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Conference noted::bicycle

Title: Bicycling
Notice:Bicycling for Fun
Moderator:JAMIN::WASSER
Created:Mon Apr 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3214
Total number of notes:31946

1462.0. "Time-trialling new season" by JUMBLY::MACFADYEN (Bad words) Wed Mar 28 1990 08:00

    With Britain switching over to BST last Sunday thus giving us an extra
    hour of daylight in the evening, the big news round here is of course
    that Tuesday night club time-trials have started up again. Last night
    saw Reading CC's opening event, a 10 miler on the CC132 course through
    Binfield, which is officially described as sporting, or to put it
    another way, hilly.
    
    Was I ever keen to get down there! No, I wasn't. But I went anyway, got
    a start number of 18, and set off. God, it felt awful. Hyperventilating
    with nerves initially, groaning over the motorway bridge, then cursing
    the potholes through Binfield village. I wasn't actually overhauled
    until mile 8, when the guy two minutes behind caught me. It's amazing
    how being caught gets your back up, so I hung on grimly behind him
    until the finish, losing only another 20 seconds or so.
    
    A quick look at the results sheet showed that I finished about 13th out
    of 26, and was 2:55 behind the fastest. Fair enough. Naturally I
    immediately started thinking about excuses for not doing better, like
    it was cold, I didn't know the course, I hadn't had time to warm up
    first, I was unfit (hold on, scratch that last one).
    
    I'm getting serious this season. I bought the RTTC handbook! And
    yesterday also saw me confirmed as a starter in my first official RTTC
    event, the Newmarket and District Cycling Club 26.4 mile Hilly Time
    Trial, this coming Saturday. The fastest go last, so they've really put
    me in my place. No, not the first to start. Only the second.
    
    
    Rod
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1462.1O for the CTC approach RUTILE::STIMPSONWed Mar 28 1990 09:378
    I wonder Rod, whether you wore one of those aero helmets?
    And have you now got a large solid wheel at the back on your TT
    bike? And did you get those tri-bars fitted?
    
    Oh for the heroic days when Tommy Simpson used to rely on will-power
    and strength....
    
    And I thought the bicycle was a symbol of serenity and simplicity...
1462.2Go for it Rod, an tell us the results.BANZAI::FISHERDictionary is not.Wed Mar 28 1990 10:154
    Well, let's see now Rdo, you do have aero pedals and seat post, ehh? 
    Have you shaved your arms and legs?
    
    ed
1462.3JUMBLY::MACFADYENBad wordsWed Mar 28 1990 11:0718
1462.4BCSE::KLASMANBoston-Montreal-Boston 1990Wed Mar 28 1990 11:417
Rod,

The RTTC is a time-trialling organization right?  What's the handbook like?  
I might like to get a copy... what's it cost (American) and would it be worth it
to me to get a copy?

Kevin
1462.5The RTTC and its handbookJUMBLY::MACFADYENBad wordsWed Mar 28 1990 11:5730
    The RTTC is the Road Time-Trials Council, the governing body of amateur
    time-trialling in Britain. They issue a handbook each year, a small but
    thick and closely-printed tome, contents roughly as follows:
    
    - Rules: lots and lots of them, about competing, about how to run events
    and so.
    - A list of all RTTC sanctioned events for the year: hundreds of 'em.
    Not many in Jan or Feb, but by mid-summer there are 20~30 a day
    scattered round England and Wales. My own club organises about 3 or 4
    over the course of the year.
    - Brief description of all the courses
    - List of all the winners of last year's events
    
    Plus other stuff I forget. The idea is that you get one early on in the
    season, then peruse it for TTs you might like to do. This is especially
    important if you want to enter something like BBAR, the British Best
    All-Rounder competition, a national scheme for finding the best
    competitors over 50m, 100m and 12-hour TTs (this has been discussed in
    Cycle_Racing). Entering an event is equally rule-bound, one has to use
    only a standard type of form which asks details of recent performances
    over various standard distances. Events secretaries use these details
    to decide who to allow to enter their event, generally on the basis of
    fastest only. I wasn't at all sure I would gain entry to this TT,
    because I have a minimal and unimpressive TT history.
    
    I don't think the book would of much practical use to you, but I'm sure
    I could get you a copy if you wanted.
    
    
    Rod
1462.6We need a TT organization here in the States! BCSE::KLASMANBoston-Montreal-Boston 1990Wed Mar 28 1990 16:289
Rod,

Yes I'd like a copy, since I'm interested in getting something like the RTTC, 
and especially the BBAR, going here in the US (or at least New England).  I think
we need something like that for those of us who don't like risking life, limb 
and bike in crits and road races, the dominant form of bike racing here.  Its 
too dangerous for me!

Kevin
1462.7Bidlake turns in his grave......IDEFIX::HEMMINGSLanterne RougeThu Mar 29 1990 11:3717
    
    Yes, Rules rule OK (Gospel according to RTTC).
    
