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Posted Sunday, January 22, 2006 by Jim Teague
Time Trialing I: The Raw Ingredients
Time trialing is probably the most misunderstood cycle racing discipline, especially here in Washington, where you get to dust off your time trial bike about three or four times a year, at best. For whatever reason, in Washington, TTs are the event that people love to hate. But if you think it's the most horribly painful kind of racing, there’s a good chance you’re doing it wrong.
That's not to say it’s easy, by any means. But what part of bike racing is easy? If you've found it, tell me and we’ll both know.
I'm going to write a few words here about time trialing in the hope that maybe a few of you will think about it in a more positive light come next season. This first installment will be more about the raw ingredients: attitude, equipment, and physiology. Next will be some more about training and technique, and then finally I’ll wrap up the series with some suggestions about how to go about your preparations on race day.
Ingredient # 1: Attitude
If you are dreading anything, much less a time trial, and groaning about what a miserable experience this is going to be, then guess what’s likely to happen? So if you have to complain about time trials because all of your friends do, then at least do it in a joking manner and don’t let it dominate your entire psyche.
Personally, I love it. But even if you can’t get into the training and execution of the event, think about the hardware end of it: most of us can get pretty jazzed about “cool stuff”. Nowhere else in cycling does technology, mostly via aerodynamics, come into play with such emphasis. I enjoy doing endless passes over the bike, thinking I could clip the brake cable ends a little shorter, or find some more aero quick releases. Which leads me to:
Ingredient # 2: Equipment
What’s most important for an aerodynamically “slick” bike/rider package? There’s considerable debate about these things, but wheels are generally agreed to be the most critical component. Some kind of very low spoke count, deep section wheels are very important; a disc (i.e., solid) rear wheel is even better. If you don’t have a huge choice of wheels, favor those with fewer spokes, or with bladed (not round) spokes. Why not a disc wheel on the front? Because your bike would be all but uncontrollable in even the slightest wind. They are used on indoor tracks, but not many applications outside that. That’s fine: one disc on the rear is expensive enough.
Next is where there’s more controversy. The other items are the bike itself, helmet, and clothing. I don’t really have a position on what’s more important here, so I’ll discuss them in this order.
For the bike, a true “aero” tubing is best, but small-diameter round-tube frames are a close second according to the studies I’ve read. It’s also advantageous to have some kind of seat tube cut-out in order to shield the rear wheel from the wind, which is something a round tube frame doesn’t offer much of. Aero bars are important, but more for their ability to get you into more of an aero position than is possible with the standard drop bars. Personally, I like something simple and sleek, and without excessive brackets and clamps.
Helmets also make a difference, and unfortunately, the more air vents, the less aero the helmet is. You can take a standard helmet and improve its aerodynamics by taping over the air holes, but probably better is one of the new TT-specific helmets, such as those by Louis Garneau or Rudy Project.
Clothing is much more important than most people seem to realize. If you have a skinsuit, wear it. Otherwise, keep it as sleek as possible: don’t wear one of those flappy jackets, and empty your pockets. If you have some kind of shoe covers, wear them.
A lot of people like to make fun of all this aero gear, and that’s OK. But I have won placings in time trials before by less than one quarter of a second (sorry Michael!), and if I hadn’t worn shoe covers, for example, I’d have been one place back (at least). Every second, or even less, counts, so use everything you can to your advantage.
Ingredient # 3: Your Own Physiology
I was born to time trial. I'm pretty much exclusively slow-twitch muscle fibers, which has been proven out for over 30 years of my "athletic career". When I used to run a lot, many years ago, I could never sprint worth a darn, but man, I could go forever. I used to run marathons, half marathons, 10K, etc, the longer the better. Well, when I started cycling, it was pretty much the same, as anyone who has watched me in a criterium can attest. I can almost always hang with the pack in a crit, and sometimes even ride pretty aggressively in the heart of the race. But when it comes to the final sprint...look for me rolling in about 23rd.
Now, in a time trial I'm at home. Give me point A and point B, and I will find the fastest, smoothest, most evenly paced route between them that my body can do on that given day, and I’ve learned to do it all by feel.
I have a heart rate monitor along for the ride, but it's mainly for recording purposes, and later analysis. I know when I'm going too hard and need to dial it down, or when I can pick it up a little. I know all of those little signs that tell me I'm close to the edge, and need to watch it. Knowing your body and the subtle early warning signs as you approach, and exceed, your anaerobic threshold is absolutely critical to putting in a decent time trial.
You can’t change your physiological makeup, but you can certainly learn those signs. What it takes is practice, practice, practice, and in Washington, there are very few opportunities to do that in real competition. At various times over the years, there have been time trial series in Ravensdale, and it’s a shame they are gone. Weekly series like these give you the chance to ride the same course every week, trying this and that differently, until you’ve refined your technique.
Next time: Training and Technique.
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