20k Time Trial - reasonable time?
Fred Steele
Posts: 81
I'm a 32 year-old cycle courier with my first time trial coming up next week at Blenheim Palace. I'm managing 33 mins for about 18k with hangover, traffic and people for 4 laps around Regent's Park and have tt bars and a carbon frame. What would be a half-decent time? I reckon I can do 20k in 35 mins or better.
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Assuming a flat course on decent roads and good weather conditions on the day, I'd say anything over 21mph average (which 35 mins for 20km is just) is pretty reasonable for a first attempt.
I'd expect the winning time to be around 26 minutes (av 28mph).0 -
Ahem. Hutchinson is riding. I think your estimate of the winning speed might be on the pessimistic side.Bronzie wrote:I'd expect the winning time to be around 26 minutes (av 28mph).
Ruth0 -
Aaaahhhhhhh................31mph+ (>24 mins) it is then! :shock:BeaconRuth wrote:Hutchinson is riding.
What event is it by the way?0 -
It's this: http://www.blenheimpalace.com/whatson/view.htm?id=422
Not far short of 300 riders taking part in a closed-road time trial - all abilities included ranging from complete novices to the fastest male and female amateur testers in the country - Michael Hutchinson and Julia Shaw. Most riders are off at 30 sec intervals doing 3 laps of a 6.5km circuit. It's either the most exciting event for the future of time trialling as a sport in this country............. or it's going to be a nightmare with a congested circuit and massive speed differentials between the fastest and the slowest. Will let you know which after Sunday.
Ruth0 -
I am planning to do this as well. It is quite an big field isn't it? I am not going to be the fastest by any means (it's my first TT as well) so it will be intriguing to see how many others come past me. 0
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Bronzie wrote:
Aaaahhhhhhh................31mph+ (>24 mins) it is then! :shock:BeaconRuth wrote:Hutchinson is riding.
Not without any traffic assistance he won't!
; :shock:
Cheers, Andy0 -
Good luck to whomever is keeping track of 300 riders and what lap they are on.
Hopefully there will be some sort of electronic timing and recording(i.e. sensors on
the legs). I hate to say it but it may not be HUMANLY possible to keep track of it all.
Good luck to you and I would guess that somewhere around 30 minutes will get you across the line. Depending on number of turns and, I hate to say it, bike traffic. This ones going to be wild.
Dennis Noward0 -
31 mph? Well, as long as I beat my housemate I'm happy!
:twisted:0 -
I guess if everyone starts on their allotted times then it's fairly simple - all the timekepers need to do is record our number next to our finish time and I suspect there's a computer system that'll do the math and relay it to a board.0
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What a great day out! A superb setting for a great day of cycling with beautiful autumnal weather! The Brompton World Championships looked a great laugh and clearly many people were having a great time. I never knew there were that many Brompton bicycles in the whole world. Hundreds of them!
The first riders off in the TT had a very chilly ride but otherwise it was a terrific time trial as far as I was concerned. Technical and lumpy enough to provide some challenges but mainly smooth-surfaced and safe enough even with a small amount of 'bunching' going on. I'm sure nobody got any benefit from any drafting and I doubt anyone was held up massively by slower riders on corners. There were several times when I was bowling along with no other riders in sight and I was able to take the most tricky descent just as fast as I wanted to.
I just hope they do it again next year. And if they do, that lots more people come out to play.
How did you get on, Fred? Did you beat your housemate?
Ruth0 -
Well, it was my first attempt at a time trial and I think it was a brilliant success. Like Ruth I was a little concerned at the numbers but, like Ruth again, there were times when I found myself bowling along on an empty road.
I experienced a little bit of bunching when I was lining up to overtake someone who was overtaking someone else and I was aware there was someone coming up fast behind me. I just stayed back for a few seconds to let my overtaker pass me and the guy in front to complete his maneouvre. It was on an uphill bit so I was grateful for the rest.
