Entries Tagged 'timetrials' ↓

It’s the time of the year, when 100 mile time trials are distant memories. It’s no longer about endurance, stamina, but about pure speed, strength and your power to weight ratio.

The hill climb is very much a specialist event, unlikely to appeal to all cyclists – (especially those with more than adequate layers of insulation.)

But, for those who ride hill climbs, it can be an interesting experience. There is a certain art to riding hill climbs and it is important to practise before racing. When you are riding so close to the limit, pacing becomes very important and can make a big difference to the final time.

A comparable event to hill climbs is the 4km pursuit. The 4KM pursuit takes around 4 minutes, similar to many hill climbs. Though the gradient and speed are very different, it is effectively a similar effort and pacing level.

Length of Climb

When preparing for a hill climb, the first thing I want to know is – how much time is it likely to take? For example – if it is a one mile climb, average gradient 10% – it is likely to be around four minutes. If it is 1km at around 15% it would be perhaps 3 minutes. You can get a good idea by looking at previous hill climb results and looking at the times of similar riders. From the time taken you can start thinking about the type of pacing you need for the hill climb.

There are definitely different types of Hill Climbs

Short Explosive Climb

These climbs are less than a mile Perhaps 0.8 to 1.0Km. (around 1000 yards). They also tend to be steep. For example, the Cat and Bec Hill climbs are both around 1Km and average 15-20%, with sections of 25%.

The winner will be just under two minutes. Therefore, it is a short explosive climb, almost like a sprint. It tends to favour short, powerfully built riders. Winning margins can be matters of fractions of a second, so every pedal and effort counts.

To ride this kind of climb

• Start fast, just below the effort of an all out sprint.
• All the time, you are trying to increase the effort, so that for the last minute it is a matter of hanging on. In the last minute, you should be riding at your maximum heart rate (or as near as you can get to it). You are likely to feel a little dizzy in the head, because all the blood is in the legs.

Even on a two minute climb, it is dangerous to blow up after the first minute. You have to save that for last minute of climb, where at the end you will hopefully fall over into the arms of the catchers absolutely exhausted from the all out effort.

Bank Road Hill Climb, Matlock, 2008 National Championships.

Two to Three Minute Hills

The National hill climb championships on Bank Road, Matlock and The Rake, Ramsbottom, are in many ways the classic hill climb. Going through the centre of a town, they are both remorselessly steep and will take the winner around 2.30 or 2.40. At the steepest the Rake is 25%, and Bank Road is around 20%.

With a crowd at the bottom, there is a danger of getting overexcited and sprinting full out from the bottom, but, this can lead to grovelling up last half of climb. But, you can’t afford to hold too much back, you need a certain momentum and keep this as much as possible right to the top.

See also: Pacing steep hill climbs

One Mile – Four Minute climbs

Jim Henderson, former OUCC team mate and multiple Hill climb champion in 2007 National Hill Climb Championship in Devon.

Many hill climbs, such as the 2010 National Hill climb championship on Dover’s Hill, in the Cotswolds are around four minutes. I tend to roughly break these up into one minute sections. Each minute, you try to increase the intensity. The first minute is fast but each minute, you go a little harder and harder. The trick is knowing that fine line of effort you can maintain in the first half. It is a level fast so your legs will be burning, but, enabling you to slightly increase the effort over the last half of the climb.

Long Climbs, Seven Minutes Plus

My favourite hill climbs are those of two miles are longer. They require even more careful pacing to get the best from the climb. Two examples are Cheddar Gorge, Somerset and Jubilee Tower, Lancashire. Both climbs start with a very steep, difficult section, and then flatten out for a long gradual ascent to the summit. Here the trick is to get over this fast section, leaving enough in tank to really fly up the remaining gradual gradient.

The easiest mistake is to blow up the first two minute steep section. Meaning you can only slowly climb up the fast section. It can feel really demoralising to be going slowly on a section which is barely going up hill.

