Author Topic: The TT Thread (Read 424702 times)

rob · « **Reply #1600 on:** 29 May, 2016, 05:15:09 pm »

4:10:54 in the Hounslow 100 this morning. A mildly annoying 40 seconds behind my PB. Struggled in the second half and was hanging on at the end.

Another skinsuit zip failure and thanks to Assasin and Jane for helping me safety pin my front together and still race.

chrisbainbridge · « **Reply #1601 on:** 29 May, 2016, 05:34:24 pm »

What do people do about drinking in the longer events? water bottle in a cage and reach down or something on the tri bars?

hippy · « **Reply #1602 on:** 29 May, 2016, 06:44:36 pm »

Quote from: chrisbainbridge on 29 May, 2016, 05:34:24 pm

What do people do about drinking in the longer events? water bottle in a cage and reach down or something on the tri bars?

Depends on how long it is and if you have support.

I prefer between the arm (BTA) mounts and saddle mounts with the missus handing me up bottles. If unsupported I'd probably use a combination, maybe two saddle bottles and frame bottle too so I'd stop less.

rob · « **Reply #1603 on:** 29 May, 2016, 08:17:09 pm »

I had 2 750ml bottles in cages. I had 2 sets of mounts spec'd when I ordered the frame.

As hippy said a lot of people go between the arms and behind the saddle. Make sure you test a set up like this as bottles have a habit of jumping out on bumpy surfaces.

chrisbainbridge · « **Reply #1604 on:** 29 May, 2016, 09:11:55 pm »

Thanks, that was what i was thinking but DC rainmakers review of BTA systems suggested a significant increase in resistance.

rob · « **Reply #1605 on:** 29 May, 2016, 09:19:56 pm »

Some of the top end BBAR riders last year seemed to have moved to Camelbacks under the skinsuit but slung on the front. I think I'd find it annoying but the aero benefits must mean something.

hippy · « **Reply #1606 on:** 30 May, 2016, 10:40:09 am »

Quote from: chrisbainbridge on 29 May, 2016, 09:11:55 pm

Thanks, that was what i was thinking but DC rainmakers review of BTA systems suggested a significant increase in resistance.

Do you have a link? Cervelo tested a bottle bta and found it drag neutral or better in most cases. The bottle must be hidden by the hands so it depends on your arm position.

Bladder might work for 50 or 100 but I'd not want to carry it on 12 or above since you can't refill on the go.

hippy · « **Reply #1607 on:** 30 May, 2016, 03:24:54 pm »

Quote from: Oranj on 30 May, 2016, 12:11:23 pm

Quote from: hippy on 30 May, 2016, 10:40:09 am
Bladder might work for 50 or 100 but I'd not want to carry it on 12 or above since you can't refill on the go.
Just use a second (or even third) bladder, prefilled. They slide much easier into the camelbak if you wrap them in an old plastic bag from sliced bread.

In my mind the bladder is attached to a baselayer under the skinsuit which would make any swaps during the race too slow to be worthwhile. If you're using a Camelbak as intended, like a backpack, during a self-supported 24hr say, then fine but I wouldn't be swapping bladders during a 100.

marylogic · « **Reply #1608 on:** 03 June, 2016, 07:41:04 pm »

I've got my first attempt at a 10 TT on Sunday. I'm guessing I probably don't need a route sheet or spare batteries for my spare light, but I don't really know what to take, if anything. Do folks bother with tubes and pump? Water?

Cheers

mattc · « **Reply #1609 on:** 04 June, 2016, 08:19:01 am »

Are you riding to/from the race? That's a big factor.

Irrespective, I carry pump/tube/basic tools when racing, just as I would for any ride where I dont want to risk walking home. I would find it pretty shameful to be recovered by car at a sub-National Champs event if it could be avoided by carrying trivial everyday bits. But that's just me - other philosophies are available!

marylogic · « **Reply #1610 on:** 04 June, 2016, 09:05:02 am »

Thanks, this is reassuring. I had been planning to take the basics, but didn't want to get laughed off the course for my curious audax ways....

mattc · « **Reply #1611 on:** 04 June, 2016, 10:15:43 am »

Quote from: marylogic on 04 June, 2016, 09:05:02 am

Thanks, this is reassuring. I had been planning to take the basics, but didn't want to get laughed off the course for my curious audax ways....

