10 mile TT advice

mjd611

Hi there,

Last night i completed a 10 mile TT in anticipation of going along to a weekly club night. I did it in 32 minutes. Not too disappointed with that as i've only been triaining for a little over 2 weeks after more than a year out from sports.

The problem is that i found it hard not to just cruise along. My max heart was 181, with the average in the high 160s. This is way short of my max which used to be 210-220. I think the main reason for this was gear changes. For example when approaching a long gentle slope i would go down a gear to make it easier, should i instead keep in the same and just put a little more effort in?

Also when going up a gear i found the change to my pedalling speed (cadence?) very noticable, any tips for this?

Finally, it was very windy yet i cycled the whole way with my hands on top of the bars, i find using the drop bars too uncomfortable/unnatural, any tips? i guess its just practise.

I hope that all makes sense, thanks.

toshmund

What equation are you using for working out your heart rate, how old are you?
Find below a link for how to calculate it.

Think the basic philosophy is to find a level of discomfort that you can maintain, and then bury yourself in the last mile.

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/maxhr.htm

Pokerface

mjd611 wrote:

Finally, it was very windy yet i cycled the whole way with my hands on top of the bars, i find using the drop bars too uncomfortable/unnatural, any tips? i guess its just practise.

A year ago I was in the same boat as you - I felt very uncomfortable on the drop and used to always ride on the hoods.

Then I got into track cycling and was forced to ride on the drops. gradually I got more comfy using the drops on my road bike.

This year my TT times (on my road bike) are several minutes faster than last year - in part due to the more aero position I get into from riding on the drops.

In your daily training - force yourself to ride on the drops for a few minutes at a time. Eventually you'll get used to it. It'll feel odd at first - but over time you'll feel better in that position - and gain power and speed from it.


Good luck and keep up the good work!

Alex_Simmons/RST

Unless of course the bars are simply too low for you.

Often the most aero position on a road bike (with a fair drop from saddle to bars, like most road racers would have) is to have the hands on the brake hoods (and not on the drops), making the forearms parallel to the ground and keeping your back flat and head down. That reduces your frontal area which reduces air resistance.

mjd611

Toshmund wrote:

What equation are you using for working out your heart rate, how old are you?
Find below a link for how to calculate it.

Think the basic philosophy is to find a level of discomfort that you can maintain, and then bury yourself in the last mile.

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/maxhr.htm

Not using any equation, just readings from my heart rate monitor - or at least memories from when i used to be fit. I'm 21, former rower, used to train at least once every and was in pretty decent shape.

surista

Did you hit 210-220 while cycling? Most people will have fairly different HR zones for different sports. When I run my max is around 190. When I play hockey, closer to 200. When I cycle, I top out at around 182 or so. I'm 41yrs old now tho.