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Like this?
Something like that.
What bike were you on? Hope it didn't have Rubber Queens on.
Nice one!
they are a bit addictive but I can't ever see me going down the aero helmet, TT bike etc.
I like to keep it simple with my road bike and see if i have improved.. Although head winds are demorialising
Bianchi 928 c2c with 25mm tyres.
If the best time was 24 something then that doesnt sound like a particulary fast course so well done for doing less than 30
Stevenh - I did 24:12 on my first go aged 42 😛 - maybe beating it first go is a bit hard - second then (23:48)
if i go abroad to work any time soon and a race is coming up you can have a shot of my stealth.
TT is addictive VERY addictive.
i won a bet with a very senior club mate who told me id never break the hour on a 25tt first try ...... 59.27 - uphill finish and i could see the clock ticking down , one benifit/downside to the road bike id borrowed was flightdeck ! - only the ground opening up and swallowing me was going to stop me at that point .... thought i was gonna tear off my muscles ! its all in the head !
trickydisco - Member
Nice one!they are a bit addictive but I can't ever see me going down the aero helmet, TT bike etc.
I like to keep it simple with my road bike and see if i have improved.. Although head winds are demorialising
POSTED 15 MINUTES
You say that now...
Someone's sig on a tt forum read something like,
pointy hat: 100
fluro spandex suit: 60
fluro shoe covers: 30
Looking like an idiot: Priceless
Iain
Trail_rat I've got a similar bet on great to know it's doable 🙂
Crazy legs, I know of a similar (same?) tractor story from a club in Market Harborough years ago. It wasn't there was it?
I have just come up with a solution fo testers cough - singleton malt 🙂
That was excellent… I loved it.
But sadly not below 24 minutes …. but then the fastest guy on the night got 23:59
28:59 for me and pretty pleased with that. Considering that’s only the second time I’ve ridden a road bike in anger.
Didn’t ride till I puked… aerobically I seemed pretty good (run my first marathon recently and have never been fitter) but lacked power… My legs were giving up before my chest wanted too.
What would you guys advise for power exercises/routines … Hills and HIIT, I presume?
My legs hurt today. Need to get out and do some short sharp rides I think.
Well done mate thats not a bad old starter time, all those folks going on about 24 mins must live down south, there is no such thing as a "flat and windless" course around here !
I highly recommend laps of Arthur's Seat, sprint like a bastard up the climb for as long as you can (or do 2 mins, 30 secs, mix it up), in as big a gear as you can, then recover on the rest of the lap.
My legs hurt today. Need to get out and do some short sharp rides I think.
You did it properly then 🙂 Just spin easy today.
Pacing a TT takes time - the first mile or two should feel a bit too easy, then build the effort so the second half is harder and the last mile is the hardest when you're desperate for the finish line to arrive ASAP.
As well as trickydisco's 3-line mantra I'd suggest adding "Can I pedal any harder?" "Can I change up yet?"
For training try 2 x 20mins at FTP (the pace you could hold for an hour) with 10 mins easy in between, twice a week. @Ro5ey, if you race hills train on hills, if you ride flat courses then train on the flat.
TT is addictive VERY addictive.
^^ that's the voice of experience.
Once you can do it I'd suggest making one of the sessions above 1x30 then build from there to 3x20 once you fancy trying some 25s
If the top speeds were ~ 24 then both riders did pretty well, it helps to have a look in the back of the comic or at the course record to get a sense of what is doable on your local courses and if Huthinson, M beats you by 10 minutes don't worry about it
To get your power up it has to be steep hills as there is no hiding. Power intervals on the flat are too easy to back off on. Steep hills on MTB you can granny or may get too technical so it is more about skill than power
Good effort for your first attempt. TT'ing is learning about yourself and how much you can suffer. The next one you do should be a lot quicker and so on till you get to a point were you reach a rough time your constantly keep hitting.
Thats when it starts getting very ****ing grim, chipping seconds of your best time !!
TT'ing is almost the same effort as a MTB race, full gas from the start and keep it at 90% till the end and then 100%, if you cross the line in both events not feeling very ill or skull ****ed you've not going hard enough. 😀
Enjoy the "testers cough" afterwards, mmmm the acrid taste of blood.
