Today's TT

Toby Douglass said:

25:28.

Pleased. I think if I'd focused harder I could have scraped a 24.

Heart rate, when I looked at the end, was 172, which is the highest I've
seen so far this year. I need a better HRM though, I've got a basic
unit, current and audiable low/high alarm only. I need an aero helmet
and a one piece bodysuit, too.

I did 27:00 (since I finally broke my old PB of 27:10 I've never gone
over it again). Felt horrible all the way round though, with a headache
and runny nose. I'll be back on the track bike for the last one in the
series, wind permitting, and this time I'm going for 26:05 (23mph).
I'll need it to win the handicap trophy.

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:
: 25:28.

: Pleased. I think if I'd focused harder I could have scraped a 24.

Result!

: Heart rate, when I looked at the end, was 172, which is the highest I've
: seen so far this year. I need a better HRM though, I've got a basic
: unit, current and audiable low/high alarm only. I need an aero helmet
: and a one piece bodysuit, too.

Nah, you don't. That way madness and riding on the A1 in search of speed
lays in wait.....

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Arthur Clune said:

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:
: 25:28.

: Pleased. I think if I'd focused harder I could have scraped a 24.

Result!

: Heart rate, when I looked at the end, was 172, which is the highest I've
: seen so far this year. I need a better HRM though, I've got a basic
: unit, current and audiable low/high alarm only. I need an aero helmet
: and a one piece bodysuit, too.

Nah, you don't. That way madness and riding on the A1 in search of speed
lays in wait.....

It depends on wether you time trial to measure yourself against
yourself, yourself against other people, or yourself and your
equipment against other people and their equipemt.

Competitive sport is the last case, of course.

My TT bike was built to be pretty to look at, and comfortable
to ride. But I only TT to see how fit *I* am.

BugBear

bugbear@trim_papermule_trim.co.uk said:

My TT bike was built to be pretty to look at, and comfortable
to ride. But I only TT to see how fit *I* am.

I think I TT to get the lowest possible time I can. Accordingly, aero
helmet, disc wheel, bodysuit, etc. I don't match myself up against
other people, but, at the same time, I *do* expect myself to be one of
the best at whatever it is that I'm doing.

--
Toby

"Toby Douglass" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

bugbear@trim_papermule_trim.co.uk said:

My TT bike was built to be pretty to look at, and comfortable
to ride. But I only TT to see how fit *I* am.

I think I TT to get the lowest possible time I can. Accordingly, aero
helmet, disc wheel, bodysuit, etc. I don't match myself up against
other people, but, at the same time, I *do* expect myself to be one of
the best at whatever it is that I'm doing.

As Arthur says, that way lies the A1. Don't do it...

(where is the nearest track to Cambridge?)

cheers,
clive

Toby Douglass said:

bugbear@trim_papermule_trim.co.uk said:

My TT bike was built to be pretty to look at, and comfortable
to ride. But I only TT to see how fit *I* am.

I think I TT to get the lowest possible time I can. Accordingly, aero
helmet, disc wheel, bodysuit, etc. I don't match myself up against
other people, but, at the same time, I *do* expect myself to be one of
the best at whatever it is that I'm doing.

To me it couldn't possibly be worth the money.

--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "They never open their mouths without subtracting from
the sum of human knowledge." - Thomas Brackett Reed
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I think I TT to get the lowest possible time I can. Accordingly, aero

Don't go there. Take up road racing in that case.

You'll never be able to get a lower time than someone who's being drafted
by along the A1 by an army convoy and a load a waggons. You'll also live
longer though.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Quoted message said:

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I think I TT to get the lowest possible time I can. Accordingly, aero

Don't go there. Take up road racing in that case.

You'll never be able to get a lower time than someone who's being drafted
by along the A1 by an army convoy and a load a waggons.

I wouldn't want to, though.

Remember - I'm not comparing myself to other people.

I want to get *my* best time. And I wouldn't consider riding along the
A1 being drafted, because that's not *me* getting the time, that's the
lorries and me "cheating".

--
Toby

On 20/8/04 11:37 am, in article
[email hidden], "Toby Douglass"

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:

: I think I TT to get the lowest possible time I can. Accordingly, aero

Don't go there. Take up road racing in that case.

You'll never be able to get a lower time than someone who's being drafted
by along the A1 by an army convoy and a load a waggons.

I wouldn't want to, though.

Remember - I'm not comparing myself to other people.

I want to get *my* best time. And I wouldn't consider riding along the
A1 being drafted, because that's not *me* getting the time, that's the
lorries and me "cheating".

I ride to get my best time. I'm still (apart from a different saddle, tyres,
stem and seat pin) using the same bike as when I started doing TT's a long
time ago.

I could probably knock a significant chunk off my time by riding a
lightweight TT bike with aero bars and disk wheels, with a skin suit and
helmet but that would be a technical fix. What I really want is an engine
fix, ie to get faster, not fatter. I might stretch to some decent tyres but
in the mean time, until the current bike wears out I'll continue to try to
improve my time on it.

After all, I'm not really competitive vs other people (though I did improve
last time from second last to third last..) and have a lot of personal
improvements to make before spending money on the bike will make a
significant difference.

As I see it the best thing to spend on the bike is time rather than money.
Why buy the latest lightweight bits when I am 15kg overweight? Better to
shed the flab.

...d

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Remember - I'm not comparing myself to other people.

How does that work with your wanting to be (amongst) the best
at what you do?

I ride TT's on a road bike with some aerobars bunged on. The
only standard distance courses I ride are a local '10' on a
course that's slow (hills!). People tend not to be impressed
with my 10 PB (24.55 since you ask) but I know where I stand.

http://www.cliftoncc.org/qev.php?ev_id=138

Nigel is seriously fast and has all the gear so I was happy,
but I'm not competitive since I don't have the gear. I'd
rather buy a nice new MTB than a TT bike but that's just
me.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Arthur Clune said:

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Remember - I'm not comparing myself to other people.

