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Advice for Riding Time Trials.

2007-02-17 05:35 AM | Posted by Tejvan Pettinger | Permanent Link | Time Trialling
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Advice for Riding Time Trials.

  1. Good Mental Attitude. A good cycling friend of mine, spends most of time road racing. His attitude to time trials is that it helps “if you can have your brain removed.” I think this is a little harsh, but you do need a strong will to keep pushing yourself. Don’t let negative thoughts take hold when racing.
  2. Don’t go too hard at the start. It is a common mistake that beginners to time trialling start too hard. It is easy to be over enthusiastic at the start of a race. However what happens is that if you sprint from the start you will build up lactic acid in your legs right from the beginning. This initial burst of speed will then slow you down for the rest of the race.
  3. Steady Pace. The real trick to time trialling is to be able to keep a constant effort. This constant power output may lead to quite different speeds, but it becomes the most effective mechanism to get a quicker time. However there are exceptions. If you are going very fast downhill, you will probably find your power output goes down a little. This is OK because to increase your speed going downhill will have a correspondingly larger effect on aerodynamic drag. However the basic principle is to maintain a constant effort throughout the race.
  4. Don’t lose Concentration. This is one of the more difficult things. The concentration required involves keeping yourself within a threshold of pain. The problem is that in time trials you have nothing to chase or follow. You have to be your own motivator.
  1. Practise Cornering. You can save yourself some “free” seconds by practising cornering and gradually increasing your capacity and cornering ability. At the same time you don’t want to take unnecessary risks, if it is wet I will take roundabouts quite cautiously, 1 or 2 seconds isn’t worth the risk of a broken arm or worse.
  2. Power Meter A power meter is more useful for gauging effort than a heart rate monitor. A heart rate monitor is an unreliable guide to effort. For example at the start of a race your heart rate will take time to build up. If you strain to reach your “race heart rate” you will probably expend too much effort. Also remember your heart rate can fluctuate due to changes in the weather e.t.c. A power meter is the best guide to the effort you are putting in.
  3. Practise It is only through riding time trials that you learn how to listen to your body and judge when you have made sufficient effort. This comes with practise.
  4. Push yourself. If you want to really make improvements you need to be willing to push yourself out of a comfort zone. If you can sprint for the line you haven’t gone hard enough. Unfortunately if you want to go really fast you need to get used to riding at a level that provides constant discomfort. To be able to do this you need to be very focused and determined.
  5. Enjoy Racing Don’t worry if your time is slower than you hoped. Quite often we finish and then feel gutted at our time being slow. Progress is never in a straight line. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be discouraged it is an inevitable part of any sport. Just forget about the time and appreciate the effort you put into the race. There will come a time in the future when you may start to make unexpected improvements.

By: R.Pettinger, Sri Chinmoy CT

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