valygrl

On a related note - holy crap, TTTing is terrifying! We had our first (oops) practice last night, and I was too scared to be in the bars when I wasn't on the front. Yikes!

How do you cope with drafting in areo bars? Anyone have any technical advice?

It would help if we had more time to practice together, but everyone's schedule is different and one gal is out of town with an ill parent.

AzTallRider

It requires a somewhat larger measure of trust than your basic group ride, huh? Fortunately, this is one area where we have a wealth of talent and experience in the forum, especially when you consider that track team disciplines require the same thing, to an even greater extreme. I've done only one TTT. The hardest part is actually controlling the pace. Sounds simple, but doesn't turn out that way. You'll get used to drafting without brakes.

Racer Ex 

You need to call your coach everyday with changes. They love that.

Practice is important, communication more so. You should have a simple set of voice signals that are distinct and can be heard over the wind noise and passed up and down the line.

Smooth is everything; the lead rider needs to make any changes in speed gradually. You can make minute adjustments to your speed while in line by picking your head up, or sticking a knee out slightly. Or worst case you slide slightly out of line to take a bit more wind. You'll see the 3rd guy in our TTT doing just that is this picture.



There's a lot more to a good TTT, I actually wrote up a 9 page guide with charts and graphs that I sent out to my team last year. I need to add to it a bit.

Cleave

valygrl, I have a moderate amount of experience do TTTs on the road and some on the track. I actually think it's a little easier to be on the aero bars on the track. On the road I find that you need to put yourself just slightly to one side or the other depending on the wind. You need to agree with your teammates before the training session or race, which side you are going to pull off and therefore, which way to echelon. With any kind of a crosswind you will be in some kind of echelon formation anyway. If you have a block headwind or any kind of a tailwind it is especially important to determine which on which side you are going to pull off.

Once you've made those agreements, you leave yourself an out by being slightly to one side or the other. If you have a big crosswind you may end up on the "horns" just to be able to control the bike. If you absolutely need to be directly behind another rider be prepared to bail out on one side or the other based on which side you agreed to pull off.

Basically, part of having a good TTT is planning up front and communicating during practice and the race. Trust is part of it but knowing what to expect is a bigger part.

BTW, one year I did a TTT with three other teammates with whom I've ridden and raced for over 10 years. We only managed one practice session but with good up front agreements and good knowledge of each others' riding styles, we had one of our best times ever on our district championship course.

valygrl

I'd be really interested in hearing about what the voice commands are, and what in particular needs to be communicated.

Thanks for teasing me about that guide document, Ex.

We did talk about which side to pull off the front on, and the changing wind direction. It's pretty hilly - there is one long fairly steep downhill section with usually a straight tailwind, that I'm particularly concerned about. Could be 50mph. yikes.

Hermes

I would not use the words terrifying and coping when describing an athletic competition requiring a skill set. IMO, the better mental visualization is how do I learn the skills to compete safely and effectively. It makes total sense to me to ride on the bullhorns when sitting in while you get the feel of the pace and movement of the team. And you can see the wheel in front.

If it is not windy and the terrain is flat or slightly uphill, it is easier to ride in the aerobars in formation behind another rider. To reduce speed you ride off slightly and use the wind and terrain to control speed. Downhill is more difficult to control speed and may require riding on the bull horns and braking.

It is not horrible to ride in the bullhorns when sitting in. Bend your elbows and stay low and close to the rider in front. In the aerobars, if you feel like you need a larger gap to the rider in front, take it. As you skill level improves, you will feel more comfortable riding in the aerobars sitting in and require less margin (distance to the rider in front).

The hardest part of doing at TTT is controlling the pace and no matter what riders say or how experienced they are or claim that pace control is their expertise, do not believe it for a moment. The only thing that improves pace control and an optimized time is practice as a team.

And of course, that is the most difficult thing to accomplish before the race due to getting the riders out to practice. However, even practice with one other team member is excellent. You can practice riding closer in the aerobars at reduced speed to get the hang of it and practice exchanges. You can learn what that feels like to hold pace on the exchange and use the wind to brake. As you add more racers, it becomes harder to practice skills because many times the group wants to go fast and skill practice be damned.

One of the hardest things to do in a TTT is to get smoothly on the back as the team is passing you. You have just come off of a pull and if the pace is right, you were on the edge but did not blow up. You now need recovery. As the team passes, the differential speed is significant and when you see the last rider is it going to take a big slug of power to get back on. Yet another skill to learn. You cannot afford to let the team get passed and gap you. If you have to chase, you will go in the red again and lose some of the precious recovery time.

Races are lost at the beginning and won at the end. It is really easy to go out too fast in a TTT. Everyone is jacked up and power production is easy. So everyone must take this into consideration and stay on schedule. It is better to start out slower i.e. have an easier schedule with a planned increase in speed later. It is key to get the team started and working together controlling the adrenaline.

If you blow up in a TTT it is all bad. Once a racer blows (gasping for air) there is no way to recover other than slow the entire team down. It is hard to recover in the line since the pace is set to allow recovery from taking a pull but not from blowing up. If you get to the front and you are already on the edge, then it is ONE or TWO pedal strokes and you are off the front on the way to the back. Remember, it is going to be hard to get back on! Do not feel compelled to take the agreed upon time on the front!!!!!! You will hate yourself more if you blow up. Ask me how I know this....then again don't. If you think it is hard to watch your competitors ride away, try watching your team ride away without you.

IMO, team events are the most fun in bicycle racing. Team Time Trial, Team Pursuit and Team Sprint are great events. They are also the most challenging to get right. If it were easy anyone could do it.

valygrl

Thank you Hermes.

