1st Timers / New to Time Trialling.

[Andrew G]

If you want to have a go at time trialling this year then I would recommend the following events. They are either 10 or 25 mile events, so nothing too long, and these are the ones where there will be at least 3 other Addiscombe riders. There will be the usual Evening 10s for club members only but these are well worth a look, particularly if you aren't available on Tuesday evenings for the club events.

At any of the events below you will find familiar/friendly faces in the same kit that will be happy to help you get over any nerves that are natural from your first events.

All the things that can put you off or make you nervous on the day like how to fill out and send in the entry form on time, signing in, pinning your number on, where is the start etc can be explained.

In addition to the people below expect to see RichV, Robert R-E, Tamar, and Carole at some of them as well.

If it says Sporting then the course is a loop on country roads rather than a dual carriageway (not flat but quieter roads). The location is where the HQ is, so should give you an idea of where the event is.

If you think you might want of do any of them then stick any questions you have on the forum and someone will be able to help you.

Oh, and before I forget SCCU events are well worth doing as the club gets points towards the Rawson Shield trophy.

16th March – SCCU Sporting (21miles) – Bletchingley
Andrew G, Snoop, Jon H, Paul T, Dominic, George

5th April – SCCU Sporting (10 miles) – Horsham
Andrew G, Snoop, Jon H, Paul T, Dominic, George

6th April – SCCU Sporting (25 miles) – Loxwood
Andrew G, Snoop, Jon H, Paul T, Dominic

12th April – Kingston Wheelers (10 miles) – N Holmwood
Andrew G, Snoop, Paul T

20th April – SCCU (25miles) – Broadbridge Heath
Andrew G, Snoop, Jon H, Paul T, Mike I

26th April – Catford CC (10 miles) – Tonbridge
Andrew G, John L, Snoop, Paul T, George

27th April – Addiscombe CC (25 Miles) – Broadbridge Heath
Tamar will need help promoting this event with marshals etc.
There will also be a fair number of ACC riders.

10th May – DeLaune CC (10 miles) – Tonbridge
Andrew G, John L, George, Mike I

21st June – Horsham Cycling (10 miles) – Horsham
Andrew G, John L, Snoop

6th July – Old Portlians CC (25 miles) – Broadbridge Heath
Andrew G, Snoop, Mike I

20th July – Bec CC (25 miles) – Broadbridge Heath
Andrew G, Snoop, Mike I

6th September – Addiscombe CC (10 miles) – N Holmwood
Jon H will need help promoting this event with marshals etc.
There will also be a fair number of ACC riders.

Ta.

[Yes I have noticed that I appear to spending as much time with Snoop as his family ]

[kieran]

Hi andrew, too lazy to check but what days are these on and what times?
Early mornings?/Late evening?
Also roughly how far in advance do you have to enter?

[Snoop Doug]

Kieran

Most TTs are a tad early but some of these sporting efforts are at more civilised times. Which are you interested in and I'll look them up in my book.
Entries on the official forms (I can email those to you if you pm me your email) and most close dates are two weeks before the race day

[Andrew G]

As Snoop says a lot are early. The Sporting ones are often about a 9am start (1st rider), the 10s on the N Holmwood course are 2pm starts, the others will be about 6:30am 1st rider starts, but you can be back in bed by 9:30 to catch up on beauty sleep.

I've found with the early ones that if you get to bed by about 10:30 - 11 the night before then all you need is an hours kip when you get back (late morning or afternoon) and you're fine, it's nowhere near as bad as people (Huw ) make out.

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Andrew G"]it's nowhere near as bad as people (Huw ) make out.

[Antloony]

Great thread, seriously considering doing a time trial or two later on in the year when I feel Im ready and a bit quicker and fitter. Im just worried about coming last or near to the bottom which will dent my confidence. On the plus side though if I am last what better incentive than to try and improve next time around.

[Snoop Doug]

Antloony - glad to see you're keen to have a go. Worry ye not about where ye finish. A TT is the race of truth, it's you versus the clock. No one else. Most of my personal bests are worst than other folks personal un-bests. I am soooo slow compared to my peers but that doesn't stop me from coming back and trying to improve. It's all about you, the bike, and that damn headwind.

If I may make a suggestion....aim for a go in the Southern Counties ten miler on May 31st. Why..? Well the course is not too far away (I could give you a lift, I'm in Carshalton and I have a spare roof bike rack thingie), it's flatt(ish) apart from a short hill near the start (which means you get to come down it near the end) and you would have the utmost satisfaction in scoring a point towards the retention of the SCCU Rawson Shield. If you're going to have a crack at one of these - I can't think of a better way to break your duck.

I wish you success

Snoop

[carl f]

Andrew, re the sporting events,can you turn up on the day and enter?
Cheers
Carl

[Antloony]

Cheers Snoop, looks like its time to take the plunge then and aim for the 31st May then. I may take you up on your kind offer of a lift and at least gain some of your valuable experience by picking your brains before we get there. Bit earlier than I planned to start but hey, the sooner I get going the more I'll get into TT's and start to train harder and improve (hopefully).

Cheers

[Ian A4size]

[quote]Yeah - he's just a bloody skiver

[Andrew G]

You can't enter any Open time trials on the day. For all the [url=http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/index.asp?Area=Home]CTT[/url] (Cycling Time Trials) events you need to fill in a form, which is a download from the website, and send it to the organiser with the fee (£6-£7) in advance. Normally the cut off date is 2 weeks before the start date.

This is needed as all riders, up to a maximum of 120 for a full field, are seeded depending on their PBs. This is done in blocks of 10 with numbers ending in 0 the fastest down to the slowest with a number ending in 9. As a new rider with no PB you'll probably be a 9. The fast guys are really fast and you're bound to get caught and passed by one or two particularly in your first couple, catching someone is great though .

Don't worry if it sounds a bit complicated all you need to worry about is sending in the form in time, you'll then get sent a startsheet with you're allocated start time and number.

Worth a mention is that some events have handicap prizes. SCCU events do and last year I did my first 25 in the Sporting event, my second one was also a SCCU event and because my PB was slow (as it was from a sporting course) I picked up 2nd place on handicap and won a tenner . Ant if you want to do a 10, go for the SCCU sporting one, then the normal one later on and you'd be in with a good chance of picking up a handicap prize.

If anyone wants help with a CTT form just ask and I can email you a partially completed one so you'll just have to worry about filling in your own personal details.

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Antloony"]Cheers Snoop, looks like its time to take the plunge then and aim for the 31st May then. I may take you up on your kind offer of a lift and at least gain some of your valuable experience by picking your brains before we get there. Bit earlier than I planned to start but hey, the sooner I get going the more I'll get into TT's and start to train harder and improve (hopefully).

Cheers

[John the old'un]

I've got a spare pointy hat if anyone wants to borrow it for their baptism.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

In reality 2 weeks before the event is a good deadline to work to, but it is actually the Tuesday 11 or 12 days before the event in the case of weekend events.

Once th "closing" date is reached, no further riders can be added to the event.

If the event has a "reserve rider" scheme in operation, it can be a good plan to tick the box as the fastes riders are selected first and if there are too many, the slower ones are returned - no ride, but a reserve nearly always gets to ride.