My first Time Trial

dancrowley

Hey folks,

This weekend, as the title says, I'll be doing my first time trial.

It's a pretty flat, 19km course with a few 180-degree turns in an area which is prone to wind (what feels like from all directions! ). I'm currently riding about 120-150km/week (when I can) so I'm not completely unfit.

I'm just looking to see if any of you can impart a word or two (more would be better! :pac: ) of wisdom.

Thanks!

godtabh

Having not done one before but did try an FTP test this mornign I would say pacing yourself is key. You dont want to blow up before you finish

dancrowley

godtabh wrote: »

Having not done one before but did try an FTP test this mornign I would say pacing yourself is key. You dont want to blow up before you finish

I was wondering if there are different "methods" of approach e.g. go as hard as you can for half the circuit and drop the effort to 80% for the remainder... or something like that?

I'm really looking forward to it.

J Madone

dancrowley wrote: »

I was wondering if there are different "methods" of approach e.g. go as hard as you can for half the circuit and drop the effort to 80% for the remainder... or something like that?

I'm really looking forward to it.

Enjoy it, and dont go out too fast, and embrace the pain

ednwireland

J Madone wrote: »

Enjoy it, and dont go out too fast and embrace the pain

+1 i try and hold my heart rate just below 160 for 2/3rds of a 10 miler (16km) then on our course you crest a rise and its flat out to the finish. mind i'm not that good !

Hmmzis

godtabh wrote: »

Having not done one before but did try an FTP test this mornign I would say pacing yourself is key. You dont want to blow up before you finish

+1 on this one. Pacing is key in a TT and at the start of it you shouldn't be going full bore. Read up on why negative splits work well in TTs.
You'll most likely get the pace wrong the first time out, that's normal and practice is needed to get it right. With a power meter it would be much easier to get it right but without historic race data there will still be guesswork involved.

dancrowley

Hmmzis wrote: »

+1 on this one. Pacing is key in a TT and at the start of it you shouldn't be going full bore. Read up on why negative splits work well in TTs.
You'll most likely get the pace wrong the first time out, that's normal and practice is needed to get it right. With a power meter it would be much easier to get it right but without historic race data there will still be guesswork involved.

Reading up on negative splits now, Hmmzis; cheers for the recommendation.

Alas, the bike funds don't allow for a power meter, right now, so I'll rely on the ol' cadence and heart-rate monitors plus some gut-feel. I'll aim for a certain cadence and heart-rate on a particular ratio and step it up in the latter stages/half. I know it's only 19km, but it's my first TT and I want to have as good an idea of how to attack it so I'll have a good baseline from which to work/progress.

ashleey

It may sound obvious but don't forget your positioning. You want to get your back as flat as bursting lungs and aching joints will allow. You would surprise yourself at how much wind resistance will kill your efforts

Dave1442397

If you want a cheap power meter, try the Cycleops Powercal - http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/11/cycleops-powercal-in-depth-review.html

I use the powercal all the time, and it is consistent, although nowhere near as accurate as a 'real' power meter. The consistent readings do allow you to see changes in your power output over time, which is good.

My engineer friend is a dedicated triathlete and wrote this program to compare FIT files (from a Garmin, etc).
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzTpdtnNSGQhYkt4SEY1am44VU0&usp=sharing#list

He swears by power numbers for time trials. He has a power meter and only looks at watts while riding, and I think his pace at the moment is a steady 280W for a time trial. He maintains the same wattage both up and down hills, so his effort is always the same as the speed varies.

Chips Lovell

Folks, it's his first time trial and people are recommending power meters, which is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Heart rate is more than adequate for a beginner. But you need to have some idea of what kind of heart rate you can sustain for that period of time for it to be of use.

In fact, as someone who owns a power meter, the only number I'd be looking at in a TT is my HR.

07Lapierre

OP you doing this TT on a road bike or a TT bike?

dancrowley

07Lapierre wrote: »

OP you doing this TT on a road bike or a TT bike?

I'll be doing it on a road bike. Apart from pumping up my tyres, is there anything else I can do to my setup?

07Lapierre

maybe a set of Tri-Bars? I've never used them myself but I've seen them used on roadf bikes in TT's. Other than that, just get as aero as possible and pedal!

Chips Lovell

If you're on a road bike, get in the drops and stay there for as much of the TT as possible. The position will make a significant difference.

Clip on aerobars can help you get more aero, but you'd need to spend a while getting your position right on them before doing a race. Generally speaking, you'd need to move your saddle to accommodate for the more forward position.