Racer Ex 

PM me your email and I'll send it over.

revchuck 

First TT last night, a training race. The bikes were about evenly divided among TT bikes, road bikes with aero bars, and road bikes. I rode the Look - no aero nothing; had there been a prize for the least aero, I would've won it.

The course was a really nice motorsports track with lots of turns, 2.7 miles/lap, two laps. I got there in time to do a 44 minute warmup my coach sent me, in fact I stretched it out five minutes because I had the time. Then I went to the start point and waited with everyone else, since the guys running it were running behind. I and a couple of other older guys decided to ride some more in the pit area to keep from stiffening up, while the young guys just sat there on their bikes. I got in about another ten minutes of riding that way. I got to the start with about three guys ahead of me, starting at one minute intervals.

We started on the long (and just about only) straight, probably about a mile long. There was about a 12 mph quartering headwind. I got up to what I figured I could hold for the period and held it there, which worked until I hit the first curves with the attendant wind direction changes. My coach had advised me to maintain power in headwinds and push it with a tailwind, and I did that, but it took more shifting than I thought one did during a TT! The first lap went okay, the second was harder; I had a good burn going in my legs. I had enough left for a really small sprint at the end. 15:48, 20.89 mph. Not stellar, but I pretty much stuck to my plan, and I wasn't DFL.

Afterthoughts...I was hoping I'd push hard enough to pop, just so I'd know how it felt and where that point was. I wasn't spent at the end - good and tired, but not spent. I'll push harder next time to ensure that happens. That warmup was really needed; at the start I just got up to speed quickly with no pain or stiffness. That was my longest effort at that power level and the longest I've had that burn going, and I found that I can still pedal through it, which makes me wonder how long I can keep that up; that's another wall I need to find and bounce off so I know where it is. And I need some aero bars.

Looking forwad to the next one!

shovelhd

Great start, revchuck.

valygrl

Nice, Chuck!

I did my last computrainer class last night, which was the "after" LT test. Matched my peak wattage ever, which was a short hillclimb race last August.

sarals 

+1!!

All of this talk of TT's reminds me that I need to get my Felt B2 TT bike out and dusted off (in other words, get a fit on it)...it looks like I'll be able to do the Senior Games in Pasadena (actually Long Beach) in June.

BTW, Hermes - great, great writeup! Valygrl, I've seen him and MEA in action. They're the real deal!

I'm doing openers today, and then a circuit race tomorrow. This will be the Cannondale's baptism. I'm looking forward to it!

Hermes

Nice racing Revchuck. I get confused who has a power meter and who does not here. I thought you have a power tap. Did you use it during the TT?

valygrl

Yeah sarals, can't wait to hear about the first race on the new bike! I woke up thinking about getting one of those as a crit bike this morning. Not sure why, i really have no need to increment N.

For me, openers today, crit tomorrow.

sarals 

Valygrl, N + ... it's almost like new shoes...

revchuck 

Yes, I do, and yes, I did. It's my training/racing wheelset - 32 spoke Open Pros...see what I mean about winning the least aero prize? At the risk of terminal embarrassment...my FTP is 236, I had targeted ~270 for the TT, ended up with average of 252 watts and an NP of 278. In retrospect, I probably could've bumped that up a little, but that was part of the learning curve.

caloso

That's some good stuff revchuck.

I got an email from my coach yesterday which basically told me not to be too pleased with myself, that yes it's nice to be able to bomb along over the flats but my climbing needs a lot of work. "Suck-ass" is the adjective he used. It hurts, because it's true.

So, hills then. Lots of vertical intervals in my near future. Got to train the weaknesses, no?

AzTallRider

Good job, Chuck. You avoided the usual boom and crash.

Hermes

One of the things we do not want to do on BF is criticize a coaches' instructions to a racer when we do not know all the details. However, this is odd.

My coach had advised me to maintain power in headwinds and push it with a tailwind, and I did that, but it took more shifting than I thought one did during a TT

Generally, one increases power into headwinds and climbs and decreases power in tailwinds and downhills. If you executed the race as you described, IMO, your time would have been better if you would have done the opposite. I suggest you discuss this at length with your coach to understand why this tactic.

This short course with wind was a classic over under interval ride. Bury yourself into the wind and sit at low FTP with the wind at your back to get a recovery.

revchuck 

The idea was that increasing power output into the wind results in less increase in speed than the same increased output with a tailwind. Due to the twisting course, I'm not sure whether either way would've noticeably affected my time. I could see it on a pretty steady straight line out-and-back.

AzTallRider

The overriding factor is that increasing speed on a downhill results in a smaller net gain, because a downhill will take less time over a given distance, and the increase in power will also result in a smaller margin over your competitor. Plus, it provides an ability to recover, just a touch. You can't do that on a climb, or you'll lose huge amounts of time.

shovelhd

That may be true, but you would do that at the expense of pacing. It's a recipe for blowing up.

revchuck 

Understood. I've read here or on the stickied TT thread that the preferred method is to do the first third of the course at 10% under targeted pace, the middle at the targeted pace, and the remainder at 10% over. Might this translate to headwind/neutral/tailwind as well?

Hermes

A pacing strategy is determined by the length of the course, the terrain and the wind. More power is applied to the uphill and windy sections. Overlaid on that is the length of the course. If the course is 40k and there is a headwind on the way out and a tailwind on the way back. It is over FTP on the way out and under FTP on the way back. If there are hills on the course with the same wind then it gets more complicated. One could lift the power slightly on the climbs on the way out but have to be careful not to overcook the front half.

If the course is out and back, no wind and no hills then the negative split of 1/3, 1/3 and 1/3 can work. However, different racers respond differently to negative split versus constant power. A constant power may work better for some racers.

LAJ

The same.