Here's to hoping it becomes an annual fixture as I will definitely back again next year, if only to improve on my time - 39:450 -
I was closer at my first guessBronzie wrote:I'd expect the winning time to be around 26 minutes (av 28mph).
Cycling Time Trials wrote:1 Michael Hutchinson In Gear Quickvit RT 00:26:510 -
BeaconRuth wrote:What a great day out! A superb setting for a great day of cycling with beautiful autumnal weather!
I just hope they do it again next year. And if they do, that lots more people come out to play.
How did you get on, Fred? Did you beat your housemate?
Ruth
Well done Ruth on your time of 31.16
Results here: http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/Res ... p?ID=53558Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom0 -
So, I'm really curious. How many people showed up? And how did anyone mange to keep track of that many people doing 4 laps? Electronic with sensors on the bike or leg?
Or were the people who put this on actually able to keep track of all of that(someone said 300 people)? I'm in awe if they could pull off manual timing of a group that large.
Dennis Noward0 -
Nope - nothing on the bikes or the riders. The onus on completing the requisite number of laps was on the cyclist. At the end of the third lap you had to turn off the course. One of my group did actually shoot past the finish and had to double back - luckily it was quiet at that point. I guess if you did carry on for a fourth lap it would be like you did the event a load slower than you actually did.
Stephen0 -
Yeah, well done Bronzie - when you take the lack of traffic and the technical difficulties of the course into account (with possibly a bit of end-of-season-what-the-heckism), maybe >30mph was unrealistic even for Hutchinson.
Thanks Nervexprof - you must be a nice person because you're always congratulating people.
Well done Notanotherusername - that's a 'stake in the ground' and something to work on for next year.
Dennis - it wasn't a mass-start event. It was a TT with riders going off at strict intervals. Although well over 200 riders took part there was probably never more than 60-70 riders on the 6.5km course at the same time and they would have been spread out round the whole course. It wasn't hard to see and note the number of each rider as he/she passed, so timing wouldn't have been too difficult.
I'm still excited about having the chance to race on closed roads. Taking the best racing line round both left and right-hand bends is something that us testers don't usually have the chance to do. It was a great little chicane round Blenheim Palace itself. Loadsa fun .
Ruth
ps. I hit 39mph at some point too. Not sure where that might have been - there were one or two places where I could've used a bigger chainring.0 -
Nice one Ruth, well done. I did a 2-up at the Castle Coombe racing circuit last month and that was a lot of fun - closed roads (obviously) and a lovely smooth surface. Shame about the gale-force winds but you can't have everything. I think quite a few TTs go on there so you should come down for one next year!Le Blaireau (1)0
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Whose event was that, DaveyL? I'm developing a strong taste for closed-road time trials. I rode the Bicester Millennium CC event at Weston on the Green Airfield in late August and that was superb. Just you and the road - nothing else to contend with! I could easily be tempted down to Castle Coombe for a 2-up.
Ruth0 -
DaveyL wrote:Nice one Ruth, well done. I did a 2-up at the Castle Coombe racing circuit last month and that was a lot of fun - closed roads (obviously) and a lovely smooth surface. Shame about the gale-force winds but you can't have everything. I think quite a few TTs go on there so you should come down for one next year!
Really, when I did a handicap there a few weeks ago there were little rubber balls (of car tyres) all over the placeYou live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
Were you off the racing line? Le Blaireau (1)0
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Most probably actually! The racing line you take at 20 is abit different from the one you take at car speeds!You live and learn. At any rate, you live0
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BeaconRuth wrote:Yeah, well done Bronzie - when you take the lack of traffic and the technical difficulties of the course into account (with possibly a bit of end-of-season-what-the-heckism), maybe >30mph was unrealistic even for Hutchinson.
Thanks Nervexprof - you must be a nice person because you're always congratulating people.
Well done Notanotherusername - that's a 'stake in the ground' and something to work on for next year.
