TIPS FOR TIME TRIALLIING

Back in 2008 I was asked by a new SDV member if I could give him a few tips on time trialling.

The original document was published on the SDV website but has since been deleted. So here is an updated version.

These tips are backed up with 44 years experience of TT-ing (time trialling) to date (2024), so there might be something in here that is of use to someone.

Firstly, who am I? My cycling CV

I was a latecomer to the sport; I took part in my first TT on 19 th May 1981, one week after my 24 th birthday (I was a middle-distance runner before that, but injury forced me out). I tried all branches of cycle racing but TT was the one I was best at, so I stuck with it. My problem though, was that I didn’t have a coach – in fact there weren’t any around at that time where I lived in Brighton. So I decided to coach myself and in 1985, having taken a correspondence course run by The British Cycle Coaching Scheme (BCCS, now called The Association of British Cycle Coaches, ABCC), I became a Student Coach. Please bear in mind, this was in the days before ‘sport science’ – so no heart rate monitors or power meters back then! So in today’s terms I would not be qualified anymore, a situation I am entirely happy with – so I don’t coach anymore!

Later in 1985, whilst serving in the Royal Navy, I was appointed coach of the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Cycling Association and a couple of years later, the RN & RM Triathlon Association (just the cycling bits!). I coached until 1991 when I stopped – that’s another story! Since then I have taken a passing interest in ‘sport science’.

So what about my performances? I would consider myself to have been, at my best, of a ‘good club rider standard, although I did compete in national championships at 25 miles (1986, 1990 and 1991), 50 miles (1986, 1990 and 1991) and 100 miles (1985 and 1990).

I also race a trike and have raced tandems!

So from that lot comes a fair bit of experience from which I have learned the following, and please remember, it is only my opinion! If you don’t agree with me, that’s fine.

My tips for time trialling…

I’m not going to cover training, bike fitting etc, you can read all about that in Cycling Weekly magazine and many other books, magazines and websites, either that or talk to a ‘Sport Scientist’ or qualified coach or bike fitter. This article is about how to ride a TT race.

First of all, and merely as a passing but important comment, I have learnt (many times by mistake!) that there is no right or wrong in riding a TT – what works for one person won’t necessarily work for another and over the years, what worked for you then may not work for you now. So be prepared to constantly experiment and ‘tweak’ your training, nutrition, racing, position on the bike etc, but don’t make drastic changes, just ‘tweaks’ over time; drastic changes can lead to injury, illness or other problems.

Entering races.

Firstly you will need to create an account on the Cycling Time Trials website. There is a calendar of all events published on the CTT website. There are two types of TT – ‘open’ or ‘club’ events; sometimes referred to in the rules as ‘type A’ and ‘type B’ events. You have to enter open (type A) events via the CTT website. Some club (type B) events can be entered in the same way or alternatively you can just turn up on the day and ‘enter on the line’.

I recommend that you read the Regulations for time trialling which can be found on the Cycling Time Trials website here.

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The day before the race

A successful TT starts on the day before the event! Think about the following: -

1. Check out your bike! I remember one top rider riding the early season GS Stella hilly TT one year, came plummeting down Harting hill only to discover that he had forgotten to tighten up the brake cables on both brakes the night before. Luckily the only damage done was the rapid wearing out of a new set of cleats!

2. Check out your race kitbag. Nowadays I take with me everything I could possibly need in every type of race. I was caught out some years ago in the Easter Sunday Charlotteville CC 50. While we were warming up the weather was fine; as my start time approached the temperature dropped rapidly and I was dressed for a warmer day! It ended up snowing for the second half of the event and I froze – I mean really froze! I actually came 2 nd but only because about 6 of us bothered or were stupid enough to finish! The bloke who won (Paul ‘Porky’ Bennett – Polytechnic CC) stopped at the event HQ during the race and put on warm clothes –

he beat me by 7 minutes!

