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what course have you entered and have you looked at the Strava kom for it to give you an idea of power/speed that might be achievable??
In my experience a number on your back usually adds at least a couple of miles per hour as does the careful course design of most Uk time trial courses in that they maximise traffic, straight lines and minimise elevation, in my first 25 I headed out aiming to break the hour and was flabbergasted when I came home in around 56 minutes.
My best piece of advice for tts is that the better the day, (favourable wind, road traffic and atmospheric conditions) the more you’ll hear from the experienced hands that it was a “tough day”, the categorisation of “float day” (ie perfect) is much like gaining sainthood and takes at least a couple of years to be decided… this doesn’t help with the actual riding though!
Sainsburys_Ed-
the better the day, (favourable wind, road traffic and atmospheric conditions) the more you’ll hear from the experienced hands that it was a “tough day”
Nah, "tough day" is reserved for actual tough days. Good days are referred to in terms like "that was deceptive", "not such a good day as it looked first thing", "I thought that was going to be better", and "I thought it was going to pick up on the way back"
Literally nobody in history has ever ridden on a float day, even though everybody else connected with the event is sure that it was.
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https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-details/25517
I assume talk of KOMs is tongue in cheek. I darent find out what my watt per kg or FTP is tbh, never mind actually have a target beyond a loose time. I’d be more than happy to set off strong-ish and aim for a faster second half. But truth be told, I’m not experienced enough on a bike to really know what any level of effort feels like. And my only training is a hilly 11 mile commute on a fixed a couple times a week, lol (building up a decent list of excuses is a decent part of my strategy of course).I know from fell running that race day always helps you to focus and try harder. Just don’t know exactly what that will feel like on the bike. And I’ve signed up for a 75 mile sportive the weekend before. Not mad miles by any stretch of the imagination, but probably enough to put some tiredness in the system (excuse number 2).
As for conditions chat, it seems to be the opposite of fell running. Even if it was blowing a hoolie with sideways hail and sleet, “it wasn’t that bad”. Still, I’ll happily come back and repeat any excuses I can pick up on the day ;)
The other issue is that if the bits for my TT cockpit down turn up in time, do I just use my extensions on my drops, or try and change to the road bike category? Still reckon I’d have more fun on the extensions regardless. Worse yet I could bork my bike at the sportive and have to do the TT on my fixed commuter. Ah so many excuses - I can’t fail!
gbj_tester
Nef
Wind, weather, mechanical issues, and acts of God all may conspire against me, but thank you for your vote of confidence :)