Speedo tips for first ever time trial

ratsbeyfus

Newbie time trial question here, so be gentle with me pur-lease...

In a couple of weeks I'm gonna have a go at my first ever 10 mile time trial. I've got a bog standard speedo on my bike (cateye velo) which can shows current speed alongside either ave speed, distance covered, elapsed time etc. Any recommendations on what to have it on during the time trial? I want to see if I can beat 30 mins, so should I for example keep it on average speed and aim to keep the average above 20mph? Or is it more useful to pace your effort using the distance covered or time elapsed function?

Any tips and or advice is greatly appreciated.

BeaconRuth

I don't think there are any right answers to a question like this - it's a matter of personal choice. The only thing I personally ever look at when racing is avg spd. I don't need distance because I always know where I am on the course and how far I've got left to go. Time always seems a silly thing to look at because even if you can see that the time is ticking away, you don't know how long it will take you to get to the finish, so how can you tell whether you're on track to achieve your aim? But if you look at avg spd then at any instant during the race you can tell what time you're on to achieve if you can maintain that same average pace. You have to be sensible and not get depressed if the first half of the course is into a raging headwind, nor think you're on a for a comp record when you've got a howling gale behind you on the outward leg...................... but it always seemed to work for me anyway.

Note of caution: Never set off aiming to ride to a certain speed. If you're going into a headwind you won't achieve it and if you've got a wind behind you then you need to go a lot faster than any aspirational overall average. The only speed to ride a TT at is as fast as possible at all times. At every moment of the race you should be asking yourself "can I maintain this pace to the end?" If the answer is "yes, easily" then go harder. If the answer is "no" then go easier. If the answer is "yes, but only just" you've got it just right.

Ruth

ozzzyosborn206

my tip would be to concentrate on the ride other wise you will waste time looking at your speedo and not where your going, ride to what you feel is as hard as your can for that distance, as you do more you will get to know what that is like. If you want to have it on anything i would say time then you can give yourself targets to get to certain points in a certain time

ratsbeyfus

Cheers for tips... I should have pointed out that I'm not familiar with the course yet. I'd like to do a reccy before the TT (but can't be sure of this due to work/family etc.) so that I've got a rough idea of how far round I am at any given point. I think I'll keep the speedo on ave speed but with the caveats you mentioned. I like the idea of having a mantra inside your head - "Do I want to throw up? If no, go quicker... if yes, go slower."

SBezza

+1 to what Ruth has said.

I have a Garmin, so I have quite a few bits of data on display, but for a 10 the only info I would look at is ave speed, and possibly a look at my HR (not that I worry about it and ride to it). I always a 10 by setting off what seems like an easy pace, and then ramp up the effort over the first half a mile or so, though that does depend on the terrain.

Tip for getting to know the course a little bit, if you can't ride it before the event (don't ride it whilst the event is on), then drive the course before getting to the HQ, at least it will give you an idea of the turn, and the elevation changes.

BeaconRuth

ratsbeyfus wrote:

Cheers for tips... I should have pointed out that I'm not familiar with the course yet. I'd like to do a reccy before the TT (but can't be sure of this due to work/family etc.) so that I've got a rough idea of how far round I am at any given point. I think I'll keep the speedo on ave speed but with the caveats you mentioned. I like the idea of having a mantra inside your head - "Do I want to throw up? If no, go quicker... if yes, go slower."

You can learn a course from a map. I never ride a TT without learning where the landmarks are, turnings, junctions, bridges over a dual carriageway, rough distances between roundabouts........... anything to help you know where you are at all times, how far you've done and how far you've left to do..................and ALWAYS be sure that you know exactly where the finish is. If you don't know where you are on the course how can you answer the question "can I maintain this effort to the finish?"?

Ruth

blackhands

I have tended to use average speed and set it to kilometers per hour so that if I need to increase it the jumps are smaller and I can see some progress more quickly.

I'm sure that you know this, but don't get over-excited and over-cook things in the first mile/3minutes.

Anonymous

I have a Garmin and use a powermeter but TBH I only occasionally glance at it as I'm basically going flat out so it is what it is. YMMV... My fastest TT this year, ironically, was one where the battery died on my Garmin 5 mins in...

[Tim]

For a 10 it's easy - Just go harder every minute till the fininsh. Should feel like you're turning inside out in the last 5mins or so.

