Just done my first TT (ever!) Garmin data & cat 4 racing

milese

I took part in my first competitive bike event today, a local club 10 mile TT. Was run by Okehampton Cycling club, that I'm not a member of, but they were very welcoming and explained everything to me. 210m of climbing.

I assumed it was a flatish course, but drove it on the way and was pretty worried about how hilly it was - the 30 mins I had as a loose target seemed a distance dream. The 8% sign didn't sit well!

Anyway, it all went ok, despite starting second I was only over taken once and finished in 29.33. I was pretty chuffed with that as a first attempt, considering I've not really done anywhere near as much riding as I should and have dont no practice efforts or structured training.

My Garmin data is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/42338306

My max HR matches my previous max.

I found that I had to tuck in and try and roll fast on the decents so I could recover a bit. Was a bit of head wind out and tail wind back.

The rider in front of me, and the guy who over took me seemed to be within striking distance, but it seemed like as soon as we hit the flat or a descent they pulled quite a bit, both had aero bars, slick helments and one a disk rear wheel. Do they make that much difference?

I've entered a cat 4 road race in 2 weeks, its 8 5 mile laps. Any thoughts on how I may fair or is this no indication at all?

Any advice on how to improve my TT time will be much appreciated; I'm going to try and beat it next week!

jibberjim

The big thing you need to do is work on your aerodynamics, do everything you can to get slipper in the air - the guys disappearing from you on the descents and flats show they're more aerodynamic! So anything you can do there is where you'll see the biggest gains.

Is it a Cat 4 only race, or a Cat 3/4?

It's not a great indication, since the race is about dealing with surges rather than a steady hard effort. just try and stay up near the front, don't rest when it slows up and you find yourself on the back, move up!

milese

By looking I could tell the other riders had better positions, were more uniform and smooth.

So are aerobars the biggest (cheapest) gain to be had?

Its cat 4 only.

jibberjim

Milese wrote:

By looking I could tell the other riders had better positions, were more uniform and smooth.

So are aerobars the biggest (cheapest) gain to be had?

Your clothing very possibly is the first place to look at!

Aerobars potentially make very little difference - other than to comfort but for a 10 that doesn't matter so much. It will depend on your bike and position (if you trade being narrow that the aerobars give you with extra height becaus e you can't get low on the road bike you end up no better than just being in the drops. It will depend on lots of things.

Milese wrote:

Its cat 4 only.

Good, so that should hopefully make it a little more relaxed early on (if there are higher cats there they'll often make it very hard early to shed out the lower cat riders) - the big thing to remember is that the hardest part of the race will be the first half an hour, so do everything you can to stay with the bunch!

gattocattivo

I bought myself some clip-on aero bars midway through last season and I'd say they're worth about 1mph in a ten-mile time trial.

Tom Butcher

Agree with that - I found aero bars are worth around a minute on our 12.5mile course - assuming you do some fettling to get the position right.

If it's a cat 4 only I reckon you may be able to hang in there - a lot depends on confidence in the bunch and ability to handle changes in pace. To be reasonably competitive in a 3/4 I reckon a very rough guide for a rolling 10 on a road bike with drops would be 24-26 minutes.

SBezza

With regards to the faster riders, they probably measured their effort on the up hill parts, and were straight on the power on the descents and flat.

If you freewheeled at all going down the descent, that is where you are losing time, the only time you stop pedaling in a 10 is normally at the turn, unless you are getting over 45 mph on a descent, where you will likely be bouncing on the saddle.

It does seem like a very undulating course, so pretty hard to get into a decent rhythm, and not bad for a first attempt on a road bike.

broachboy

Milese wrote:

I took part in my first competitive bike event today, a local club 10 mile TT. Was run by Okehampton Cycling club

Well done good on ya

Milese wrote:

My Garmin data is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/42338306

I love that Garmin data 8) does that reflect your actual finishing time :?: As I was just wondering how you managed to stop the unit from recording when you crossed the finish line - surely you were concentrating on powering over to pull in every remaining second :?

sampurnell

The rider in front of me, and the guy who over took me seemed to be within striking distance, but it seemed like as soon as we hit the flat or a descent they pulled quite a bit, both had aero bars, slick helments and one a disk rear wheel. Do they make that much difference?

If they were still in striking distance then apparently not :P [/quote]

SBezza

broachboy wrote:

I love that Garmin data 8) does that reflect your actual finishing time :?: As I was just wondering how you managed to stop the unit from recording when you crossed the finish line - surely you were concentrating on powering over to pull in every remaining second :?

I stop mine just after finishing, normally mine is 1 to 2 secs out from the offical time. I start mine on the 2 count at the start as well, as it takes about a sec to get going.

Pross

Where's the 4th cat race? I'm going to be down there at that time and depending on the course may be tempted!

broachboy

SBezza wrote:

broachboy wrote:

I love that Garmin data 8) does that reflect your actual finishing time :?: As I was just wondering how you managed to stop the unit from recording when you crossed the finish line - surely you were concentrating on powering over to pull in every remaining second :?

I stop mine just after finishing, normally mine is 1 to 2 secs out from the offical time. I start mine on the 2 count at the start as well, as it takes about a sec to get going.

Cheers SBezza

Quite a nice toy - I am very tempted

milese

Thanks for replies.

My official time was 29.33. I started the Garmin about 30 seconds before, but it auto pauses as I'm not moving. I guess it took a few seconds to start once I got going, which probably offset the few seconds it took me to hit stop after I crossed the line.

