Tips for Time Trial Newbie

[Jiffer]

I'm thinking about trying my first TT in a few weeks (4/2). I'll take any tips anyone wants to give me. I don't have a TT bike, but there's talk between DH and I about building one. I could get aero bars, but I'm not sure I want to for my first one. I just want to see what it's like, how well I do and then decide if I want to get more serious with the equipment. For my first one is it totally reasonable to just ride it in my drops? Do many people do this? I have read enough to know I shouldn't be alone with my road bike and no aero bars, but I'd still like to hear from people who have been to these events. This one is in So Cal if anyone is familiar with the TT crowd around here.

If I did get aero bars for my road bike, would I adjust my saddle or anything else on the bike for the best position, or do I just stick them on and learn to ride with them with bike set up as is? I know a coach / bike fit guy who could help me with this, but didn't know if I even needed to call him. I may eventually call him for training purposes if I decide to pursue TT's more aggressively.

The event I'm thinking of doing is a 40k. I had hoped to do a 20k for my first event and was going to possibly do one a week and a half ago ... but didn't feel ready. I'm wondering, though if a 20k can be even harder than a 40k if people ride them at a faster over all pace. I know some people run a Marathon pace better than a 5k pace, compared to other people. So do think that shorter ones typically easier or does it just depend on the rider?

Thanks for any input.

[Kiwi Stoker]

Are you able to borrow at TT helmet? It would be worth it.
Also can you buy some slipstream bootie covers for your shoes- also well worth it.
And maybe borrow (and test ride a few times) clip-on aero bars as well. However for your first time the aero bars are not a must.

However from articles I have read a TT helmet and shoe botties DO make a difference as well as wearing your tightest cycling clothing (no flapping jackets or vests).

[SheFly]

TT is my speciality, and I started right where you are - regular helmet, regular cycling clothing, regular bike. There is NOTHING wrong with any of that (though I will admit to being pretty intimidated looking at all of the people with the high end gear).

Keep in mind that a TT is a race between you and the clock. It's not about you against the person next to you in the parking lot. I TT almost weekly through the season, and I do it to compare against MYSELF over time (but will admit to feeling deflated when one of my main rivals has a better day than I do ).

Yes, aero bars are the key piece of equipment along with an aero helmet. Bootie covers won't make much of a difference, and even with my full aero setup now, I hardly wore them at all last season. No gloves though.

If you can stand being in your drops for the entire 40K, that's definitely where you want to be to reduce your wind drag. Ultimately, your position on the TT bike would have you with a flat back, and all of your power coming from your legs. This is easier with aero bars, but can be close if you are in the drops. That said, when you are climbing, there is little aero advantage, and coming out of your aero position (out of the drops, or onto the bullhorns if you are riding aero bars) will open up your torso to allow you to breathe better while climbing. We have one hill on our course, and I do NOT stay in the aero position to climb that one.

Tips: TT riding is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. You have to be able to push yourself to and past your limit. NO ONE can teach you this. I can teach you proper position, pedaling technique, shifting, etc., but I can't teach you how to get yourself in the right frame of mind to suffer for that amount of time . I try to think of markers along the route I can use to break up the distance, knowing I only have to suffer x amount more.

One tip that has helped me the past couple of years is that when I am feeling tired, as counter-intuitive as this sounds, I shift into a harder gear. I don't know why this works, but it means that I don't get caught spinning and exerting more energy trying to keep my cadence up - instead, I am just trying to push over that one harder gear to keep me on my pace.

40K is a long TT. Don't blow up in the first 5 minutes because you've gone out too hard. Depending on the course, this distance should take you about an hour (+/-) For reference, we have a 9.75 mile course with some moderate hills, and my fastest time around is 23:38 (about 25 mph). I've done a 20 mile TT that is up an access road and back down in about 50 mins. If you go out all guns blazing in the first 5-10 minutes, you will surely slow over the remaining time. You need a find a sustainable pace for the time you think the course will take.

If you can, pre-ride the course. Try being in your drops and see how it feels. Pre-riding will let you know where you can recover, and where you need to push (hint - recovery is NOT on the flats/downhills - you should be going ALL OUT there!). It will also alert you to any road hazards you need to be aware of. Our course is the same every week, and I could literally ride it with my eyes closed and avoid every crack and hole.

At the finish, if you feel like you have any gas left, you didn't go hard enough. If you can carry on a conversation, you didn't go hard enough. If you don't feel like throwing up, you didn't go hard enough . It's all about pacing - not going too hard, but not finishing with gas in the tank either.