Dennis - it wasn't a mass-start event. It was a TT with riders going off at strict intervals. Although well over 200 riders took part there was probably never more than 60-70 riders on the 6.5km course at the same time and they would have been spread out round the whole course. It wasn't hard to see and note the number of each rider as he/she passed, so timing wouldn't have been too difficult.
I'm still excited about having the chance to race on closed roads. Taking the best racing line round both left and right-hand bends is something that us testers don't usually have the chance to do. It was a great little chicane round Blenheim Palace itself. Loadsa fun .
Ruth
ps. I hit 39mph at some point too. Not sure where that might have been - there were one or two places where I could've used a bigger chainring.
Still, 200 people doing laps and someone required to note each one AND their time is
something of a real accomplishment and if you have never attempted to try writting it all
down and actually making sense of it all you'd be amazed at how difficult it can be.
I tip my hat to the poor bastard that had to keep track of it all.
Dennis Noward0 -
My wife did this - her first ever TT - 37mins 40.... She is very pleased with herself, and wants to know when she can do another. A brilliant event.
Are there any TT's scheduled over the coming weekend that will take amateurs (non-affiliated) in the South East that she could enter over the next few weeks?0 -
Congratulations to your wife, wjws - that's a good ride for someone doing their first ever TT. I think she can rightly feel pleased with herself.
Unfortunately your wife's enthusiasm has been kindled at the wrong end of the season. There are very few time trials left this year unless she fancies a go at hill-climbs?! But she may be in luck if she fancies a go at a 25 mile TT - the Hillingdon CC have one on a course based near Marlow on Sunday 19th October. I believe it's a fast dual carriageway course so a far cry from what she did yesterday. But if you'd like further details of how she can enter, pm me and I'll give you the entry details.
Ruth0 -
BeaconRuth wrote:Congratulations to your wife, wjws - that's a good ride for someone doing their first ever TT. I think she can rightly feel pleased with herself.
Unfortunately your wife's enthusiasm has been kindled at the wrong end of the season. There are very few time trials left this year unless she fancies a go at hill-climbs?! But she may be in luck if she fancies a go at a 25 mile TT - the Hillingdon CC have one on a course based near Marlow on Sunday 19th October. I believe it's a fast dual carriageway course so a far cry from what she did yesterday. But if you'd like further details of how she can enter, pm me and I'll give you the entry details.
Ruth
Apologies for digging up an old thread, but I wanted to highlight a rather fairy tale ending to this.
A year ago, BeaconRuth responded to my husband's post above, and thanks to her encouragement and advice, I decided to enter the Hillingdon TT in October last year. I was very much an also ran in both that and the Blenheim event. At the end of last year, I took Ruth on as my coach.
12 months later, I returned to Blenheim and took almost 5 and half minutes off my 2008 time. Standing on the podium next to Julia Shaw and Ruth yesterday, on the anniversary of my first ever TT, was one of the most emotional experiences of my life.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcyc ... otostream/
Thank you BeaconRuth!0 -
Nice work indeed! Congrats to both student and coach, that is a fantastic achievement.bexslack wrote:12 months later, I returned to Blenheim and took almost 5 and half minutes off my 2008 time. Standing on the podium next to Julia Shaw and Ruth yesterday, on the anniversary of my first ever TT, was one of the most emotional experiences of my life.
Thank you BeaconRuth!0 -
That's a brilliant improvement. Shame I'm not closer to Ruth, maybe she could get me racing again! :shock:0
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Great stuff! That gives me encouragement for next year - I've had a severe pumping in all events i've done in this, my first season racing!!0
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Can I add my congrats to all the others. It is truly inspiring. I managed a personal best at the Blenhem TT of 38:25. Last year it was 39:45. Next year I really want to try my hand at more time trialing with a view to managing a 25 mile TT in about 1 hour 15. Can I hijack this thread a little to ask how one goes about finding a coach such as BeaconRuth locally?0
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British Cycling website should give you a list of those in your area.
http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/coachi ... te-A-Coach0