On the Jubilee hill climb 2009, where I set a course record of 7.13, there is a very slight downhill finish. I finished in a 53*12 at 32 mph. You can pick up so much time on this section – if you have enough left to make the most of these gentle gradients. I could easily have gone 10 seconds quicker on the steepest section at the bottom, but, I would definitely have lost over 10 seconds on the gentle upper slopes.

The Alpine Pass

These are climbs of 10Km are more. They tend to be of a more gentle and constant gradient. Here it is about getting into a good rhythm. A rhythm where you will spend most of the time in the saddle, and try to power your way up. It is more like doing a ten mile time trial, as the effort can last for 20-40 minutes. In the UK, we don’t have many climbs like this. But, there are a few like the Cat and Fiddle and Shap Hill climb in the Lake District. These climbs may appeal to the non hill climbing specialist as they are not so violent in their gradient and effort required.

In Hill Climbs There are two things you need to master.

• Knowing the effort level which you can maintain in first half without blowing.
• The ability to ride at your absolute maximum for the second half.

Riding at Your Maximum

When you’re on the last half of a climb, you need to be pushing the body to the limit. Your body will be sending you every signal to slow down (burning leg, pain in chest, difficulty breathing, light headedness). You need to be able to ignore these and keep going.

Practise will help give you an idea of what you can do. But, this all out effort is only likely to come in an actual race.
You also need the mental concentration, and focus and desire to race at that level. You need to be in a very good mental space to be able to ride at this intensity. You have to be clear how hard you are going to be going and determined to maintain it. If there is any doubt or feelings of tiredness, you will hold yourself back and not be able to maintain yourself in that red zone.

Top Tips for Riding Hill Climbs

• Know how long it is likely to take. If I know how long it is likely to take, I don’t really need to even pre-ride the climb, though it is better if you can.
• Ignore the Gradient. Ride to your optimal effort level, don’t ride at a pre-determined speed. The biggest mistake is to kill yourself up a steep bottom section, meaning you are in the red for rest of climb and lose time on last half.
• You want to ignore the gradient and ride to optimal power / effort. This means for flatter sections, you can potentially go much faster.
• The best training is often just riding up hills. Get to know what your body can take.
• Be really determined to push your body into its limits on last half.
• It is helpful to know the climb, riding before hand
• Don’t eat a Big Mac and fries twenty minutes before starting

Fixed vs Gears

Chris Boardman said unless the climb goes downhill, you will be quicker on fixed. But, I prefer using gears. The weight saving is not absolutely critical, it may amount to about 2 seconds for a shortish hill. (see: importance of weight on bike) If you do go fixed, you have to get the gear right. Bear in mind a headwind or tailwind can make a huge difference, if the wind is swirling you could find yourself with wrong choice.

In Saddle vs Out of Saddle

There is much debate about best way to climb – do you try and ride in saddle or get out and use whole body, standing up on pedals.

Generally, I try and ride seated in the saddle. This position is more aerodynamic and more efficient, so as much as possible I try to stay in this position. However when the gradient gets too steep, then you need more power and so I get out of the saddle. For long gradual climbs, I am mostly staying in the saddle, apart from perhaps the odd moment to get out of saddle to give body a different position.

For difficult climbs with tough gradients, you will be almost forced to get out of the saddle.

I haven’t worked out a scientific method of when to be in saddle and when not. It just seems an instinctive thing about climbing.

Tri Bars – Time Trial Bike

There are some hill climbs with a gradual gradient, where you may go quicker by using tribars. On climbs of 5% or less, you might be averaging over 20mph, so the aerodynamics play an increasing role. The weight of some clip on bars  may only be 200-300 grams and so the aerodynamics outweigh weight gain. Make sure, the use of tribars is not restricting the freedom of your breathing.

