# 25 mile TT



## addictfreak (5 Jun 2010)

My club are holding a 25 mile TT soon, and I have been asked to compete.

I have never done a TT before.

What would be a reasonable time?


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## palinurus (5 Jun 2010)

Depends. For my first TT (a 10) I aimed at <30 mins (20 mph average). I went quicker, but I had no idea whether I could do it at the time (that TT was the first sporting event I entered out of my own free will, ever). I aimed at 20 for my first 25 too. Then for my second one I had the target of beating the time I did in the first one.

If you already race, or have an idea of the sort of average speeds you can manage under similar conditions, you may have a better idea of what you might achieve.


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## addictfreak (5 Jun 2010)

Well I don't race at all. But am more than capable of a 20 mph average over 25 mile.

I suppose there's a little bit of pride involved, and I certainly don't want to be last.

I believe there's a handicap system used, but not sure whether its based on age or time trialling ability.


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## palinurus (5 Jun 2010)

Handicap systems within clubs are based on the times riders can be expected to do- if you are an unknown quantity you'll probably initially have a generous allowance. There is also a type of handicapping based on age which is used in VTTA events, but elsewhere too.


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## Will1985 (6 Jun 2010)

For a first 25, anything under 1:10:00 is pretty good. Handicapping can be based on age and ability; for a novice as has been mentioned they will either be generous or not give you a handicap time. If it's a club event it hardly matters anyway.


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## marzjennings (6 Jun 2010)

I'd aim for an hour and be happy with anything under 1:10. I used to hit sub hour times for 25 mile TTs, but that's not happened for over 15 years. 

Do you have a TT bike or are you clipping on TT bars? Getting into a good tuck can easily add on an extra mile or 2 per hour.


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## iendicott (6 Jun 2010)

Addictfreak, I to am looking at competing in my first ever time trial in Aug, I didn't set my goal to high so decided a nice 25 miler to start off 

Never competed before in anything related to cycling though I am told by the other club run members I should be able to hold my own, my lack of confidence may hinder me though as I don't want to make myself look like a t1t on the first TT by going the wrong way 

Ivan


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## palinurus (6 Jun 2010)

It will also depend on the course and weather. I managed to come fifth in a (not very hotly contested!) 25 once with a time only just under 65 minutes. The winner did not go under the hour. It was a lumpy course, early in the season, windy and there were roadworks with temporary traffic lights on the course!

Aiming for a time of less than 60 minutes I'd suggest is a longer-term goal. Will's target is a good start, better than evens but not so challenging that it'll screw with your focus on the day- it feels much better to be ahead of your target*.


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## Will1985 (6 Jun 2010)

marzjennings said:


> I'd aim for an hour and be happy with anything under 1:10. I used to hit sub hour times for 25 mile TTs, but that's not happened for over 15 years.


Unless already a road racer, the OP can't expect to hold 40km/h for 1 hour...if he tried he would blow up and finish with 1:30 and walk away from TTing. There will always be plenty of time trials to ride later. I just think for a first TT it is wise to ride within your capabilities...let's face it you can only improve.


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## palinurus (6 Jun 2010)

iendicott said:


> I don't want to make myself look like a t1t on the first TT by going the wrong way
> 
> Ivan



Make sure you know the course first! I generally always ride a course beforehand if I have a chance. The course descriptions on the CTT website are variable but sometimes people post them on Bikely- search for the course code. Sometimes it's practically impossible to find out- if that happens I turn up early and ask someone at the HQ.


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## addictfreak (6 Jun 2010)

Will1985 said:


> Unless already a road racer, the OP can't expect to hold 40km/h for 1 hour...if he tried he would blow up and finish with 1:30 and walk away from TTing. There will always be plenty of time trials to ride later. I just think for a first TT it is wise to ride within your capabilities...let's face it you can only improve.