Oh I never said that noone laughs at us

But you're obeying the rules, so they can laugh all they like.

Seriously, lots of people carry the basics. There is probably a correlation with cost of bike, whether they wear a skinsuit, and if they warm-up on rollers. Your club may be very different, you'll have to take that risk!

hippy · « **Reply #1612 on:** 04 June, 2016, 11:17:23 am »

I carry nothing.

The walk back to the HQ is almost enough time for the rage to subside when something goes wrong.

Karla · « **Reply #1613 on:** 04 June, 2016, 11:21:15 am »

Quote from: marylogic on 03 June, 2016, 07:41:04 pm

I've got my first attempt at a 10 TT on Sunday. I'm guessing I probably don't need a route sheet or spare batteries for my spare light, but I don't really know what to take, if anything. Do folks bother with tubes and pump? Water?

Cheers

For a ten? I wouldn't take any of it.

Food and drink: you'd be mad to try eating or drinking during the race - if you can get it down, you're not trying hard enough! You might want a bottle (preferably of soft drugs i.e. coke) to drink during warmup, but you can dump that at the start.
Pump and tools: Ride out with them, but leave them at the start. You're not going very far, you probably won't puncture, it's not very far to walk back if you do have to do that, and the organiser will probably take pity on you and pick you up if you do (they'll have to drive round afterwards to take the signs down anyway).

The big advantage to dumping all this stuff, apart from going marginally faster and not getting laughed at, is that it will put you in the right frame of mind: you're not riding an audax and shouldn't ride it like one.

Talking of warmups, make it at least half an hour, preferably more. Start gentle and gradually ramp it up to moderately hard, interspersed with a few hard efforts. You should aim to get to the line with your heart pumping but not being tired or out of breath. Good luck!

rob · « **Reply #1614 on:** 04 June, 2016, 11:49:15 am »

Never had the confidence to race without a get-you-home toolkit. The one time I punctured was in the pissing rain and I was freezing. It was an 8 mile uphill ride back to the HQ.

I wouldn't bother with a bottle for a 10.

Karla · « **Reply #1615 on:** 04 June, 2016, 12:22:53 pm »

I have a CO2 cannister, a few self-stick patches and a couple of tyre levers zip-tied beneath the saddle rails on my TT bike. They stay there all the time so would be there for a 10, but they're there for the longer rides. I'd replace them with a can of Pit Stop but it won't fit under the saddle.

Anyway, a couple of TT whinges:

The course for the national 12 hour - a new course at that - was published two days, TWO DAYS before the closing date for entries. The organiser can't work out why there have been a low number of entries for this event. How sodding hard is it to work out why people won't enter your event when you won't tell them where it is? Especially an event this long, which will screw you over for a month if you do it properly, so people don't want to waste their one shot a year on an unknown course that might turn out to be crap?! This shows up everything that is wrong with the secret squirrel attitude of time trialling

Next up: my club. The course for our club flat 10 has just had the end changed, because the old one was "dangerous". The old finish was on a rural single carriageway that we all have to ride on to get to the start of most of our other events, on which there's never been an incident, or even a serious near miss - at least not in the several years I've been in a position to hear about it. What 'danger' are they talking about?

Oh, apparently someone sometimes drives a car on the first stretch of road though, and that makes it 'unacceptably dangerous'

Now, instead of finishing on a perfectly safe flat straight road, we'll all turn a sharp left hander with half a mile to go, on a corner that is often strewn with gravel. Not only is it more dangerous, it'll also require another marshal, on a course that already soaks up marshals to the extend that we struggle to host events there. My club need to grow up and learn to be road cyclists, and that means being able to share the road!