Clear Mind

A hill climb is the only race, where I may feel some pre-race nerves, everything happens so quickly, you need to maximise every pedal stroke and effort. It also requires a big mental effort to ride at your highest intensity. Keep your mind clear of distracting thoughts – try to feel every pedal stroke and feel you are accelerating up the climb. Have a clear idea of where finish is, and make sure you don’t find any excuse to hold back before the top.

Related

• Hill Climbs
• 100 Greatest Hill Climbs
• Tips for cycling up hills

Sunday was a 100 Mile Time trial organised by West D.C, I think a lot were from Severn R.C. It’s a good course, and well marshalled. There was also an excellent free drinks service. So you could shout your number and pick up your bottle 100 metres down the road. Thanks very much to those who marshalled and gave drinks.

My last hundred was 3.52 in the National 100 mile TT. There I blew up in last 25 miles with dehydration. This hundred I went to the other extreme, worried about dehydration, I drank a lot before and during. But, it turned out colder than forecast and I hardly sweated. To cut a long story short I had to make a few dashes into a well disguised hedge (first time in cycle race). I lost 4 minutes off the bike, but, it also disruptes your rythmn, tyring to work out which is best hedge to find. I was eyeing up a spot on the section off the dual carriageway – on the return leg I knew exactly where I would go. Because I was fixed on a certain spot. I ended up flying past another ride, and then quite soon diving into the hedge, a few minutes later I  had to overtake them again. (They probably thought it a little strange.) One other thing, I also took two energy gels with caffeine in before a race which I don’t usually do (because it was so early – 6am start). But, caffeine can also act as a diuretic.

It was a tough day, and I was a bit slower than I would have liked, but, at least I finished in 4.01.00. There were quite a few DNF, so I ended up in fifth place.

It reminded me of the National 100 mile TT with a long drag into the headwind, it wasn’t as bad as in the National, but, it still made it tough.

I was disappointed with my time, as I had in mind doing something around twelve minutes quicker. But, it was not to be. One thing I’ve learnt this year, you have to treat 100s with respect, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong. The event was won by Jeff Jones in 3.49.

Saturday was a round of the Rudy Project Time Trial series. 33 Lumpy miles near Worcester, well organised by Wye Valley CC. I was pleased to finish 4th senior men in a time of 1.17:11. Just behind Jeff Jones in 3rd Place. It is a shame these ‘sporting courses’ are less popular than fast dual carriageways so it was a small field for the senior men, but, that’s time trialling for you. When racing I just like to try and beat course best times. This was three minutes quicker than same course previous year.

On Sunday morning I was down to ride another 25 mile TT near Bristol. As I was dosing off, I felt a great pain in my ankle. It felt like a sprained ankle, probably a trapped nerve or something like that. Anyway I had to dns (did not start), but, it felt a bit stupid getting injured lying in bed. A spectacular crash in a bunch sprint is fine. But, a sprained ankle because you turned over the bed sheets?!  I wonder if it was because I was trying to self-massage. Anyway, it’s dissipated pretty quick.

(Not a time trial course, I took it whilst cycling in Otley recently)

Time trials are mostly about getting better times. Some riders become a bit obsessive about personal bests ‘pbs’ and spend a lot of their time travelling to ‘fast courses’ where they have a better chance of getting a personal best. I’ve never really seen the attraction of this and prefer to do local courses. For each course, I’m trying to beat my course best, taking into account factors like traffic volumes wind e.t.c.

About five years ago I did a 21.00 on the Bentley bypass (A31) or (the H10/8 in timetrialling jargon). This is a good time for the course which could be described as ‘rolling’.

Anyway, after doing a 21.00 -  the goal then is to always ride a ’20′. This year I rode the course, and got very close with another 21.00 or ’21 dead’ as we say in the jargon. (though it does somehow seem an unfortunate expression – cycling a ’21 dead’.

Two weeks later, I had another shot at the course, I made an even greater effort, the wind was lighter and I went backwards finishing with 21.16.