These days, I have fancy aero equipment - high end helmets, disk wheels, an awesome TT bike with full on aero positioning, skinsuits and shoe covers. The equipment WILL make a difference, but I know lots of people who go out and ride with what they brought.

Best piece of advice? Go and have a good time

SheFly

[Jiffer]

Thanks so much for all of the info! Wow. You write posts like me. Here's a stupid question (I'm guessing). I know there are no iPods, etc. allowed for road races and crits. I assume it's the same for TT's, but given the type of event I was hoping maybe not???!

I might do some more searching and find a shorter one to do first, or just wait a little longer for a shorter one. Seems like that might be a wise choice.

I am pretty comfortable in my drops. I can ride in them for long periods of time at a TT pace, so I'm not worried about that. In fact, I think I ride in my drops more than a lot of people I ride with. I never get why they don't go in their drops more when we're all pushing hard and they might be the one pulling and there might even be headwind ... why not be in your drops?! My friend told me sometimes she doesn't go into her drops because she can't breath as well, so when she's pushing particularly hard, she won't go down, but it seems like she might not NEED to breath as hard if she were more aerodynamic. Besides, I don't seem to have that problem. I don't notice a lot of difference in my breathing when in the drops or on the hoods. Maybe it has to do with the way I'm built? I don't know. But give me a hill and I'm breathing harder than anyone ... and slower ... hence why I'm thinking of trying TT's. I'm finding the flat courses, cause I'm good on the flat.

Thanks again!

[Jiffer]

I figured out there's a 10k distance the very next day, Sunday, April 3rd. I didn't put it on my calendar because of a conflict, but it's not a conflict anymore. Now I'm just having issues with my husband. He's having a hard time being supportive, because TT's are something he has always wanted to do, but he's training for other kinds of events and can't jump on the TT band wagon with me right now. I'm in the mindset to just go by myself and do it. He can come and watch or he come along and ride 12.5 miles or he can sleep in. But he's not making it easy on me. He's too competitive to go and do something without really training for it, but knowing him, he might actually win his category anyway. Why not just go and see what it's like? Or just let your wife go and see what it's like and focus on your other events right now?

We do have a TT series that is way closer to home (the one in April is an hour and a half away). It starts in September and goes monthly until January. He's all into that. We can even be training on the course any time we want until then. But while he has other grand races and other amazing things to look forward to and train for, I don't. He's a gifted climber and endurance rider. I did three road races last year, all of which he did also ... so it was a together thing ... but a climber I am not, so I decided it's stupid for me to do any sort of road race with climbing (are there any other kind?) ... and I just want to focus on short and fast and less climbing. I could do crits, but he's not seeming real supportive of that either. We have have both discussed how they can be more dangerous than other races and know a lot of people that do them. I think that's another thing he'd kind of like to do and may actually be doing in a couple of weeks as part of of a stage race ... unless he gets to "audition" to be on the Cannondale / Bike Religion Team for Leadville on the same weekend. See what I mean about big things to look forward to? If you don't know what Leadville is, it's the most insane 100 mile high altitude mountain bike race in Colorado that everyone wants to do, including Lance Armstrong who won it two years ago and Levi Leipheimer, who won it last year ... but not everyone can get in. My husband did it last year, but didn't make the lottery this year. Now he might get to do it on the Cannondale team and ride their $10,000 bike to boot.

Anyway ... back to ME!!! Last year I focused more on centuries and did a LOT of climbing to try to boost my climbing ability. I did Heartbreak Hundred with about 8,000 feet of climbing for the second time and did pretty well, but my focus has changed from suffering for long periods of time to suffering for shorter periods of time. And flatter, cause I can do flatter so much better.

Now I just have to figure out what I'm doing until September. I have to decide if I'm doing the TT in April (and others) without his enthusiastic support. Strange he's being this way. It's not like him.

[Bike Chick]

SheFly, thanks for the post. Our club starts weekly TT next week and I'm going to give it a try. I'm really looking forward to it. Your comments helped.

Jiffer, good luck on your TT. I vote to let jealous hubby sleep in and you go kick some TT butt!

