Time Trial / Time Trialling / TT

failed to distinguish myself in any way by coming second last with a hefty 2m48.9...Winner bashed it up in 1.18

Glad I'm not the only one going less than half the speed of the winner. In today's MDCC triple hill climb I had an aggregate time of 17mins something, the winner 8:48. I rode 27/14 single freewheel on my Azonic DS1 Evo, so I've now completed TTs on every bike in my current fleet.

Disqualify him:

Oh, I think he was disqualified, shortly after being commended for not giving up. He was still faster than me though.

Couple of nights out on the piss and a few tubs of Ben & Jerrys... my hill climb training is going great guns. #endofseasoncan'tbearsedanymore

It's going to be interesting to see what TT training does for me as a cyclist.

As an audax rider I've basically trained myself to never go all out, never push the limits, always keep something in reserve. At the end of any ride, even PBP, I reckon I could always got back on the bike and done another hour of the same. I've never ended up looking like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9h9yJzL7Gg

I'm hoping that TTing is going to make me faster, stronger and hopefully a bit quicker up the hills. Also, while the fixed is in TT mode over summer, I'm hoping that I'm going to recover some of my descending skills.

BTW, despite looking like a bug-eyed mentalist in that footage, Paul Kippax is a lovely bloke who fixes my bike from time to time.

Kept my club trophy with a 2:05, a few seconds slower than last year but I'd kind of thrown the towel in for this year already. Winner overall did a 1:45 but he weighs as much as my left leg so fair play to him.

TSK I was talking to Stephen an audaxer from our club, this morning, about how I might use audax to make winter training more interesting and how he could use TTing to make audaxing a bit faster. Any speed work on the bike will help your audax, whether it actually makes you stronger for that endless headwind or just better able to recover after a sharp hill, it will help.

Still just about time to enter this. Start time 2pm this Saturday.

20th October 2012.

Course HCC 137 (Gracious Pond Circuit)

Start about 2 miles South West of Chertsey on the B386 (Longcross Rd.)Just West of the junction with Stonehill Road (n.b. there is a grass triangle at the junction which can be used for parking).

Continue on B386 over M3 bridge to roundabout (about 3 miles) where turn left onto Chertsey Road (still B386) to another roundabout (about 1 mile) where turn left onto Windsor Road (B383) towards Chobham. After about 1.5 miles turn left into Red Lion Road. This becomes Gracious Pond Road. Beware of Horse riders and sharp right hand bend. Continue to T junction with Stonehill road where turn left to return to the start area at the junction with the B386 where turn sharp left to begin second lap.
The Second and third laps are identical to the first, with the finish at the end of the third lap before the turn onto the B386.

We hope to have some marshals, but we will provide direction arrows at crucial points. Please note the distances quoted above are just my guesses.

p.m. me with best recent 25, and the name of your club if you want to be on the start sheet. Failing this it should be possible to enter on the line, but you will need to be at the start by 1.45.

I had this in my calendar as being on the 27th (you missed a trick there!), and was going to sneak an EOL. Instead, in Devon seeing what the land has to offer.

^That's a pity, the course would suit you. Let's hope for next year.

Well at least I know now why there are so many surprisingly fast strava segments out 'in the middle of nowhere.' There is also a car park a couple of hundred yards up Stonehill Road if you don't want to park on the corner, though I wouldn't try getting in with a bike on the back or top of the car.

Well at least I know now why there are so many surprisingly fast strava segments out 'in the middle of nowhere.' .

Let's be clear: these roads are better described as 'challenging' rather than fast.

Although there are some hills, there's nothing that can't be ridden at speed on a single gear. The last time we ran the event (2010) the fastest time came from Nic Hutchings who rode his modern TT bike with gears and did 1.4.26, but the fastest on fixed was Illy with 1.6.03.

Bear in mind that Nic is one of the most talented time triallists around at the moment, and that although we all know Illy to be a strong rider, he does not see himself as a time triallist, *and he was using a borrowed bike which he had never ridden before.

*So I think it's fair to say that the superiority of gears over fixed is not well established on this course.

This course runs close to home - I should have qualified that 'fast' was in comparison to my own speed. It will be a long time, if ever, before I'm fast enough to compete in TT.

It will be a long time, if ever, before I'm fast enough to compete in TT.

The beauty of the individual time trial is that everybody is fast enough to compete against himself, and for 90% of the field that is all that matters.

The beauty of the individual time trial is that everybody is fast enough to compete against himself, and for 90% of the field that is all that matters.

Absolutely right! And I should know since that's what I've been doing for the past few decades.

Just one caveat - you have to get back to the finish timekeeper before he packs up and goes home for his tea. But in my experience they are generally pretty patient.

So, Mirius, I hope we see you on Saturday afternoon - you know where the start is so that's a useful beginning.

Looks like near perfect conditions for this afternoon.

Apart from the standing water, presumably

Rode the BSCC Burrington Combe Hill Climb yesterday.
It was my first TT and a great intro - very well organised with a great turnout (over 60 riders)

For those who don't know it its 2mile climb up the Mendips - to the south of Bristol, mostly a fairly steady climb with a couple of nasty ramps to get the lactate going.
It's also the first big hill on the Exmouth Exodus route.

The finish was shrouded in dense fog - it wasnt until about 10-20m before the line that you could actually spot the timekeeper. This also meant that it was cold and damp - something I am coming to realise slows me down considerably - I think I will be taking my turbo along next time to try and warm up properly :)

I managed a 9.05 for 17th place and the event was one by none other than the beardy ex-forumenger pj(pj) with a 7.48 (riding his fixed Bob Jackson)

Tubro or rollers are essential for a good hard warm up to get the blood flowing!

