flapsupcleanup said:
And I can't imagine doing a TT without a powermeter. The temptation to go out too hard is overwhelming... speaking from experience!
It's not actually that hard - IF you get enough experience. The big variables are:
Warm up.
It varies from person to person but I used to find for a 25 mile TT that 20 minutes on a little portable tacx trainer would get the job done. 10 minutes slow ramp to race pace, 5 minutes alternating above and below race pace and the remaining time. People used to look at me funny when I got off the bike - given that early season events in England could be held in 30 to 40F weather the "steam plume" could be 'interesting'
The start.
Don't go hard for the first 4 minutes. It took a couple of years to dial this one in with heart rate back in the day but 3.5 to 4 minutes or holding in the reigns before the legs would realise what was going on... From then on in it was a gradual sufferfest.
... of course with a powermeter the only big variable you have to account for is the difference between training and racing. Will power can only take you so far, adrenaline is a wonderful thing - it'll take a fair few events to figure out what you can do in races. Chances are, done properly, you'll be exceeding what you did in training by a fair bit. Chances are, done properly, that 25 mile time trial will leave you feeling like a truck ran over you, stopped and reversed over your for a second pass...
flapsupcleanup said:
And then I have to actually put it down on race day. Another non-trivial thing!
If you have a power meter, do your first couple of events at the power you can sustain during training for the first half of the event and take it from there.
I know people get worked up over time trials - the moniker "the race of truth" doesn't really help.
Think of it another way. It's you, the bike and the course. You get to use that extra incentive to do well to put out that extra bit of power. You don't get that in training - use it to have fun.
If you plan on riding a good number of time trials, ride some just for fun/experience. Mentally, it's just wrong to give them all the same level of importance. You need some events where you're going harder than training but it's not going to fry your brain and leave your breakfast somewhere past the finish line...
When climbing hills look at the highest point of the road and become transfixed with it. Unless you have a technical descent don't go over your threshold. On the downhills revel in the big gear work (do your math before hand to make sure you have a gear big enough to cover the cadence/rpms at that same when you're on the aero bars if there are any long straightish downhills - people may snicker when you show up with 56x11 on a hillish event with non-technical downhills. Laugh at them when that long slight downhill with a tailwind means that you're doing 45+mph on the aerobars and they're reving their spuds off on the drops.). On the flat, relax. Concentrate on the furthest point up the road and maintain your best effort. Forget everyone else - they're irrelevant. Everyone has pretty much the same challenges during the event unless you have a mystical change in weather during the event.
You can never gain time in a time trial but you can lose lots. Sure you might gain time relative to others but you're always losing time against the clock.
The good thing about time trials is that a rider who does "their homework" can seemingly ride much better than a similarly fit rider. It's all about the homework...
