couple of ATTA time trials on the Calga course north of
Sydney and I think they are well worth a go - likes and dislikes -
good efficient and friendly organisation - don't need a Federation racing
licence (organiser has his own insurance) - one guy to register you and keep
the times, one to hold you at the start - and they just do the business with
no hassles or "Officialdom Complex"
when you pay your entry ($5 a go, 25 for an annual membership) your number
represents the minutes after 08:00 that you start, with riders going off at
1 minute intervals, so you can judge your warm up - people who were too
busy chatting and missed their start just get a later number
good course - last Sunday you could choose any of a 12.5km, 25km or 43km
distance to be timed over and its a fairly quiet, wide road with undulations
but no killer climbs
probably because no bunches are involved, the police and those that frown on
all cycling things competitive are apparently not fussed - I guess the
British experience of less problems in TT than road races is the rationale
for that. I suppose it would probably be the safest form of cycle racing.
good feedback on how you stand, internationally for your age and gender -
they post results progressively as people finish
a large attendance (say 80+) with ages from 25 to 70 - but you are competing
against your international average for age and gender rather than the 25yr
old whiz kid - I need to be home in under 44 minutes for the 25km for my
age of 51 - and I still have a way to go!
good to go up with the mates and have coffee afterwards to explain what went
wrong (gear failure, cramps, biorhythms playing up ...)
about the only place you can really use aero bars on the road - and I
understand they (when fitted correctly) will give you a bigger performance
increase for less $ than any other bit of cycling gear - but you still see a
lot of disk wheels and fancy handlebars as well
Only real dislike is that its a 1hr + drive out of the city - but most race
courses are that in Sydney anyway - and you may not be that happy with your
time either !
For further info Web site at - http://www.atta.asn.au/ - they only seem to
be in WA, NSW and Tassy at the moment but it may spread I guess
best, Andrew