Time trials aren’t just for Cat. 1 racers and pros. Here are a few good reasons you should add some time trialing to your regular cycling routine even if you typically just ride for fitness and fun.
- Steady, intense effort is a powerful producer of fitness. Riding at 85-90% of your maximum heart rate for 15-30 minutes will spike your fitness for tours, centuries and weekend group rides.
- Time trial speed is practical speed. Five miles from home with a thunderstorm bearing down? Time trial to safety before the deluge hits. Suppose you get delayed by a puncture on your evening commute or fitness ride. The ability to ride hard and fast will get you home before the sun sets.
- A weekly time trial varies your training. Sure, moderately paced rides are enjoyable and not too demanding. But a steady diet of steady riding can bore you and your body. Schedule a weekly effort against the clock and you’ll have something to get excited about. Before long, you’ll notice your cruising speed is creeping up, too.
- Time trialing improves climbing ability. They’re both continuous, strenuous efforts that reward pacing and concentration. That’s why climbing and time trialing are mutually beneficial. Doing one helps the other.
I have to agree completely. I am currently doing a Strava based international 15-week 12 mile TT informal competition. Just getting off your butt, getting out there, and by repetition determining what really matters for new PRs is illuminating. You learn physiologically what works as well as subtle things about the bike. You also learn reasonable HR maximums and what is just too much effort (save that for the finish). Also it is a good “use it or lose it” type activity.
A group of us put on a series of Time Trials in NC on Charlotte Motor Speedway for over 20 years. There were 6 events per year from April-September. The series took a good number of volunteers to execute a safe event. The volunteers came from area bike clubs and cycling teams.The participants seemed to enjoy riding at such a unique venue, doing a different kind of event and competing against others of similar age or classification. Since the venue remained the same, it was also an excellent way to test their fitness level over time. While we had participants ride a large variety of bikes, it was our experience that equipment could make a significant difference in times/results.
The events were normally 10 miles but for a couple of seasons we also had a 40k. People requested us to have a 40k but attendance waned after they had actually ridden in one! It was my personal experience that aero positioning, bike frame style and wheels were very helpful in doing TT’s. I started out using a road bike with traditional geometry but for the events I’d put on aerobars and replace the seat post with a fast forward type. Another season I replaced the spoked wheelset with a HED tri spoke front wheel and a solid disc rear wheel. That change made about 60 seconds difference over 10 miles. The next season I used a Time Trial bike with the same wheelset as the year before. Using the TT bike allowed me to get in an even better aero position and was able to reduce my times by another 60 seconds. Weather conditions over the years were similar enough to where it felt like the time savings were due mostly to the changes being made. The TT frame also allowed me to better balance aero position with enough comfort for the distance of an event.
Interestingly we saw times really get faster after the Speedway repaved the track over one winter. Who would have thought that having new asphalt would make that much of a difference in the times.
While the events remained popular to the end, the cost of putting on the events just became too much of a hurdle to overcome.