The race of truth

The time trial is probably one of the purest tests of cycling ability and fitness. The rider and bike against the clock of a set distance racing relatively against the rest of the field and also racing absolutely against previous best times or targets.

For me time trialling has been my focus from a competitive perspective. The ease of being able to simply turn up at a club evening "ten", pay my quid and see how I did helped ease me in to what has become something I have become gradually more competent and experienced at. Looking back on those early performances there are a number of pointers that are worth sharing which have been garnered through a mix of trial and error, experience and also observing others and refining things that work and cutting out things that do not. There are many aspects which can be attended to such as bike position, aerodynamics, which kit to use etc but let's focus on one of the basics - what actually is the time trial testing and how do you set a good foundation for everything else to be built upon?

The time trial is a test to see what speed you can average over a set distance, i.e. how much effort you can SUSTAIN consistently.

Let's consider some of the shorter distance events, i.e. 10 and 25 miles. Broadly speaking these events are the shorter "standard" race distances and are by far the most commonly promoted. The way a 25 is tackled may be a bit more conservative than the 10 but both of these tests need to be approached so that at the end, as you scream your number as you pass the time keeper you are basically spent. A way of thinking about this is that you need to get a feel for what your lactate threshold is. This is generally the point where your legs begin to burn as your body can no longer effectively process carbohydrates as energy and where lactic acid starts to accumulate in the blood stream. If you go out to hard you'll hit this point and essentially burn out. If you go out too slowly, you'll put in a less than optimal time against the clock.

Getting a sense for the threshold you can ride at is pretty key, experience helps as would a maximal heart rate or V02 Max test. I had one done at Birmingham University some time ago and the lab condition analysis confirmed my "gut feel" based on the use of a Polar HR monitor that my max HR was around 183bpm and that I could probably handle a 172-173bpm for an hour. This is a little bit of reverse engineering on my part but it did tally as the faster (sub-hour 25s I'd achieved saw me average around 170-174 bpm). So understanding your own capability is key in this respect.

The next thing to consider is what is the optimal pace to begin the TT at? Ideally you should get a solid, progressive 20-25 minute warm up so that you can elevate your pulse to a point where you are touching race pace but not going too deeply in to race mode. A roller or turbo are the most effective mechanisms. Sometimes it's impossible to do this so doing a series of hill climbs or sprints over 100-200m can help. If you get to the start line "cold" your body and brain will be in rebellion and will wonder what you are doing to them.

If you can imagine you have ten matches and that each lasts for 30 minutes, if you light them all in one go you won't light the room up. George Hincapie used this metaphor to state that you need to burn your effort evenly so that the room can stay lit. With the TT you need to be able to SUSTAIN your effort. Whatever you think it may be, take a note of your pulse or time and set that as a baseline. With interval training you can increase your capacity and recovery rate. If you can take notes of times and distances and HR or power outage (as is the current vogue) you can see how you progress.

Using a trip function on a GPS or bike computer is good too. I set my auto-lap for 2.5 miles. I can see four split times on my computer as I ride (the last being the finish) or nine plus one splits for 25 miles. The latter tend to be even more useful given the need to be more even with the matches being burnt. Sometimes courses are hilly in places or not uniform so the splits may not be "identical" when related to one another. Once you have ridden a set route though you should be able to have some baseline times for each segment of the course by which you can begin to draw comparison and target an improvement. Strava segments are an example. In our case though, the segment in totality is 10 or 25 miles long. So there is no point being "Mark Cavendish" in one section and "Driving Miss Daisy" in the remainder.

To round this note off, I'd also add that you have to think your way around the circuit as well as ride your way around. Mental stamina will keep you focused as at some point early (or later at times) in your ride you will want to get off and pack up. This may last a nanosecond or several minutes. It's not a bad thing, it means you are working hard and the body and mind are reconciling themselves for the task at hand. Build on this and move on. Several riders I know use a mantra or little internal dialogue which includes counting to four repeatedly or repeating "I can do this", "I am flying" etc.A steady, repetitive chant can help steady the cadence and tempo. When warming up, some up tempo tunes which you find motivational or moving also help. I've been using Sabotage by the Beastie Boys. I associate the baseline and rhythm with speed and aggression and that works for me. Next season it may be another tune, the important thing is that it works for me at the moment a it helps frame what I am going to do and because I associate it with previous strong performances it reinforces what I am thinking - that "I am going to ride well".

Managing the course is my final comment. The distances are 10 and 25 mile. Not 11 and 26. If you ride in a straight line between points of the course you'll be riding the distance. Too many riders wobble and bobble around in their early efforts. Try and minimise the distance covered. You cannot always take bends on the apex due to the roads being open but you can get your head up and focus on a point 100-200m ahead and ride to it. These little things as well as riding on the smoothest part of the road surface (the vitrified bits where the cars have smoothed things over) also help. Keep your head up always and be wary of pot holes which can wreck you front wheel.

Measure what you do. Keep measuring and comparing. Always think that there is scope to take 1-2 seconds per mile off your times. These small improvements add up to 10-20 seconds or 25-50 seconds over 10 and 25 miles.