If the TT is this weekend, stick to your current set-up and stay in the drops.

dancrowley

Dave1442397 wrote: »

If you want a cheap power meter, try the Cycleops Powercal - http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/11/cycleops-powercal-in-depth-review.html

I use the powercal all the time, and it is consistent, although nowhere near as accurate as a 'real' power meter. The consistent readings do allow you to see changes in your power output over time, which is good.

My engineer friend is a dedicated triathlete and wrote this program to compare FIT files (from a Garmin, etc).
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BzTpdtnNSGQhYkt4SEY1am44VU0&usp=sharing#list

He swears by power numbers for time trials. He has a power meter and only looks at watts while riding, and I think his pace at the moment is a steady 280W for a time trial. He maintains the same wattage both up and down hills, so his effort is always the same as the speed varies.

Thanks for the feedback, Dave! I'll be looking into power meters at some stage and I'll take your advice on board; cheers for the link, too! Right now, cadence and heart rate should do me no disservice, especially for my first TT.

godtabh

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

Folks, it's his first time trial and people are recommending power meters, which is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Heart rate is more than adequate for a beginner. But you need to have some idea of what kind of heart rate you can sustain for that period of time for it to be of use.

In fact, as someone who owns a power meter, the only number I'd be looking at in TT is my HR.

If this is for another thread sorry but is a power meter not more usefully at setting/regulating your pace than a heart rate?

PS I use the powerCal too

Chips Lovell

godtabh wrote: »

If this is for another thread sorry but is a power meter not more usefully at setting/regulating your pace than a heart rate?

What power you put out will change depending on how well you're going. Your HR zones won't change though.

ROK ON

I love TTs (but am decidely poor at them). I look at two figures
HR
Cadence

For short TT (16k) I like to keep my HR around 93% of max.
I can sustain this for efforts up to 30 mins.

I have done one 40k TT - I targeted 90% of av HR.

For both I keep cadence north of 90rpm. (this might seem low - it is, but I have poor cadence).

Now when I say that I look at my figures I do that for as long as I can. In the last quarter I usually can't see anything such is the pain.

I agree with Vlad - for most of us HR is sufficient.
If you are emptying yourself in germs of HR it doesn't matter that you have more watts to give - your current fitness won't allow you to access those.

Break it down to four parts and gradually increase the effort through each effort.
In the last km you should really have nothing left to give.

In one TT last year when I hit the finish line I had to keep cycljng such was the cramp. I knew that if I stopped that I would not be able to cycle the 15km home.

They are nuts. You'll love em or hate em.

i_surge

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

What power you put out will change depending on how well you're going. Your HR zones won't change though.

Good point, but in the first 5-10 minutes while your heart rate is playing catch up - the power would be useful. Depends on TTing experience.

Don't sprint away from the starting block filled with adrenalin, caffeine and nerves. It'll mask the pain and you'll be in oxygen debt before your heart rate monitor knows what's going on.

dancrowley

ROK ON wrote: »

I love TTs (but am decidely poor at them). I look at two figures
HR
Cadence

For short TT (16k) I like to keep my HR around 93% of max.
I can sustain this for efforts up to 30 mins.

I have done one 40k TT - I targeted 90% of av HR.

For both I keep cadence north of 90rpm. (this might seem low - it is, but I have poor cadence).

Now when I say that I look at my figures I do that for as long as I can. In the last quarter I usually can't see anything such is the pain.

I agree with Vlad - for most of us HR is sufficient.
If you are emptying yourself in germs of HR it doesn't matter that you have more watts to give - your current fitness won't allow you to access those.

Break it down to four parts and gradually increase the effort through each effort.
In the last km you should really have nothing left to give.

In one TT last year when I hit the finish line I had to keep cycljng such was the cramp. I knew that if I stopped that I would not be able to cycle the 15km home.

They are nuts. You'll love em or hate em.

I'm very excited about this, now. Breaking it down into 4 sections sounds good, but 4 sections of decreasing size e.g. 8km, 5km, 4km and 2km...?

I was at a pro TT recently for the first time, and the guys did 10km... they were absolutely destroyed after it. I'll be racing a slightly modified version of that same course, twice. I hope it's not too windy...!

dancrowley

i_surge wrote: »

Good point, but in the first 5-10 minutes while your heart rate is playing catch up - the power would be useful. Depends on TTing experience.

Don't sprint away from the starting block filled with adrenalin, caffeine and nerves. It'll mask the pain and you'll be in oxygen debt before your heart rate monitor knows what's going on.

