Author Topic: The TT Thread (Read 419336 times)

Frank9755 · « **Reply #1975 on:** 24 March, 2018, 09:47:52 pm »

Well done! Good PB, but not so on the shelf that you won't fancy shaving it a bit on a fast day...!

drossall · « **Reply #1976 on:** 25 March, 2018, 09:44:23 am »

Quote from: rob on 24 March, 2018, 05:44:19 pm

Good to see Pedal Castro marshalling and Drossall supporting his clubmates at the start and finish.

Among those clubmates was my son-in-law, busily making me feel totally inadequate. My best ever is a 23:42 done in the early 80s. He did a PB yesterday with 20:57

Couple of photos of Rob's start. I should have got one at the finish too, but was watching out for said s-i-l:

rob · « **Reply #1977 on:** 25 March, 2018, 07:02:45 pm »

Thanks for those. Bike has a lot more clean lines this year.

Possibly a little less cake to ensure the skinsuit still fits.

Karla · « **Reply #1978 on:** 25 March, 2018, 07:18:38 pm »

Big congratulations Rob, I hate to think what you'll do on a good day in August.

In other news, I know TTing is parochial when I recognise a start timekeeper from a completely different part of the country

drossall · « **Reply #1979 on:** 25 March, 2018, 07:41:10 pm »

Quote from: rob on 25 March, 2018, 07:02:45 pm

Thanks for those. Bike has a lot more clean lines this year.

PM me if you'd like the "originals".

Feanor · « **Reply #1980 on:** 28 March, 2018, 11:16:18 pm »

For reasons I can't entirely explain, I appear to have entered my first ever TT.

It's the Spring Bunny 25-mile TT on the Garlogie - Torphins course.

Not having a TT bike, I will be using a soot Audax bike, with aero bars and possibly some more aero wheels if I can borrow them in time.

DuncanM · « **Reply #1981 on:** 02 April, 2018, 03:42:20 pm »

Saturday I'm riding my first ever (proper) club 10.
CC118 is what the segment is called - I think that's the name of the course?
This is the segment from the club website: https://www.strava.com/segments/1951541
My best time of 27 something was when riding in TTT formation - on my own I only achieved this 29:50. Strava estimates 169 Watts, so I should be able to beat that given my current FTP is 256. I've also got some aero bars - gonna get a bike fit onto them tomorrow. I have no idea how quick I can go though - I'll was thinking that I would just try 260W on the way to the turn and see how deep I can go on the way back, but aero position might mean I've got to reduce that...

rob · « **Reply #1982 on:** 02 April, 2018, 04:24:23 pm »

That course looks uphill to the turn. It will depend on wind direction but, personally, I would give it the beans on the way out and try to hang on on the way back.

I have the Lee Valley 25 back on the E2 next Saturday afternoon. Hoping it will be as fast as last year as I can only fit one 25 in this year.

Karla · « **Reply #1983 on:** 02 April, 2018, 05:00:02 pm »

I just drilled a hole in the carbon frame of my TT bike. I need to lie down now, that was stressful!

Quote from: DuncanM on 02 April, 2018, 03:42:20 pm

Saturday I'm riding my first ever (proper) club 10.
CC118 is what the segment is called - I think that's the name of the course?
This is the segment from the club website: https://www.strava.com/segments/1951541
My best time of 27 something was when riding in TTT formation - on my own I only achieved this 29:50. Strava estimates 169 Watts, so I should be able to beat that given my current FTP is 256. I've also got some aero bars - gonna get a bike fit onto them tomorrow. I have no idea how quick I can go though - I'll was thinking that I would just try 260W on the way to the turn and see how deep I can go on the way back, but aero position might mean I've got to reduce that...

Good luck for Saturday! Like Rob says, go deep uphill and leave just enough to hang on for the downhill return. Oh, and ignore Strava 'power', it's a complete work of fiction

mattc · « **Reply #1984 on:** 02 April, 2018, 05:12:35 pm »

Quote from: Karla on 02 April, 2018, 05:00:02 pm

I just drilled a hole in the carbon frame of my TT bike. I need to lie down now, that was stressful!

How retro!