[TxDoc]

+1 to everything SheFly said - great advice.
A lot of the 4's here show up with road bikes and many have no aero equipment at all, so that is not a worry. Definitely do a recon on the course, and bring a trainer to warm up real well before your race.
One more note, ask whether iab is allowed at that specific race, if the TT course is not too technical that will save you a few seconds here and there compared to just being in the drops, because it's a tad bit narrower.
I hope you are still planning to race your TT in April, and please do post a race report

[Jiffer]

One more note, ask whether iab is allowed at that specific race

Thanks for your comments Bike Chick and TxDoc. TxDoc, what do you mean by "iab". Was that at typo, cause I have no clue!

I think I have come to some conclusions. I'm going to stick with shorter TT's for now, I have a list of when they are and will do my first one when I feel like I can do it and be at least in the middle of the pack. I've been looking at race results, so I know about what I have to do to achieve that. I need to do another tempo ride this week and see how I've progressed since my last one a few weeks ago. I've been doing some interval rides and faster group rides to build speed, as well as the Solvang Half Century ... so I need to get back to "tempo ride" mode to really see where I'm at ... as well as for TT training, of course. Trying to figure out the best way schedule group rides, which push me, and still include intervals, hill repeats and tempos AND recovery! I could pay a coach to give me a training program as DH does, so I'm thinking about that.

So, yeah, what's "iab"???!

[TxDoc]

TxDoc, what do you mean by "iab". Was that at typo, cause I have no clue!

Oooops, sorry, iab, invisible aerobars... resting your forearms on the tops of the handlebars, so you can achieve a more narrow (aerodynamic) position even when you do not have aerobars.
It's quite aerodynamic once you get used to it, and also if you have good core support you can really rest in that position. Well, except for the pedaling legs and the abs, that are in fact doing a good share of work

Make sure it's allowed though. In the last couple of years, for some reason, it was not allowed at several local races - but still we see it done all the time, Grand Tours included. But just to be on the safe side, ask first!

[SheFly]

Thanks for your comments Bike Chick and TxDoc. TxDoc, what do you mean by "iab". Was that at typo, cause I have no clue!

I think I have come to some conclusions. I'm going to stick with shorter TT's for now, I have a list of when they are and will do my first one when I feel like I can do it and be at least in the middle of the pack. I've been looking at race results, so I know about what I have to do to achieve that. I need to do another tempo ride this week and see how I've progressed since my last one a few weeks ago. I've been doing some interval rides and faster group rides to build speed, as well as the Solvang Half Century ... so I need to get back to "tempo ride" mode to really see where I'm at ... as well as for TT training, of course. Trying to figure out the best way schedule group rides, which push me, and still include intervals, hill repeats and tempos AND recovery! I could pay a coach to give me a training program as DH does, so I'm thinking about that.

So, yeah, what's "iab"???!

Wow - lots of activity here over the weekend. Excellent!

Jiffer, you are correct in that TT rules follow the same rules as road races and crits. Save the earbuds for your warmup time on the trainer - they aren't allowed while you are out on the road. TxDoc also had good advice here that I forgot - a TT need a VERY good warmup on the trainer. I typically will ride for 20-30 mins in advance of a 23-25 minute effort.

Go do your TT in April. DH will get on board - he's just not being as supportive because you have decided to do something he wants to do, but isn't at the moment. He'll come around. don't let it stop you.

Go back to my first post - a TT is NOT about where you place against other people, but how you do against yourself. Stop looking at past results, and don't wait until you feel like I can do it and be at least in the middle of the pack. They don't call it the "race of truth" for nothing. If I had waited to do my first TT, I never would have started. Look at Bike Chick's tag: DFL>DNF>DNS I live by this.

As for iab - make sure you practice this before you try it in a race. Remember that in this position, you have far less control over steering, and would need to come out of the position completely to get to your brakes if needed. I typically will save this for road races where I am alone (that's a whole other story...), the road is good, straight and flat. It definitely feels odd.

Again, the whole point of this is to push yourself to YOUR limit, and more importantly, to have fun! Can't wait to hear all about it.

SheFly

[Jiffer]

Thanks TxDoc and SheFly ... again. DH gets into iab position sometimes, so I get what that's all about. Have never tried it myself, but will work on that. Thanks! And I would never do an event without warming up sufficiently. I take warm up and cool down pretty seriously, even on group rides. Everyone else is chatting while I'm cooling down and drinking my recovery drink!