How does that work with your wanting to be (amongst) the best
at what you do?

I ride TT's on a road bike with some aerobars bunged on. The
only standard distance courses I ride are a local '10' on a
course that's slow (hills!). People tend not to be impressed
with my 10 PB (24.55 since you ask) but I know where I stand.

http://www.cliftoncc.org/qev.php?ev_id=138

Nigel is seriously fast and has all the gear so I was happy,
but I'm not competitive since I don't have the gear. I'd
rather buy a nice new MTB than a TT bike but that's just
me.

You can have all the fancy up to date gear you like ....... it's still
YOUR legs that gotta push the pedals round !!

Jack Ouzzi <[email hidden]> wrote:

: You can have all the fancy up to date gear you like ....... it's still
: YOUR legs that gotta push the pedals round !!

Indeed. Nige would go quicker on my bike than I would on his 🙁

But the difference is much smaller when we are both on road bikes.

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Quoted message said:

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Remember - I'm not comparing myself to other people.

How does that work with your wanting to be (amongst) the best
at what you do?

Quite so - it is anomalous. I think it means there's something I've not
worked out yet (subconsciouly).

Quoted message said:

I ride TT's on a road bike with some aerobars bunged on. The
only standard distance courses I ride are a local '10' on a
course that's slow (hills!). People tend not to be impressed
with my 10 PB (24.55 since you ask) but I know where I stand.

Hey, that's good, means if we did go on a ride together, we'd be
operating at about the same level.

Quoted message said:

http://www.cliftoncc.org/qev.php?ev_id=138

Nigel is seriously fast and has all the gear so I was happy,
but I'm not competitive since I don't have the gear. I'd
rather buy a nice new MTB than a TT bike but that's just
me.

I've never done off-road. I really ought to try it, in case I'm missing
something I'd like.

--
Toby

Arthur Clune said:

Toby Douglass <[email hidden]> wrote:
: 25:28.

: Pleased. I think if I'd focused harder I could have scraped a 24.

Result!

: Heart rate, when I looked at the end, was 172, which is the highest I've
: seen so far this year. I need a better HRM though, I've got a basic
: unit, current and audiable low/high alarm only. I need an aero helmet
: and a one piece bodysuit, too.

Nah, you don't. That way madness and riding on the A1 in search of speed
lays in wait.....

Arthur

And very big overdrafts. I'm riding a standard 531 road bike with
clip-on tribars. Some people in the club are riding £3000 CF machines
that are useless in any other cycling discipline. Yes, they go faster,
but I'm faster now at 35 than when I was 22 and that was my target for
this year. If I'd bought a different bike I'd never have known.

Jack Ouzzi said:

You can have all the fancy up to date gear you like ....... it's still
YOUR legs that gotta push the pedals round !!

Yes, but on a TT bike with all the aero gear you go faster for the same
power input. It's a dead cert that Fignon put a lot more power into his
back wheel than LeMond in that famous TT. After all, he was only 58
secs behind and he had no tri-bars (which can be worth 2 mins in 10 miles!)

Personally I'd like to see all the aero aids banned by CTT to get back
to a level athletic playing field, but that would [censored] a lot of
people who've set PBs with them.

David Martin said:

I might stretch to some decent tyres but
in the mean time, until the current bike wears out I'll continue to try to
improve my time on it.

I use tyres that cost £10 a pair from eBay. Light Specialized folders -
they're very fast. They're called Turbo S and are labelled 700 x 25c
but are really 20-622. Paul Milnes often lists them.

in message <41275908.0@entanet>, Zog The Undeniable

(') said:

Jack Ouzzi said:

You can have all the fancy up to date gear you like ....... it's
still YOUR legs that gotta push the pedals round !!

Yes, but on a TT bike with all the aero gear you go faster for the
same
power input. It's a dead cert that Fignon put a lot more power into
his
back wheel than LeMond in that famous TT. After all, he was only 58
secs behind and he had no tri-bars (which can be worth 2 mins in 10
miles!)

Personally I'd like to see all the aero aids banned by CTT to get back
to a level athletic playing field, but that would [censored] a lot of
people who've set PBs with them.

Great idea! While we're at it, lets ban gears, too. And brakes. And
chains. Real men set their personal bests on Ordinaries, there's no
need to let these rubbishy new-fangled safety bicycles into proper
sport. I mean, goodness, there'll be people riding bent things next.

I suggest we all campaign for Zog to be Britain's man on the UCI. He'd
fit in wonderfully.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Our modern industrial economy takes a mountain covered with trees,
;; lakes, running streams and transforms it into a mountain of junk,
;; garbage, slime pits, and debris. -- Edward Abbey

Quoted message said:

Personally I'd like to see all the aero aids banned by CTT to get back
to a level athletic playing field, but that would [censored] a lot of
people who've set PBs with them.

I'm not sure I agree with this particular case, because I'm thinking the
aero stuff is alright, but the general principle, that taking athelete
support to extremes essentially devalues the achievemnet and the sport,
that I totally agree with.

--
Toby

in message <[email hidden]>, Toby

Douglass (') said:

Quoted message said:

Personally I'd like to see all the aero aids banned by CTT to get
back to a level athletic playing field, but that would [censored] a lot
of people who've set PBs with them.

I'm not sure I agree with this particular case, because I'm thinking
the aero stuff is alright, but the general principle, that taking
athelete support to extremes essentially devalues the achievemnet and
the sport, that I totally agree with.

So that's another vote for all cycle sports to use Kirkpatrick Macmillan
originals, is it?

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; I'll have a proper rant later, when I get the time.