The race of truth.
Good to see something like this being organised. UK tt standard lengths are 10, 25, 50 and 100 miles, plus 12 and 24h tts. excluding hill climbs. 19 km is probably just due to convenience.
I would enter if I was fit, but I’m not so I wont. If you’re going to enter my main piece of advice would be to check how safe the course looks.
[quote=“ShutUpLegs”]The race of truth.
Good to see something like this being organised. UK tt standard lengths are 10, 25, 50 and 100 miles, plus 12 and 24h tts. excluding hill climbs. 19 km is probably just due to convenience.
I would enter if I was fit, but I’m not so I wont. If you’re going to enter my main piece of advice would be to check how safe the course looks.[/quote]
Well, I signed up. Because I have aero bars I had to sign up for the TT bike group. Probably much more competition in that group but I really don’t want to take my aero bars off (too much adjustment involved when I put them back on). Oh well, let’s see how it goes.
The course is along the northern coast. Probably okay.
By the way, it’s free! I don’t know whether that’s good or bad, though! Probably means there’s not too much traffic control going on. But there are advertisers and email adverts going on in all this (which you can opt out of), so maybe there will be some good organization for the race.
The event is being run by Specialized so should be well run. Headwinds on the return leg will be crucial on that course. I guess they’ll allow drafting though.
The course is fine, marasan. It’s 19km because that’s the flattest portion of the north coast. It would be nice if they did the entire north coast back and forth, but it doesn’t make sense with all the traffic lights and bunny hills with TT bikes.
Should be a fun time and well organized. It’s just a matter of getting there from where you are!
[quote=“ranlee”]The course is fine, marasan. It’s 19km because that’s the flattest portion of the north coast. It would be nice if they did the entire north coast back and forth, but it doesn’t make sense with all the traffic lights and bunny hills with TT bikes.
Should be a fun time and well organized. It’s just a matter of getting there from where you are![/quote]
That’s good to hear about the course. I think I can talk the family into going with me (i.e., talk the wife into driving us). The trials start at 7:30 am so it’s not too early. And we all love Baishawan so I think I can talk them into it.
That’s good to know. I’ll check on that again on race day. If that’s the case, maybe I can use a bit of strategy (hard as possible on the way out and don’t fight so much on the way back). I’m not in my twenties so I’m not sure going full blast for the whole distance is an option I have!
Drafting completely negates the purpose of an individual time trial and you’d be disqualified most places I can think of, so I would check the rules before you consider it.
That said, this being Taiwan I’m sure if you have a truck pace you no one here would bat an eyelid.
[quote=“ShutUpLegs”]Drafting completely negates the purpose of an individual time trial and you’d be disqualified most places I can think of, so I would check the rules before you consider it.
That said, this being Taiwan I’m sure if you have a truck pace you no one here would bat an eyelid.[/quote]
I was responding mostly to the wind direction- wind at your back going out and headwind coming back. So if these are in fact the conditions that day, would a good strategy be to go out strong and then not fight the headwind too much on the way back? That seems to make good sense to me.
I’m not sure about drafting. It makes me a bit nervous with the aero bars. The biggest advantage I can see is getting behind someone who can really be a big help on pacing (getting behind someone who is a touch faster than I would go if I pushed myself).
[quote=“ShutUpLegs”]Drafting completely negates the purpose of an individual time trial and you’d be disqualified most places I can think of, so I would check the rules before you consider it.
That said, this being Taiwan I’m sure if you have a truck pace you no one here would bat an eyelid.[/quote]
This being Taiwan indeed. I’d not be surprised to see strategically placed girlfriends on scooters to do a bit of motor pacing.
[quote=“marasan”]
I was responding mostly to the wind direction- wind at your back going out and headwind coming back. So if these are in fact the conditions that day, would a good strategy be to go out strong and then not fight the headwind too much on the way back? That seems to make good sense to me.
I’m not sure about drafting. It makes me a bit nervous with the aero bars. The biggest advantage I can see is getting behind someone who can really be a big help on pacing (getting behind someone who is a touch faster than I would go if I pushed myself).[/quote]
Check wind direction that day and you’ll know. It’s usually blowing east to west, but sometimes it could change!
Explain to me guys, besides the strategically placed girlfriend and trucks. How will you draft behind someone when these are individual time trials?
[quote=“ranlee”][quote=“marasan”]
I was responding mostly to the wind direction- wind at your back going out and headwind coming back. So if these are in fact the conditions that day, would a good strategy be to go out strong and then not fight the headwind too much on the way back? That seems to make good sense to me.
I’m not sure about drafting. It makes me a bit nervous with the aero bars. The biggest advantage I can see is getting behind someone who can really be a big help on pacing (getting behind someone who is a touch faster than I would go if I pushed myself).[/quote]
Check wind direction that day and you’ll know. It’s usually blowing east to west, but sometimes it could change!
Explain to me guys, besides the strategically placed girlfriend and trucks. How will you draft behind someone when these are individual time trials?
Magic?[/quote]
You catch the guy 30 secs in front and sit on him. Or you drop back to the guy 30 secs behind and swap turns. If they can do it in the Giro they can do it in Sanzhih.
Most of the really good TTers in my club in the UK used to say its better to pace yourself a little harder riding into the wind on an ‘out and back’ TT course like this one. That’s because you’ll spend more time riding into the wind rather than with it, even though the gains per watt are lower at higher speeds.
If there’s a side wind look for shelter where you can, ride close to hedges, or the concrete ones we seem to have in taiwan etc.
Alternatively, you can check the weather forecast, see when the wind may be calm and try and bribe the officials to give you an optimum starting time. :discodance:
If this is your first TT, I would just aim for an even pace, and use it as a benchmark. Being good at pacing is extremely difficult, you should die as you pass the finish line. Your position on the bike makes a huge difference so focus on that. You have aerobars already so that should help, and this is a short TT so comfort can be ignored.
Ranley, as for drafting you can rest behind the guy in front then smash past him once you’ve recovered. Or if you’re rubbish you can just sit behind someone who’s passed you and get a better time than you should, like you do to me all the time.
This seems like good advice. I’ll just go for an even pace, as recommended. After the turn, I’ll pick it up a notch and then maybe another notch with the goal of having nothing left at the end. All the checking of the wind and how best to draft is too much for this novice to consider. Maybe on my third or fourth TT, if I find this is something I enjoy.
Checking wind direction is helpful and good info, but tbh, there’s not much you can do about it since it’s uncontrollable. If you got headwind at the start, make sure you save some energy because you know you’ll have tailwind coming home.
A heart rate monitor would be pretty useful in this situation, but keeping a speed in which you know you can sustain and knowing you can push a little harder towards the last few kms helps too!
Last time I heard, this was called strategy (and being a cheeky bastard)
