Dave5N
Über Member
- Location
- Outside The Little Nibble
race someone, ffs.
Does anyone time trial?
- Thread starter ComedyPilot
- Start date
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OP
OP
ComedyPilot
Secret Lemonade Drinker
- Location
- The Kingdom of Yorkshire
Thanks for the advice peeps. I have been in a club before, but was 10 miles from their starting point, so would be knackered before club runs, blown away on them and still have 10 miles to get home. Have now put 2 years of solid solo work in to be a bit fitter, and am looking to join a club a bit further away, but more 'organised'. Also, they run a 25 mile TT that goes past my door, so I have a circuit to practice on.
livestrong10_02
New Member
Dave5N said:
why is it pointless ?
surely no more pointless than road racing or hill climbing or audaxing. personally i dont see the point in riding a 600 (cant think of anything worse) or even a 3 or 400 or LEL but loadsa ppl do it for their own reasons and road racing for points (BC events) equally pointless,
come to think of it, wiggo just won a stage race cause of his winning margin in the tt, someone should tell him his win is pointless
or even LA or Big Mig basing their tour wins on the time trials 
Dave5N
Über Member
- Location
- Outside The Little Nibble
scott s10 said:
Does nothing for your grammar, it seems.
dan_bo
How much does it cost to Oldham?
Anyone fancy a fatties' team time trial thingy?
wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
Time trialling can be great fun.
The CTT website lists clubs across England & Wales that are affiliated to it. Have a look & get in contact with clubs in your local area. You can sound them out. The 'season' runs from March to October and during that time most clubs have a mid-week club event (usually 10 miles, but there's likely to be some 25s and at start & end of season the odd 5-mile event) where most will be happy to have you turn up and give a TT a go. Expect to be asked to make a decision on joining the club after you've tried a couple of events.
Once you've joined a club affiliated to CTT, you're able to enter 'open' events run by other clubs and which form part of the annual calendar of events. There are events pretty much every weekend during the season, with mid-week open events too. The term 'open' means 'open to members of CTT affilated clubs' and are usually advance entry. It used to be by posting off an entry form to the organiser, but there has been steps made in online advance entry. Don't know the current situation on that as the offspring is no longer cycling competitively. The reason for advance entry was due to limitations on the number of riders allowed on any given course, and field layout in terms of rider start time and expected finishing time to make life practical from a timekeeper's POV. Open events have monetary prizes. These are usually 'scratch' = fastest overall & equates to adults under the age of 40, with 1st, 2nd & 3rd places, Juvenile & Junior prizes if there's youngsters taking part. For some reason they seemed to ignore espoirs category, even though it is an offical age category and has been for many years..Then there's the various veteran categories (a vet is anyone over 40, and the vet standards are available at CTT web site), so there's prizes for vets, then there's the handicap prizes, which are aimed at those new to the sport usually, the slower riders, to give them something to aim for.
So you'll see that there's a lot of awards on offer at most events - usually cash enough to cover entry fee - not huge - riders aren't in it to make a living, but to enjoy the sport.
You can do TT-ing at many levels, from "I'm slow, but I enjoy riding and don't care that I'm slow" to "last time I did this distance/course I did X time and I want to see if I can beat it" to "I am lord of the universe and you can't catch me na-na-nana-na!"
As for courses, there's all sorts. From dual carriageways to country lanes and everything inbetween. Course distances are formally measured, and risk assessed - traffic levels are taken into account and if over a specific level, to course is not used. Similarly weather is taken into account and if the conditins on the day would mean the course is too dangerous to ride from the organiser's POV, the event will be called off. Riders are expected to adhere to the HC & ride safely - ride with your head down, not watching where you're going and you may well find yourself disqualified, and drafting another rider is a definite no-no leading to disqualification (riders are set off at one minute intervals).
My son thoroughly enjoyed time trialling for several years. Now he's at university, he's not competing as his studies are coming first (fair enough).
The CTT website lists clubs across England & Wales that are affiliated to it. Have a look & get in contact with clubs in your local area. You can sound them out. The 'season' runs from March to October and during that time most clubs have a mid-week club event (usually 10 miles, but there's likely to be some 25s and at start & end of season the odd 5-mile event) where most will be happy to have you turn up and give a TT a go. Expect to be asked to make a decision on joining the club after you've tried a couple of events.