Will

That's sounds spot on. I'm not a racer, I just enjoy cycling. I can normally average around 19mph over distances of 20-30 miles. Realistically I would be happy with a sub 1.15.

There are clearly some good time trialists on this forum!


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## palinurus (6 Jun 2010)

Will1985 said:


> I just think for a first TT it is wise to ride within your capabilities...



That's sort of the point in any TT. If you overextend yourself you need to recover and that'll bring down your average speed. It's a hard effort, but also very controlled. Takes a while to get a feel for it.


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## scott s10 (7 Jun 2010)

palinurus said:


> Depends. For my first TT (a 10) I aimed at <30 mins (20 mph average). I went quicker, but I had no idea whether I could do it at the time (that TT was the first sporting event I entered out of my own free will, ever). I aimed at 20 for my first 25 too. Then for my second one I had the target of beating the time I did in the first one.
> 
> If you already race, or have an idea of the sort of average speeds you can manage under similar conditions, you may have a better idea of what you might achieve.


30 mins for 25 miles =50 mph average
a decent time for a 25mile tt is 1hr 15 which is about 20mph though a decent tester will go under 1hour


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## iLB (7 Jun 2010)

scott s10 said:


> 30 mins for 25 miles =50 mph average
> a decent time for a 25mile tt is 1hr 15 which is about 20mph though a decent tester will go under 1hour



palinurus:


> (a 10)


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## scott s10 (7 Jun 2010)

iLB said:


> palinurus:



sorry didnt spend enough time reading through


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## scott s10 (7 Jun 2010)

also 25s are very hard mentally i find , i can do a 22 minute 10 mile tt but for 25 i did 1 hr (which is quite alot slower than the 10 speed) near enough the other day in the nat 25, youve got to think that its a 10 mile but just keep pushing through the pain for the wholw 25


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## marzjennings (7 Jun 2010)

addictfreak said:


> Will
> 
> That's sounds spot on. I'm not a racer, I just enjoy cycling. I can normally average around 19mph over distances of 20-30 miles. Realistically I would be happy with a sub 1.15.
> 
> There are clearly some good time trialists on this forum!



You may surprise yourself. If you're comfortable riding around 19mph for casual road rides of 30 miles and with the extra adrenaline of racing you may average 21-22 mph. Plus, even though you can't draft other riders, having someone 30 yards ahead setting a good pace may also help drive a higher average speed.

Don't forget to warm up before the race?


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## Brahan (8 Jun 2010)

addictfreak said:


> My club are holding a 25 mile TT soon, and I have been asked to compete.
> 
> I have never done a TT before.
> 
> What would be a reasonable time?



Hello addictfreak.

First of all - well done for giving TTing a bash, whatever your time you'll love the feeling of pulling in to the HQ after leaving everything you've got out on the road. 

If you have a speedo on your bike make sure that you've gone about 2 miles before you really start pushing it, as you don't want to fill up with lactic acid in the first few hundred yards - I've done it before and spent the rest of the ride wondering where my power had gone, not good.

Although it's called a Time Trial, you really shouldn't worry too much about your first time, just leave a mark so you have something to aim for the next time.

Good luck.


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## NickM (9 Jun 2010)

Brahan said:


> If you have a speedo on your bike make sure that you've gone about 2 miles before you really start pushing it...


This is good advice. Your body takes about three minutes to adjust heart rate and breathing to the level of effort being demanded of it. Go hard enough to stimulate that adjustment to race pace, but not so hard as to make yourself blow up, in the first few minutes of the race.

And the ideal is to maintain the maximum _steady state_ power output that you can produce for however long it takes you to cover 25 miles. So don't blast up drags and recover downhill - accept that you will go slower uphill, and make sure that you maintain effort downhill.


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## Ian H (8 Jul 2010)

I did my first 25 for over a year last weekend. Rather chuffed with a 59.17. To put that in perspective, young Tom, whose minute man I was, came past me after about ten minutes and recorded 49.56. He also was chuffed.


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