Drillium

DuncanM · « **Reply #1985 on:** 02 April, 2018, 06:33:26 pm »

Quote from: Karla on 02 April, 2018, 05:00:02 pm

Quote from: DuncanM on 02 April, 2018, 03:42:20 pm
Saturday I'm riding my first ever (proper) club 10.
CC118 is what the segment is called - I think that's the name of the course?
This is the segment from the club website: https://www.strava.com/segments/1951541
My best time of 27 something was when riding in TTT formation - on my own I only achieved this 29:50. Strava estimates 169 Watts, so I should be able to beat that given my current FTP is 256. I've also got some aero bars - gonna get a bike fit onto them tomorrow. I have no idea how quick I can go though - I'll was thinking that I would just try 260W on the way to the turn and see how deep I can go on the way back, but aero position might mean I've got to reduce that...

Good luck for Saturday! Like Rob says, go deep uphill and leave just enough to hang on for the downhill return. Oh, and ignore Strava 'power', it's a complete work of fiction

It's not very steep - the total rise is only 36m over 5 miles! But the plan is to go hard outwards in the anticipation of it being slightly easier to maintain speed on the way back...

I meant to ask - The start is only 10 miles from where I live and I don't think there's much parking - if my start time is reasonable and the weather isn't bad, is there any issue with riding to the event? Obviously the proper way to do things is to drive there and warm up on the turbo etc, but seeing as it's an early season experiment...

rob · « **Reply #1986 on:** 02 April, 2018, 07:15:51 pm »

I’d ride there and back. It’s an ideal distance.

mattc · « **Reply #1987 on:** 03 April, 2018, 12:28:01 pm »

Quote from: DuncanM on 02 April, 2018, 06:33:26 pm

I meant to ask - The start is only 10 miles from where I live and I don't think there's much parking - if my start time is reasonable and the weather isn't bad, is there any issue with riding to the event? Obviously the proper way to do things is to drive there and warm up on the turbo etc, but seeing as it's an early season experiment...

the PROPER way is to ride over on your training wheels, with your race wheels on the front of your bike.

Karla · « **Reply #1988 on:** 03 April, 2018, 12:38:00 pm »

Quote from: mattc on 03 April, 2018, 12:28:01 pm

Quote from: DuncanM on 02 April, 2018, 06:33:26 pm
I meant to ask - The start is only 10 miles from where I live and I don't think there's much parking - if my start time is reasonable and the weather isn't bad, is there any issue with riding to the event? Obviously the proper way to do things is to drive there and warm up on the turbo etc, but seeing as it's an early season experiment...
the PROPER way is to ride over on your training wheels, with your race wheels on the front of your bike.

... with your drillium frame, and preferably your time trial balaclava

mattc · « **Reply #1989 on:** 03 April, 2018, 12:46:42 pm »

Oh, I say - classy!

(Is that front caliper flipped round to behind the fork? I wasn't aware of that trick back-in-the-day )

tatanab · « **Reply #1990 on:** 03 April, 2018, 12:52:38 pm »

Getting to an evening club TT

The modern way -
Drive a couple of miles to the start causing problems with parking for the organiser.
Warm up on rollers or take a short ride on the road.
Ride 10 mile TT.
Intake of a recovery drink.
Drive a couple of miles home.

The old way (1970s at any rate)
Cycle 10 miles to the start.
Leave saddlebag, lights etc under the hedge.
Ride 25 mile TT
Join club mates in a 10 mile ride homewards, stopping at a pub on the way for a drink (rehydrate in terms of our scientific age)

We carried race wheels only if we were riding a course a distance from home (a weekend open event where we would ride down the day before), local evening events we just rode our race wheels - if we had any.

Different days, different ways.

DuncanM · « **Reply #1991 on:** 03 April, 2018, 01:27:34 pm »

I don't have race wheels - I have a road "endurance" bike with disc brakes and clip-on aero bars.

I'll ride over.
Drillium looks like what we used to do with RC cars back in the day - removing a tiny piece of alloy makes things so much faster.

rob · « **Reply #1992 on:** 03 April, 2018, 01:39:18 pm »

One of my clubmates still had the handlebar clips for carrying his race wheels to/from races when I took it up in the 80s.

Wouldn't work very well with a disc, mind.

