My 1st Time Trial - advice please?

Danmann said:

Hey guys,
Just wondering if anyone can give me some advice.
I'm taking part in my first ever time trial in a few weeks time. Basically I think it's about a 10 mile course and it's based in Devon, England.
Done a fair bit of road riding over the last few years but never raced etc.

Anything I've read would indicate to me that those who prepare best usually do well. I'm therefore going to start training on the route to know the hot spots, hills, tight turns etc to get familiar with it.

Can you more experienced guys suggest some superb advice that I should really take on board.

Cheers
Danny

P.S. Also the dilemma of adding the aerobars??

Fit the aero-bars - definately - sooner rather than later, so you can get used to the position.
I think that even with a 10 mile TT, you need to pace yourself so you can sustain your optimum power to the finish line. Riding the course is a great way to get this pace right, allowing for the ups/downs as you mentioed.
It makes a huge difference in warming-up before the race; start as you would warm up normally(10-15mins), followed this with 2-3 hard efforts to acclimatize to what you're about to put yourself through for the next 25-30minutes.
Between now and the event, do some 10 minute speed sessions(intervals), which will help you to get used to holding a good speed for a given time. This will make it easier to endure in the event.
That's something to start with anyway, good luck!

Danmann said:

Hey guys,
Just wondering if anyone can give me some advice.
I'm taking part in my first ever time trial in a few weeks time. Basically I think it's about a 10 mile course and it's based in Devon, England.
Done a fair bit of road riding over the last few years but never raced etc.

Anything I've read would indicate to me that those who prepare best usually do well. I'm therefore going to start training on the route to know the hot spots, hills, tight turns etc to get familiar with it.

Can you more experienced guys suggest some superb advice that I should really take on board.

Cheers
Danny

P.S. Also the dilemma of adding the aerobars??

try to get your back as flat as possible🙂 and enjoy

I usually warm up for about 15 minutes. I'm rather weird when I time trial. To keep my mind off of my legs burning, I'll sing to myself while I ride. Usually, I'll find a comfort zone and kick it up a little bit, keep my eye on my computer and never let the speed fluctuate.

I did 2 time trials last year (my first 2). The first 1 was okay but i was definately slow. The second time I had done a bit of research and did much better. What I read for training was to start doing sprint as fast as you can for 1/2 the distance on one day and then go out at a high moderate pace the next day for the full distance.

I also learned that the worst thing i could do was have my computer set to register speed. I kept looking at it all the time and worrying about going faster. The second time trial I did I kept it set to cadence and did my best to stay within my candence zone (for me that is 85-95 rpm). All of a sudden i went from just finishing and beating 1 guy to finishing strong and beating 4 guys.