"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Madera Stage Race - TT

Has anyone done the flat TT part of the Madera stage race? This will be my first TT and I have a few questions about how to ride it. I'll have my powertap on my bike as a pacing tool. In addition to that, I know about what wattage I can sustain for the whole thing. The question in my mind is what process to use to get up to that wattage? I'm assuming that I should ramp up, but I don't know in what manner is best to do that. Any thoughts on that?

i've done the race a few years ago. the course can be windy especially later in the day if your tt comes after the crit. since it's your first tt, try not to overthink these things, i know it's hard not too as you been preparing for months. the main thing is to not start out too fast in the first mile, it should feel too easy as you build your speed so that you can be consistent in your pacing as opposed to going too hard, recovering, going hard, recovering over and over again. making it even harder you will most likely go out with a strong tailwind and finish into a strong headwind. but you probably should not take advice from me the world's worst time trialer as i finished about 30th out of 40 or 50 and while winning the crit, the road race and the stage race.

what cat are you racing?

I'm doing the CAT4 women's race. We have the TT in the afternoon. The women start at 2:50 and go out in 30 second intervals. So should I assume it will probably be windy? I wish I could skip the crit, since I really only care about the TT.

I'm doing the CAT4 women's race. We have the TT in the afternoon. The women start at 2:50 and go out in 30 second intervals. So should I assume it will probably be windy? I wish I could skip the crit, since I really only care about the TT.

Don't assume anything, because it isn't going to matter. TT's are TT's. You're going to bury yourself regardless of the wind, just in a lower gear.

It's only 10 miles so get a full warm up before. I'd start at 75-80% for the first 30-60 seconds then ramp it up to LT. Figure on 20-25 minutes of pain.

Good luck!

I just did a 16mi TT that was 8mi into a pretty wicked headwind. I really took it easy on the way out and that killed my time. I was afraid of blowing up but I went too far the the other way. I like TT's, but you have to just acept that you are alone and you are going to suffer. If you are going to use your PT then base your effort on your CP30 time. You allready know you can hold this wattage for 30min so do it and let that dictate your time.

BTW what wheel did you finally decide to use for your PT?

I just did a 16mi TT that was 8mi into a pretty wicked headwind. I really took it easy on the way out and that killed my time. I was afraid of blowing up but I went too far the the other way. I like TT's, but you have to just acept that you are alone and you are going to suffer. If you are going to use your PT then base your effort on your CP30 time. You allready know you can hold this wattage for 30min so do it and let that dictate your time.

BTW what wheel did you finally decide to use for your PT?

Thanks for the input. I've only had the thing for a week, so I'll go with CP30 like you said. That might be a conservative number as I've not had any a$$-busting workouts this week that were on the flat. Most of my longer interval efforts have been on the hills. For my first TT however, maybe it's better to go with a slightly conservative number and then see what happens.

Out of curiosity, what is the typical relationship between threshold power (from a lactate test) and CP 30, CP20, etc.?


For the wheel, I finally decided on a Reynolds Alta Race from Wheelbuilders.com. I had it built with a powertap SL so it would be a bit lighter for racing. So far I've been happy with the setup. I raced with it last week in a series an Infineon Raceway and it performed well even in the brutal crosswinds we had that day.

Thanks for the input. I've only had the thing for a week, so I'll go with CP30 like you said. That might be a conservative number as I've not had any a$$-busting workouts this week that were on the flat. Most of my longer interval efforts have been on the hills. For my first TT however, maybe it's better to go with a slightly conservative number and then see what happens.

Out of curiosity, what is the typical relationship between threshold power (from a lactate test) and CP 30, CP20, etc.?


For the wheel, I finally decided on a Reynolds Alta Race from Wheelbuilders.com. I had it built with a powertap SL so it would be a bit lighter for racing. So far I've been happy with the setup. I raced with it last week in a series an Infineon Raceway and it performed well even in the brutal crosswinds we had that day.

Good choice on the wheel, I really liked my Alta's.

My coach uses my CP30 number to base all of my LT and HR zones off of. This is also the number I base my w/kg numbers from as well. He has me do a 30min all out TT and takes my ave hr and power numbers from the last 20min of the test. Having the PT has made this a snap, it's great to see my power increases, and LT improvements as I've moved through the year.

Don't assume anything, because it isn't going to matter. TT's are TT's. You're going to bury yourself regardless of the wind, just in a lower gear.

It's only 10 miles so get a full warm up before. I'd start at 75-80% for the first 30-60 seconds then ramp it up to LT. Figure on 20-25 minutes of pain.

Good luck!

don't forget, she'll have already raced a crit in the morning, so she won't need as much warm up.

If I remember correctly, the roads can be pretty beat up so don't forget keep your head up and watch for the potholes. If you aren't crazy about the crit, just sit in and use that for warmup; make sure eat and drink something light before the TT; otherwise, it could come up!