Road Cycling - Time Trial

I have a 7 mile time trial coming up this weekend. I am entering in the junior divsion. What speed do must juniors do? Would i have to avg 25 miles per hour? Have any of you done a 7 mile time trial? Is it hard? What speed won? Also the time trial coming up. If I place in the top five I will be able to get into a cycling camp. So what do you think I would have to avg to plave in the top 5?

tim,

I don't think any of us here can tell you what speed you have to hold to make the top five. I'd suggest that you don't look at your computer, and go out and ride the time trial based on how you feel. It's 7 miles, so you should be able to ride at about 90-95% of your maximum. Go almost all out for say, the first 6 miles. Then, in the last one, just go, and don't worry about blowing up.

This way, you can set a benchmark for yourself. If you pick a speed now, without ever riding a 7 mile time trial, you're risking blowing up (picking too fast of a speed) or holding yourself back (picking too slow of a speed). Then, see how you place and felt. After your first time trial, you can pick a goal speed to maintain throughout.

Tell us how it goes!

Hmmmm... a lot of questions here.

What speed do most juniors do?

Asuming you're talking about the 15-18 age category (not 12-14), and the course is pretty flat (course profile matters a ton when considering the average speed) MOST juniors will be around 24-26 mph. There will of course be outliers. Very strong junior time trialers will do 28-30 mph on a flat course, especialy if it is short.

Would I have to average 25 miles an hour?

You will probably do pretty well if you average that speed. Considering that I don't think there is a strong junior contingent in your part of the country - that speed will definately get you in the top five (...there may only be five riders) if not win you the race.

Is the race hard?

It is if you're trying to win. It's as hard as you make it.

What speed won?

Here are the results for a TT I did with a junior category: http://www.bikereg.com/News/Results02/20020818Blackwater.asp This TT was not 7 miles though. It was 35 km, and was pretty rolling with one climb of about 1 km. I won the 15-17 age category with a speed of about 27 mph (I'm Sam). As you can see from the times in the junior field, there are HUGE time gaps in the junior field. You can see that it is possible to ride nearly 5 minutes slower than the fastest time and you could still land in the top three finishers. You shouldn't have problems with getting in the top five.

If you are up against a top junior TT'er in a FLAT 12km (7 mile) TT you can expect a winning speed of around 29mph.

DISCLAIMER: Since junior riders must use junior gears (a smaller largest gear than senior riders), your time will be beaten by senior riders who are not necessarily any stronger than you, simply because they can go faster on downhills where a junior is spinning out. If you are a junior descending serious hills in a TT, conserve your energy, don't bother pedaling, and get in a crazy aero tuck. It's faster and less energy that way.

In response to velo, she's completely right.

My answers in the previous post are to give you an idea of what sort of speeds will be done. Not to suggest that you should aim to ride it at 29mph, or something like that, and blow up in 500 meters. Velo is right, in that only you know what pace is right for yourself.

But I do disagree with waiting untill the last mile to go all out. Start going all out with TWO miles to go, as though you only have ONE left. It's perfecly OK to crack yourself before the finish, as long as you can hold it together reasonably after you do (ex: don't slow down to 15mph from 25mph ;) )

Although ideal, it's too riskly trying to time things so that you crack the moment you cross the line. Chances are you won't have gone as hard as you could. You just might surprise yourself by starting to go all out with TWO to go as if you just had ONE, and maintain that speed all the way to the end.

It's hard to know what you're capable of until you do it.

Good luck.

- Maurizio

I'm also going to give time trialing a try this year, so your posts are all very helpful- thanks! I did mountain bike racing last year, which is basically a time trial but without aerodynamics playing as big a role.

Last summer I would usually reach around 25 MPH at a racing pace, and my fastest sprint was 33 MPH. I'm expecting my speed (and comfort!) to increase this year with the road bike. Does anyone know the difference between their speed a road bike vs. the same effort on a mountain bike on the road?

Tim,

7 miles ain't to bad. Since it is short, my suggestion is to be thoroughly warmed up, that way you can take off right from the start and not have to worry. Also, breath deeply for several minutes before your start, this helps to get some oxygen store up, and keeps your HR down. While you are riding, get into a flow, and DO NOT pant, this is the worst way to breathe during a TT. Suck in alot of air, and blow it out hard, and like I said, get some sort of flow. Don't have a specific speed in mind, a goal time is good, but for 7 miles you should just be hammering out as much speed as you can. Try to keep focused, and in good form. If you feel your pace slowing, focus on getting it back up, or, if you think going faster will blow you up, regroup and get focused at a different speed. Palmares has some good stuf on Time Trialing, try doing a search and reading some of his stuff. My last word of advice, when you are done, if you didn't do as well as you wanted, don't kick yourself in the butt. Find something positive about your performance, and pick apart what you can do better next time.

Good luck, and have a blast! Be sure to let us know how it goes in the Racing forum.