The TT Thread

[Geriatricdolan]

Yeah, but I'm just not competitive in flat TT...
I have a low BMI and I do comparatively much better uphill. Also, vets in general are quite fast on the flat, but not very fast uphill, so I have an extra advantage there, as I seem to be the opposite.

I am just playing to my strengths... 

[rob]

Yeah, but I'm just not competitive in flat TT...

Why do you need to be competitive ?   In the average TT only a handful of people are racing for the win.   Everyone else is just seeing how much they can improve.

I don't ever trouble the pointy end of events but have achieved some satisfaction from improving steadily.   (I did get a podium place in a small field 12hr last year).

[Geriatricdolan]

Yeah, but I'm just not competitive in flat TT...

Why do you need to be competitive ?   In the average TT only a handful of people are racing for the win.   Everyone else is just seeing how much they can improve.

Well, I guess it's my competitive side coming out... it is a race after all, and I would rather beat more people with a slower time than post a fast time and get beaten by many.
It's probably the difference between TT, where it's all about the time and hill climb, where it's all about placings.

The way I see time trials in general is about who is the fastest on the day, otherwise why paying an entry fee? If you want to ride for a particular time, then you can ride at your own convenience, most events are on open roads... pick a good day when the gods of wind and air pressure are favourable, post a good time...

But I can see the argument for improvement, better your own best time, aggregation of marginal gains and all of that... just doesn't motivate me as much as seeing my minute man and trying to catch him.

[Karla]

Oh there's trying to catch your minute man alright.  Rob was off 3 minutes in front of me in last year's 24 hour, I then spent the entire day trying to catch him but never saw him again after he left the start queue.  That still smarts 

Admittedly it doesn't smart as much as my never having managed to get under 4 hours for 100 miles since the one that got voided.  2021, you have a target assigned.

[Geriatricdolan]

Admittedly it doesn't smart as much as my never having managed to get under 4 hours for 100 miles since the one that got voided.  2021, you have a target assigned.

I don't seem to have an attachment to figures... when my time in a hill climb was corrected from 4:59.7 to 5:00.7, it didn't make any difference to me... because I was still 38th! Obviously I would have preferred to be a second faster, but not because of the sub 5 minute thing, more because I would have been 37th (other times were corrected too)!

Although I do like to see a 100% in the purple power bar on Strava for the segment... it means I am improving 

[rob]

My first TT on returning to the sport was a 100 where my aim was to get under 5hrs.   I managed 4:57.   And from there it progressed.   I worked out that some of the club records were achievable and got them over a few years.   I also then managed to pick up the local VTTA records for 12 & 24hr.   I chased a 25mph BBAR average for a few years and got it last year. 

At the moment I have a spare room with a load of trophies that I am very proud of.   It has been achievement far and above what I thought I was capable of.   There's loads to achieve in the sport of TT, even if you're pretty average.

I'd still like to get 280+ in a 12 and 500+ in a 24, but I think these are pretty unlikely.

[rob]

Admittedly it doesn't smart as much as my never having managed to get under 4 hours for 100 miles since the one that got voided.  2021, you have a target assigned.

I don't seem to have an attachment to figures... when my time in a hill climb was corrected from 4:59.7 to 5:00.7, it didn't make any difference to me... because I was still 38th! Obviously I would have preferred to be a second faster, but not because of the sub 5 minute thing, more because I would have been 37th (other times were corrected too)!

Although I do like to see a 100% in the purple power bar on Strava for the segment... it means I am improving 

I once did 4:00:29 for a 100.   It messed with my head for a long time.

[Geriatricdolan]

Just convert it into SI units... once it is in seconds, 14429, then it won't matter anymore.

I don't understand the obsession for round figures... "cycling 100 miles".. what difference does it make if it was 99?

[Karla]

"cycling 100 miles".. what difference does it make if it was 99?

That part has triggered me so badly.  You've just ruined my day 

 

[zigzag]

I once did 4:00:29 for a 100.   It messed with my head for a long time.

aye, my one and only (so far) 100 was 4:00:28

those 28s were annoying for that afternoon, but i thought i gave it my best shot, so it is what it is.

[rob]

I once did 4:00:29 for a 100.   It messed with my head for a long time.

aye, my one and only (so far) 100 was 4:00:28

those 28s were annoying for that afternoon, but i thought i gave it my best shot, so it is what it is.

That was a great ride on that course.   I'd love to go back and try to get under 4hrs there.   My PB rides have been on much faster bits of road.

[Geriatricdolan]

Anyways...

I have just paid 29 guineas and submitted my "application" for the National hill climb championship... so fingers crossed

It would be nice to go under 3 minutes at Streatley... 

[Frank9755]

"cycling 100 miles".. what difference does it make if it was 99?

That part has triggered me so badly.  You've just ruined my day 

 

Ouch!

[Frank9755]

I once did 4:00:29 for a 100.   It messed with my head for a long time.

aye, my one and only (so far) 100 was 4:00:28

those 28s were annoying for that afternoon, but i thought i gave it my best shot, so it is what it is.

That was a great ride on that course.   I'd love to go back and try to get under 4hrs there.   My PB rides have been on much faster bits of road.

Which course?


I'd love to go under 4h for 100 miles, but various injuries and conditions have kept me away from TTing for the last few years, so may not be realistic any more.  Each year I do think about it when setting goals for the coming season.  It's like the 4 minute mile in running, only technology has evolved enough to make it accessible to average club riders nowadays.

[rob]

I once did 4:00:29 for a 100.   It messed with my head for a long time.

aye, my one and only (so far) 100 was 4:00:28

those 28s were annoying for that afternoon, but i thought i gave it my best shot, so it is what it is.

That was a great ride on that course.   I'd love to go back and try to get under 4hrs there.   My PB rides have been on much faster bits of road.

