# Who rides TT on feel rather than computer?



## phillip scott (16 May 2019)

Did a TT last week & forgot my wahoo & achieved a pb, just hung on for dear life. Tonight with better conditions & my wahoo I was slower, & recognised I was observing hr & speed & riding more conservatively. A club mate said he never use a computer for that very reason. What do others do & feel about this?


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## DCLane (16 May 2019)

Me. But then I never ride that fast.

My 14yo has learnt to race by feel first. We introduced technology later. Often he won't wear his heart rate meter because he says "I know when I'm on the limit because I'm about to die."


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## iandg (17 May 2019)

Like we used to in the 70s The more you ride the better you get at judging your effort over the distance.


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## huwsparky (17 May 2019)

I take it by forgetting your Wahoo you're refering to not having your power in front of you?


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## palinurus (17 May 2019)

Before I retired I used to cover the average speed readout on my computer with tape but keep the distance visible, that's if I hadn't ridden the course much. Gave up with the HRM pretty quickly as well.


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## phillip scott (18 May 2019)

palinurus said:


> Before I retired I used to cover the average speed readout on my computer with tape but keep the distance visible, that's if I hadn't ridden the course much. Gave up with the HRM pretty quickly as well.





huwsparky said:


> I take it by forgetting your Wahoo you're refering to not having your power in front of you?


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## phillip scott (18 May 2019)

I don't have a power metre so usually ride mostly on heart rate. I'm still relatively new to TT but chatting to the more old school riders just got me thinking as they too ride on feel.


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## mattobrien (18 May 2019)

I have my Garmin screen set to show four fields while time trialling;
3s power
Lap power
Cadence
Distance

I don’t look at anything else and it works for me.


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## huwsparky (19 May 2019)

phillip scott said:


> I don't have a power metre so usually ride mostly on heart rate. I'm still relatively new to TT but chatting to the more old school riders just got me thinking as they too ride on feel.


Yeah, don't bother with heart rate for short TT's at least. Pretty useless metric but at least now you know.


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## Zipp2001 (22 May 2019)

I never used anything to track me when I did TT's. not even my speed, all feel.


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## Sharky (22 May 2019)

I'm too old to have used a heart rate or power metres, but always used a watch or computer. They don't make me try any harder, but knowing the time and distance, especially for the last mile to keep me motivated.

When I started, I used to study the course details and the distances they gave and calculate my target time for reaching those points. Then used to write them down on a piece of paper and cellotape it to my stem. In olden days, they also used to put up 5, 4, 3, 2 1 miles to go boards and it was a great incentive when you reached them. Now it's all done by the on board computer, which does the same function, but doesn't have the same motivation factor.

Now I only ride our evening 10 series and always on the same course, so I know every bump in the road and when to try a bit harder.


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## Smokin Joe (27 May 2019)

I used to ride TTs on feel unless I didn't know the course where I would have the distance on display.


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## jifdave (28 May 2019)

My most recent ride was a PB i've always been a keen watcher of HR and this time i kept the page on a pace i had set instead.

Normally i finish up around 165HR but this one was a big PB and 177bpm. i wont be watching HR in future!


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## huwsparky (28 May 2019)

jifdave said:


> My most recent ride was a PB i've always been a keen watcher of HR and this time i kept the page on a pace i had set instead.
> 
> Normally i finish up around 165HR but this one was a big PB and 177bpm. i wont be watching HR in future!


Out of interest, why were you riding to 165 when this isn't even near your threshold for whatever the distance? Seems odd. 

Pace is no good to follow either as even if you're racing the same course,wind direction and speed will totally change what pace you'd be holding at different points in the race. Unless you've got a power meter and know your numbers just race it on feel.


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## jifdave (28 May 2019)

huwsparky said:


> Out of interest, why were you riding to 165 when this isn't even near your threshold for whatever the distance? Seems odd.
> 
> Pace is no good to follow either as even if you're racing the same course,wind direction and speed will totally change what pace you'd be holding at different points in the race. Unless you've got a power meter and know your numbers just race it on feel.



Whenever I’ve ridden or run if I go much above 165bpm I’ve struggled to hold the speed. Always seemed to be the perfect balance point for being able to stay aero and breathe. 

Pace worked for me. I’m not the fastest and by chasing a 28 minute(slow course) I finished about 1:10 up on my previous PB. 
When I say pace I set a garmin virtual opponent for the time and tried to stay with it.


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