Jasmine · « **Reply #1616 on:** 04 June, 2016, 02:09:19 pm »

Quote from: hippy on 04 June, 2016, 11:17:23 am

I carry nothing.

The walk back to the HQ is almost enough time for the rage to subside when something goes wrong.

Last time I had a puncture on a TT I was still screaming obscenities by the time my lift home arrived 15 minutes later. It was a 25 miler and I punctured at mile 20. I'd been 7th woman to start, and had overtaken 5 of the others and at the roundabout at 19 miles (it starts in the middle, goes out one way, back past the start to a roundabout at the far end in the other direction, and then back to about 0.7 miles short of the start) I'd counted that number 1 was only about a minute in front of me. It didn't help that it was our club championship event.

Frank9755 · « **Reply #1617 on:** 04 June, 2016, 06:08:17 pm »

Quote from: marylogic on 03 June, 2016, 07:41:04 pm

I've got my first attempt at a 10 TT on Sunday. I'm guessing I probably don't need a route sheet or spare batteries for my spare light, but I don't really know what to take, if anything. Do folks bother with tubes and pump? Water?

Cheers

No drinks for anything less than a 50 (and some people don't even bother for a 50).
I don't take tubes and pumps either. If I puncture then I'll deal with it, but in a 10 your race will be over.
Most people carry a rear light but you are hardly going to be out long enough to run the batteries down!
Good luck!

rob · « **Reply #1618 on:** 04 June, 2016, 07:31:48 pm »

After the shoddy conditions last year I returned to the Shaftesbury Middlemarkers 25 on the E2. Tail/crosswind out had me averaging 28mph to the turn. Then something odd happened and I really didn't slow down much on the way back, finishing in 54:50, lowering my PB by over 5 minutes.

Yes, this is the course where Alex Dowsett did 44:29 last week, but giving 10 mins to a pro is acceptable, I think.

Pedal Castro · « **Reply #1619 on:** 04 June, 2016, 07:49:40 pm »

It was a lot faster today than last week apparently, a climate who PB'd last week improved again today by 4 minutes!

rob · « **Reply #1620 on:** 04 June, 2016, 07:56:20 pm »

Quote from: Pedal Castro on 04 June, 2016, 07:49:40 pm

It was a lot faster today than last week apparently, a climate who PB'd last week improved again today by 4 minutes!

When I left the biggest improvement was 13mins.

chrisbainbridge · « **Reply #1621 on:** 04 June, 2016, 09:18:47 pm »

First TT today. 10 miles on the C10/10 course. Hosted by Witham Wheelers. I got a 28:04 which with a bit of wind today I was really pleased with. I got my warmup pretty much OK although I could have done with a couple of harder intervals to really loosen up the heart muscle. I went off a bit fast anodised up a bit too much energy on the first hill but then dialled it back.I averaged 166 HR for the ride with a peak of 176 which is pretty good for me. Lots of places where I can improve and not bad for 57 and first attempt.

I can see pointy hats and skin suits arriving soon.

rob · « **Reply #1622 on:** 05 June, 2016, 10:51:32 am »

This morning's 50 was pants.

Actually it was well organised and marshalled. I was pants.

marylogic · « **Reply #1623 on:** 05 June, 2016, 08:27:28 pm »

Well no one laughed to my face.....

But I'm pretty sure my audax- legal sub 30kph average raised a smile or two 😱

I think I must have had a "physical" which is like a mechanical, but when your body doesn't work properly.

Think I left my legs in the Yorkshire Dales.

Never mind, I now have really crap PB that hopefully shouldn't take too much beating 🙂

Ian H · « **Reply #1624 on:** 05 June, 2016, 08:48:52 pm »

Somehow, Didier and I got 'persuaded' to join Mike and enter the National Team Time-Trial on a lumpy course from Hatherleigh. This with a combined age of 184. We were the oldest team and I was the oldest member of that team. Still, I got going on the second lap and we didn't completely disgrace ourselves.