shovelhd

Yup. I'll put a gel there for a long second race.

aaronmcd

A guy I ride with sometimes keeps his cell phone there. Pretty secure spot I guess.

sbs z31

Did the local tt last night and was 40sec slower compare o my previous time. Average heart rate was the same, 2rpm lower average cadence and .3mph lower average speed. Only difference was I was wearing my team race kit and previously I was wearing a sleeveless skinsuit. Weather condition was pretty much the same so I'm wondering what could it be.

lorill

I'll have my first TT in about a month, roadbike and probably no aerobars. The route is short (22km) but quite bumpy (340m of elevation):
CLM Saverne | Strava Route

How would you pace yourself on it ? No powermeter, but I have a hr monitor.
From what I read here, the classical way would be something like 100% LTHR for the first half, 110% for the other one, but I know my HR will spike a lot on each hill.

Thanks for any advice !

Ygduf

With a route that bumpy my strategy would be to ride like 80% on the downhills (and get as small as possible) and try to apply power as much as is going to be sustainable on the climbs. Put your power to the road when your pace is low and you're not losing an exponential amount to wind, essentially.

Grumpy McTrumpy

your best option for time gains is to keep power on over the top and don't let up until your speed is way up on the beginning of the downhills. this hurts more than you can imagine, because it sort of increases the length of each hill.

Ygduf

this, too. distance is the integral of velocity, so it benefits the most to get up to speed asap over the top of the hill and into the downhill before letting off any power to recover. I also find it beneficial to start my climbing effort in the nadir of the downhill, bringing as much velocity into the face of the hill as possible. I try to carry that speed into the face of the climb as long as I'm able without going anaerobic. I aim to pedal 110-120rpm into the climb and let the grade push cadence down to 90 and then use gears to keep it there.

lorill

Thanks. I'll try to remember that.

MDcatV

nm

Ygduf

^^ now I want to know what you posted

MDcatV

:-). i posted an even more silly version of the long rambling question below

I have a giro advantage 2, it has a long tail, and my natural position is kind of head down so there is a gap between the tail and my back. I physically am not capable of making it sit on the top of my back. I'd have a higher probability of dunking a basketball than keeping this thing on my back.

I do TT practice on a loop road, when I compare lap times with the helmet on vs. with a standard road helmet on, i'm using less watts to go the same speed, but suspect the delta to be more related to environmental conditions on the day vs. the presence of a helmet on my head that I clearly am not wearing properly. so, am I to conclude that even though I might not be optimizing the aero benefit, that it's enough to justify wearing it vs. a standard road helmet?

I dont really want to buy any more TT specific stuff, but think the Kask bambino would be optimal for my natural (sustainable) head position ... but it costs more than my tolerances allow.

Ygduf

ahh. one thing you can do with the advantage is to wear it higher up on your forehead, but you probably already thought of that.

it's probably better than your regular road helmet just for having the more solid surface to catch less wind. if you want the bambino, just find some Tri-sucker to sell you one that's barely used. Or go for something like the giro attack visor that is similarly no-tail but 1/2 the cost

MDcatV

^good thoughts. i'll probably go with the "higher on my head" approach. it'll look dorkier, which is an accomplishment in and of itself!

Grumpy McTrumpy

I wear my TT helmet so high on my head that it points very much down when I am standing.

jmikami

ditto on the high on the head TT helmet approach. Mine has a visor that ends up 2 inches off my nose to try and get that thing flat. I am still pretty sure it helps, but get that tail back as much as you can. Right before I start my TT, I usually pull the tail down one more time.

waterrockets 

I always make sure I can feel the helmet tail on my back, and minimize the time when I can't.

revchuck 

The five or so TTs I've done in my short racing career have been dead flat, or nearly so. This weekend's stage race included one too, until this morning when I opened the email from the race organizer saying that both the road race and TT courses have been changed due to road closure.

The TT course is here. The first mile and a half has about 185 feet of descent, and the last two miles have about the same ascent. In Louisiana, that's a bunch. I'll be using my road bike with a compact crank and an 11-25 cassette, and I'll be using a power meter.

In the other TTs I've done, I started at or just above my FTP and increased power as the TT progressed. All but one were 5-6kms in length; this one is 8kms. I'm wondering whether I should push harder at the start, or save myself for the finishing climb, or just follow the same recipe as on flat TTs.

Suggestions, laughter, and snide remarks about what constitutes "climbing" in Louisiana are all welcome. Thanks!

echappist

that's a 2% grade for 0.8 miles followed by a 3% grade at slightly longer than half of a mile. Figure you'll probably take somewhere around 2.5 minutes for the former and 70-90 seconds for the latter. Are you doing this on a road bike b/c you don't have a TT bike? If so, then get on the TT bike.

As for power, figure you'd want to get up to speed and then do about 75-80% for the downhill section

Ygduf

5mi TT?

I'd aim for FTP on downhill and 110% for uphill. - and I'd probably hit 95% and 115% with the flats around 105-110%.

MDcatV

do you guys:

a. warm up on a trainer using your disc wheel (tubular)?
b. warm up on a trainer with a diff wheel then change it?
c. warm up on a trainer with a diff bike?
d. just warm up on the road?

for some reason i'm apprehensive to do a., dont want to go through the hassle of b., and feel like c. is just kind of weird.

Grumpy McTrumpy

mostly d

sometimes a. it's never harmed the tire.

Ygduf

TT? I do A because my frame has horizontal droupouts and it's a ***** to get the wheel off/on. Not super hard, but enough that I don't want to be messing with it 10min before my start time.

echappist

i plan on bringing a different wheel for most of the warm up and then just do it on the road

Ygduf

Aero "savings" are often listed in grams of drag.

What is a reasonable amount of "grams of drag" at like 40km/hour for a cDA of 3?

Grumpy McTrumpy

there is a calculator at the bottom of this page: https://www.cyclingpowerlab.com/yaw.aspx