Time Trial Races in The UK

Time trial racing , is one of the most popular forms of bike racing in the UK. Unlike the continent, Britain struggled to organise road racing in the first half of the twentieth century. It stemmed from a legal challenge to ‘mass start races’. Basically at the turn of the century, the motorist lobby was more powerful than the cyclist lobby, and there was a successful campaign against bike racing which ‘terrorised the poor motorist’. To get around these restrictions on mass start races, people organised races, where cyclists would go off at one minute intervals. If challenged by the police they could just say they were going for a ride by themselves. In the early days, time triallists wore black to ‘look inconspicuous’. It is also suggested that there was a necessity for developing a secret code for race circuits to avoid detection. This is why in the UK, you will hear about courses such as the U808 or the H25/10b e.t.c.

Even after road racing was allowed, the UK cycling authorities struggled to make the shift to road racing. They had grown fond of time trials and saw road racing as ’something for the continent’ This led to a deep and unnecessary rift within British Cycling, which exists even today (although much less than before). Time trials were a strictly amateur affair. To enter road racing meant you had to forsake the amateur challenge of time trials.

Popular Time Trial Distances

• 10 Miles - Increasingly popular amongst modern ‘testers’ rather than the longer distance events.
• 25 Miles - The great challenge was to beat the hour and ride at ‘evens’ +25 mph
• 50 Miles
• 100 Miles. The first sub 4 hour 100 miles was by the legendary Ray Booty in 1956. He did a 3h 58m 28s on an 84 fixed inch gear. Nobody else went under 4 hours for 6 years. The previous day Ray, had cycled 100 miles from Bristol. Cycling magazine gave him a medal for his effort.
• 12 hour. Surprisingly popular in the early days of time trials. Early time trial races used to involve people have scheduled lunch stops - a very dignified way of racing. The record for 12 hour time trials is over 300 miles
• 24 Hour. Unfortunately there is only one 24 hour time trial left on the calender

Quirks of Time Trialling in the UK

1. People looking for personal bests like to ride on the fastest courses. The fastest course are usually those with high traffic volumes. Slow courses often struggle to get entrants; fast courses are usually over subscribed. However, the CTT introduced a limit for traffic volumes. Races on the A34 rarely happen these days.
2. Start higher than the Finish. There are no regulations that the finish has to be same altitude as the start. Therefore, testers like courses where the start is much higher than the finish. There is a fast course in Wales, where first 5 miles are all down hill. PB almost guaranteed!
3. Early Morning starts. People like racing on dual carriageways (faster traffic = faster times) but to avoid heavy traffic levels, races often start as early as 5am on a Sunday morning
4. Hill Climb Races. A time trial which is just straight uphill. Races last between 2 mins and 25 minutes
5. Some British testers have gone onto be excellent procyclists. Both Graeme Obree and Chris Boardman broke the World Hour Record. They started off their careers time trialling in the UK.

Time Trial Links in UK

• Time Trial results and Events at CTT
• Time Trialling Forum. - The place to go if you fancy arguing about Tyres vs Tubs, the best gear ratios and whether Shimano is better than Campagnolo.
• Training for a 10 mile time trial
• The Hour By Michael Hutchinson

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