To get your power up it has to be steep hills as there is no hiding. Power intervals on the flat are too easy to back off on
I find it just as easy to back off on a hill as I do on the flat if I'm not in the mood. Meanwhile if you want the training to really count it has to be on the flat as the physiology is slightly different on hills (also on your TT bike if you have a different position on that - if you don't have a TT bike with a lower position than on a road bike there is time to be gained there).
I just need to get the miles in and mix in some intervals and hill climbing work. A couple of years ago I managed to do a road century in 5hrs so just need to get back to that level I suppose. Then when I'm as fit as I want to be then I'll start spending money on stuff.
Think I could have a new addiction though.
Am up for another dig at this one tonight. Will be interesting to see if I can improve on the time.
Good luck George. Trying a TT is on my to do list this summer. Pity I can't try the ERC ones, ill have to find a weekend one to do instead...or try the one in fife ive been told about. You shoulda joined the her(r)velos though 😉
If you fancy some training, we meet on tuesday night for speedwork and attacks on AS.
the guy who drafted a tractor wasn't breaking any rules btw ;)....unless he arranged it to be there!!
best thing that worked for me was 7 pints of batemans xxxb the night before, sleep in car on way to event, ride up the road for 5 minutes then just hammer it....that made me go from 22:30 pb to a 20:58....went out that night, did a sporting 50 next day in a sub 2hr time! haha
Claire - the tuesday night training sounds like a good plan. Had I known that there was such a thing as a Herrvelo I probably would have joined them.
What course you doing is the ERC Kirky one ?
Someone recorded that course for the iMagic so I've actually ridden it "virtually". Probably not all that realistic though as I managed sub 30 minutes...
Must go and ride it for real sometime and see just how much slower I am in real life and with a headwind for half of it.
You shoulda joined the her(r)velos though
What sort of stuff do the her(r)velos do? SWMBO is a Hervelo and has mentioned that there appeared to be some kind of associated partners group.
There's currently three herrvelos...my other half (andy), Druidh and Philip. We generally ride together or meet outwith club rides for faster/specific training rides. A few of the girls other halves show up on an ad hoc basis for the Tuesday sessions and pub nights but aren't members. Its been a while since we had a good turn out on a tuesday night but three of us last night managed to wreck each others legs 🙂 We are also setting up a road race team too. You should both come along, the Tuesday nights at AS are good fun and hard work.
For my first TT, I downloaded a Garmin TCX plot of the route with a time that I wanted to aim for. I used this as a virtual partner on my Edge 500 and PLF'd to make sure I beat the time. Worked well, it shows you your time ahead/behind etc. I beat the time by 30 seconds.
This gave me a pretty good idea of the intensity I needed to aim for in further events
And I crossed the line feeling both of these:
very ill or skull ****ed
aracer - Member
To get your power up it has to be steep hills as there is no hiding. Power intervals on the flat are too easy to back off on
I find it just as easy to back off on a hill as I do on the flat if I'm not in the mood.
hills arent steep enough then!
Im talking [b]steep[/b] - with 18-20% sections where you have to go in the red just to stay upright
It'd take a lot more than 18-20% before I had to go into the red to stay upright.
the guy who drafted a tractor wasn't breaking any rules btw ;)....unless he arranged it to be there!!
yes he was; RTTC regulation 21 "competitors must ride entirely alone and unassisted and not ....take shelter (commonly known as drafting) from other riders or vehicles."
God I'm turning into a testing nerd. if you are enjoying tt'ing this book is quite interesting;
,his pyramid intervals are a fun workout!
okay now this has tweaked my interest. how does one find out about these tts and then enter them. need to be one of the evening ones for me tho.
yes he was; RTTC regulation 21 "competitors must ride entirely alone and unassisted and not ....take shelter (commonly known as drafting) from other riders or vehicles."God I'm turning into a testing nerd. if you are enjoying tt'ing this book is quite interesting;
if he is unable to overtake said vehicle then there isn't a lot he can do...only the most pedantic organiser would take it as read...
btw i have been a tester since the age of 13...ive seen dangermouse draft cars before! 😯
if he is unable to overtake said vehicle then there isn't a lot he can do...only the most pedantic organiser would take it as read...
The great Alf Engers was regularly suspended by the RTTC, not only for drafting behind vehicles, but also for overtaking them, as he was faster than some of the cars on the road at the time.