Once you've joined a club affiliated to CTT, you're able to enter 'open' events run by other clubs and which form part of the annual calendar of events. There are events pretty much every weekend during the season, with mid-week open events too. The term 'open' means 'open to members of CTT affilated clubs' and are usually advance entry. It used to be by posting off an entry form to the organiser, but there has been steps made in online advance entry. Don't know the current situation on that as the offspring is no longer cycling competitively. The reason for advance entry was due to limitations on the number of riders allowed on any given course, and field layout in terms of rider start time and expected finishing time to make life practical from a timekeeper's POV. Open events have monetary prizes. These are usually 'scratch' = fastest overall & equates to adults under the age of 40, with 1st, 2nd & 3rd places, Juvenile & Junior prizes if there's youngsters taking part. For some reason they seemed to ignore espoirs category, even though it is an offical age category and has been for many years..Then there's the various veteran categories (a vet is anyone over 40, and the vet standards are available at CTT web site), so there's prizes for vets, then there's the handicap prizes, which are aimed at those new to the sport usually, the slower riders, to give them something to aim for.
So you'll see that there's a lot of awards on offer at most events - usually cash enough to cover entry fee - not huge - riders aren't in it to make a living, but to enjoy the sport.
You can do TT-ing at many levels, from "I'm slow, but I enjoy riding and don't care that I'm slow" to "last time I did this distance/course I did X time and I want to see if I can beat it" to "I am lord of the universe and you can't catch me na-na-nana-na!"
As for courses, there's all sorts. From dual carriageways to country lanes and everything inbetween. Course distances are formally measured, and risk assessed - traffic levels are taken into account and if over a specific level, to course is not used. Similarly weather is taken into account and if the conditins on the day would mean the course is too dangerous to ride from the organiser's POV, the event will be called off. Riders are expected to adhere to the HC & ride safely - ride with your head down, not watching where you're going and you may well find yourself disqualified, and drafting another rider is a definite no-no leading to disqualification (riders are set off at one minute intervals).
My son thoroughly enjoyed time trialling for several years. Now he's at university, he's not competing as his studies are coming first (fair enough).
wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
As for riders, beleive me, I've seen all ages, all genders, and all shapes & sizes doing time trials. What I have not seen is people being belittled due to their size or lack of speed. What I have seen is people doing the sport at all levels from just having a bit of fun to Olympic preparation level. I've seen all levels of ability, able-bodied and disabled riders.
Go for it.
Go for it.
wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
As regards numbers of riders taking part in any given event, I've seen anything from about 20, to over 100 riders in an open event, and as regards a more informal club event, anything from half-a-dozen to about 30.
Brahan
Über Member
- Location
- West Sussex
TTing is brilliant! I got hooked big time last year and haven't looked back. Yeah, I want to do other racing but the feeling of achievement when you PB is wicked. That's what it's about when you are starting out - beating you OWN time, not worrying about where you are placed. Obviously as you get quicker you'll target other folk in the club to beat but for the first few rides you should just enjoy it. If you're thinking about it then you should go for it. But beware - it's addictive. I did my 3rd 25 TT yesterday - here are some pics of it so you guys can see the different types of riders who turn up for some Sunday TT fun. http://www.mikeanton.com/Cycling/BrightonMitre25251009/index.html
darkstar
New Member
Think i'm going to try and incorporate TT training into my usual weekly routine, from now on i'm going to give this schedule a go;
Mon- Short 25 mile at a quick pace
Tue- 1 hour intervals, 5 minutes at race pace, 5 minutes off
Wed- Uni sprint training
Thurs- Day off
Fri- Day off
Sat- Medium ride (around 40 miles)
Sun- Longer ride with Uni (60 miles)
Anyone have any suggestions?
Mon- Short 25 mile at a quick pace
Tue- 1 hour intervals, 5 minutes at race pace, 5 minutes off
Wed- Uni sprint training
Thurs- Day off
Fri- Day off
Sat- Medium ride (around 40 miles)
Sun- Longer ride with Uni (60 miles)
Anyone have any suggestions?
