This post is *only* about team time trials and *only* about the turnaround, please post *only* if you have direct in-race experience with this discipline.

In a TTT, the turnaround is pretty critical, you mess up there or worse yet fall down, it can cost you a heap of time. It's much more difficult than an ITT turn, where you only have yourself to coordinate. Typically, you have a single 2-lane road to use, with a traffic cone to mark the turn and a standard road width white line to white line to make the turn. And steering with your elbows.

* A sequential U-turn is the easiest, safest, but slowest. Slow down, get off the bars, leave a big gap, everybody take the same line from right curb to right curb, then stand up as you come around and close up. We have done that in most of my TTT's. The disadvantage is the big gaps that open up and have to be closed standing. #1 coming out of the turn has to NOT hammer out of the turn until everyone is on or it will take ages to get a rhythm again.

* A bunch-up turn works easily with the wind from the left. In a left echelon, everybody executes a 1/2 roadway turn, which is a tiny bit slower, but ends up with everyone on and accelerating much faster. You cross over your frontman's line at the end of the turn, when there's a gap anyway.

* A left hand U-turn with wind from the right is most difficult. It offers the maximum chance of crossing a wheel and going down. Your frontman crosses your line first thing. You have to make sure to go *outside* your frontman's wheel on the peak of the turn, so you don't end up the wrong side. #1 has to pull hard to the left while everyone gets behind him. #2 can then pull through as a result of jamming it out of the turn as long a s #3 and #4 are on. That way #1 and #2 (strongest and next-strongest) take the brunt of the acceleration. We last year made #1 be a less strong rider, and I as #2 pulled through early to accelerate us back to racing speed. It worked pretty well.

I ask all of this because it will be a left-turn with a right wind (in all likelihood) at the Texas TTT next month, and any well-informed advice or pointers to informed discussion would be very helpful.

Oh, yes I know: Practice practice practice and on race day talk talk talk. We're doing that. I will post separately about sacrifice pulls and such, this is only about the turnaround. I have seen teams plunge into such chaos.

Jon.