After a few weeks of training for 100 mile time trials, I wasn’t sure how I’d do in this Saturdays 10 – organised by Barry Tooke of North Hampshire CC (BTW: nice to meet you Barry and thanks for organising race)

It was a tough first leg into the wind. But, after the turn it was really fast on the way back, often doing 33-38mph. Towards the end I was looking at my timer, it was going to be close. Going past the finish line, I glanced down 20.59! I’d done it. Very happy, I go back to the HQ to see the official time given as 21.00. (I guess Official time more accurate than using your bike computer)

So another 21.00 dead for the Bentley bypass course.

This is the thing about racing, sometimes you can make huge efforts and go slower or seem to stay still.

After a fourth place last year, and good training and preparation, Bradley Wiggins probably thought he had a good chance this year. But, that’s cycling. Sometimes things just don’t click. You can’t always get better.

But, I have another few chances this year to go under 21. That will satisfy me for about 10 minutes before I start wanting to do a 19 on that course.

Sunday was the West London CA 50 mile on the H50/4 near Great Missenden on A 413. I finished 1st in a time of 1.53.57. A good time for course. The event was held in conjunction with the Veteran Time Trials Association VTTA 50 mile. There were quite a few 70 year olds doing 50 miles in two hours and a quarter or less. I hope I’m that fit when I’m old!

Related

Dealing with stagnant performance

July 11th 2010, East District CC. Getting up at 4am was not as bad as feared. I even made it to start of race with plenty of time. The start of the race was encouraging, I did the first 25 miles in 53.14 and the first 50 miles in 1.48.77. At that point I was really enjoying it, especially the tailwind section. I really thought I was going to do very well! But, after 50 or 60 miles, I slowed down, it may have been dehydration, and the last two laps were really tough. Also, another problem was that my new Cateye Strada computer was incorrectly calibrated. Despite putting in the recommended circumference, it was exaggerating my distance. At the end of the 100 mile race, my computer said I’d done 103. (It was a good job I didn’t stop when computer said race over). It’s a pain having to do another 3 miles when mentally, you think you’ve finished. So my split times were not quite as impressive, as it was more like a split time for 48.5 miles. But, even so, it was a good first half of the race.

My final time for 100 miles was 3.52.18. (25.8mph) It was a personal best, but, a little disappointing after good start, but, that’s a 100 mile race – you have to keep going for four hours.

The wind was quite strong. On the last lap, when I was pretty tired, I got down to 14mph on one section into headwind. On tailwind section I was doing 38-40mph and spinning out of my 53 chainring. Even on last lap when I felt cream crackered, I was still cruising along at 30mph with wind behind.

Riding into a headwind is a funny thing, on first two laps, I was riding strongly into headwind and maintaining a very good speed. But, when I lost energy, it was really tortuous riding into headwind, you hardly felt you were moving. And then Michael Hutchinson came flying past. His was a very impressive ride (average 29.5mph for 100 miles). Surely he would have got a competition record if it hadn’t been so windy (but, then wind didn’t seem to affect him much). Julia Shaw is in great form and she set women’s record with 3.45. Hopefully both riders will be racing in Commonwealth games later in year.

I took 1.7 litres on the bike (one litre bottle and 0.75l bottle ) I left two spare bottles at a roundabout, but, was attached to not picking them up. So I made do with the two bottles, and didn’t even finish them. But, when I finished, I realised how thirsty I was. I drank an awful lot on the return. I also did the ‘living room colour test’ – a polite way of testing colour of urine after race. Suffice to say, I would have been better off drinking more. If I’d been chosen for a dope test, I wouldn’t have been able to give very much.

At the end of the race, my first thoughts were ‘I’m definitely not doing a 12 hour – I couldn’t cope with this times three!. However, I would like to have another go at a 100 mile TT this year. I think I could do a faster time.

I’ve probably written hundreds of times on this blog about not getting dehydrated e.t.c. But, sometimes you just have to learn from experience. My last 100 was five years ago.

I will make a note of temperature (21 degrees) water consumed 1.6 litres and make sure next time to consume more water.

