Last night did a time trial with Settle WW Wheelers. What’s that all about, it’s so hard and you can really knock yourself out albeit i had a very slow time against most of the field.

They laughed at my pedals too ….ugh.

Did enjoy it though and can see it could be addictive. Next one in two weeks. My task before then is to learn how the gear levers work on this funny road-bike-thing.

C

Did you have DMR vaults on?

I’m guessing from looking at the results that it’s quite a hilly course?

Time Trials are evil. Dabbled a bit a couple of years ago. Nearly as hard as cross racing!

The worst 20-35 minutes of your life, but strangely enjoyable afterwards. I’m getting addicted to them.

Your helmets the wrong shape old bean (not the purple one with the single vent….)

I know some of them had full on pointy helmets (fanagh) and elbow rests on the handlebars and so on. Very serious!

C

The worst 20-35 minutes of your life, but strangely enjoyable afterwards. I’m getting addicted to them

I thought i’d like them but so far I’ve not – not even when i’ve finished! I just don’t get the buzz that I get from road racing and whilst i can push myself hard, I get mentally bored half way through. But I did enjoy a 2up TT better than a solo one.

TT’s = Strava for those who don’t ‘do’ gps 😉

I tried some when I was younger. I think it was just the club I tried but it really left a bad taste. Dems there were unwritten rules in the club house and people sat in time based clusters. You didn’t speak to anyone faster unless they spoke to you first.

I was about 14 at the time. You can imagine what sort of impression that left.

Did the 1st of one of the year last week and hated it. Over a minute down from my fastest last year 🙁

TT’s on a full susser are quite fun though, in a deliberately awkward, make life difficult for yourself kind of a way.

why?

I must confess I really enjoy the TT part of riding.

Just joined my local road club who do weekly TT’s. Have yet to enter one officially but I have tried a few of the courses to gauge times.

I also have a few 10 mile TT segments on Strava that I’m trying to beat too. Just taken delivery of some clip on tri bars in preparation of an assault on my PB’s.

tracknicko – Member

why?

Because I’m an idiot :lol:. I’ve done a few open TT’s on the FS and do need to see if I can beat my best 25 time

My experience of 10mile TTs this year

Carbon fibre aero TT bike – check
Carbon fibre aero wheels – check
Pointy hat – nope, not yet but thinking about it because its got to make me quicker, right?
Ass handed to me by a 70yr old on a steel road bike – check 😥

In my defence etc etc, focusing on long courses, not doing short interval training etc. still humbling to watch guys put sub-22 times in whilst i struggle to break 27

I’ve done one TT in my entire life and I hated every single second of it. Was quite young at the time – 17 or 18 maybe – and all I knew was that I’d been talked into it by other guys in the cycle club, I’d had to get up at 4.30am to get down to a windswept, rain-soaked section of A-road in Kent. And I DNF’d due to a fall as the wheel went from under me on a manhole cover followed by a puncture as I limped back to HQ.

And then we had a shit breakfast at a Little Chef.

Suffice to say that since then, I’ve never once been tempted to try them again.

RichardK

Empirically I reckon a pointy hat is good for 15 – 20 secs on a 10.

You’ll also find testers are generally an older lot and I know plenty of 50, 60 and 70 year olds who can whip people half their age. – My minute man this Sunday is 27 years older than me and I have 50 miles to hold him off.

The crowd at Settle WWW were a very chilled bunch, and just see it as a way of training I think. The course is a flat as you get round here so is really hilly!

I did fancy doing it on my mountain bike, just because I reckon it would hone your skills in a much better way. Not sure they would take kindly to that though.

C

hone your skills? it’s riding a long a straight road???

i quite like a 10 every now and then. maybe 1 or 2 a year just to see how i’m going, and remind myself how much you can make yourself hurt.

but just on my normal road bike.

no need to pay big money for a TT bike to knock 20-30 seconds off my time, but likewise REALLY no point in riding my mountain bike at 18mph and coming dead last…

Hone my skills – yes.

It is like riding on ice in winter. It teaches you to be very smooth and well balanced. Riding on roads is inevitable on MTB routes and being fast and efficient on that road is a good skill to have. I ride most of all in the Dales where there are fine long BWs but they link up with roads and I see MTBers bouncing along the road, bobbing up and down, in a way that I’d hope not to do!

C

no need to pay big money for a TT bike to knock 20-30 seconds off my time, but likewise REALLY no point in riding my mountain bike at 18mph and coming dead last…

A TT is you against the clock. Yes you don’t want to be ‘last’ but I’m never going to be at the sharp end of a field and doing something different spices riding up.

Oh and as ChrisE has alluded to, being smooth is important and trying to tame a full susser is very good (and hard) practise on the road.

i appreciate STW is a quriky kinda place, but what you two are saying is odd.

im beginning to think i’m being wound up.

i appreciate STW is a quriky kinda place, but what you two are saying is odd.

im beginning to think i’m being wound up.

I’m definitely not on a wind up as I like doing silly things like this. So much so than some of my ‘friends’ 😛 have joked that I should ride my TT bike around the likes of Stanmer Park in Brighton.

Hi chrisE i hope you enjoyed your 1st TT and i hope you keep doing one a week if poss.It is one type of racing you can see yourself improveing each time you ride weather permiting and course,A good warm up b4 the start is important and being in the right state of mind to.And i can a sure a 20min 10mls and 50min 25mls on a standard road bike can be done as many years ago i found out its such a feeling when you do your 1st 20min 10.the only problem with the 20min 10 or 50min 25 is you just wish you had gone 1sec faster.It also helps you as a road rider as well to beable to ride a good TT.But main thing 1st enjoy it then think how fast you want to be then do the right training its the race of truth no hideing in a bunch and going for the sprint but its nice to win a road race by TT away from the bunch and win on your own.