I think this may have been to protect the silk tubs they used to use on race wheels rather than the wheels themselves. I've ridden 30 miles to the start of a 10 before. Someone asked me if I wanted a lift back as it was a long way.

tatanab · « **Reply #1993 on:** 03 April, 2018, 02:00:12 pm »

Quote from: rob on 03 April, 2018, 01:39:18 pm

I think this may have been to protect the silk tubs they used to use on race wheels rather than the wheels themselves.

I'd suggest that if he rode silks he was either a very fast man probably sponsored, or a very rich man. Certainly your normal club rider would not be on silks, and certainly not for a scrappy old evening event. In my day, the general tub of choice was a Barum PBW at 8 oz (230 gms in metric) which is a pretty much the same weight as a mid/high end modern clincher of similar width.

DuncanM · « **Reply #1994 on:** 03 April, 2018, 02:28:46 pm »

My first road bike (bought mid 90s secondhand) came with tubs and Continental Competition/Sprinter tubulars. They were 250g or so in 23mm. I failed dismally to repair them when they punctured, so I bought a stack of Vittoria Rallye on offer, but when I'd worked my way through them I switched to clinchers!

Reading the TT Forum it and looking at eBay for cheap aero wheels, it seems that people still use tubulars - maybe that's why they drive to (local) events?

DuncanM · « **Reply #1995 on:** 07 April, 2018, 11:57:07 am »

28:37 official time. https://www.strava.com/activities/1494040630/segments/37257007569
It was windy - headwind on the way out (uphill) and then tailwind on the way back. I didn't create a screen on my (lezyne) GPS with power and speed, so I just stuck to the power screen (1 second and 10 second). On the way out I was looking down and seeing 300W, and having to turn it down (concentrate on aero, avoid hamstring pain, look down, 300W, turn it down, repeat). On the way back I was flying along, and then looking down and seeing 200W and having to concentrate on getting more out of me.
I've not been riding outside in ages, and it's so different putting out constant power on the road compared to the trainer - I need to practise that. I also need to sort out my position on the clip-ons - the fit session I had booked was postponed due to technical issues. Definite room for improvement.
For reference, Xavier Disley did a 22:48 in full on TT kit (and came second!). Lots of people in the 27s on regular road bikes.

rob · « **Reply #1996 on:** 07 April, 2018, 09:02:01 pm »

Headed up to the E2 again today for the Lea Valley 25 where I PB’d last year. Much debate about weather beforehand. It was mild at about 16 degrees and an expected crosswind which is usually OK on this course.

I did a gentle couple of hours before as I was making a day of it. The first couple of miles were OK and I was averaging 27mph but we then turned right into the wind causing me to push 20-22mph. At the turn I was averaging 24.6mph and I had the right hump. I turned and it felt faster and I toyed with just cruising back with the tailwind and getting under the hour but I didn’t want to waste the day and needed to man up.

In the end I averaged over 30mph all the way back and finished in 54:41 my second fastest 25 ever and 55 seconds down on PB. Most people were a bit down on normal and the winner was 1:40 slower so I’m OK with effort. I know I’ve done something at the moment.

Feanor · « **Reply #1997 on:** 08 April, 2018, 01:15:52 pm »

Rode my first ever TT today, the Spring Bunny 25.
1:00:11, lost a minute to a high speed crash!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1496312917

I was catching up the rider in front, doing a shade over 40kph, he was about 100m ahead.

A group of 3 cars overtook me, and were forced to pull into the gap by an oncoming vehicle.
They then had to brake hard as they were behind the cyclist.
I was up off the aero extensions as fast as I could and grabbed a handful of brakes, and managed to shave a bit of speed off.
But they out-braked me by a huge margin, and I came close to smashing into the back of the last car.
A swerve into the gap between the car and the verge, but it was too narrow and I hit the verge at about 35kph and went ass-over-elbow into the soft verge.

I remember as I saw the front wheel hit the verge thinking "Oh fuck no, not my new wheels!"

Dusted myself down and carried on, but the whole thing cost me about a minute.
The bike was OK.

DuncanM · « **Reply #1998 on:** 08 April, 2018, 04:33:23 pm »

That sounds like a nightmare - glad you and the bike were OK. Sounds like you deserved a sub 1 hour time - that's pretty good for a first 25 - congrats.

Karla · « **Reply #1999 on:** 08 April, 2018, 06:12:06 pm »

11 seconds off the hour after a crash like that in your first TT? I'm amazed, well done!