There'll be no caffeine, but the other two will be there!
Although there will be many others competing, I'm of the belief that I'm competing only with myself.

morana

just give it a lash.for the first couple of minutes go steady then let rip. dont worry too much about it.

dancrowley

morana wrote: »

just give it a lash.for the first couple of minutes go steady then let rip. dont worry too much about it.

This is probably how it's going to go! Hehe! However, I'd prefer to take a more "scientific" approach. 7am kickoff so I'll be up early!

morana

dancrowley wrote: »

This is probably how it's going to go! Hehe! However, I'd prefer to take a more "scientific" approach. 7am kickoff so I'll be up early!

but its your first one ever!!!!

dancrowley

morana wrote: »

but its your first one ever!!!!

True. I'll probably make my mind up on how ill attack it before and during!

wexandproud

you asked for advice to help you in your first tt and before you knew it you needed a powermetre and new handle bars, and no mention of the most important thing for a short tt...warm up. dont be afraid to get a sweat up during warm up and try not arrive at start with with to much time to spare so your standing around. dont go flat out from start, get your breathing and cadence under control and then ride into it , save a bit for last mile or two and then leave whatever you have on the road . if ya start seeing stars in last 500 mtrs dont panic its normal:

Borderfox

Steady out and flat out home was the way I did them, best I got was a 54 for a 40km, just a set of tri bars and a heart rate monitor.

Headed out at 180-190 bpm and then 200-215 on the way back.

macbane66

Hr monitor more than enough for first tt, and simply listen to your legs .try get a position your comfortable in, engage your core and let your pistons go, anything else is overkill, a personal favourite if doing a tt on a road bike is to see.how many tt bikes u can beat !

Craig06

Borderfox wrote: »

Steady out and flat out home was the way I did them, best I got was a 54 for a 40km, just a set of tri bars and a heart rate monitor.

Headed out at 180-190 bpm and then 200-215 on the way back.

Christ! That heart rate is mega high. I'd be dead at that level.

dancrowley

wexandproud wrote: »

you asked for advice to help you in your first tt and before you knew it you needed a powermetre and new handle bars, and no mention of the most important thing for a short tt...warm up. dont be afraid to get a sweat up during warm up and try not arrive at start with with to much time to spare so your standing around. dont go flat out from start, get your breathing and cadence under control and then ride into it , save a bit for last mile or two and then leave whatever you have on the road . if ya start seeing stars in last 500 mtrs dont panic its normal:

Very true about the warm up. I took this as a given, though. I like the idea about seeing stars... or do I?? :eek:

Borderfox wrote: »

Steady out and flat out home was the way I did them, best I got was a 54 for a 40km, just a set of tri bars and a heart rate monitor.

Headed out at 180-190 bpm and then 200-215 on the way back.

200-215?! :eek:

macbane66 wrote: »

Hr monitor more than enough for first tt, and simply listen to your legs .try get a position your comfortable in, engage your core and let your pistons go, anything else is overkill, a personal favourite if doing a tt on a road bike is to see.how many tt bikes u can beat !

Comfort isn't something I'm associating with this endeavour, but I hear what you're saying

I've just checked and there are now 10 participants in my category and 59 overall; this has the makings of an interesting Friday morning!

NeedMoreGears

Have you enough time for a trial run before your event? It might be worthwhile having a practice run if you have a few days for recovery.

dancrowley

NeedMoreGears wrote: »

Have you enough time for a trial run before your event? It might be worthwhile having a practice run if you have a few days for recovery.

Probably not, NeedMoreGears. It's on first thing Friday morning and I'm busy til then. I'll probably be recovering until the following Friday! :P

dancrowley

Great article here... http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/05/time-trial-pacing.html

joey100

For the club time trial I just done I was in a similar position to you, I didn't know the course. I mapped it out on map my ride and made a note of any climbs in it, just to get an idea of where they were and how long they were. Meant I had a bit of an idea of the route before I got out on it. Helped a bit I think.

endacl

Head down. Ar5e up. Peddle like billy-o.

ADW1

Tri bars help to get into a low position which is important. Try and find the tightest jersey you have, you don't want to be wearing a baggy jacket, it will slow you down. Overshoes also help. If you know some one with an aero helmet try and borrow it. If you plan on doing more TT they come for sale and be purchased for less than half the RRP. If its a 19 km flat circuit (out and back) ride the course as your warm up. This will give you an idea of the direction of the wind and observe pot holes that need to be avoided. I ran 140psi when doing TT (check max tyre pressure before hand) last year. I'm no expert but this is what I have learned over the last 2 years. try breaking the course down into 4 segments and don't go out to hard. Best of Luck and enjoy it.

