# First TT in 34yrs, any advice ?



## Ridgeway (19 Sep 2022)

Loved everything about TT’s in the mid 80’s when i was a 16-18yrs old, only did 3 and all on the Chelford TT route but they seemed to have stuck in my mind…

Role forward 34yrs and I’ve just signed up for a local TT in my area and there aren’t many about here as TT’s aren’t such a big thing. The TT route is a short circular route of 2 loops with a total of 24.5km with a fairly flat 260m of elevation.

I’ll just use my road bike “as is” as it’s most likely that that my result won’t encourage a repeat episode 😂 but just wondering about any tips from you experienced TT people ?

So far i was focusing mainly on pacing as i would quite likely go off way too hard and pay the price later on. I also remembered from my 80’s exploits about wearing socks over my shoes🧐

By a fluke of luck the exact route is on ROUVY so I’ve started to practice on it, think I’ll have a bad surprise when reality kicks in…


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## HLaB (19 Sep 2022)

My pacing strategy is poor, not helped by reading too much and listening to different folk, so I could be talking confused garbage. My understanding on a nice flat course you want to have a nice build through out (don't start too hard) but on a more undulating course its better to go hard to start, have a lull in the middle and finish strong, a parabolical power profile. It also said that on some courses its better to attack hard on the uphills and recover on the down


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## Jameshow (19 Sep 2022)

Work out what your threshold power / heart rate is and don't go over it. Especially not early on. 

Look a easy wins like riding puppy paws etc.


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## Sharky (20 Sep 2022)

As somebody who has possibly ridden more TT's than anybody on here, tried think of a single advice that I could give, but I can't. Any advice is only to give you marginal gains on top of your natural ability, so just enjoy and learn for the next time.

Enjoy


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## Fab Foodie (20 Sep 2022)

Warm-up properly, start easy, keep as aero as possible, pace yourself, don't smoke 20 rollies a day and expect a decent time....

My limited TT memories....


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## fossyant (20 Sep 2022)

Ridgeway said:


> Loved everything about TT’s in the mid 80’s when i was a 16-18yrs old, only did 3 and all on the Chelford TT route but they seemed to have stuck in my mind…
> 
> Role forward 34yrs and I’ve just signed up for a local TT in my area and there aren’t many about here as TT’s aren’t such a big thing. The TT route is a short circular route of 2 loops with a total of 24.5km with a fairly flat 260m of elevation.
> 
> ...



You probably did the same events as me as the Chelford and Byley were my local 10's and 25's in the late 80's and 90's.


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## Milkfloat (20 Sep 2022)

Go hard early and try to hang on, far more exciting than leaving too much in the tank and regretting it. You can then sort out better pacing for your next TT.


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## Fab Foodie (20 Sep 2022)

Milkfloat said:


> Go hard early and try to hang on, far more exciting than leaving too much in the tank and regretting it. You can then sort out better pacing for your next TT.



If you're not coughing blood or vomiting in the car-park after, you've not gone hard enough....


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## matticus (20 Sep 2022)

Fab Foodie said:


> If you're not coughing blood or vomiting in the car-park after, you've not gone hard enough....



If you didn't need _carrying _back to the car-park ...


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## Fab Foodie (20 Sep 2022)

matticus said:


> If you didn't need _carrying _back to the car-park ...



Damn, forgot you were on here....


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## Ian H (20 Sep 2022)

You can lose a lot of time if you're not comfortable, so practice your TT position. 
And don't ease up on the downhills.


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## geocycle (20 Sep 2022)

Plan a cafe stop…


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## Hacienda71 (20 Sep 2022)

Buy a pair of clip on TT bars. Cheap and get you into a much better position. 
Don't bother with a drink on a TT that short. 
Make sure you kit is tight and not flapping in the wind.


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## Ridgeway (8 Oct 2022)

OK so did the TT today. It rained hard before, was dry during and then tipped it down just afterwards so it really did remind me of those TT’s back in Cheshire in the mid 80’s😂

Had a bad start really as i arrived and had forgotten my through axle😳 took my front wheel off to get the bike in the car and it must have rolled out and was sat on my drive at home….. that meant after signing in i had to legget back home and as such only had time for a 5mins warm and i had planned a decent 30min session, hoe hum.

Took off in a way that Meatloaf himself would of been proud of.. race excitement i guess and all that. Soon found my first minute man, and then a few more and it was great being able to track people down. Someone here mentioned smashing it on the bumps and that’s what i did and i could see it really helped me close the gaps to those in front. The very slight downhill stuff was fine but my struggle was holding what i thought felt like a good position whilst pushing out any decent power for any length of time. I had the chance to warm down with a local rider and i could see that his position and power output was just mesmerising.

Ended up at 48 out of 70 but more relevant 19 out of 27 in the same category. Think there was only about 5 or so of us on road bikes, everyone else looked like Graham Orbree with bikes that went whoosh whoosh as they went past. My average speed was dead on 35kmh over the 24.5km with 240m of elevation, the best lads were 47kmh😂 

Mrs R has already stated no more bikes but I’m wondering if a TT bike can be considered as a “Cycle to work” vehicle🤫

Still trying to get tickets to the local show here (50mins away) where apparently some big Italian will be flying around our velodrome, gonna nick Filippo’s bike when he’s not looking, then would just need to grow 20cm to be able to reach the pedals🙈


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## Jameshow (8 Oct 2022)

22mph not bad on a road bike!


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## alicat (8 Oct 2022)

I was about to say 'Don't do it' but I'm too late....

And you did fine so congrats on your pb.


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