As Summer is now upon us (or at least close), my thoughts harken back to my painful past. No…not as you think ! But of Time Trials.
TT’s are known as the ‘Race of Truth’, but more often than not for those of us who rode them, “The Pain Game” Both are appropriate, even for the latter, unfortunately so.
The Race of Truth is just that. One rider, by themselves, no one to draft, a set distance and the object is to ride that course in the least possible time. You compete against others, essentially virtually, as you may never see your competitor on the course, but realistically you probably do see those who catch up and pass you, or visa versa. This is because each rider sets off alone, at perhaps one or two minute intervals. You hope you are not caught, but then again your ambition is always to catch your “minute man/woman”, or perhaps many of them and you know that the person who set off behind you, has you in their sights ! But you are also competing against yourself, looking for that elusive PB (Personal Best). That is where the pain kicks in.
However, that individual format, is what makes a TT a more inclusive type of race. Beginners can literally compete against a pro, in the same race. Each is just looking for a different result.
The last sentence is how I started time trialling. We didn’t have a local club here in the Sault, when I became interested in racing, so any sort of race was few and far between, usually in another city. When I was at university, initially I was only there in the early Spring, or later in the Fall, and in Ottawa the only early season races were TT’s. I didn’t know the other riders at the time, since I wasn’t even a member of the Ottawa Bicycle Club when I started racing, but it was my introduction to the sport.
Admittedly, I also didn’t know if I could find any success, so I was hesitant to even enter my first time trial, but after it ended, I realised it mattered not how I did, because I vowed at my next race I would ride faster. It became a game, racing against myself.
TT’s were without the stress of being beaten in a sprint, or worse still, being dropped by the pack on the first lap of a road race, so I wasn’t deterred by a late (age) start in the sport and suddenly finding myself racing with seasoned riders from the largest club in the country. I rode against myself. TT’s were my comfort zone and soon, my speciality.
So much has changed since then, so now there is so much more to learn. When I rode, we used exactly the same bike we did for road riding. There were no specific TT bikes and those that supposedly were, basically were a bit lighter and perhaps used only one front chainring, so had five gears, whereas today Campagnolo has a double front and 13 rear cogs, so technically 26 gears ! (An Aside: For some reason SRAM thinks they invented the OneBy (1x), where half a century ago (and actually much longer in the past) many time trialists used the very same set-up, of one chainring and multiple rear cogs) . However, the major difference now is aerodynamics, with aero positions, aero bars, aero frames, aero wheels, aero water bottles (or buried inside the tubes), aero skin suits, aero socks, aero helmets … GIVE ME A BREAK !!! The beauty of a TT, is that we all used essentially the same bike, nothing fancy, and importantly, the race was NOT won with technology, but on sheer ability to ride as fast a possible and then go out for a coffee and a snack with everyone who rode that day.
Therefore, I am not going to say much about equipment in the next article, but more about the psychology and training regimes used to ride a fast TT. “til the next edition !
As Summer is now upon us (or at least close), my thoughts harken back to my painful past. No…not as you think ! But of Time Trials.
TT’s are known as the ‘Race of Truth’, but more often than not for those of us who rode them, “The Pain Game” Both are appropriate, even for the latter, unfortunately so.
The Race of Truth is just that. One rider, by themselves, no one to draft, a set distance and the object is to ride that course in the least possible time. You compete against others, essentially virtually, as you may never see your competitor on the course, but realistically you probably do see those who catch up and pass you, or visa versa. This is because each rider sets off alone, at perhaps one or two minute intervals. You hope you are not caught, but then again your ambition is always to catch your “minute man/woman”, or perhaps many of them and you know that the person who set off behind you, has you in their sights ! But you are also competing against yourself, looking for that elusive PB (Personal Best). That is where the pain kicks in.
However, that individual format, is what makes a TT a more inclusive type of race. Beginners can literally compete against a pro, in the same race. Each is just looking for a different result.
The last sentence is how I started time trialling. We didn’t have a local club here in the Sault, when I became interested in racing, so any sort of race was few and far between, usually in another city. When I was at university, initially I was only there in the early Spring, or later in the Fall, and in Ottawa the only early season races were TT’s. I didn’t know the other riders at the time, since I wasn’t even a member of the Ottawa Bicycle Club when I started racing, but it was my introduction to the sport.
Admittedly, I also didn’t know if I could find any success, so I was hesitant to even enter my first time trial, but after it ended, I realised it mattered not how I did, because I vowed at my next race I would ride faster. It became a game, racing against myself.
TT’s were without the stress of being beaten in a sprint, or worse still, being dropped by the pack on the first lap of a road race, so I wasn’t deterred by a late (age) start in the sport and suddenly finding myself racing with seasoned riders from the largest club in the country. I rode against myself. TT’s were my comfort zone and soon, my speciality.
So much has changed since then, so now there is so much more to learn. When I rode, we used exactly the same bike we did for road riding. There were no specific TT bikes and those that supposedly were, basically were a bit lighter and perhaps used only one front chainring, so had five gears, whereas today Campagnolo has a double front and 13 rear cogs, so technically 26 gears ! (An Aside: For some reason SRAM thinks they invented the OneBy (1x), where half a century ago (and actually much longer in the past) many time trialists used the very same set-up, of one chainring and multiple rear cogs) . However, the major difference now is aerodynamics, with aero positions, aero bars, aero frames, aero wheels, aero water bottles (or buried inside the tubes), aero skin suits, aero socks, aero helmets … GIVE ME A BREAK !!! The beauty of a TT, is that we all used essentially the same bike, nothing fancy, and importantly, the race was NOT won with technology, but on sheer ability to ride as fast a possible and then go out for a coffee and a snack with everyone who rode that day.
Therefore, I am not going to say much about equipment in the next article, but more about the psychology and training regimes used to ride a fast TT. “til the next edition !