Darkglasses

dancrowley wrote: »

200-215?! :eek:

Whatever is relevant to you, the number doesn't mean much on it's on. My HR goes up to around 210 but it doesn't make me faster than somebody with a much lower max rate!

seamus

Lots of great advice here already.

dancrowley wrote: »

Very true about the warm up. I took this as a given, though. I like the idea about seeing stars... or do I?? :eek:

In a short TT your warm up can make or break you.

I don't know about anyone else, but if I go from a cold start to hard effort, it takes a good 5-10 minutes to find the "sweet spot" where you feel like you're right in between the point of a sustainable effort versus unsustainable effort.

In a long TT you can somewhat afford the variance in that 5-10 minutes; if you've gone out too hard you can ease back for 5 minutes to get a handle on it, if you've gone out too soft, you can up the effort for a few KMs.

In a short TT you can't really afford that; go out too hard and your ability to push it towards the end will decrease quickly. Go out too soft and you'll probably annihilate yourself trying to up the effort and make up the lost time.
So don't be afraid to really push yourself in your warm up, 5-10km at a good sweaty, heart pumping effort will condition you for the KMs to come.

The most effective changes you can make to your bike are TT bars.
Wear skintight clothes, including neoprene or lycra overshoes. Until/unless you're putting in a sub-60 40km TT, working on your fitness and technique is more effective than buying TT bikes, fancy wheels, etc. These are things designed to shave seconds off a fast time, not turn a slow rider into a fast one.
The overshoes have been shown to be more effective than TT wheels, so for the sake of €20/€30, they're worth using.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2010/04/biggest-bang-for-your-buck-in-time-trial-equipment/

What you do in your head is important too. If you've ever found yourself 20km from home after a tough day on the bike and counting down the KM on your speedo, then you know how horrible that is. If you find yourself counting down the KM in a TT and waiting for it to end, you're screwed. About all I do in a TT is keep track of my time and HR and make sure I'm confident that I can keep this up for another X minutes. Other than that just retreat inside your head, let your body do the work and sing to yourself or do whatever.

dancrowley

joey100 wrote: »

For the club time trial I just done I was in a similar position to you, I didn't know the course. I mapped it out on map my ride and made a note of any climbs in it, just to get an idea of where they were and how long they were. Meant I had a bit of an idea of the route before I got out on it. Helped a bit I think.

I know the course, joey100, and have ridden it, but not at a competitive pace. Good thinking re mapping it though, and prepping zones, perhaps.

endacl wrote: »

Head down. Ar5e up. Peddle like billy-o.

This. This is a given

ADW1 wrote: »

Tri bars help to get into a low position which is important. Try and find the tightest jersey you have, you don't want to be wearing a baggy jacket, it will slow you down. Overshoes also help. If you know some one with an aero helmet try and borrow it. If you plan on doing more TT they come for sale and be purchased for less than half the RRP. If its a 19 km flat circuit (out and back) ride the course as your warm up. This will give you an idea of the direction of the wind and observe pot holes that need to be avoided. I ran 140psi when doing TT (check max tyre pressure before hand) last year. I'm no expert but this is what I have learned over the last 2 years. try breaking the course down into 4 segments and don't go out to hard. Best of Luck and enjoy it.

These are great tips, ADW1! If I can ride the course before I go out, that'd be a great advantage, specifically re wind direction/strength. The tyre pressure aspect is a good one; 140 is over-spec for my tyres (120 for me) but I've read that having over-pressurised tyres can be a disadvantage in the sense that each pebble or crack in the road surface won't be absorbed as good as a tyre inflated to just about spec... wow i'm really looking at this too closely, I think! :rolleyes:

dancrowley

seamus wrote: »

In a short TT your warm up can make or break you.

I don't know about anyone else, but if I go from a cold start to hard effort, it takes a good 5-10 minutes to find the "sweet spot" where you feel like you're right in between the point of a sustainable effort versus unsustainable effort.

In a short TT you can't really afford that; go out too hard and your ability to push it towards the end will decrease quickly. Go out too soft and you'll probably annihilate yourself trying to up the effort and make up the lost time.
So don't be afraid to really push yourself in your warm up, 5-10km at a good sweaty, heart pumping effort will condition you for the KMs to come.

What you do in your head is important too. If you've ever found yourself 20km from home after a tough day on the bike and counting down the KM on your speedo, then you know how horrible that is. If you find yourself counting down the KM in a TT and waiting for it to end, you're screwed. About all I do in a TT is keep track of my time and HR and make sure I'm confident that I can keep this up for another X minutes. Other than that just retreat inside your head, let your body do the work and sing to yourself or do whatever.