Jeff Jones

I like to use distance, heart rate and power.

Distance on its own is pretty useful as it just ticks over, so you avoid getting yourself into a negative feedback loop.

Pokerface

SBezza wrote:

+1 to what Ruth has said.

I have a Garmin, so I have quite a few bits of data on display, but for a 10 the only info I would look at is ave speed, and possibly a look at my HR (not that I worry about it and ride to it). I always a 10 by setting off what seems like an easy pace, and then ramp up the effort over the first half a mile or so, though that does depend on the terrain.

Tip for getting to know the course a little bit, if you can't ride it before the event (don't ride it whilst the event is on), then drive the course before getting to the HQ, at least it will give you an idea of the turn, and the elevation changes.

I'm sorta with Steve on this one.

On the weekly 10 where I know the course well, I go by HR, time and distance. HR for me is a good yardstick to make sure I'm in the right zone (working hard enough without going into the red). I use avg speed - but only for the second half - and only as a comparison to previous weeks.

I'll have certain parts of the course where I'll take a quick check of my time against my PB to see if I'm ahead or behind (and by how much) - but don't use it to adjust my pace.

On a course I didn't know, would definitely want to have to distance listed!

SteveR_100Milers

and another for avg speed, but only on 25 mile TT and longer. 10s are just too furious to look at anything but the shining light coming towards me...

On the garmin I can set a target time for a course, and set an alarm if I drop below the required speed to achieve the desired average speed / finish time. Its clever and it works as it adjusts for gradients.

trickydisco

NapoleonD wrote:

I have a Garmin and use a powermeter but TBH I only occasionally glance at it as I'm basically going flat out so it is what it is. YMMV... My fastest TT this year, ironically, was one where the battery died on my Garmin 5 mins in...

This tallies up with a mate of mine. The 2 10 TT's i've done i've had no speedo or timer. I've literally just concentrated on my pedals stroke and going controlled hard as i can.

A mate of mine always used his garmin and used to set it at 30 mins (his top time was 26:10). He was never able to beat his time until i said i never use any time and i'm not aware how bad/well i'm doing. He took his off fo the next one and smashed his time. It seemed like he was riding well within his comfort zone.

hammerite

Slight hijack, does anyone bother with cadence on their computer on their TT bike?

I use cadence on my other bikes (currently using a Garmin running watch, and the Garmin cadence sensor, but planning on getting a Garmin Edge 500) and find it quite useful.

I got a TT bike in the summer and I've tried to keep things minimal on it bike. I'd like to have a cadence reading on my comp, but the idea of putting the cadence sensor on the TT bike just seems to defeat the object of having an aerodynamic bike - or will it not make much difference?

If anyone hasn't seen the garmin sensor before - http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Speed-Cadence-Bike-Sensor/dp/B000BFNOT8 it's not huge, but it's not the most discreet thing either.

SBezza

hammerite wrote:

Slight hijack, does anyone bother with cadence on their computer on their TT bike?

I have a cadence sensor on my bike, and it is the Garmin one. I use the info after a download, but not during a race.

ratsbeyfus

Thanks for the tips... I'll let you know how I get on - unless of course I don't get under 30 mins! In which case I'll hope and prey that this thread just dies, or lie about my time, etc.

Pokerface

hammerite wrote:

Slight hijack, does anyone bother with cadence on their computer on their TT bike?

Not me, but one of my teammates swears by cadence.

It's funny - we have 3 guys on the squad. One uses cadence, one uses power and I use HR for TTs!

richk

I'd be inclined to turn (leave) it off.

Anonymous

I have mine on for recording purposes rather than to refer to...

hammerite

Thanks for the replies guys, mixed bag of opinions really. But perhaps I shouldn't rely on it when riding.

markos1963

I use distance and HR. The distance is mainly for motivation purposes and the HR is to make sure i don't overcook it in the first 4 miles which I had a tendancy to do. I also keep an eye on the av speed marker arrows on my display to see if I'm on course for a good time.
As for cadence I gave up looking at that some time ago. Since I got a fixed gear winter bike I have realised that I am far more cadence tolerant than I thought with a comfortable range of between 60-120rpm!

andy_wrx

As it's your first-ever TT, perhaps have it on distance so when you get to the last mile or something you know you can give it every last thing and cross the line ready to die !

And then next time, do the fancy pacing using average speed or HR or whatever