Which course?


I'd love to go under 4h for 100 miles, but various injuries and conditions have kept me away from TTing for the last few years, so may not be realistic any more.  Each year I do think about it when setting goals for the coming season.  It's like the 4 minute mile in running, only technology has evolved enough to make it accessible to average club riders nowadays.

That was the KCA on Romney Marsh.   I think my best on there was a 4:15 but I got fitter and more aero later on.

If you want the best chance then the E2 is probably the fastest with the B100/4 not far behind.   I did 3:45 and 3:46 on those courses, respectively.

[zigzag]

That was the KCA on Romney Marsh.   I think my best on there was a 4:15 but I got fitter and more aero later on.

If you want the best chance then the E2 is probably the fastest with the B100/4 not far behind.   I did 3:45 and 3:46 on those courses, respectively.

it was, and every time i visited that place since, it never felt inviting and brought back memories of omnidirectional winds and bumpy tarmac. (also, riding back to london wasn't my brightest idea..)

[rob]

That was the KCA on Romney Marsh.   I think my best on there was a 4:15 but I got fitter and more aero later on.

If you want the best chance then the E2 is probably the fastest with the B100/4 not far behind.   I did 3:45 and 3:46 on those courses, respectively.

it was, and every time i visited that place since, it never felt inviting and brought back memories of omnidirectional winds and bumpy tarmac. (also, riding back to london wasn't my brightest idea..)

You really should try the 12hr on that course.

[zigzag]

if i was a fool enough to enter it, i'd be tempted to go there the night before and fill the gaps with a builders foam. i'm sure a many riders would be grateful!

[rob]

if i was a fool enough to enter it, i'd be tempted to go there the night before and fill the gaps with a builders foam. i'm sure a many riders would be grateful!

I spent a lot of hours training down there as it was the nearest flat circuit to do sustained long efforts on the race bike.  The back part of the circuit after Camber is horrible although probably not as bad as the Alton end of the A31 12hr course.

The Kent 12 last year went to Ashford and back 5 times due to roadworks.  I think I then did 6 circuits of the Camber Circuit before going into the lanes to finish. 

For it’s faults I do like riding and racing around there.  It’s a bit further to go now and I’m much closer to some very good courses.

[Frank9755]

That is a good time on that course!  As are Rob's, on any course, for that matter.

I did the E2 twice but both times were windy days so didn't get a decent time.  The first time I got beaten by @Karla.  I think they've made it faster now, and it is hard to get on, so would need to be a long-term project, getting an LTS somewhere else even the Hounslow fills up now, and with the F1 having gone, that is actually a bit tricky.

My pb is on the A50 / Etwall course.  I got a short 4:10 on a good day, but lost some time as I did an extra lap of the first roundabout, and carried one bottle more than I needed to (excuses!).   

I have seriously considered driving down to the A31 in the middle of the night with a bucket of cement and a trowel...

[Frank9755]

That was the KCA on Romney Marsh.   I think my best on there was a 4:15 but I got fitter and more aero later on.

If you want the best chance then the E2 is probably the fastest with the B100/4 not far behind.   I did 3:45 and 3:46 on those courses, respectively.

it was, and every time i visited that place since, it never felt inviting and brought back memories of omnidirectional winds and bumpy tarmac. (also, riding back to london wasn't my brightest idea..)

Great effort to ride home after a 100!  When I've driven home from them I have often had to pull over to have a nap, so I expect it was a tough one! 

Not quite as bad as @hippy, who I saw setting off to do a night-ride home after riding a 12-hour, leaving his partner to drive home on her own!  Only from Alton, but I was struggling to walk at the time and lifting my bike into my car was very painful.

[Legs]

I'd love to go under 4h for 100 miles, but various injuries and conditions have kept me away from TTing for the last few years, so may not be realistic any more.  Each year I do think about it when setting goals for the coming season.  It's like the 4 minute mile in running, only technology has evolved enough to make it accessible to average club riders nowadays.

It's funny how much times have improved in the past 20 years, through a combination of technology and better-informed training methods.  When I broke 4 hours in the Westerley 100 in 2002, I think I was 6th or 7th.  Nowadays, an event on the A34 would be massively oversubscribed and I probably wouldn't be able to get in with a 3:58:25!  FWIW I was riding a steel frame that was even 17 years old at the time.

I never rode a '10' that was won in an '18' - even on the famed P613, the fastest event I rode was won by ex-pro Dave Akam in a now-pedestrian 19:19.

[Frank9755]

Absolutely.  Breaking 4 hours 20 years ago was a far harder thing to do than it would be nowadays!

The A34 courses are long gone, alas, due to traffic counts.  As is the Westerley hundred.  The club decided to drop it after being the National about 15 years ago (before my time), when there was the Hutchinson / Carr drafting scandal.

[mattc]

Yeah, but I'm just not competitive in flat TT...
I have a low BMI and I do comparatively much better uphill. Also, vets in general are quite fast on the flat, but not very fast uphill, so I have an extra advantage there, as I seem to be the opposite.

I am just playing to my strengths...

Given that we're all pi55ing about in a small pond (apart from maybe 1-2 who post on this forum), I'm more interested in inclusive sport than events where people only enter to be beating people. I guess some like massaging their egos - but it's a bit weird to be proud of coming 2nd or 4th just because nobody genuinely quick turned up.

But Hill Climbs to seem to attract this mentality; our club ran a few rural un-fast flat 10s recently and 20-odd entered each one, most of us with no hope, and finishing hours behind the quickest. Then we put on a hill-climb ... 3 members raced.

[Pedal Castro]

Coming 10th (or was it 9th?) in a hill climb was the only time I got into the results pages of the Comic, apart from h'cap/best imp prizes.