Great advice and perspective, seamus... it seems this type of event boils down to some simple things; it isn't about the equipment, but about approach and preparation as well as overcoming the result of the execution. I need to start dividing out the 19km into zones... and assigning HR or "effort levels" to each.
I like the "retreat inside your head" idea... I did the same thing on a long spin recently which I found very hard... I started counting pedal-strokes and found I was creating a solid rhythm, upon which I started singing to myself, during which I realised that I'd pedalled about a km without even really feeling it!

Lumen

I am not a fast time trialler, but I find that the last couple of kms go very quickly and I normally feel like I could have pushed harder for that last bit.

joxerjohn

Heres a link to a good article entitled.

"10 steps to your best ever time-trial".

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/10-steps-to-your-best-ever-time-trial-31017/

Borderfox

Darkglasses wrote: »

Whatever is relevant to you, the number doesn't mean much on it's on. My HR goes up to around 210 but it doesn't make me faster than somebody with a much lower max rate!

That was only in relation to myself not as a measure against other riders, that's my maximum and I always rode in relation to it in time trials.

shaka

Thought I posted this yesterday but here it goes again.

Ran flat and hill time trials in my club for first time last year while off the bike injured and noticed a few different things.nòthing earth shattering

Those who went of strong rarely finished strong.
Those who cycled to start went much better than those who drove to the various starts. Warming up properly made a big difference.
Those who could stay in drops went well.

dancrowley

Lumen wrote: »

I am not a fast time trialler, but I find that the last couple of kms go very quickly and I normally feel like I could have pushed harder for that last bit.

I've set myself an ambitious ratio of 8km:5km:5km:1km which will leave me 1km to gun it, leaving everything out there. I have a Garmin giving me alerts every 1km so I know when to step on the gas (if there's any left! )

joxerjohn wrote: »

Heres a link to a good article entitled.

"10 steps to your best ever time-trial".

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/10-steps-to-your-best-ever-time-trial-31017/

Nice article, joxerjohn! They do go on a lot about equipment, but do mention about one's silhouette quite a bit. I normally hit the drops for about 5% of a spin, but it's going to have to ramp up slightly for this!

shaka wrote: »

Thought I posted this yesterday but here it goes again.

Ran flat and hill time trials in my club for first time last year while off the bike injured and noticed a few different things.nòthing earth shattering

Those who went of strong rarely finished strong.
Those who cycled to start went much better than those who drove to the various starts. Warming up properly made a big difference.
Those who could stay in drops went well.

Warm up, warm up, warm up. It seems to be a common theme, eh? I reckon a 15-20 minute warm up, including sprints/bursts, plus some light stretching will be my prep work.

Thanks for all the input, guys! About 17 hours to go!

J Madone

Make sure and post your results as an added incentive, hope you spend less time during it than preparing for it on here!

dancrowley

J Madone wrote: »

Make sure and post your results as an added incentive, hope you spend less time during it than preparing for it on here!

Haha! You and me, both! I'll post the results, alright. As I said, i'm competing against myself and this is a baseline-setter. I'm looking forward to seeing how things change in the summer when I do another... by then i'll have temperature issues...

Bloggsie

Best of luck,
I'm a cycling newbie as well, no racing or TT's though. I just enjoy the outdoors & the head space a few hours on the bike gives me as I'm stuck in an office Monday to Friday.
I try to get out on most Sundays for 50-60kms weather and family commitments aside, looking forward to the next few months of decent spins & trying to get my average kmph up from 20 at the moment to 25+.

dancrowley

Hi folks!

Not long home from the time trial, and have uploaded the ride to Strava so you can all nit-pick and tear me apart

I'm pretty happy with how it went, bar the finish. I simply didn't have enough gas left in the tank when i hit the last 1.5km, and an AWFUL headwind plus incline to the finish just took it out of me (you can see my heart rate go bananas toward the end).

All in all, i'm very happy with how it went. It was quite warm, but i took on plenty of water beforehand. I had a nice warm-up done (±20 mins) which definitely helped.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. It is greatly appreciated.

Here's a link to the details: http://www.strava.com/activities/118372546

seamus

That's a nice steady effort for your first TT, good job. Looks like there was a bit of a kicker when you came around that last roundabout. Both times you hit that stretch your HR went up

Also not easy to TT in those temperatures :eek:

foxer3640

Im in the same boat. Doing the tt on sunday for a duathlon (a friend doing the run). Have a tt bike but haven't got around to using it much. Reading your posts with interest for the last few days as I had many of the same questions as yourself. Well done on your first tt btw