I’m definitely not a time trialler, but I am starting to enjoy getting in the miles on the road bike. Got a flattish loop of about 10 miles which I have started to use for speed training.

Bearing in mind i’ve got a pretty average road bike and no tt bars etc, what do you think would be a reasonable time to aim to get my time down to? (I know its difficult to estimate these things, but a ball park figure is all I’m looking for)

I’d suggest you look for improvement, not absolute times

or look for a local TT course & compare yourself to riders in a club TT

(NB – I don’t do TT’s, or training)

I think around 30 min or 20mph for a 10 would be a great barrier to beat. Its hard though not knowing where you are already.
SO that 30 min could go 5 min either way.
Have a look at some local club tt times and see what other ladies are achieving.
Hth

So many variables. Gradient, wind, how fit your feeling on the day.

I’d say that over a 10mile route you should be hitting 20mph to 24mph

Over 20mph is what i’d aim for initially though

I think around 30 min or 20mph for a 10 would be a great barrier to beat

Yep, ^^this is usually the first target, I think it’s known as ‘evens’. If you can do that the next BIG BIG target is 20 min or 30mph for a 10, or if you’re like me getting as far below 30mins for a 10 as possible, I got stuck at about 25 mins 😮

I agree with all the above comments, but additionally, why not think about joining your local club, and riding some of their midweek 10s. Standard road bikes are commonplace, after all most people are looking to only better their own times

As said above, turn up to a race, you will gain a minute or two from adrenalin. Whats the worst that can happen? 🙂

I got a road bike at the tail end of last year, the first in many years. I really enjoy the distance and speed you can cover with relative ease. I was doing a 10 mile TT to gauge my fitness on the local parks recently built track. My target was 10 in 30 mins. I have only done it a couple of times before the bad weather hit in November. But the 1st one was 29.59 (cutting it fine) and the 2ns was 28.18. Now that the light nights will be here next week my plan is to go and do more of the same and see just where my fitness level is at. Need to get out more as the 10 under the Ben (Pair) is in a couple of months, then the Strathpuffer Lite(Solo). There are a lot of guys in the Mountain Bike Club that also do a lot of road work. It is all about seeing where you are and how much improvement you can get. Just push that little bit harder…Just get out and ride.

It takes a decent rider about 20 minutes to do a lap at the Isle of Mann TT.

sub 25min for a ten is ok

Got a flattish loop of about 10 miles which I have started to use for speed training.

do you only ride the one loop (10 miles)?
you need to be doing more than that to do a decent 10time. you will not realise your potential if you stick to just doing 10 miles as fast as you can.

do you only ride the one loop (10 miles)?
you need to be doing more than that to do a decent 10time. you will not realise your potential if you stick to just doing 10 miles as fast as you can.

I do ride more than that, its just I’ve found a nice loop which works well when I’m short of time. Have longer routes (or just go wherever the wind takes me) when I have time, just wanted to challenge myself with speed over a pretty short distance to help with the type of racing I like!

Thanks guys – will do a proper timed run and see where I am in relation to getting it under 30 minutes, and then can work from there!

Jedi – what’s your best for a 10?

+1 anything under 30 is good for starters I think. The quick guys are 25 and below and I managed 27 last year when I had a go, which I was happy with. In terms of training, if you use a HRM then try to be consistent over the 30 minutes, and try to find a level where you are pushing hard but not going into the red, and burning up. It’s certainly good training (once it’s over…).

Sub 20 your getting into proper fast lads territory. A good friend of mine holds a number of course records in the south east and he has never gone sub 20….

Not many people do..

Most club riders are generally happy with a sub 25…

Personally my best is mid 23s on a road bike. TTing is purely fitness for road racing…

surrounded by zulus i won a few tt’s 🙂

Really depends on the loop – fancy mapping it for us?

Is it out and back or a loop? Any junctions / TLs / roundabouts?

22:10 my fastest 10. Harder than going under the hour for a 25.

Flat 10, 25. Flat 25, hour.

Expect pain, if it doesn’t hurt you’re not riding hard enough.

Crying is not an option.

I messed up the map thing at the end…but here’s my route,
the loopy bit is just over 10 miles..so I’ll only time myself for 10 miles of it 😛
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/30189758/
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/30189758/#climbs

I’d only echo the above really, 25-30 minutes would be a reasonable target.

If you get really good at concentrating at maintaining 100% power output you forget you’re on the road and get run over by a car, triathletes are especially good at this.

expect pain

My favourite quote

To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain….at cycling’s core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn’t matter if you’re sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you’re missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there’s no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks.