Vets time trial table of standards

reacher
reacher Posts: 416
edited November 2016 in Road general
On the site it gives a table showing age distances and times what do these times relate to as in what context ?
Also the times given would they be on a flat or near flat road ?

Comments

  • giropaul
    giropaul Posts: 414
    They are a "standard" . It allows riders of, say 40, to be "compared" to riders of say 80. In reality, a good vet will post a plus ( faster than standard) time by some amount. The winner/s of a vets section will be the one with the biggest plus ( or on a horrific day and course the one with the smallest minus.) The concept is purely for standard distance competition time trials.
  • reacher
    reacher Posts: 416
    Ok thanks, when you say beat by some time are we talking about a big margin
  • giropaul
    giropaul Posts: 414
    reacher wrote:
    Ok thanks, when you say beat by some time are we talking about a big margin
    Depends on the course and the day. ( and distance obviously).
  • giropaul
    giropaul Posts: 414
    giropaul wrote:
    reacher wrote:
    Ok thanks, when you say beat by some time are we talking about a big margin
    Depends on the course and the day. ( and distance obviously).

    http://www.vtta.org.uk/events/results.php
  • reacher
    reacher Posts: 416
    Just over 2 minutes difference from age 50 to 60 over 25 miles, is 2 minutes a lot on a tt ? I know I felt a hell of a lot differant at age 50 than I do now, that doesn't seem a lot of allowance for age or is cycling not the same age differences in performance as some other sports
  • giropaul
    giropaul Posts: 414
    reacher wrote:
    Just over 2 minutes difference from age 50 to 60 over 25 miles, is 2 minutes a lot on a tt ? I know I felt a hell of a lot differant at age 50 than I do now, that doesn't seem a lot of allowance for age or is cycling not the same age differences in performance as some other sports
    The standards have actually been revised over more recent years as older cyclists retain speed and fitness better. There are some very fast 70 year olds now.
    Generally, racing allows for the changes, TLI and LVRC have age banding.
    My study of academic research indicates that from a rider's peak ( typically later 20s to 30s) their potential peak power drops by about 3 watts/year. Note this is potential, a rider than never trained properly in their 20s might go faster in their 50s with better training, but their potential is less than it would have been at 20.
    Today's serious racing vets often train better than they did when they were big hitters in their 20s . Smarter and more scientific training .
    It is still OK to just enjoy riding the bike though of course :-)
  • reacher
    reacher Posts: 416
    Yes I've been looking at it as well, cycling is suprisingly forgiving of age if you continue to train compared to some other sports although 3 watts a year is not insignificant I would have thought if your training hard already, as you say though a lot of other factors in that mix. It's fair to say though that as you get older you do seem to have more time to train should you choose to although recovery is the big problem then I found. Are the older guys as competive climbing or do the gaps widen ?

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