3. Check out the course. You can usually find a course description on the CTT website, (see the relevant District Council page – for ‘P’ courses it is South DC, for ‘G’ courses it is London South DC, for ‘H’ courses it is West London DC). Southdown Velo is in the South DC.

For an open event a Start Sheet will be published (emailed to you) a few days beforehand, with course details on. If in doubt speak to the event organiser or a club mate. Don’t rely on Race Marshals on the day - they are hard to come by these days - so you may find some junctions are not marshalled. Additionally, for early morning events, the organisers often put the race signs out the day before and it is not unknown for them to ‘go missing’ or be ‘moved’! The rules of TT-ing puts the onus on the rider to know where to go, so if you go off-course it’s your fault! If you are racing out of your locality then check out the course on a map or Google street view; some riders write it out on a piece of paper and Selotape it to their ‘bars (especially for longer or more complex events). If you have a GPS device on your bike you could load the course onto it. Even if you know the roads check the specific event details on the day in case anything (e.g. road works) has required a change.

4. Whether to rest-up or not! There are conflicting opinions about this. I find it useful to go out on the bike the day before an event for about an hour at a ‘brisk’ pace in order to turn the legs over. Some say complete rest is the best option. Experiment and find out what works best for you. It isn’t a good time to do (e.g.) heavy DIY or gardening etc, although circumstances may dictate otherwise.

5. Food and drink. I personally don’t put much credence in carbo-loading. If you are training regularly then, as part of that training, you should be eating a balanced diet, which will contain enough carbs for your needs. Eat and drink normally the day before but avoid alcohol.

6. Start sheet. A final word about the start sheet for open events. Too many riders don’t read this. It contains useful (sometimes essential) information about the event, e.g. where you are permitted to park your car, some safety features about the course, etc. So please read it carefully.

The day of the race

For early morning events get up in plenty of time to allow you to do all you need to do and get to the event on time (see below). For afternoon events, ditto except for the getting up bit!

1. Pre-race meals! Again, an area with conflicting views. I would advise that you do not need to eat too much before a TT. For early morning events I have a cup of tea, some fruit juice and a small bowl of over-night oats soaked in milk, at least 2 hours before I’m due to start. Leading up to my start time I sip a strong and very sweet coffee; some people have (e.g.) a banana, energy bar/drink/gel.

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2. When to get there. For an open event you will know your start time in advance. I aim to arrive at an open event HQ no less that 1-hour before that time. This gives me plenty of time to get ready. If it is a club event you will only know your start time once you have signed-on, so aim to arrive at a club event about 30 to 45 minutes before the first person is due off and take it from there.

How you use the time between arrival at the HQ and starting your race is up to you; most experienced TT-ists have their own habitual routine and you need to develop yours. I would strongly advise against getting into long conversations with others before the race – you can do that after. You should use your time productively and I have seen many people talking nervously to their mates about how bad they are going and the cold that they are just getting over etc, and before you know it they are talking themselves out of a good result.

My first job, on arrival at the race HQ, is to sign-on and collect my race number. I also check that there are no late course changes or start delays, e.g. due to fog. I then head for the loo! A TT-ist’s toilet habits are a useful pointer to how they will perform in that race! If, on arrival at the HQ or even on the way there, you find that you are desperate for a ‘number 2’ then that is good! It is part of what is known as the ‘fight or flight response’, where your body is preparing itself for action!

3. Next are bike, clothing and body – in that order. Get your bike out of the car, put it together and make any final checks (there shouldn’t be many if you checked it the day before!). If you rode out to the event then move on to ‘clothing’ and ‘body’. As for what to have with you on the bike during the race, I carry the following: -

 A spare (tub or tube), tyre levers (if needed) and a gas cartridge pump in a small pouch attached behind the saddle. Few people do this these days; I do because if I puncture my race is over (unless it is a team event in which case I get it fixed quick and finish!) and there is no point in ruining either a pair of cleats or a decent rim/wheel for the sake of carrying a few extra grams.

