"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Concentration is the most important thing in a TT

Last night was another lowes TT here in CLT. I spent the early part of the morning preping other peoples bikes to make sure they were ready for the TT. Then got to fussing with breaker bars trying to get stuck cogs off of 1k wheels.

The owner of the shop keeps trying to convince me to run dual zipp discs, I told him i thought it was going to be too windy, when honestly I didn't want to be the slow kid running 2k worth of wheels.

This time I was running a reynolds front with a 19mm conti olympic, and a rear zipp 999 as opposed to spoked heavy track wheels.

I set my split times to run a 22:20, and tape them to my top tube.

3:20, 6:30, 9:40, 12:50, 16:00, 19:10, 22:20

I get in a short warm up and head to the start ramp, I tell them guy to give me a little push off the line because i'm on a fixed gear, hes holding me way leaning to the side and i'm worried im going to eat **** as soon as he lets go of me but I'm off and I'm fine, I get up to speed quickly and start my watch timer.

first lap goes around and my HR is 196 max 200, I'm going too hard. first lap time 3:00 a full 20 seconds under my projected time, yeah, I'm going waay too hard. 2nd lap 6:00 still going too hard, I'm a full 30 seconds ahead of my projected time, and my legs are starting to burn.

I back my HR off to the 186 range and start doing times I thought I could hold, and or I started think about homework and letting my mind drift. I start doing 3:10 laps just like I planned but the first two laps got me 30 seconds ahead of my time. last lap come around and I've got a lot left so I pick up the pace hard and basically sprint accross the line, gaining 10 seconds on the last half a lap.

my finishing time was 21:40 a full 1:33 fast than last months and my legs dont even feel like I pushed it that hard, I could have gone harder. I broke last years TT record and the new record of 20:32, almost looks reachable, well see with a skin suit TT helmet, booties and a 52*14 gear.


cliff notes: 10 miles in 21:40 avg mph 27.6, lost concentration and fell off speed, could have gone harder. need to average 29.3 to take track record, think I can do it?

...countdown to when DrWJO steps in....hehe

So, was this on a course or track?

So, was this on a course or track?

Flat, nascar track.

That sounds like helluva fun.

What was your average wattage? (guesstimate)

On a fixie? Bad ass! Do you ever do any out-n-back 10 milers? Just curious what kind of times you put up that way...

400?

That sounds like helluva fun.

What was your average wattage? (guesstimate)

using kreuzotter gave me 330avg, which might be about right I have a friend that averaged 360 and ran a little bit faster time than me, using pretty much the same setup, same wheels basically same bike just geared + tt helmet and he ran a little faster.

Pics of bike later in the day when I get to the shop.


On a fixie? Bad ass! Do you ever do any out-n-back 10 milers? Just curious what kind of times you put up that way...

Nah I'm guessing if it was flat I could do about the same average, theres a headwind on one side of the track and a tail on the other. Over a rolling course I think I would a bit slower seeing how I would simply have to power up any kind of climb, and probably just stop and fall over on climbs over 10%.

Great work. Now whether you can get to 29.3 mph is questionable. With no equpiment changes, your looking at going from something like 340 watts to 400 watts. Skinsuit, booties, and TT helmet will make up some of that, but I think you're still going to need more than a 10% increase in power. Obviously that can be done, but it'll be tough.

[edit, I was playing around with it on Kreuzotter to make my guess as you were posting]

sweet. was this with or without TT bars?

sweet. was this with or without TT bars?

With on a tt bike, Ill post the bike later.

Great work. Now whether you can get to 29.3 mph is questionable. With no equpiment changes, your looking at going from something like 340 watts to 400 watts. Skinsuit, booties, and TT helmet will make up some of that, but I think you're still going to need more than a 10% increase in power. Obviously that can be done, but it'll be tough.

[edit, I was playing around with it on Kreuzotter to make my guess as you were posting]

Yeah, I could have probably done a 21:30 yesterday, maybe a little faster. The new record was set by a pro who rides for hincape bianchi, its kind of hard to compete with that seeing how its my first season of racing.

Wow, first season of racing. Don't sweat on it too much then. Just hang in for a few years and you will have that record! I think you can probably improve this year by a bit. But asking for a 2 mph improvement is probably not within reach. Does that give you motivation? LOL. I had the best time in my club TT on Tuesday, 23:51 for 18km. However, the club record is held by Roland Green at 21:09. Way out of reach. I wouldn't gauge yourself by the pro's is what I'm saying. Beat everyone else of course!

Way to go, that is a great time for a first TT, and in your first year!

Congrats! If there's any course suited to a fixie, it's definitely the Speedway. I hardly shifted at all.

I felt horrible and actually ralphed all over myself during the ride but suffered through just so I could get a finishing time. For wattage comparison sake, I averaged a lowly 286 watts (a whopping 25 watts lower than last October and about 40 watts less than I was hoping) and had a time of 21:50.

--Steve

Nice job guys.

...countdown to when DrWJO steps in....hehe

What was the official count? I am in Japan after all...

Congrats, keep up the good work, and rock it!

Here's some form to aspire to (Graeme Obree, this year). Don't want to link directly since i'm not sure how capable their server is.

http://www.braveheartfund.com/gallerydetail.asp?GalleryID=39&ImageID=549

You should never, ever race with our HRM. The adreneline and other racing factors regulalrly push people over their max HRs.

You should never, ever race with our HRM. The adreneline and other racing factors regulalrly push people over their max HRs.

If you're over it, it's not your max hr :p

This is a valid point ;)

You should never, ever race with our HRM. The adreneline and other racing factors regulalrly push people over their max HRs.

That's funny.

--Steve

wow. i was there last night as well. it was my first time doing the TT there. i've done one other at the orange county speedway. you guys on fixie's were flying! it's just amazing how fast you can go on them! i managed to do the 10mi in 28:38:49 for a 20.94mph average. it was awesome. i'm gonna try to come down to the next one in june, but it's a haul from clayton. i'd like to break the 21mph barrier at some point.

http://www.blacksheepcycles.com/Photopost/data/500/SNC10658.JPG

http://www.blacksheepcycles.com/Photopost/data/500/SNC10660.JPG

favorite bike.

I recognize the bike now.. I saw you out there. You're one strong rider! My time was around 24:30. I'm aiming for bringing that down to 23:30ish.

wolfpack,
Go for it! I just signed for the series this year and will be there every time it's held.

Congrats! If there's any course suited to a fixie, it's definitely the Speedway. I hardly shifted at all.

I felt horrible and actually ralphed all over myself during the ride but suffered through just so I could get a finishing time. For wattage comparison sake, I averaged a lowly 286 watts (a whopping 25 watts lower than last October and about 40 watts less than I was hoping) and had a time of 21:50.

--Steve

Steve what kind of bike were you riding? I'm guessing a tt bike seeing that the watts are so low and speed pretty descent.

Steve what kind of bike were you riding? I'm guessing a tt bike seeing that the watts are so low and speed pretty descent.

I have a Motobecane TT bike with Zipp wheels. I'll post a picture when they have them up. BTW, I think I may have actually met you the other night. I was walking around with a guy on my team (Jamie Williams) after it was over and I think you were the fixie guy we spoke to briefly--but I didn't make the connection at the time.

--Steve