Time Trial / Time Trialling / TT

So are there marshalls on the route, am a complete novice so no idea of what i am letting myself in for if i turn up on saturday.

Don't rely on it for a club event.

So are there marshalls on the route, am a complete novice so no idea of what i am letting myself in for if i turn up on saturday.

There should be some marshals, but I don't guarantee every possible corner will be marshalled. However, I have been promised that there will be direction arrows in place.
Anyone who does not feel confident about the course can phone me. Mobile no. is given in my forum profile.

Even with marshalls.. some of us manage to go off course on a regular basis. :S

Sorry, why is Sussex mental? Will there be more than one 24hr event next year?

The National 24hr tt will be the Sussex one in late June, with Mersey Roads 24 (previously the only one, so was always the national) a month after in late July.

Thanks Chopsicle.

Are you going to have another go at the 24hr event/s?

More ESCA 24hr info:
http://www.esca24hour.org.uk/index.php
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=23166.0

Some Mersey routes:
http://oranj.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/24map3.jpg
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=36183.0

Mersey Vids & Pics:
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=36147.0
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=36079.0

Mersey Threads
2008: http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4255.0
2009: http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14378.0
2010: http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=35195.0

12/24hr TTs
http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=36478.0

thanks for the links Hippy,

I feel sick thinking about it, so yeah, definitely.

There is an unfortunate error in the description of the HCC137 course (for this Saturday’s event) on the Hounslow website.

The website says “go west on B386 to junction with Staple Hill where bear left.” This is not correct.

It should read: “ Go west on B386 continue over motorway bridge to roundabout (3miles) where take first exit and continue on B386 to roundabout junction with B383 (3.9 miles) where take first exit onto B383.

  Continue on B383 to junction with Red Lion Road (5.2 miles) where turn **sharp** left into Red Lion Road.”

The rest of the description is ok, but I’ll add my own notes.

About 100 yards before this left turn there is a restaurant on your right called ‘The Cloche Hat’ – a white painted, timber framed building.

Continue along Red Lion Road (a country lane, by the way) which becomes Gracious Pond Road. There is a sharp right hand bend at 6.6 miles which requires caution. This can be recognised by a ‘Slow’ sign on the road, a chevron bend sign, and the White Cottage just by the bend which is visible from some distance away.

Gracious Pond Rd ends in a T junction at Stone Hill Rd. (7.2. miles, sign posted ‘Ottershaw’) Turn left, but take care as there is some traffic on this road. This will take you back to the start area to turn very sharp left to start the next lap.

I can only apologise for the mess up with our web site, but although the course may sound complicated in this description, it is easy to follow when you are on the road. I hope and expect to have some marshals, and there will be direction arrows. There will be a sketch map at the start.

Note that much of the course is overhung with trees. Therefore I recommend the use of LED lights. I rode over the course this afternoon (Thursday) and can report that there was no great problem with fallen leaves – but this might change by Saturday, so please be aware of this potential hazard.

Just a word on gearing. I used 86.5” (49x15) this afternoon, and even though I am stricken with age I did not have any great difficulty with the climbs. I’ll need to go faster on Saturday though, if I’m going to avoid being embarrassingly slow.

The website shows the start area correctly, but just in case of problems, make sure you have my mobile phone no. to hand. (see my personal details on this forum).

The HCC137 course: http://www.hounslowanddistrictwheelers.co.uk/hcc137_description.html

^that's the link with the mistake, hippy, all occurring at the NW part of the course. Basically, don't bear left just before crossing the motorway, but carry on and take the 1st exit at the next 2 rdbts.

^that's the link with the mistake, hippy, all occurring at the NW part of the course. Basically, don't bear left just before crossing the motorway, but carry on and take the 1st exit at the next 2 rdbts.

Absolutely correct.

^that's the link with the mistake, hippy, all occurring at the NW part of the course. Basically, don't bear left just before crossing the motorway, but carry on and take the 1st exit at the next 2 rdbts.

I posted it more as a reference for myself and BDW who might be heading out there as speckled taters.

Have fun. I'm sick as a dog.

Perfect day to ride then, no? :)

I tried yesterday. Every time I went over a small bump, I felt like someone had punched me in the temple.

Sporting Fixed Gear 27.6 mile Time Trial (30th October 2010)

Unaffected by torrential rain Illy (C.S. Grupetto) won this new event last Saturday with the fast time of 1hour 6minutes 3 seconds for three laps of the tough Gracious Pond circuit.

Stelle (Rollapaluza CC) took the handicap prize with an actual time of 1.18.16, a creditable ride which gave her fifth place on scratch.

This race came about through the cancellation of the Hounslow 100 last July and was created to find a home for the ‘Best on Fixed Wheel’ prize from that event. Although there was no question of getting near the distance of the original race, it was felt that by using a twisting, hilly circuit at least some of the difficulty of an endurance event on a single gear would be retained. On the day heavy showers added to the riders’ problems.

Unlike some time trials the outcome of Saturday’s race was not predictable. Illy has almost no experience of riding against the watch although he is clearly a promising roadman, having gained his second category licence this year. Apart from unfamiliarity with the discipline, the bike he used was new to him and his 95” gear was presumably chosen by guesswork. However at 90 rpm this gear gives about 25mph, and while most of us would doubt our ability to maintain such a speed on a hard circuit, Illy was proved correct in believing that it was within his power.

The outright fastest time of the day came from Nic (of the Grupetto), who recorded the super time of 1.4.26, roughly equivalent to 58 minutes for 25 miles. However, this was done on variable gears, so it could not count as the winning ride. Nic was an established time trial rider a few years ago with some very fast times to his credit, but 2010 has been a comeback season for him, and he has been concentrating on road racing where he has gone from a fourth to a first category licence holder. So it was no great shock that his was the fastest time; the surprise was that Illy was only one and a half minutes slower on a course where most followers of the sport would have expected variable gears to be a great advantage.

Result:

Fixed

1. Illy (CS Grupetto) 1.06.03
   
2. Paul Holdsworth (Hounslow & District) l.11.12
   
3. Mark Silver (Hounslow) 1.15.53
   
4. David French (Weybridge Wheelers) 1.18.11
   
5. Stelle (Rollapaluza CC) 1.18.16
   
6. Richard Callum (Weybridge) 1.18.36
   
7. Chris Lovibond (Hounslow) 1.26.17
   
8. David Eccles (RedmonCC) 1.32.43
   
   
   
   

Variable Gears

Nic (CS Grupetto) 1.04.26
Brent Skinner (Hounslow) 1.17.45
Neil Ferrelly (Hounslow) 1.25.17.

There were four riders who failed to finish, two of whom punctured.

Pictures should follow.

Sorry I bailed on the presentation at the pub clubman.

I had to leave to get back home so we could make Muddy Hell. It was good that I avoided the pub, as it was I was heading towards Basingstoke on the A30 thinking "this isn't right.."

Great effort from Grupetto and Rolla! The conditions were crap - I know, I was standing in them.

Illy at speed.

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Stelle ditto.

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Mark Silver, Left hand drive - does anyone know how he does this without the left hand pedal falling off?

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Voodoo. Does the UCI test for voodoo?

He rides backwards - that's a 'head-on' shot.

Paul Holdsworth, trying hard on old school bike.

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Perhaps the last word here: all the single gear riders I spoke to thought they were overgeared, except Illy. He just said 'I *might *have been overgeared.'

illy = forum's answer to Jens Voigt.