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Introduction to Time Trialling
Open events are races promoted by clubs, associations for you to ride. They are run under the rules and regulations of the Cycling Time Trials (CTT).
What to ride: Any roadworthy bike (not recumbents), so you can start with your normal Club Run Bike.
Clothing: Shorts must “cover the upper part of the thigh to just above the knee†so basically normal cycling shorts. Jersey must have sleeves. No advertising unless your club/team sponsor – so ride in either club kit or plain kit, you can’t ride in your CSC kit pretending to be Cancellara.
Age: Minimum of 12 years old, and if under 18 then you must wear an approved safety helmet (can be an aero one) and the entry form must be signed by a parent or guardian. 40 and over and you are classified as a veteran and will also be given an age standard time (normally vet’s prize list as well as a scratch prize list).
Country is split in to Regions – Addiscombe is in London South Region
There are also Regional Associations – Addiscombe is in the Southern Counties (SCCU) and the Eastern Counties (ECCA). Southern Counties is our main one and where our local courses are, and we also win the Rawson Shield every year in it for having the most TT participants in Association events.
Association run events are only for clubs who affiliate to that association, so you couldn’t have a Liverpool rider race in a SCCU event. There is discretion applied to this if it is not a full field. Then others may be allowed to race but association riders will always have preference. Prizes are also only for association riders.
A time trial is a race against the clock over a set distance on a set course. You are not allowed any pacing from either vehicles or other riders. They have a certain purity in that you are racing against yourself (and the clock obviously). You are trying to be as good as you can and beat your PB. The quicker you get the higher you move up the results board, but you can still have a good race and result even if you aren’t high up. You can also win prizes!
You are set off at 1 minute intervals on a seeded basis. Top seeds numbers will end in 0, sometimes second seeds will be given a 5, and the next fastest a 1, then a 2 and so on. The slowest riders will start with a 9 at the end of their number – this will also be unknowns, so you’ll have a 9 for your first race. The seeding is to try and eliminate as much as possible a lot of catching of other riders and to keep everyone, as far as possible, spread out on the road. It makes it easier for the timekeepers but also lessens the chance anyone may have to get pacing from another rider.
Expect to be caught there is no shame in it. In your first races you will probably be a 9 with a bottom seeding, you will have as your “minute man†(the person starting behind you) a top seeded rider with a 0 on their back, then another fast one with a 1 on their back. Don’t get demoralised they were a 9 once too, and you always have number 8 to chase down as your minute man.
A normal race allows for up to 120 riders, National competition races have 150 rider limit. Some may have a lower limit which will be stated in the handbook and is generally due to time restrictions – i.e. have to be off of certain roads by a certain time due to traffic flow.
Handicaps
A lot of events award handicap prizes. These are based on your PB so by improving your performance you can win a prize. This is taken from the info you supply at the bottom of your entry form. Do not lie, you will be spotted and you’re only cheating yourself anyway. If you improve your PB after you have sent in your form then you have to phone the organiser and inform them so they can correct their records for awarding handicap prizes.
These are designed to help even things out among the field and give everyone a fighting chance. I’m never going to beat George in a TT yet can do better than him in a race for our comparative ability and get a prize while George gets nowt!
For vets there are also prizes awarded to the best performance by a “vet on standardâ€. The standard is the age standard you have based on your age. The older you are the bigger the age based handicap (your “standardâ€) is. If you beat it then you are given a plus - so if you do a 10 in 24mins and the standard for your age is 26mins then you will get a +2:00.
The handbook is your bible and contains everything you need to know on which events are on, where they are, how to enter them, who to send the entry form to. See Jon's post to get your order in.
Info you need to know:
Date of event – aim to get your completed form in to the organiser 2 weeks before this, unless it gives a specific date in the handbook.
Distance – how far you’re racing
Price – How much it’ll cost (this in inclusive of the CTT levy mentioned on the entry form).
Course Code – Refer to the back of the handbook for the details
Start Time – This is the first rider off
Promoting Club/Association and details – Who to send your cheque to. Make cheques payable to the name of the club or association.
The odd letters are a code which is at the front of the dates listing and tells you if it is a BBAR event, Association event and so on.
Once you have entered a race you will be sent a startsheet by the organiser in the week before the race.
When you receive your startsheet…
- Check your start time and number
- Read the course description and where the HQ is, make sure you know how to get there. Although there should be marshals at each turning point have a look at a map and follow the course on it to give you a picture of where you’re going on the race. A simple rule to follow when racing is that at a roundabout if you don’t see a marshal or a turn sign then go straight on.
- Calculate when you need to leave home by working back from your start time. E.g. start time of 7am, want 45mins to get ready and warm up once there, takes 45mins to get to the HQ. Means you want to leave home no later than 5.30am so set you alarm accordingly, and make it loud!
- The night before get everything ready. All kit packed, any food and drink prepared, bike ready and working smoothly, car ready (petrol etc). Sounds silly but easier to just pick things up and go without having to worry about kit, or getting petrol when you get up in the morning.
- HQ. On arrival go in to HQ and sign in and collect your number. Get your bike ready, pin your number on and put your kit on and you’re ready to go. Always make sure you leave enough time to get to the start – don’t bank on the fact that your watch is showing the same time as the timekeepers so better to play it safe.
Don’t worry about all the exotic bikes and fancy wheels on display, people “in the zone†warming up on turbo trainers. It can seem a bit off-putting when you first turn up, but once you’ve been to a couple, got over your nerves, and look through the initial appearance, most people are just normal, nice folk. Having a bit of a chat with mates while they get ready, or warming up on their turbo.
