Hi! I've done that course now for 5 years and I'd have to say I wouldn't describe it as rolling. I'd say flat with one hill about 1km out from the turn around which I suspect is the most significant part of the course...for me anyway. I live in Melbourne and TT's are a scarcity here too.
Checking on the results I see he did 30.27 minutes for the course...despite my erik44gary name I'm actually a 62yr old female and I rode 30.39 (a PB) this year, so I think my experiences and training are valid.
During the preceding year I spent a lot of time on my TT bike, once I had got myself into a really good aerodynamic position..I had to get a stem made for me to get me into that position which I settled on with the help of a (heavy) look ergo stem. I also did nit picking things like getting a TT FSA solid 53 chain ring, took the polar senor off my forks and got a cateye one that sat behind on the chain stay and got a new aero helmet.
Training...Prior to getting my position nailed I did alot of my riding on the drops, which is not my usual..in order to engage my gluts more. I also dragged my self kicking and sceaming to the gym...squats, dead lifts etc. the sad thiing about being older is that you just have to keep up the gym stuff if you want to keep strong..it disappears all too quickly.
In March I bought a powertap and although my coach was still using HRM. I was keeping an eye on my watts, I also raced it on the 3 TT's prior to leaving Aus which gave me a good insight into my pacing. I had to travel miles to find these races and did one a month. NO road races or crits. If I race too much prior to a big event I spend too much of valuable time recovering from the effort.
I spent alot of time doing short intervals up hills and longer intervals at my aimed for pacing which was 40kph. (I managed 39.15 avg on the day..a PB). I do all my training alone which probably helped me this year as I was first off in my class..they only rank the top 3 from the previous year.
During my other sporting life(orienteering) I had some sports psychology advice which continues to help me .
My final build up before the event was the masters racing week in Deutschlandsberg in southern austria, which has a dead flat TT on the saturday, giving you 3 day's recovery time for checking out the course at St Johann.
I hope this somewhat self indulgent long post is of some help.
Liz (aka erik44gary)