View HR info for sprint to the finish effort!

The 4th cat race is at Brentor on the 15th Aug.

Anonymous

I start my Garmin 15 secs before the start and stop it just after I've crossed the line...

Thick Tester

Read through you Garmin files - gut feel - start with learning to pedal faster before thinking about kit etc... You need the leg speed to be able to turn a big gear quicker if you want that time to come down. Likewise it you'll find wanting for it in any RR.

BTW - are you a junior ? theres no 4th cat racing at the meeting you suggest unless you're a junior!

Pross

Thick Tester wrote:

Read through you Garmin files - gut feel - start with learning to pedal faster before thinking about kit etc... You need the leg speed to be able to turn a big gear quicker if you want that time to come down. Likewise it you'll find wanting for it in any RR.

BTW - are you a junior ? theres no 4th cat racing at the meeting you suggest unless you're a junior!

There's a Regional C+ 4th cat too http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/2841/Brentor-Road-Races-3

milese

Thick Tester wrote:

Read through you Garmin files - gut feel - start with learning to pedal faster before thinking about kit etc... You need the leg speed to be able to turn a big gear quicker if you want that time to come down. Likewise it you'll find wanting for it in any RR.

BTW - are you a junior ? theres no 4th cat racing at the meeting you suggest unless you're a junior!

THanks for the advice. Any particular technique / drills for improving leg speed? Other than just trying to spin them fast often!

Since getting the Garmin and having access to cadance info, I've been trying to spin easier gears more, but obviously need to do more work on it.

Not a junior.

milese

Just did it again, and got 21 seconds slower @ 29.54.

Data below:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/43289625

It just seemed that I couldn't work as hard, which is reflected in my lower heart rate. I dont know if thats because I didn't have the adrenaline rush of my first go, was tired after a hard Tuesday night group ride (unlikely) or something else.

Was more of a head wind heading out.

Disappointed.

jibberjim

Wind can make a huge difference 20 seconds is easily lost to the weather, I'd say from your heart rate that you actually managed to pace it better, but fighting into the headwind is what cost you!

SBezza

As Jim has said wind can affect times quite a bit. Also don't underestimate what a hard training ride 2 days before the TT can have on your tiredness.

If you couldn't work as hard, tiredness might well have been the cause.

It is hard to gauge anything based on just 2 rides however, you need to look over a longer run ideally to see any trends.

milese

Thanks for the comments and support.

I'll get back next year and give it a full series worth of attempts!

In the meantime I might try a few different 10s.

drewfromrisca

It's addictive this TT'ing lark isn't it???

I did my 1st one on Saturday. Hoped to break 30 mins and did a 25.31 so I was excstatic to say the least! Cannot wait to get another one in and might do the Hemel open 10 tomorrow night if I've finished packing for me hols on fri.

grantus

Tom Butcher wrote:

Agree with that - I found aero bars are worth around a minute on our 12.5mile course - assuming you do some fettling to get the position right.

If it's a cat 4 only I reckon you may be able to hang in there - a lot depends on confidence in the bunch and ability to handle changes in pace. To be reasonably competitive in a 3/4 I reckon a very rough guide for a rolling 10 on a road bike with drops would be 24-26 minutes.

I would agree with that although would add that the problem I find with 3/4th cat races is the pace on steeper hills - that is where I am still getting shelled. The last 3/4 I did was the slowest one ever - probably 19-20mph for the first rolling 10 miles then it hit a steep 2-3 mile climb and guys were away at 15-16 mph and I was left thrashing away at 11-12.

milese

grantus wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

Agree with that - I found aero bars are worth around a minute on our 12.5mile course - assuming you do some fettling to get the position right.

If it's a cat 4 only I reckon you may be able to hang in there - a lot depends on confidence in the bunch and ability to handle changes in pace. To be reasonably competitive in a 3/4 I reckon a very rough guide for a rolling 10 on a road bike with drops would be 24-26 minutes.

I would agree with that although would add that the problem I find with 3/4th cat races is the pace on steeper hills - that is where I am still getting shelled. The last 3/4 I did was the slowest one ever - probably 19-20mph for the first rolling 10 miles then it hit a steep 2-3 mile climb and guys were away at 15-16 mph and I was left thrashing away at 11-12.

Well the race was yesterday and I suffered the same problem that you mention. I was fine riding the group and keeping wheels until the pace was increased up the main climb on the second lap. I just didn't have the strength to hold on and was dropped off the back.

I thought I was last, but soon caught a club mate (he probably eased off so we could worked together), and we worked well together and then caught another ride who had been dropped.

We worked together to keep it respectable. After we crossed the line another 3 rides came in who were shelled before I was, and I think there were another 2 or so who didn't finish.

FInal placing of 11th out of 16 finishers.

Its nice to know that I'm generally in the right ball park. I think if I can drop half a stone and do a lot more high intensity work (club runs & cyclocross) then I'll be much better next season.

grantus

Good effort mate. I have been either last or second last in every road race i've entered although i've gone from finishing 40 minutes down last year in my first race to 20 minutes this year over a harder course with a stronger field although i've not done as many as i'd hoped at the start of the year.

The BIG difference i've noticed in how I feel in terms of strength is after having done regular chaingangs since June. Two a week now whereas at the start of the year one effort like that would wipe me out for 4 or 5 days. I can now repeat after 48 hours. Hopefully next season will see the benefits IF I can stay off the pies and swally this winter