The beauty of the individual time trial is that everybody is fast enough to compete against himself, and for 90% of the field that is all that matters.

And that is the reason I'm reading this thread. I'd really have liked to have had a go at this one.

Just one caveat - you have to get back to the finish timekeeper before he packs up and goes home for his tea. But in my experience they are generally pretty patient.

So, Mirius, I hope we see you on Saturday afternoon - you know where the start is so that's a useful beginning.

Thanks! Wish I could have been there, perhaps next time.

Rode the BSCC Burrington Combe Hill Climb yesterday.
It was my first TT and a great intro - very well organised with a great turnout (over 60 riders)

For those who don't know it its 2mile climb up the Mendips - to the south of Bristol, mostly a fairly steady climb with a couple of nasty ramps to get the lactate going.
It's also the first big hill on the Exmouth Exodus route.

The finish was shrouded in dense fog - it wasnt until about 10-20m before the line that you could actually spot the timekeeper. This also meant that it was cold and damp - something I am coming to realise slows me down considerably - I think I will be taking my turbo along next time to try and warm up properly :)

I managed a 9.05 for 17th place and the event was one by none other than the beardy ex-forumenger pj(pj) with a 7.48 (riding his fixed Bob Jackson)

I rode out to watch this a few years back on a club run with Severn RC when i was in bristol. It's a funny climb, never very steep, I even seem to remember one rider using a disc wheel. Then again if your climbing it in 9 mins it probably feels pretty steep, good ride!

Tubro or rollers are essential for a good hard warm up to get the blood flowing!

I wouldn't say essential at all. Just warm up by riding nearby roads.
Harder warmups for the shorter events.

An advantage could come from warmup repeatability and not getting lost before your start time passes you by.

Hounslow& District Wheelers

**Sporting 27.6 mile Time Trial. **(20th October 2012)

The promoter’s intention that this should be a fixed wheel event ended in both failure and success.

When this time trial was first run in 2010 it attracted nine entries from fixed wheel riders and five on gears; in 2012 there were only two on fixed and twelve on gears. This was definitely a disappointment for the organisers at the start. However, even before the end of the first lap it was clear that one fixed rider was putting up a performance in a different class from the others, irrespective of the machine being used. Nic Stagg seemed to be completely untroubled by the gradients and was spinning his 88” gear in a way which made it look ideal for both ascending and descending. This was the success the promoter had hoped for.

Stagg finished in 1.5.08, just over five minutes clear of his nearest rival, Paul Holdsworth, who had elected to use a road bike. Tom Rae (Kingston Wheelers), also on gears, produced the third fastest ride with 1.11.23.

Mark Silver was fourth with 1.12.22 on a machine which almost qualified as a single speed. His Mercian (see photo) sported a 60 tooth chainring combined with an 18 tooth sprocket on a wide ratio Sturmey Archer. In practice this set up gave a single 88” gear for the race, with the 66” bottom handy for riding out to the start, and the 118” top not useful for anything. However the general effect certainly looked stylish.

Sam Day (CS Grupetto) was the only other competitor fearless enough to take up the fixed gear challenge and he finished with a respectable 1.16.26 to take 8th place.

Clearly some degree of bravery is necessary to get on a single gear bike to face a time keeper at the start of this course which consists of three laps of the ‘Gracious Pond’ circuit on the hilly lanes that lie between Chertsey and Chobham. However, it’s often said that ‘Fortune favours the brave’ and that has certainly been the case in both editions of this event. Although the course record still stands to Nic Hutchings (CS Grupetto) who recorded 1.4.29 in 2010 on a modern TT bike with variable gears, it should be remembered that Hutchings is both a successful roadman and one of the most gifted time triallists currently riding, so Nic Stagg’s time last Saturday demonstrates both his power as a rider and the competitive potential of a simple single gear machine.

Result:
(All Hounslow except where otherwise specified)

1. Nic Stagg 1. 05. 08.
   
2. Paul Holdsworth 1. 10. 15
   
3. Tom Rae (Kingston Wheelers) 1. 11.23
   
4. Mark Silver 1. 12.22
   
5. R. Marcus (Godalming & Hazlemere) 1. 12.28
   
6. Tom Diethe 1. 12.56
   
7. Ewan MacDonald (Oxford University) 1. 14.36
   
8. Sam Day (CS Grupetto) 1. 16.26
   
9. Andrew Caldwell 1. 16.36
   
10. Damian Poulter 1. 18.51
    
11. Richard Carrington (London Dynamo) 1. 19.29
    
12. Peter Franks (Kingston Wheelers) 1. 21.15.
    
    

Since the course was 27.6 miles, subtracting 6 minutes from these times will give a rough idea of the equivalent time for 25 miles (assuming an average speed of 25 mph)

Picture with this post is Nic Stagg climbing towards Gracious Pond.

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It's not often you see one this size!

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Thanks for organising this Chris, and nice to meet you!

Good work Sam.

Two things are now evident about Saturday's event.

First, that everyone I've spoken to who took part enjoyed themselves, and second that there were not enough participants.

A decision will have to be made soon about whether or not to run the event next year (the date will be needed for inclusion in handbooks), and at the moment I'm undecided about the level of support this time justifies trying again. I'm only prepared to run it on the basis that it's primarily a fixed wheel event, and it's beginning to look as though the fixed revival was a brief fashion that has already run its course.

I hope I'm wrong about this, please tell me if I am.

it's beginning to look as though the fixed revival was a brief fashion that has already run its course.

I hope I'm wrong about this, please tell me if I am.

timetriallingforum has just opened a whole sub-forum for those of us on the cog, and my personal experience over the past decade is that a slow but steady stream of riders are taking to fixed, even if not full time.