Which is as good an excuse as any for a retro TT picture - 'King' Alf in his pomp - note the holes drilled in everything, the huge chainring (57 x 12 top gear) and the aerodynamic, but rather suicidal, head position.
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We are also setting up a road race team too. You should both come along, the Tuesday nights at AS are good fun and hard work.
I'll see if I can persuade SWMBO but I'm not optimistic as she's currently in the hill-hating stage. She's not had her road bike long and even with an 11:28 on the bike and a compact chainset she can find the hills a struggle. She's allegedly in training for the womens triathlon in a few weeks but that traiming seems to involve eating chocolate, cake and biscuits rather than cycling, running or swimming...
SBZ If you can ride up a 20% hill below FTP then I would expect you to be a lot quicker than you are - no offence.
In the red means above 85% MHR.
Exceptions: you might be a slow bicycle race expert, do a mean trackstand, or worst of all, have a triple 👿
winterfold - who mentioned FTP? I just said that I have no problem riding up 20% hills without blowing out of my backside.
Tonights time was 27:58 which was 1:32 quicker than last time. I'm reasonably happy with that - winning time was 24:32. Despite warming up well I still managed to blow my legs to bits in the first mile.
Just checked my records and my iMagic time for the Kirkliston course was 27:57. I'd be happy if I could get within 5 minutes of that for real!
i expected better ..... what sbz doesnt say is that the whole 1.32 was taken off by going off his heads up touring shopper bianchi to my flat backed layed out long px Stealth TT bike that i loaned him while im working away.
any tips for pacing during TTs? I am rubbish at my club TTs, being beaten by riders who I drop on most climbs, my best times are only when I have someone to chase down or someone overtakes me and I use them to pace at a legal distance,
Use a heart rate monitor?
learn to love the pain ...... it is not a success till you vomit on or around the finish line 😀
Don't go off too fast. Your HR lags behind your perceived effort. Spend the first mile getting up to speed. It will feel like you aren't trying hard enough but a quick glance at the speedo will confirm that you are flying along nicely (unless a headwind 🙁 ). After the first mile, try to be at threshold. Final mile ramp up above threshold so you have absolutely nothing left after the line.
The tips on pacing above are good. The lag between effort and measured heart rate means that an HR monitor is not effective for the start of a TT. With experience you can develop a feel for how to get up to speed smoothly without going over the red line. A power meter is the ultimate gadget for training and pacing, but a bit pricey unless you are really serious.
It is particularly important to pace the start of the Kirkliston 10 course, because you hit the climb over the motorway to Winchburgh very early. If you start too hard you will suffer here and lose time recovering afterwards.
Looking at absolute times can be a bit misleading, and it is probably more useful to compare yourself to other riders competing regularly, to gauge your performance. Kirkliston would be referred to as a "sporting course" in English TT terms. On drag strip English TT courses, you probably need a 20.xx to get in the top 10 and 19.xx winning times are pretty common. To put Kirkliston in perspective, until last year, the course record, set one of the top British based pros, was 21.47, and the current record is 21.40. The second fastest time last night, 24.24, was set by the current Scottish women's 10 and 25 champion. Your times are quite respectable for a novice and you should make some big early improvements as you gain experience.
Speak to club members at the event and make use of the ERC coaches; you will find lots of experienced people who are happy to provide advice if you are looking to improve your performance. Good luck!
is that road not really rough too? i've only ridden it in passing (though i fancy a go at the tt.. is membership a hassle to do?) but it seems pretty poor.. i bet that makes quite a difference too.
SBZ - different understanding of 'into the red' then 🙂 most people mean it as beyond threshold (ie you are on borrowed time before you blow).
So - find a hill you cant quite climb at threshold (HRMs do help with this, but if you dont want that, then its the pace when you could just about hold a conversation), repeat until you can do it, then find a steeper hill, or click up a gear.
That's the best way of improving your power in my experience as I dont think you can hide.
Save blowing out of your backside for the last mile.
amt27 - you might find you can go harder for longer than you think. I couldnt understand how i was ever going to do it, until I had a mate show me race pace on the course I was going to do for my first one. Then I got it, it is a proper effort, but sounds like you are fit and you just have to take the pain.