Club time trials - etiquette

Negativelycra

Hi experts,

I'm going to try to up the ante from battling myself on Strava, by entering my club's 10 mile TT events all year in attempt to eventually not come last.
Since I know I'm waaay off the pace of other club members, I know that I'm certain to get overtaken - my question is - am I allowed to drop in behind them for a cheeky 30 second tow, or is it more "race of truth" and stay in the wind?

I think I already know the answer, but just checking!

Cheers
NL

gattocattivo

No, you can't sit on someone's wheel. If they're not that much faster than you (say they've caught you for a minute after 5 miles) you should up your pace to match theirs once they've got about 10-15 metres in front and use them as a carrot. If they're much faster than you (say they've caught you for a minute in just 2 miles) there's no point even trying to match their pace, it'll just kill you.

Mike67

Drafting (or is it draughting?) is most definitely frowned upon...even at club level TT.

As Gattocattivo said you'd have a job doing it with the fast guys anyway. You'll hear them coming with their disc wheels humming away...so just keep your line..they'll be a long way ahead soon enough

Good luck with the TTs...and look forward to passing your first minute man (giving them plenty of room of course)...it does give a good sense of achievement when it happens.

markos1963

Definitely frowned upon and I have seen guys square up in the car park afterwards because of it. Nothing to stop you from overtaking the guy who has just past you if you have gone off too slow and feel strong enough to re pass him. I have done this to a chap who set off too fast, came past me on mile 4 and then blew up on a hill.

Jim C

Strictly speaking, using another rider For pacing who has just overtaken you isn't allowed either. Whether U get caught, or whether anyone, or you even cares is another thing. It would certainly be bad form to sit 15m behind. I think the general rule is 50m or more.
just ride your own race , its a time trial.....

tgotb

gattocattivo wrote:

If they're not that much faster than you (say they've caught you for a minute after 5 miles) you should up your pace to match theirs once they've got about 10-15 metres in front and use them as a carrot.

This is a no-no aswell, I'm afraid; I think the rules call it something like "taking pace". In theory you should allow them to get far enough ahead that you can't use them for pacing purposes.

In practice, I normally just ride my own race, and if I think I'm close enough to another rider for there to be an influence, I just ride well off to the side of their line. A reasonable guiding principle is to try to ride exactly as you would if you never saw another competitor.

I once did a race where the same guy kept coming past me. He'd come slowly past, get around 5 metres ahead of me and then slow imperceptibly. Each time this happened I pulled out towards the middle of the road (this was a closed road event), carried on at my normal pace, and slowly passed him again. This happened every few minutes for about half the race. I was pretty confident in my pacing, but the whole thing was quite distracting. After the finish he started talking about the great battle he'd had with me. Turned out that every time I passed him he'd jump on my wheel, take a minute or two to recover, and then dive ahead of me. He sounded quite disappointed when he discovered I'd been doing my best to ignore him!

markos1963

I think this sort of thing, overtakes and re taking, tends to happen more often on club tt as some organisers aren't too careful about when they set off riders and you find weaker riders in the middle of faster guys. Open races are much more structured and you don't get too much of this, you either never see anyone else or get past in a mile by Ian Cammish :oops:

tgotb

markos1963 wrote:

I think this sort of thing, overtakes and re taking, tends to happen more often on club tt as some organisers aren't too careful about when they set off riders and you find weaker riders in the middle of faster guys. Open races are much more structured and you don't get too much of this, you either never see anyone else or get past in a mile by Ian Cammish :oops:

Happens quite a bit on sporting courses; riders pace themselves differently up/down the hills, and the start sheet is often based on PBs that were set on faster courses...

Negativelycra

Thanks for confirming this guys. I did expect that drafting would be passe, but having never done a tt before I thought it best to ask!

For the record, if i get 30minutes for the 10 miles, i'll be totally over the moon - and there will definately no squaring up in any car parks...

toasted whippet

good luck, let us know how you get on - remember, don't start out too hard.

Magic Spanner

is there any etiquette on speaking to overtaking / overtaken riders ?

markos1963

Magic Spanner wrote:

is there any etiquette on speaking to overtaking / overtaken riders ?

I always call out 'passing right' when I overtake

markos1963

Negativelycra wrote:

Thanks for confirming this guys. I did expect that drafting would be passe, but having never done a tt before I thought it best to ask!

For the record, if i get 30minutes for the 10 miles, i'll be totally over the moon - and there will definitely no squaring up in any car parks...

You'll be fine. TTing is one of the easiest forms of racing to get into and one of the most friendly(car park brawls are very rare)
Drafting isn't passe or an étiqueté thing, it's simply against the rules.

gavbarron

Magic Spanner wrote:

is there any etiquette on speaking to overtaking / overtaken riders ?

I imagine they won't be up for a chat on the topics of the day if that's what you mean

Tom Butcher

The regulations do say 30-50 yards/metres behind any rider who has overtaken you - but personally in a club event so long as you are well out of their slipstream I can't see anyone having a problem. Put it this way - I wouldn't start slowing down to let people open a gap and I wouldn't be concerned about riding 15 metres behind someone for a minute or so - no doubt the rules say you aren't meant to take advantage of vehicles either but I'll guarantee 90% would happily drop in behind a lorry for a bit given the chance.

andy_wrx

Magic Spanner wrote:

is there any etiquette on speaking to overtaking / overtaken riders ?

The overtaker says "Dig in !"
And I feel like saying "I am f*kin diggin in !" if only I had enough breath...

Wallace and Gromit

I got DQd in a club TT when I rode my fastest time. I got overtaken by a haylorry and foolishly "tucked in". Getting covered in hay, dust and other agricultural detritis was worth it for the mile or so before our routes diverged. I never did find out who grassed me up - no pun intended!