 A bottle of energy drink. I carry this regardless of the race distance (yes – even for 10s!). I got caught out years ago on a very hot summer Saturday afternoon in Wiltshire, during a sporting 30-mile event – dehydration - never again!! How much you have in the bottle depends on race distance, weather etc. For a 10 I would normally have a couple of mouthfuls in the bottle just to ‘wet my whistle’ straight after I finish. For a 25/30 there would be enough for a couple of mouthfuls during the race (20 minutes intervals) and a couple after I finish. For a 50, a full bottle. Once you get to 100 mile or 12 hour TTs you will need a completely different feeding strategy (not covered here!).

 Heart rate monitor (HRM). The art of successful TT-ing is covering the course in the most efficient way possible. PACING IS ALL-IMPORTANT. Some people rely on ‘feel’ (we all did before ‘sport science’), some on HRMs and/or power meters (PMs). I don’t use a PM; I have nothing at all against PMs, in fact I think that they are an excellent tool but I have not progressed to one because my performance/ability these days doesn’t justify the cost. Beware of any device that tells you how fast (or slowly!) you are going. Speed is relative in a TT – it is your body’s output that counts (given the wind direction/speed and terrain of the course) and trying to stick to a given speed can mess up your pacing strategy. Distance readout is useful (especially in longer events) but if you study the course the day before there is not usually a need to have this information on the bike.

 Working lights both front and rear. These are compulsory in all TTs. So make sure you have them attached to your bike.

4. Now get your race kit sorted out. You can do this in the HQ or in your car – I use my car so that I can spread out! Know what you are going to wear in the race. Weather dictates this and you may have to learn what is best for you over time. Brian Robinson (top Time trialling tips_19.02.24 5 professional in the 1950s – first Englishman to win a stage of the Tour de France) once said that if the temperature is below 15°C then wear something over your knees. I’ve adopted this rule for some years now and it works. Use a weather app on your phone to check the temperature when you arrive at the race HQ. On very hot days I wear the absolute minimum (that is either decent or legal), for cold days I use variously - overshoes, leggings, knee warmers, long fingered gloves, arm warmers, an extra base layer, chest protector, race cape, neck warmer and/or skull cap. If you wear a skin suit you might have to find somewhere to carry (e.g.) car keys etc. I currently wear one of those light cotton travel pouches under my skin suit in which I carry a laminated card (with info. about me, blood type, medication, next of kin etc), my inhaler (I’m a life long asthmatic) and my car key. Some people safety pin things to the inside of their skin suit, others just leave their stuff in the race HQ and hope for the best. Don’t forget to wear a crash hat/helmet that meets a recognised safety standard. Please read the regulations on competitor’s clothing – see hyperlink on page 1.

5. Race number. Don’t forget to pin your number on (or put it in the number pouch if your skin suit has one). The body number should be placed just above your bum where the finish timekeeper can see it, not halfway up your back like a runner! If you are given an arm number as well, this should go on your left shoulder. Its purpose is to help the finish timekeeper know who you are as you approach (this is useful for him/her if riders pass the finish more than once during the race, i.e. a multiple circuit race). The arm number should face forwards and to the left so it can be seen by the timekeeper (or Race Marshal) by the side of the road. You will sometimes see riders with it on the left side of their body and behind the shoulder. This is probably because they have seen it worn like that on the TV by professionals - they do so where photo-finish equipment is used at race finishes – that doesn’t happen in TTs!

6. Now to prepare your body. Hopefully you have emptied both your bladder and bowel by now. There may be certain ‘products’ that you might want to apply to your body, e.g. cream to the ‘undercarriage’. If you need to apply a lubricant to your skin, nappy creams work well.

