Time Trialing Tips!

The time trial is a simple race of you against the clock. The fastest person wins. There are no excuses; you can’t say you didn’t have a proper lead out into the finish or you were boxed in and did not have a good sprinting path. There are a few things you can do to save you some time without having to be “faster”.  I’ll list some time saving numbers at the end that I have found online, but first we will examine the active things you can do to have a faster time trial.

-First off if you want to improve your time I highly suggest that you train. You cannot just occasionally hop on you bike and expect to reach a blistering pace.  Also you want to train regularly on the bike and in the position you would use in a time trial. As I will get to shortly, if you use the advantages of an aero tuck position it uses slightly different muscle recruitment and takes great core strength to maintain. You also cannot just expect to go into this position on time trial day and be the most efficient machine you can be at your fitness level. Equipment can give you a couple free km/h, but to go from 30 to 40+ km/h you are going to have to log in some solid hours!

-Second recommendation is aero bars or a time trial bike. The first option is wallet friendly if you just add clip-ons to your road bike and you will still get most of the advantage. A time trial bike has the added benefits of a sweet looking bike with extra aero properties to help it slip through the air. It is usually hard to get into a good position with just the clip-ons because your road bars generally do not go very low (compared to a TT bike). At the local club time trial last year, I rode a 14.5km time trial on my aero road bike (felt ar4) with Zipp 404s and posted a personal best time of 21:39 (~41.5km/h, using normal road bars). This year I picked up a time trial bike, using slightly deeper dish Chinese carbon tubulars, but the main difference being a good aerodynamic tuck. I also added the aero helmet and booties, and managed a new personal best time of 20:18 (Just over 43km/h). That is a 1:21 savings! Id like to think I got faster but with my injury in the fall, I am going to attribute most of this to the bike and position.  I would also recommend the serious riders to get a bike fit. It helps prevent unnecessary injury, makes you more comfortable, and gets you into the most efficient position your body is capable of holding. Most people make the mistake of trying to assume the most aero position possible but many times this comes with a loss of power. The ultimate goal is to find the best compromise. Many bike shops offer aero fits. I went through the specialized BG fit and it was pretty good. Dundas speed shop looks to offer a really good fit program as well.

-Third tip is a little harder on the wallet, you can dive into the extras to look the part and add speed. Aero helmets, although look ridiculous to many people, do provide significant advantages to justify using them. If you use one with a visor like me (because they look badass), just try to come up with a solution to pick up your sweat as the visor blocks most of the wind-flow from evaporating the sweat on your forehead and it comes dripping into your eyes (solution - http://store.haloheadband.com/). When buying a TT helmet, make sure you try it on. I use the giro selector and while it is a great helmet, it is tight and can take a little bit of time to get on. If you are into triathlons this is a problem because you do not want to waste time in the transition if you don’t have to. For the time trialist, they have all day to put their helmet on so its no problem and the tighter helmet may have some aerodynamic advantages to it. Just be sure to try it on to check that it meets your needs. Other add-ons include booties to smooth the air-flow over buckles on your shoes, deep dish rims and a full disc wheel. The thing I like about the rear disc is that it makes a nice ‘whoosh’ sound that makes you feel like you are going faster Another great piece of time saving equipment is a speed suit. Using a speed suit can provide you with some of the most savings per dollar spent. It is a one piece, skin tight suit (usually long sleeve with shorts), without any rear pockets to cause drag. Without the extra seams and pockets, your body, which causes most of the drag (so there’s only so much you can do to your bike before you have to start changing you) slips through the air nicer.

- Fourth tip is you must be able to pace yourself and you should feel like you are completely gassed when you cross the finish line.. You want to stay right at your lactate threshold. Go a little bit easier going out and down hills, and a little bit harder on the way in and up hills. Your threshold is like a line, if you cross it you can only maintain that pace for a maximum of 5 mins (which isn’t good for a 40km route).  So you want to give the maximal effort possible, while being able to maintain it for the whole course. You can try and find this yourself, or do a fitness test to get your threshold in watts (good if you have a power meter) or heart rate zones. CoachChris.ca has coaches that offer these services for pretty cheap (it will also help with your other training by knowing your training zones).

-Last tip is if you’re really serious is to cut some weight. A thinner person is smaller and therefore has less drag. This will also increase your power to weight ratio, which will help make you faster on any uphill sections. This is not an option for everyone but it is for some. Remember once you drop below a healthy level, you WILL lose power and will be much worse off. Always maintain a healthy weight, if your serious about getting as low as you can go, contact a health care professional to find out where that is for you.  The pros have constant medical attention making sure they are safe and healthy at ridiculously light weights, which they usually only maintain for certain races.  And never stop eating!

Before I get to the numbers just a bit of physics. Drag increases with speed between squared and cubed. Therefore in order to double your speed you will have to put 4-8 times the effort in. Some of these numbers were found at a ridiculously high pace that is not attainable for most people, but just know the advantages become more apparent as your speed increases.

Over 40km (completed in 48mins, 50km/h)

TT helmet -67seconds ($150+)

Speed suit- 134sec  ($250)

Aerobars- 122 sec  ($200+)

Aero frame- 17sec (Lots $$)

Booties/shoe covers- 30secs  ($30)

(Numbers taken from here, prices listed as I know them to be http://www.active.com/cycling/Articles/Buying-Time-Which-Aero-Equipment-Offers-the-Most-Benefits )

Remember speed comes with hard work and determination.  This event does hurt, but it comes with bragging rights of being the fastest rider. Just remember the faster you go, the less time you will have to endure the pain for!

The always fast Wiggins showing exemplary time trialing positioning.