Time Trial / Time Trialling / TT

Better than laps of the A4, that would be grim

Xav

Like the H25/A?

Better than laps of the A4, that would be grim

I think I prefer H50/1 to H50/8. Now that the Theale end has been resurfaced even more so, as the Holybourne to Chawton leg on the A31 is now the worst bit of concrete slab based road I race on. Twice is bad enough, the top blokes will be doing it 15 times in the 12.

H50/1 is still very boring though.

It's a 50 mile time trial course, what do you fucking expect?

The H50/17 would be good if anyone wanted to use it, just need to make sure it's at the right time of day

Xav

In the olden days, you saw more of the countryside during TTs, as there was no repetition. On the other hand, it was a long walk back to the HQ if you punctured halfway through a straight out and back 100.

It's a 50 mile time trial course, what do you fucking expect?

Q50/11 :0) Romney Marshes, lovely!

Better than laps of the A4, that would be grim

Xav

Depends on the length of the laps. Not having done repetitive loops of the A4 I can't compare.

The H50/17 would be good if anyone wanted to use it, just need to make sure it's at the right time of day

Xav
I think that's still my 25 PB course.

Dan, my club Lea Valley CC will be running its Tuesday Ten Series @ the Velopark from the 13th of May for 8 weeks. We'd welcome Islington CC members. It's always been a great event for beginners.
As for other courses, then there are some nearer ones now not much used much near Epping , eg Hobbs Cross and Abridge; not sure if they are still in the Handbook though. I can never remember the numbers

PM me if you want to know more .

I think that's still my 25 PB course.

It's definitely a quick one, fast start and no real significant drags. I always find barelling into the Kingston Bagpuize roundabout on the way out at >30mph one of the more scary things I do on a bike though. Good course for fixed although I've only ever ridden it on gears

Xav

I think I finished 2nd to a bloke who once beat David Millar so that means I'm as fast as Millar right?

There's actually a 50 on the 10th August on the H50/17 - 7am so maybe worth a punt. Week after the National 25

Xav

^ The 2013 edition of that race was my first 50. Loved it so might give it another whirl this year.

There's actually a 50 on the 10th August on the H50/17 - 7am so maybe worth a punt. Week after the National 25
Xav

National 12hr is on the 17th Aug though and we all know bigger is better.

Might do the Nat50/100 this year. If it doesn't clash. Could be fun.

I'll be at the 50. Potentially on fixed but I had a word with the organiser and he thinks there's one drag that probably isn't doable

Xav

I did fancy doing a TT fixed this year. Not sure why. Just fancy it.

But then there is the issue of gearing. F1/25 would be a good course for it.

I had a word with the organiser and he thinks there's one drag that probably isn't doable

Calling it a drag and then saying it's not doable on fixed suggests that he doesn't ride fixed.

I did fancy doing a TT fixed this year. Not sure why. Just fancy it.

But then there is the issue of gearing. F1/25 would be a good course for it.

Lots of courses suitable for fixed. I'll probably be doing the H50/8 on the 11th May on fixed - I did the H10/8 on the 22nd but trashed my disc in the warm up so ended up on 102" rather than 110". Last 4km was around 120rpm and crossed the line at 130rpm, not ideal! Best course was the U47r (pancake flat) but no-one will promote on it now.

For me personally I gear for the fastest sections of a course, so work out your maximum speed and gear for that, rather gearing for the slow bits. You just get on with it when the cadence/speed gets low, but it's a waste of time spinning out at higher speeds for long periods when you want to put a bit of pressure on.

Calling it a drag and then saying it's not doable on fixed suggests that he doesn't ride fixed.

True! The last 1/3 (ish) is mostly downhill and the first 1/3 uphill with a rolling middle. I haven't actually ridden it yet though

Xav

For me personally I gear for the fastest sections of a course, so work out your maximum speed and gear for that, rather gearing for the slow bits. You just get on with it when the cadence/speed gets low, but it's a waste of time spinning out at higher speeds for long periods when you want to put a bit of pressure on.

Noted4furtherreflection

For me personally I gear for the fastest sections of a course, so work out your maximum speed and gear for that, rather gearing for the slow bits. You just get on with it when the cadence/speed gets low, but it's a waste of time spinning out at higher speeds for long periods when you want to put a bit of pressure on.

On the other hand, there's very little time to be gained from doing 40mph rather than only 35mph on the easy bits (13s per mile), whereas if you bog down on the slow bits you can lose a lot of time (e.g. just dropping from 18mph to 17mph loses you 12s per mile)

For myself, once I drop below about 50rpm, I'm really struggling, so I need to have the slowest parts of the course in mind when selecting a gear to avoid that. At the top end, I know I'm still pushing hard on the pedals up to about 110rpm, and above that if it's downhill or wind assisted I just have a rest knowing that I'm not losing much time and might be sparing energy to use on the hard bits.

On the other hand, there's very little time to be gained from doing 40mph rather than only 35mph on the easy bits (13s per mile), whereas if you bog down on the slow bits you can lose a lot of time (e.g. just dropping from 18mph to 17mph loses you 12s per mile)

For myself, once I drop below about 50rpm, I'm really struggling, so I need to have the slowest parts of the course in mind when selecting a gear to avoid that. At the top end, I know I'm still pushing hard on the pedals up to about 110rpm, and above that if it's downhill or wind assisted I just have a rest knowing that I'm not losing much time and might be sparing energy to use on the hard bits.

Yeah, I think it's a personal thing. I can plod along at low cadences quite happily but I really dislike not being able to put down the power at higher speeds. I do ride rolling courses on fixed (and will be riding most of next year fixed) so tend to see quite a wide swing in speeds.

On the right day fixed is absolutely faster than gears. There's no back check when you make a gear change, the dead spot is improved, the bike is eminently more aerodynamic and drivetrain efficiency is super high. On the wrong day it'll give you a pasting though ha

Xav

On the right day fixed is absolutely faster than gears, the bike is eminently more aerodynamic and drivetrain efficiency is super high.

I keep telling myself this too. Certainly the times which have been achieved on fixed on float days on flat courses indicate that there is no discernible penalty to having no shifters.