Good thing is legs feel good today.

Training for 100 mile TT

The National 100 is this Sunday. After a few good weeks training a while back, these last two weeks have been lighter in terms of training volume.

Last week, I felt a bit tired on the bike, so I took it relatively easy. I rode up a few hills quite quick but didn’t feel much spark so didn’t push it. I averaged about 16-17mph for these rides rather than 19 or 20 in previous weeks. As well as feeling a little tired, I had a slight twinge in the old knee, which made me think about not entering the 12 hour TT (I have to say – it’s very easy to think up of excuses to avoid a 12 hour Time trial). I’ll just see after 100 mile TT is over.

I also reduced the mileage and took an extra rest day. This week, the tiredness has gone and the legs feel good. Since I wasn’t racing this weekend, I wanted to do a private time trial around the Pool ‘triangle’ used by Otley CC. I did this triangle many years ago doing my first 10 mile tt in 29 minutes on an old Reynolds 501 road bike. This year, I averaged just over 25mph on a road bike, for a fairly hilly 12.5 course I was quite pleased. Averaging 25 mph on a road bike on a hilly course is a good measure of speed.

The 100 Mile championship is on Sunday morning. I’m starting at (6.49am) which could be worse (first rider off at 5.30am) but, could be better last rider off at 8.00am. Apart from working out how to get up so early, I feel fairly ready for race.

This week has been quite simple with no ride over 2 hours, and two short time trials of 30minutes. I will just do a few steady rides today Fri and Saturday. I’m certainly glad I wasn’t doing race last week, without some tapering and rest.

The principle of tapering is to reduce training load, in the preceding one to four weeks before the race.

If you start too early, you can lose fitness. If you keep training too much, you can enter race with tiredness in legs (like I felt last week). Making sure you are fresh is one of best ways of preparing.

Certainly an easier week last week, has helped prepare for race.

Cycling 100 miles
Training for 100 mile ride

Today, was a 50 mile Time trial organised by Reading CC, on the Aldermarston Course (A4). It is three and a bit laps of a 15 mile circuit. I finished 2nd in a time of 1.52.17. This was a personal best by two minutes, so I was pleased.

We kept passing  quite a few sportive riders on the road, they were trundling along probably quite enjoying themselves. After the race, I saw more around the Greenham common area on some nice backroads. I wonder what they were thinking of these time triallists racing up and down the A4.

After the race, it was nice to meet a fellow rider, Tom, who said he found my blog after deciding to get back into cycling after a long lay off (he raced in the mid 80s, until he found things in life more attractive than training and 7am races up dual carriageways). Maybe he came through this post. – Coming back to cycling after long lay off

Riding a 50 Mile Time Trial.

Last year, I rode the National 50 mile Time trial championship, and blew up at 25 miles. I ended up doing 2.05.00. It’s a fine balance between riding fast and leaving enough for last half. I rode fairly conservatively, riding first 25 miles in about 55.45. I managed to keep up that pace for the last half of the race and felt strong until the finish.

I quite enjoy 50 mile time trials because it’s not a mad sprint and if you can get into a good rhythm then it feels a good work out. However, if you run out of energy or start too quickly, the 50 miles can seem interminable. It is better to leave a little in the tank and try and pick up the pace towards the last 20 miles.

Food and Drink

The weather was cool with a light wind. One 800ml bottle with energy drink was enough to last the two hours comfortably. However, since it was an early start (8.30am), I made sure I was well fuelled up. I had some porridge oats before bed (I thought Porridge oats with Soya milk were a suitable way to celebrate England’s one-one draw with that footballing giant – the United States.) In the morning I had an early breakfast and quite a few energy gels and energy drink. You don’t feel much like eating at that time in the morning, but it’s important to have good sugar levels for the race.  You sometimes feel you are forcing it down, but, you can’t do a 50 mile time trial on fat reserves.

