Tuesday evening Time Trials

Starting in 2016, OCC Tuesday Night Time Trials will be located exclusively on the extremely flat East Time Trial course.

Mental Approach.

The challenging aspect of time trials is that you are all on your own. There are no tactics but you need to be able to motivate yourself to ride close to your limit for the whole race. During the race it is very important to concentrate on what you are doing. If you allow the mind to wander it is hard to maintain the same intensity of the effort. When racing try to keep the mind quiet and not think about whether you’re winning or not.

Pacing

A crucial element of time trialing is the ability to correctly pace your effort. If you sprint off at the start you will create lactic acid which will take a long time to get rid of. The effort of a time trial should be evenly spread, if anything it is better to go really hard in the last half rather than the first half. However if you can sprint for the line you haven’t tried hard enough in the race.

Time Trial Equipment

In time trials aerodynamics plays a very large role. On flat courses the weight of the bike is much less important. (The World Hour record was recently broken with an extra heavy wheel 3.5Kg to create a flywheel effect) In the UK there was one time trialist weighing over 224 pounds who used to do some great times.

The most significant effect on aerodynamics is the body. Lowering the position of the body will greatly improve your times. This is why serious time trialists will get a special frame with a low position. Ideally the back should be flat, however this position may require a bit of getting used to. Different people have different amount of flexibilty.

Come on out and give it a try!!