    RTTC timetrials are not quite like the TdF where the yellow jersey gets
    to start last and the Lanterne Rouge first.  In a traditional field of
    120 riders, the fastest *should* be off no 60, the 2nd off 120..... the
    rest of the field is allocated in the order 1's, 6's, 2's, 7's etc,
    etc.. - the idea being to try to avoid pacing when riders get caught. 
    When I was a lad you used to boast you were "off on a 0, or a 1",
    indiacting you were in the upper echelon.  Of course it depended
    whether you were talking about a Nat Championship or the Wobbly
    Wheelers MM '25'.
    
    PS Enjoy the Newmarket event, I shall be interested to see if you
    subscribe to the common view that East Anglia is flat after the
    weekend.
    
1462.8JUMBLY::MACFADYENBad wordsMon Apr 02 1990 09:3427
>    PS Enjoy the Newmarket event, I shall be interested to see if you
>    subscribe to the common view that East Anglia is flat after the
>    weekend.
    
    East Anglia? Flat? Who said that?
    
    The course was pretty tough in fact, with lots of long drags to climb,
    and one short sharp one. The conditions were good, sunny and warm
    though a bit breezy, and my legs had their first look at the sun this
    year. I think you're right about the order in which competitors are set
    off: I did nurture faint hopes of being first rider home, but I was
    passed by number 5 after 10 miles and number 10 after 19 miles, so so
    much for that idea.
    
    I used gearing of 52-42 and 13-21, and I'm sorry to say that I was on
    the small ring as much as the big one. The machinery lying around the
    sports ground where everyone was parked was pretty impressive, and
    would have gladdened the eyes of a Campagnolo rep.
    
    If you want actual numbers, I did 1:16:49 for the 26.4 miles. The
    fastest time on the board when I left, with about a third of the times
    up, was 1:02:03. 
    
    I failed to win the Colin Lawrence award, btw.
    
    
    Rod
1462.9SHALOT::ELLISJohn Lee Ellis - assembly requiredMon Apr 02 1990 10:034
    
    Good going!  (And mind the sunscreen... :-))
    
    j
1462.10Where's the start of CC132?IOSG::BROGANMike BroganTue Apr 03 1990 08:2510
    RE: .0
    
    Rod, 
    
    What's the schedule for the Reading Club 10's. Each Tues at 7:00pm?. 
    Also, where's the start point for CC132? My own club (Farnborough and 
    Camberley) 10's don't start for a couple of weeks so I thought I'd have
    a go at Reading's. 
        
    Mike
1462.11No dawdleRUTILE::STIMPSONTue Apr 03 1990 08:319
    Re 8
    
    I make that an average speed of 20.639 mph.  That ain't bad at all.
    But you kinda sounded a bit flat about the whole trip as though
    you didn't enjoy it...or perhaps you have a deadline to meet.
    For information (as someone nearing 40), what's the age range like
    at such an event?
    
    Keith
1462.12JUMBLY::MACFADYENBad wordsWed Apr 04 1990 08:5920
    Re .10:
    
    It's off behind Twyford, but difficult to explain, for me anyway. Since
    you're in Decpark, bring a map round and I'll show you?
    
    
    Re .11:
    
    The age range is large. The guy parked next to me must have been about
    60, and he wasn't the only one. Time-triallists seem to have a long
    career. Raleigh have this year taken on as a professional Ian Cammish,
    till now the UK's top amateur time-trialler, and he's about 41.
    
    As to whether I enjoyed it or not, yes I did, as much as I ever enjoy
    any competitive athletic event. Whether you're doing a TT or a 10K run,
    you have to put the effort in and it hurts! You ought to try it
    sometime, like when you get your flash road bike.
    
    
    Rod
1462.13JUMBLY::MACFADYENPure ignoranceMon Apr 09 1990 09:2613
    I found a write-up of the TT in the April 5th "Cycling Weekly". The guy
    who won was Ian Browning of Polytechnic CC - Air Canada Cargo, the
    owner of the 1:02:03 time I mentioned earlier which was in fact just
    one second off the course record, and 1:30 faster than the next man.
    
    Some of the descriptions rang a bell, eg "The early swoop down to
    Newmarket town, HQ of horse racing, was soon counteracted by the climb
    of Duchess Drive which Browning took at a seemingly effortless gallop".
    I remember the swoop, and I certainly remember the climb, but the
    seemingly effortless gallop, no, I can't say I remember that.
    
    
    Rod
1462.14RE:CAMMISHWARNUT::PAVERDThu Jun 28 1990 11:477
    RE:- The age of Cammish
    
    He's only in his mid-thirties and definately not 41.
    
    P.S 
    What are the courses like around Reading, the Cheshire (J courses) are
    pretty dire.
1462.15H coursesJUMBLY::MACFADYENMmm! Tastes good!Fri Jun 29 1990 09:188
    Sorry if I had his age wrong, I'm sure I read it was 41 in one of the
    magazines. As for courses round here, they're mainly A-road and dual
    carriageway (you could have guessed that) and flattish. I'm not as
    familiar with them as I'd hoped I would be by now, having been off the
    bike since late April.
    
    
    Rod