One of the reasons why I'm not so sure I want to jump into doing that first April event ... is it is an hour and a half away and, being on a Sunday it affects church and family time. If it were close and didn't much affect anyone else in my world, that would be another story. However, I could go ride hard for 12.5 miles close to home and see how much faster I did the same route as before if it's just about competing against myself ... which, by the way the way, I'm ALL about. I love that TT's are not just about competing against others, but about getting your own personal best. I used to run (sort of! ran ... then walked ... then ran). I did some 5k's, 10k's and two half marathons. Most people don't do those events to try to actually "win", but to push themselves to their personal best ... and part of that is seeing how they compare to the rest of the runners. Depending on the event, you can look at a list and actually see how you stack up against everyone else. When I switched to cycling, which I love so much more, it was frustrating coming in at the end of an organized event and not really knowing how I compared to anyone else. I just did the Palm Springs half century. I rode with two friends. We started late and passed people all day long. Only got passed once by a tandem, and then we passed them on a climb. I'd love to know how our time compared to everyone else's, but I never will.

So while just doing it for my own self is part of why I want to do it, I also don't want to drive that far, potentially by myself if DH doesn't go, and mess with Sunday family time until I feel I can give it a reasonable shot. Then again ... I don't "really" know if I can give it a reasonable shot until I try it! I will tell you this, though. There's a TT on Mother's Day in San Diego and I think it may have my name on it. Whether I drag the kids along or not, I'm not sure, but I think mom deserves to do what she wants on Mother's Day and I think mom wants to do a time trial! There's also one the weekend before at the same place the 4/3 one is at. So there are plenty to be found. The one's in the fall are 25 minutes away, so definitely looking forward to those. Plus I can train on that course and get really super duper FAST on it! Haha!!! They won't know what hit 'em, I tell ya!

One last word on DH, who by the way has been my biggest supporter in cycling and I in no way want to make him sound like a jerk ... One of his "issues", lets say, is that he knows if I really love TT's (and there's a good chance I will), it only stands to reason that I will be wanting a TT bike at some point, and this is part of the "sore spot". If I do TT's, it's going to make him want to do TT's even more, and one TT bike is expensive enough, let alone two. And we are going through financial stuff that is making us both try to be very careful how we spend our money. He actually has a TT frame and some of the components to put on it, but there is still some money to be spent to finish it, though, and then ... who gets to ride it??!! The fact that he already has a frame tells you how much he wants to do TT's ... and now before he gets a chance to do one, he sees his wife swooping in and trying to take away his bike! We had discussed sharing it at an event. We both ride the same size road bike. So we talked about one of us riding it in an event, coming back and moving the saddle, etc. for the other rider. But I emailed a TT event organizer and he said it's not very practical to plan for that, not knowing if our categories would overlap, etc. However, another option is we just don't ride at the same events. He does one event and I do the next. At least until we can reasonably afford another bike. My thinking, however is, if anyone gets the TT bike it's ME! This is because he is good at all kinds of events, while I am not. He has both a really nice road bike and mountain bike and races on both and does very well. Climbing is sort of his specialty, while I pretty much suck at climbing compared to other "racers" at least ... I excel much more on the flat. So while he has multiple events he can go do with his two bikes and even end up on the podium sometimes, if I go do those same events, it's just for fun and will not get anywhere near a podium. But I can see myself getting really good at TT's, which is why if it can only go to one person ... I DESERVE THE TT BIKE!!!!!!!

Okay, so this has turned into yet another really long post from Jiffer! You're so kind if you read it all! I will keep all your comments in mind and will do a TT when it feels right for the multiple reasons discussed. Pretty sure, at the very least, it's what I'm doing for Mother's Day. Just having a goal to look forward to at "some point in the near future" is really great for me. Changes the way I look at my training and gives me purpose. Thanks everyone!

[Veronica]

As for iab - make sure you practice this before you try it in a race. Remember that in this position, you have far less control over steering, and would need to come out of the position completely to get to your brakes if needed. I typically will save this for road races where I am alone (that's a whole other story...), the road is good, straight and flat. It definitely feels odd.

SheFly

I LOVE riding in this position. I find it really comfortable and easy to get in and out of it. I think it's all that core work I've done. I can even steer around stuff that comes in the road. It does mean being even more aware of what is around though.

Veronica

[SheFly]

V - don't get me wrong - I love it too and actually use it MTB racing of all things ! My comments were more about being sure to practice this before actually trying it in a TT. It can be a bit tricky to master, especially if there is steering required .

SheFly

[Veronica]

Yeah, I haven't done it in a race yet. I remember asking about it last year though and getting lots of comments about how scary it would be and you don't have control...

I just haven't found that to be an issue. I'll ride that way with Thom around, but otherwise, only by myself.

Veronica