Training

You can get away with doing a 50 mile time trial, without a huge mileage. But, ideally, you would be doing a few 80 mile rides at least every fortnight. But, I would still count a 50 mile time trial as short distance time trialling, the key is to build up speed. If you can ride a fast 10, and gain the necessary endurance, you should do well.

Reading CC 50 Mile Time Trial

Thanks to Reading CC for event. I especially liked the vegetarian quiche post ride, it’s nice to have something savoury after all those sweet drinks…

A wrong turning.

The Oxonian 25 mile time trial at the weekend, turned into a 26.5 mile time trial. It was a course I hadn’t ridden before and got mixed up with another version of the course which uses the same roads but turns at a different roundabout.  As I flew through the roundabout (instead of turning) I heard a few marshals shout my name. Now, it is unlikely they were cheering so enthusiastically I thought they might be calling back. I should have stopped and turned round. But, when you are on a dual carriageway, you just keep going . When the dual carriageway section finally ended I turned round and came back. Even then I was worried I might be cheating cutting a big corner out of the race.

I wasn’t looking at a speedometer only the time on my bike. For some reason it becomes very difficult to do simple calculations when racing. I started at 3.45pm, If it’s 4.35 now, when should I have finished 25 miles? I made a big mistake in buying a speedometer with only 5 functions. I bought this wireless Cateye Vectra 5 function, assuming it would have a timer, but it doesn’t – only distance, max speed and some other useless things.

It’s not the first time I went off course, a few years ago, I took a much more exciting detour via Bicester. It was one of those roundabouts, with a hundred exits. You go 320 degrees and take the fourth turning, thinking you have gone 360 degrees and taken the fifth turning. It is actually quite easy to do, and in that race I wasn’t the only one to take that wrong turning. I was the only one, however who went the wrong way for 8 miles but still finished. I ended up doing a 35 mile time trial and is the only time I’ve come last in a race. (apart from when I reluctantly did cross country at school – I’ll never forget coming last in one race)

This year’s self-imposed handicap left me finishing fifth, when I probably would have won if I hadn’t been creating my own course. My next cycle computer will be a gps with a nice lady speaking at me as I go along ‘ - at the next roundabout take third exit…’ ‘recalculating…’ ‘at the next roundabout turn around...’

But, then if in football you score a few own goals, you can’t complain if you don’t win.

Sunday was a 36 mile Time trial organised by Speedwell CC. It wasn’t exactly mountains, but it felt like it, especially last climb up Clee Hill to about 375 meters.

It was hard to know how to pace yourself for a race like this – very different to a flat 25 mile time trial. If anything I kept a bit too much in reserve for last climb – it wasn’t quite as bad as I imagined it.

I did enjoy the race a lot; the road was constantly going up or down and there was hardly any flat to speak of. There was one long lovely descent of several miles into Ludlow before the last leg up Clee Hill.

my time trial bike outside Cleobury Mortimer

1. Richard Handley  - Team Raleigh 01:29:57
2. Matt Clinton - MikeVaughan.co.uk 01:33:04
3. Tejvan Pettinger  - Sri Chimnoy CT 01:33:37
4. Andrew Tennant  - Motorpoint RT 01:35:37
5. Rob Weare - Leamington C&AC 01:36:39

Richard Handely looked superfast. It was the first time the course had been ridden in under 1 hour 30 minutes.
Continue reading →

After Sunday’s ride, I was down for a 23 mile hilly time trial in the Cotswolds. It was cold early on (for a change). It was two laps around Temple Guiting near Stow on the Wold. It probably makes a nice place for tourist rides. It was quite picturesque. It would have been idyllic if it had been 10 degrees warmer and without light drizzle at start. It was very well marshalled by Cheltenham and County CC, you were able to ride whole course without worrying too much about traffic.

A scene from race. I finished 2nd for the 2nd time this weekend.?

1. Rob Pears Bath CC 00:57:40
2. Tejvan Pettinger – Sri Chinmoy RT – 00:58:45

Continue reading →