The TT Thread

[rob]

So, plans come and go and I'm where I need to be fitness-wise but not having raced as much as I would like.

I'll ride the National 12hr on Sunday and then decide on the rest of the year.   If it goes well and I improve on last year then I expect I'll need to do (after the ACME 1000k) :-

8th July - Otley 50
15th July - EDCA 100
21st/22nd July - Mersey 24hr

It makes things a bit cramped with a fair bit of driving to do, but I don't want to waste the next few weeks.

[DuncanM]

That sounds like a packed schedule. Will you do much in between those, or just commute?
Good luck Sunday.

[rob]

That sounds like a packed schedule. Will you do much in between those, or just commute?
Good luck Sunday.

Thanks.   My turbo work has eased off a bit the last few weeks as the weekends have got harder.   I only get my plans sent week-in-advance but I'd expect a few short-sharp sessions on top of commuting.   

If I do everything I'd like to I'll have 8,000 road miles on by the end of July.   August will be very easy as we're off on a family holiday.

I strongly suspect that I'll take a step back from all this next year.

[Frank9755]

Good luck this Sunday, and well done for having another shot at the 24.  Hoping for better weather this year.

[rob]

Good luck this Sunday, and well done for having another shot at the 24.  Hoping for better weather this year.

Thanks a lot.   Not actually entered anything after the 12hr yet.   That may happen next week depending on how Sunday goes.

[David Martin]

First event of the local club (Deeside Thistle CC) evening league tonight.
10 mile TT over a gently rolling course.
My first ever 10 TT.

Conditions were a bit rough; cold, wet, and very blustery.

Official times not posted yet, but I'm hoping for sub-24.
Mr. Garmin reckons 23:04.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1543857122

That's proper quick for a first 10. Chapeaux!

You should come down and ride the Ethiebeaton course just outside Dundee. Closest thing to a fast course in Scotland without roundabout dodging in Westferry. Course record is a long 19.

[Feanor]

You should come down and ride the Ethiebeaton course just outside Dundee. Closest thing to a fast course in Scotland without roundabout dodging in Westferry. Course record is a long 19.

I'll keep an eye open on the cal.

I was racing against some Dundee chaps on today's Neish/Low 25 on the A90 between Fordoun and Stracathro.
Angus Wilson took 4th place with 53:58, ahead of me in 9th place on 56:09, then behind me Alan Davidson 11th on 56:50 and Stuart Macallum 13th on 58:21.
The course record of 50:46 was equalled but not broken by Aberdeen Wheelers' Jamie Davidson.

[David Martin]

We have another 10 as part of the FCA series. We also ran the Scottish National 25 (SC version) on the Forfar course, a bit further down the A90 (Forfar to Brechin and back - John Archibald broke the national record on this course last year).

The timekeepers shelter for the Ethiebeaton course is very convenient in the wind and rain - we set the finish line and then measured back for the start [1].

[1] Yes, really! And fortunately both line up nicely with features in the road.

[rob]

So, bit of a crappy day out yesterday.   Set off in the wet and wore an extra layer and full gloves for the first couple of hours, necessitating an extra stop for removal.   I was never really on it and behind last year consistently up to 4hrs.   I did have a steady decline from 5hrs last year so hoped to pick it up later on, but it wasn't to be.   My legs hurt more than they should do from 5hrs and even backing off a bit wasn't happening.   Right at the point where I should be pushing on there was nothing happening so I climbed off at just over 6.5hrs with 156 miles done.   It was unlikely I'd PB or get a distance that would give me a good shout at improving my BBAR average from last year.

Some amazing rides out there with mens and womens comp record going.   I'm starting to think that I don't have it in me and I have a range of issues to address before I attempt anything long again.   I'm out of the Mersey 24hr and aim to enjoy a bit of audaxing over the Summer.

[DuncanM]

It's a shame you couldn't push it, but ultimately, if you're not going to achieve what you want, there's no point in putting yourself through many hours of suffering.

Are you skipping the 50 and the 100 as well? What counts as "long" for you?

[rob]

What counts as "long" for you?

Anything where the pain of holding race position becomes untenable.   I don't recall any issues on last year's 12.

I've entered the EDCA 100 and the Shaftesbury 50 - that weekend was freed up by not going to Shropshire.   

[Pedal Castro]

I have entered the EDCA 100, hopefully I'll get in with my 4:32,  then the Breckland 12 and. finally if all goes well I'll be looking for a fast 50 to secure a BBAR cert.

[DuncanM]

What counts as "long" for you?

Anything where the pain of holding race position becomes untenable.   I don't recall any issues on last year's 12.

I've entered the EDCA 100 and the Shaftesbury 50 - that weekend was freed up by not going to Shropshire.

Glad I asked that - a 100 mile TT isn't long for you! Hopefully the aborted 12 will serve as good training for the 100.

[Karla]

Massive rides by Alice and Adam.  LEJOG and both the men's and women's 12 records all in one day, wow!

I have entered the EDCA 100, hopefully I'll get in with my 4:32,  then the Breckland 12 and. finally if all goes well I'll be looking for a fast 50 to secure a BBAR cert.

If you can make it up to Yorkshire for the Otley 50 Rob isn't doing anymore, that will be fast.  At the end of the season there is usually a Yorkshire event on a short version of the same course, but which is still usually a bit faster than the Breckland the week after.

[Pedal Castro]

Massive rides by Alice and Adam.  LEJOG and both the men's and women's 12 records all in one day, wow!

