First 10m Time Trial

ollyridesfirst

Howdy.....

I'm going to be getting my arse into gear and completing my first ever 10m time trial soon. I already have some pretty good wheels, and i'll be buying some cheap(ish) clip on bars (anyone have any suggestions)....but is there anything else i could do with? Or is it just a case of PLF?

Also, does anyone have any tips for training for it? I can easily manage the distance, but i can honestly say i don't think i've ever riden for 30 minutes flat out on my own before and so the only worry i have is that i hit 7-8 miles and totally die? I'd love to get a time around 27 minutes....but i can't even begin to speculate what time i might get?

ollyridesfirst

just to add, the course will be L105 by Myerscough College Sports Centre near Preston....

anyone know the course? Anything i need to look out for?

danowat

Don't PLF from the off, you'll blow up, ease into it gently, the first 0.5 mile - 1 mile should feel easy, after that start increasing the effort by about 5 miles you should be almost flat out and just push as hard as you can to the finish, pacing takes practice, adjust to suit, it will take you a good few TT's to get a handle on it.

You should be fine, considering you recent comment regarding your average speeds (25/26mph if I remember correctly) you should manage at least a 24min 10

ollyridesfirst

That'd be average speeds with 2 mates where we are taking turns.....unless it's really windy, i'm pretty confident of averaging 22/23 mp/h over 10 miles

Pseudonym

OllyRidesFirst wrote:

That'd be average speeds with 2 mates where we are taking turns....

now you tell us....

ollyridesfirst

never said i did it on my own

But i stand by my comment about the wheels....might just be in my head, but if that means i can spin a lot faster then it can stay in my head! We manage to do a flat 25 mile route once a week on lunch in an hour....that puts it at 25 mp/h to me....give or take a few minutes!

Back to the question though....what about cadence? I have a flightdeck, which i love, but it does guess at cadence by using the speed and gear i'm in, i end up trying to count pedal strokes to work my own out sometimes!.......quite happy spinning at anything between 80-100rpm so is it worth selecting an easier gear and "spinning" at 100rpm or going for the 11 tooth and pushing hard at 75-80 rpm? Maybe more speed but a lot tougher...

danowat

Spin at whatever feels comfortable to you, there is no right or wrong cadence, some people prefer to spin, others prefer to grind.

If you can manage 25 miles in an hour, then you should manage to do a 24 min 10, my 25PB is 58:25, and even I can manage a 22:36 10.

ollyridesfirst

danowat wrote:

If you can manage 25 miles in an hour, then you should manage to do a 24 min 10, my 25PB is 58:25, and even I can manage a 22:36 10.

Again, that mid-week jaunt is the 3 of us doing it...

danowat

Note to OP, never quote "assisted" average speeds, they are totally irrelevent.

u05harrisb

im a mountain bike guy but have been riding more and more on the road, rather limited on time today so thought i would go off and do a 10 miler and see how i could do. baring in mind this was with XC style nobby tyres, on a mountain bike and prety windy, i did it in 34 mins, what do you guys think? i averaged 17 and a bit overall (unassisted ) but was doing 25-30 on the last mile and mainly 19ish most of the way then dropped to 14 for the hillier stuff+head wind.

markos1963

I wouldn't bother with clip ons unless you've already riden with them in training and are confident on them.
As Dan says be careful from the off to avoid blowing up too early, if you can sprint over the line though it means you weren't going quick enough

peejay78

i think you'll know a lot more after riding this race than you do now, the experience will tell you far more than I can.

With regard to the aerobars; you'll be quicker with them. it's up to you if you want to use them now or later. i'd also wear your tightest cycling jersey and get a pair of cheap lycra overshoes.

go off steady, change up and get a nice cadence, monitor your breathing. i don't want to contradict anyone here but really you should be at your race pace well before the turn.

you won't need a bottle, and if you take one you won't get a chance to drink from it, at least, not in a straightforward fashion. keep your eyes on the road, but focus on getting shoulders and back low, it's free speed.

it's going to hurt, and if you really dig in you might feel a bit sick afterwards, but will almost certainly want to do another one soon.

you can see below from the red line that i'm up to speed fairly soon, after 2 minutes and generally riding at threshold for the length of the race, before digging really deep near the finish. this is on the k33/10d, a relatively quick course with a few lumps and a crosswind.

Speedmenace

I got these in preparation for my first 10m TT http://www.wiggle.co.uk/token-tk9741-2- ... -and-pads/

I tried them out yesterday and I must say they are really good, its like being in the drops, but its much more comfortable

morstar

OllyRidesFirst wrote:

just to add, the course will be L105 by Myerscough College Sports Centre near Preston....

anyone know the course? Anything i need to look out for?

Popped my cherry on there last year. Below link is my rambling.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12713524&highlight=

As for the course...it's described as a sporting course but people do manage some pretty fast times on it. I'd suggest at the very least driving it before the race but preferably riding it so that you are familiar. The surface on the last stretch is a bit rough and ready but overall it's a nice course to ride and traffic shouldn't be too bad.

Pacing is the big learning curve. I'm now down to a PB of 25:31 (having still only ridden 7 or 8 tens) from my original time of 28:50 and I have a target of 24 mins. This is riding a road bike with clip ons. My fitness is better (and being worked on at present) but most of those gains have come from pacing rather than training gains.

ollyridesfirst

Good read Morstar....

are you a pay on the day person or have you joined Preston Wheelers (or similar?)

davelakers

Ive been riding L105 for this year for the PETTS series. The course is best broken down into 3 stages.

1) Barton - Kirkland Bridge
4.4 miles up the A6 through Bilsborrow and past Barton Grange garden centre is fast on a good night but a slog on a bad day. last week had a favourable wind and I was averaging 29mph. You have to keep you wits about you through Bilsborrow with parked cars near the post office and chippy and then at the roundabout by Barton Grange Garden Centre. Its uphill through Bilsborrow and there is a bridge just after the roundabout where you can lose a bit of time if you dont get a good line/pace through the roundabout.

2) Kirkland Bridge - St Michaels
2.4 miles along a quietish wide road. If the wind is on your back up the A6 you will feel it across and in your face on this section. I tend to back off a bit on this section to ready myself for the last bit.

3) St Micheals - Myerscough College
3.4miles along a shit surface that feels uphill for around 2 miles. I always struggle with this section, especially the 1st part, due to the surface more than anything. After a tight left hand bend it gets better and is level back to the finish. The last bend also gets me everytime, it always longer than you think.

My 1st time for the 10 was 25.29 and my best was last week at 24.11

Link to the PETTS website for more info is

http://www.petts.org.uk/petts.org.uk/Details.html

The-beast

I tried my first petts the other week at broughton, and being a sportive rider I have never done anything like this before so Pete Lenoard of southport cc and Mick black of crc persuaded me to give it a go, no aero bars or areo aids just the drops, posted a first time of 25.14 , don't know if that good or not but found I paced it quite well average heart rate 180bpm :shock: hooked now

Matt the Tester

The-beast wrote:

I tried my first petts the other week at broughton, and being a sportive rider I have never done anything like this before so Pete Lenoard of southport cc and Mick black of crc persuaded me to give it a go, no aero bars or areo aids just the drops, posted a first time of 25.14 , don't know if that good or not but found I paced it quite well average heart rate 180bpm :shock: hooked now

have you come to southportCC time trial? i know pete also. he's a machine! especially for his age lol.