Don’t be afraid to ask someone a question – where’s the sign-in? (from the car park the entry to the village hall may not be obvious), where are the toilets? Everyone has been there before and asked most of the stupidest questions themselves at some point, they’ll be happy to help. On the subject of toilets I’ll mention here to keep a loo roll in your car. Most HQs are village halls or similar so with up to 120 riders arriving, some with “nerves†before their race the HQs supply of loo roll can run out quite quickly!
The Start
At the start line up behind the rider who is due off in front of you. When they start is a good time to start your stopwatch as you know that you only have to subtract 1 minute from what it says to know your time when you’re racing.
The timekeeper will call you forward, they’ll call the number and then generally check your name as you roll up. Always be polite and say hello, don’t zone them out these people are the lifeblood of the sport. The timekeeper will call 30 seconds and the pusher-off will then hold you up. They will hold your bike so you can clip in with both feet at get ready. Try not to fidget but just relax yourself and focus on the race. Don’t worry about being dropped, even if you’re a big one and the pusher is smaller than you. They hold the bike on the balance point so don’t need to be super strong for the job.
Next you’ll get a 10 called and then a countdown from 5 to 1 seconds and then a Go! Sadly long gone are the days of the big hefty shove, and you are normally just guided away. It is up to you to be ready to pedal and start on the “Go†though, the pusher may just release their grip.
Now you’re off. Try and keep to a good rhythm and don’t go too mad at the start as you tend to pay for it later. An even pace throughout normally provides the best times, although for something like a 10 then it’s just a close to all-out effort all the way round.
At the finish
Continue through the finish line. If you can shout your number to the timekeeper at the finish to help them out. Carry on and ride back to the HQ. Do not stop at the finish. Do not approach the timekeeper – they won’t tell you your time and you will distract them.
Back at the HQ you can pack your kit and bike away and then in to the HQ for the best bit…….
CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!
Take your number back and you’ll get a free cup of tea or coffee for its safe return. Cake and extra drinks can be bought, normally for either a donation or ludicrously cheap prices. The good news is that time trialling is the home of the best cake outside the W.I
There will be a results board and everyone just stands around having a good old chat and checking how they did. As in most types of cycling the vast majority of people are friendly and easy going so you don’t feel like the new boy/girl at school for long.
Some prizes and results may be announced at the HQ at the end of the event but you will receive an official result sheet through the post within a couple of weeks, and any prize money you may have won.
If you have improved your PB then update your CTT form with the details ready for next time.
COURSE CODES
The weird numbers!
They are made out to be a lot more complicated than they are, they are actually quite simple to follow. If you can look up a word in a dictionary then you won't have any problems.
There is some slight variations but our local and neighbouring district (Q - Kent) use the same system.
The first letter refers to the district so one that starts with a G is in Addiscombe’s London South district. The next part refers to the distance, so a 10 means it’s a 10 mile TT. The last bit refers to which course it is, this is just a number and doesn’t tell you where the actual course location is.
E.g. the Holmwood course our club 10s are on is course G10/42.
All you need to do is to look the course up in the list at the back of the handbook (they are ordered by district and in numeric order). This then tells you where the HQ will be and the rough outline of the course. Although not a map or full description there is generally enough info to have a rough idea of where you’ll be going – and you will get an incredibly detailed description with your startsheet.
Events:
Standard distances are 10, 25, 50, 100 miles, and then 12 hours and 24 hours (only one 24hr left now). There are other odd distance races, most of which are Sporting TTs.
Sporting TTs are primarily on quieter roads. Often on country lanes, B roads rather than on a dual carriageway. They are also often a loop circuit rather than an out and back course. Longer distances are sometimes done by doing circuits. E.g. the inter-club 10 against Norwood Paragon in Bletchingley is a Sporting TT course. There is a SCCU race there early season of 21 miles where you do 2 laps of the course. A tough course but a good season opener.
If you fancy doing Sporting TTs then there is a regional series the SPOCO SE series. You have to complete a certain number of qualifying rides to get a certificate for this. Also competition prizes available for handicap etc based on your previous year’s performance in the series. A good series but sadly quite a few of the events aren’t that close to us so does involve a bit of driving and early starts.
Hill Climbs are also TTs and tend to be at the end of the season. You fill out the same form for these but also the second side.
TTTs – Team Time Trials.
For between 2 and 4 riders. Sadly there aren’t too many of these. The format is the same except that you have bigger gaps between teams 2 minute gaps for a 2-up, and so on. When entering you have to fill in side 2 of the start sheet and complete the details of the riders in your team. If you do one of these it is much easier for you and the organiser if you complete your forms and send them all in
together in one envelope with one cheque.
Resources:
CTT website - [url]http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/index.asp[/url]
This has some useful info on an introduction to TTing. It also has links to the forms and quite a lot of the start and result sheets get put on here (if the organiser uploads them). You can also do filter searches for events based on distance, month, district etc. It may seem a bit basic compared to some websites but it is done by volunteers in their spare time so can’t have all the love and attention others with full time staff may get. Sadly no online entry yet. This has been looked in to but problems over security were encountered. Hopefully this will be resolved and in the future online entry can be done.
CTT Entry Forms - [url]http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/forms/CTTEntryForm.doc[/url]
SPOCO SE - [url]http://uk.geocities.com/spoco@btinternet.com/[/url]
Basic website which has a results table that gets updated during the year. Can download the competition form from here should you want to enter.
London South District blog - http://londonsouthdc.blogspot.com/
Useful site with more up to date or local info about our district.
TT Forum – [url]http://timetriallingforum.co.uk[/url]
A TT forum which has some helpful people on it. If you have any questions about courses etc which can't be answered by anyone in ACC then there probably will be someone on here who can. The Events & Courses section has some links to maps for courses but alas not too many local ones for us.
what time did you lot leave the half n half.... 8am the following morning 
, but it was in a bar so not too many were rushing for the door 