I have entered the EDCA 100, hopefully I'll get in with my 4:32,  then the Breckland 12 and. finally if all goes well I'll be looking for a fast 50 to secure a BBAR cert.

If you can make it up to Yorkshire for the Otley 50 Rob isn't doing anymore, that will be fast.  At the end of the season there is usually a Yorkshire event on a short version of the same course, but which is still usually a bit faster than the Breckland the week after.

My only free weekend until August...entered! 

[Karla]

A short version of the same course?  I meant a slightly slower version!

[Frank9755]

A short version of the same course?  I meant a slightly slower version!

I thought you were on about your 100 again for a second

[Frank9755]

What counts as "long" for you?

Anything where the pain of holding race position becomes untenable.   I don't recall any issues on last year's 12.

Are you having trouble holding your position for a 12-hour? 
I had that three years ago.  I think I'd need a major review of position before I would attempt another one. 

[rob]

What counts as "long" for you?

Anything where the pain of holding race position becomes untenable.   I don't recall any issues on last year's 12.

Are you having trouble holding your position for a 12-hour? 
I had that three years ago.  I think I'd need a major review of position before I would attempt another one.

Last year I finished this event without any outside the norm comfort issues.   Despite the fact that I have new bars/stem/extensions my position has not really changed.   My hands are a little higher and my elbows are narrower but pretty much the same height as last year.   I have ridden quite a few road miles in this position this year but maybe less than last year.   I did 5.5hrs last weekend but ended up with a sore neck.   I think this was because I wore my normal road helmet and sunglasses so maybe had to crane my neck more than usual.   Mistake number 1.

I would normally go to the osteopath for a maintenance visit on the Tuesday night but these aren't on offer so I booked in on Saturday morning.   This was probably a little too close to the event as you're usually a bit bruised for a couple of days afterwards.   Mistake number 2.

On top of this my knee niggle started to turn up again mid-week and there was no way I'd be able to get it looked at before Sunday.   In the end the knee didn't really hurt but the top of my Achilles became pretty painful albeit relieved by flexing the ankle on the spinnier parts of the course.   Not really a mistake but didn't help.

I was trying to keep to a schedule a little higher than my pace last year with a view to getting a PB.   I lost time here and there but regained it over time, but probably went a little too hard along the way.   I started to slide well off an hour before I quit but my speed was dropping too quickly for me to do anything more than match last year.   The niggles from various parts of my body didn't help but my head gave up before I properly stopped.

It's fairly clear I won't manage anything decent in the Mersey 24hr in this state and I'm unwilling to spend more time away from my family to not achieve any improvement.    I hope to make some amends in the 100.   My 100 time last year was a disappointment and I'm quite close to the club record so this may save my year.

[Frank9755]

Good that you have explanations for the pains so you should be able to fix.
You seemed to be in great form so is there a danger in taking too negative an impression from one ride that wasn't quite what you hoped? It was probably a worse day than last year so might not have been easy to better what you did then.
Either way, agree it was a good decision to climb off and have an evening with the family and fresh-ish legs to do something else with.
Fwiw my experience with the Newbury 12-hour is that I rode it once and got my club record then the next year, a slightly slower day, my power was up and I'd made a couple of aero improvements, but speed was down and I did a few miles less.  I should have climbed off when I knew I wasn't going to improve my previous distance (which would have been after the first lap!)

[zigzag]

went to do a 10mile tt this evening but it appeared to be cancelled. rode the course anyway and timed myself with 22:49 at 42.5kph/257w. i wasn't entirely sure where exactly the start and finish were, so used the gps odometer to clock 16.1km. the course had five sharp corners which made me slow right down and also had to stop at a roundabout once for the cars - that's my only excuse.

[Frank9755]

If have thought your power would have been higher for a 10.  I guess it would be if you trained for short rides.
That's pretty quick for 257W

[zigzag]

If have thought your power would have been higher for a 10.  I guess it would be if you trained for short rides.
That's pretty quick for 257W

i haven't trained in aero position much, so my power is 20-30w lower than on a road bike, plus there were three downhill sections where i'd wanted a taller gear (than the current 53x11). my heart rate was ~5bpm lower than i can sustain for such duration, so perhaps i wasn't pushing myself as hard as i could have?

[Ian H]

At around 6pm on Tuesday i suddenly remembered our evening 10 was on (they've changed from Wednesdays).  So I rang Mike, the organiser, to ask if he needed help.  He asked me to marshal the turn, which is a couple of miles from home.

I grabbed the PBP hi-vis and rode out to arrive 5mins past the start time.  Mike phoned to say we had 21 starters. 

It's a tricky turn: big lay-by with an island, so they're turning across traffic coming from behind.  However, it is a quiet road, having been by-passed.

I waved them through, noticing various levels of skills at cornering, phoned Mike to say they'd all passed, and went home.

Low-key domestic competition.  I've no idea who won.

[DuncanM]

I did a club TT last night. Really windy - block headwind up the hill for the first 4 miles and then side tail for the rest. I'm chuffed - I did a PB of 27.25 off 256W average (266NP). That's over a minute faster than my previous PB. It's easiest to see on my TR account as the strava segment is a bit wonky.
https://www.trainerroad.com/career/duncanm23/rides/36151179-condor-tt-4-abingdon-27-25-pb-

While I am improving my FTP (currently set at 261W), I need to work on my aero if I want to go really fast. Not sure how aero I can get on my current bike (Cube Agree GTC with -17* stem, clip-ons and TT saddle).