Combine events.
I checked with my expert on this.
These are strictly speaking club events where a number of clubs have joined together to aid organisation. Presumably the organiser could be asked to allow an entry as a private time trial just as in any club event.
If you really want to ride a particular club's events you might consider joining that club as a second claim member - that is second to the club in whose colours you normally race. This is usually fairly cheap and doesn't involve any real commitment. Some might say it's like having a bit on the side, but in fact it doesn't involve the same problems. The same tactic can be used for association events.
The Old Chestnut.
I did say a rising wind back from the turn.
It's very common that around dawn there's a flat calm but as the sun starts to warm things up the wind gets going, and this is the time of day when a lot of time trials take place. Usually sod's law causes this to work against you, but there will be exceptions; naturally, I believe the exceptions always benefit my rivals.
My posts may seem to contain a lot of words, but each one has its purpose.
Buying Speed.
I don't think there's any doubt that tribars are far and away the most cost effective way of buying speed. However my experience is that just bolting them onto your existing set up doesn't work. A smaller frame than normal is needed to reduce the height of the bars - you're not going to be holding the bottom of the drops, you're going to be resting your forearms above the bars. It's necessary to get your back as near as possible parallel with the road. This is about reducing frontal area.
So all you need is an old frame with a short head tube and a reasonably long slot in the rear fork ends (i.e. not vertical drop outs) and you've got the basis for a fixed TT bike which will have the potential, on a reasonably still day, to make the owners of expensive carbon exotica look sick.
To respond to some of the comments here
Combine events.
I checked with my expert on this.
These are strictly speaking club events where a number of clubs have joined together to aid organisation. Presumably the organiser could be asked to allow an entry as a private time trial just as in any club event.
If you really want to ride a particular club's events you might consider joining that club as a second claim member - that is second to the club in whose colours you normally race. This is usually fairly cheap and doesn't involve any real commitment. Some might say it's like having a bit on the side, but in fact it doesn't involve the same problems. The same tactic can be used for association events.
The Old Chestnut.
I did say a rising wind back from the turn.
It's very common that around dawn there's a flat calm but as the sun starts to warm things up the wind gets going, and this is the time of day when a lot of time trials take place. Usually sod's law causes this to work against you, but there will be exceptions; naturally, I believe the exceptions always benefit my rivals.
My posts may seem to contain a lot of words, but each one has its purpose.
Buying Speed.
I don't think there's any doubt that tribars are far and away the most cost effective way of buying speed. However my experience is that just bolting them onto your existing set up doesn't work. A smaller frame than normal is needed to reduce the height of the bars - you're not going to be holding the bottom of the drops, you're going to be resting your forearms above the bars. It's necessary to get your back as near as possible parallel with the road. This is about reducing frontal area.
So all you need is an old frame with a short head tube and a reasonably long slot in the rear fork ends (i.e. not vertical drop outs) and you've got the basis for a fixed TT bike which will have the potential, on a reasonably still day, to make the owners of expensive carbon exotica look sick.