Many people spend a lot of time (and money) rubbing creams and oils into their legs before a race (one good reason for shaving them!). I’ve used all sorts over the years and to be honest I think that the time spent applying them would be more usefully spent stretching and/or warming up on the bike. Hot balms, in my opinion, probably draw blood away from the muscles to cool the skin heated by the cream – if it is that cold, wear leggings! But that said, each to their own; someone once said that it is the smell of the embrocation that gets them thinking positively about the race – fair enough, if it works, do it, but make sure you do your undercarriage first!

7. Stretching? Not a lot needed here unless you have had a long car journey to the event. Don’t do too much though – you don’t want to pull anything out of place! Stretching is more important as part of a regular daily training routine.

8. Warming up? Different schools of thought here. Some say don’t do any, and with what I said earlier about the ‘fight or flight response’, there could be some credence to that. Personally though, I think that an on-bike warm-up is essential, if only to get your mind into race mode. You can either do it on a turbo-trainer, rollers or out on the road – I don’t favour one or the other. On the turbo’ (or rollers) you can forget about traffic and think the race through; the downside of the turbo is on hot days when you can get uncomfortably sweaty before the race.

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If you warm-up on the road you can use it to check out where the start/finish are; you can also check the start timekeeper’s watch against yours so you know you won’t be late. It is also an opportunity to get an accurate check on the weather/wind conditions, which may be of benefit in choosing what to wear during the race. If you do warm-up on the road I suggest using an old pair of wheels rather than your race wheels, in case you puncture. I generally find that 20-30 minutes warming-up is enough – build up steadily in that time and finish with a couple of sub-race pace bursts. Don’t forget to leave enough time to get into your race clothes, change wheels, final loo visit etc, and get to the start on time.

9. Starting the race. As a former timekeeper myself, I was always fascinated with people who start fiddling with their watches/HRM/PM etc, when I have just given them 20 or even 10 seconds to go. As a rider I start my watch when my minuteman goes (he/she is the one, starting one minute in front of you). If he/she is absent I politely ask the timekeeper to count down to their time anyway. This way, if I do any time checks on myself during the race (e.g. at halfway), I subtract 1 minute from the time on my watch to give me my actual time.

If you arrive late for your start, always let the timekeeper know you have arrived. This is because they should be able to give you a late start. They are busy people so if you don’t tell them you have arrived, they won’t know!

When you approach the timekeeper you should be in the gear in which you want to start. Choose a gear, which is appropriate for an uphill, downhill, into-the-wind etc, start; I usually use something like 53x17 or 19. When the timekeeper has done the “5-4-3-2-1-GO!, don’t sprint away from the line! This is a time trial, which is all about PACING! You need to start steady and gradually increase your speed over the first mile until you reach your required level of output.

10. Pacing. This is probably the hardest bit of all and it gets harder the longer the race is, and it is something that you will learn over time. In theory, you need to expend your last drop of effort and energy about 10 metres from the finish line. In practice that never happens! If you use an HRM or PM then you need to know the ‘numbers’ you are looking for, for that race distance. If you don’t use these devices then you will have to rely on ‘feel’ which is something that is acquired over time. The other important factor is cadence (your legs’ rpm!). I have found over the years that I go better by spinning smaller gears – about 95-100 rpm. I don’t use a cadence computer; strangely enough I use my shoulders as a gauge – once I find myself having to move my upper body to get the gear round, then I know I must change down to a lower gear, and that applies whether I am going uphill, downhill or into a headwind or with a tailwind (this is why a speedometer can mislead you!).

After the finish

Hopefully you have just done a PB! No? Well, never mind there’s always next time, just so long as you enjoyed it. If you are racing the next day it would be a good idea to ‘warm-down’ for a few miles (put on a track suit top and spin a small gear, HR below 70% HR max.). After that, get changed first, then put your bike away – in that order (noting any problems that need sorting out for next time!). Then you can go about consuming vast quantities of tea/coffee/beer/wine and cake/biscuits/sandwiches etc, and talk about the ‘what-ifs’ and ‘if-onlys’ of the race.