It was always a childhood dream to do this. Back in the 80s if you beat the hour you could rightly claim to be a rider of some class. Today modern aero technology and training has made it a more accessible goal but still one that requires a certain amount of effort.

Two years ago I managed to lose a consdierable amount of weight (close to 30kg) and that was the start of a longer term goal; which was to go faster than the hour.

I did one 25 last year (1hr 28s) right at the end of the season as a marker for what I needed to do over the winter. My two events so far this year didn’t really inspire; 1hr 1min and then 1hr 1min 28s. It didn’t look to be going in the right direction.

I got a full fitness test at a lab near where I live and concluded I could go faster, I just had to put up the pain. Today I put up with the pain and knocked 90 seconds off my PB and two minutes off my best this year.

59:01 was my final time and I am really very (very) happy.

Well done mate, it’s a great feeling for sure.

Well done!

Nice one Greg. Much respect.

Is this on the road?

Pah

Good effort. Aiming to do the same this summer.

Well done 🙂

That, sir, is damned impressive. Well done!

Where did you find a road that goes downhill for 25 miles?

Seriously, though, my commute to work (when I do it) is 25 miles, and it took me ages to crack the 2 hour barrier, so I can related to your sense of achievement.
The route is fairly flat, with the odd short slope in it but, at 23 miles, goes straight up the North Downs.
I’ve been mostly doing it on my ancient Raleigh Hybrid (and once, on my 29er hardtail), but have recently got a road bike, so I’m itching to have another go at it in the next few weeks.

Damn you Damn you Damn you sir, my best was 1.0.36 and try as I might that was as good as it got. Even now it’s pretty worthy, well done.

That was today’s plan for me too. We’ll done sir.

Well done! I managed to go under the hour a couple of years ago, I’ve never managed to recreate that form 🙁

Nice one..
What bike and elevation?

Massive congratulations!

It is always a brilliant feeling to achieve a target!

Nice, well done.

59.01 is well clear as well; almost “comfortable”, although, TT never are if you are doing them right.

Well done fella.

If only time trialling was cool

Well done it’s a good achievement, sounds like you’ve come along way.

It’s a silly thing, I remember riding one in the early 90’s I was on course to be nicely under the hour for the first time, and my front tyre blew out, never thought I would see myself sat on the armco on the side of the A1 crying, it was such a big thing at the time.

much respect.

nice one, you must be well chuffed. 😀

Good one dude. Much respect.

Good work 🙂

Which did you do?

Thanks for the positive comments guys. They certainly make the experience far sweeter. The bike was my regular road/race bike but with clip on aero bars and deep section (60mm) wheels. Also aero helmet and skin suit. I’m considering a TT bike but didn’t want to engineer a sub 1 hr ride (well not too much anyway. This result is on a like for like so same course and bike as the last three rides.)

Honestly it feels absolutely bloody marvellous. I had tracked my speed on the ride so knew when I crossed the line I must have done it but you can never be too sure. When my time came up on the screen for fastest 40km (a Garmin feature) I was shouting out loud on the bike. Didn’t think I’d get that far under first time. Sub 58 maybe for the end of season?

Chapeau Greg, great job!

chapeau indeed that man … my best was a 59:53 🙂

Well done 🙂

Re… Spect!

It’s stories like this that make me want to slip into the skin suit again. I suspect I’m a long way off the hour these days though.

Good job mate.

As someone who for whom this stuff came naturally in my youth I’d have been rather an arse about your achievement in years gone by. But a little older, with a lot of weight added, and a very dicky hip….the thought of turning this around and how hard it would/will reminds me what an achievement this is and one I can only dream of at the moment. Well done.

Welcome.
I really respect the fact you did it on a pretty normal bike.
Been thinking about returning to it myself lately.
I feel good for you.

You do realise that you’ve now consigned me to a summer of shaving time off my commute? – first target, 1hr 50min 😉

30kg?
What did you weigh before you lost 30Kg?

25mph is good, very good in fact . I intend to do a club 10 this year just to see where Im at ( the back is the sad fact )

did the lab give you W/kg number ?

Well done! Wonderful feeling isn’t it ? I got under with a 57 last year .It was my first sub hour ride in 18 years

Good work 🙂 If you’re enjoying TT’ing I’d definitely get a TT bike (the timetrialling forum is a good place to look and also a great place for help/advice). A TT bike will make a powerful aero position so much easier to hold for a 25 and you’ll start knocking chunks off your new PB.

Congrats again, keep at it. 🙂

What did you weigh before you lost 30Kg?

I was just over 110kg and I got down to 82kg at the end of last season. I’m 83.5g now and 21% body fat, which the lab said was excellent for a ‘normal person’ but only ‘good’ for an athelete. It was one of the big results from the lab tests; I can comfortably loose another 4kg and get down to 17%. That’s the first part of the next plan.

The lab didn’t need to calculate watts/kilo – that’s pretty straight forward. I’m at 3.2 which is paltry really.

I got under with a 57 last year .It was my first sub hour ride in 18 years

I think at this point, with all the training I can do between now and the end of the season and a full blown TT bike, a 57 would be realistic and would blow me away!

Once again, many many thanks for the fab comments. Means a lot.

21% body fat is pretty high end for an athlete, especially cycling. Dropping that would be a relatively painless way to gain speed over a 25.

What were the key factors for the weight loss?

Well done sir, you are now a tester! Have a totally gratuitous picture of King Alf as your reward.

that “cassette” ! 😀

*looks for a beryl*

** here you go **

oh, and congrats OP – I always aim to beat 25mph an all my rides, regardless of terrain

( 😉 )

Nice one. My PB is still 58:40 (one of 3 sub hour rides IIRC), so there’s you next target 🙂

What were the key factors for the weight loss?

By that I guess you mean how did I do it. Well for the first three month I was off the bike with a broken arm. I reduced my calorie intake to an average of 1500. Some days I’d have as little as 1200, it just depended on how I felt. Then I started riding lightly again and for the next three month maintained 1500 a day mostly even on the days I was riding (but I wasn’t doing very much). As the mileage climbed so did the calorie intake but I reckon I maintained an constant net defecit.

I got down to 87kg in the first year then in the second year the mileage really ramped up over the summer and I just naturally came down to 82kg. I’m on this programme now focusing on power so the mileage won’t be as high and while 21% is relative high for an athlete I’m also 42 and will have to be really careful what I eat.

As for the end goal a sub 58:30 is the real aim as that’s my brother’s PB (although he was 34 when he did that!).

Chappeau for the pictures of ‘The ‘King’ and Beryl Burton.

Genuine Q: How does weight loss help, all other things bring equal, on a flat TT?

(I’m a once 1:02er)

There’s always a slight hill, Al, and accelerating out of corners. Tiny bit of extra surface area ?

but yeah, not much help on a flat straight course I guess