# How to do well in 10km Time Trial



## superlightracer (Apr 6, 2007)

Hey all,

I have a 10km time trial coming up in two weeks. The course is 5km out and back with a few small rollers on it.

I did the same TT in the fall averaged 37km/h, and was beaten by people who always finish behind me during road/mtb races.

Does anyone have any tips for me to improve my pace? I havent a clue how to pace for something like this, and I know nothing about aero positioning. I will be riding a standard fit road bike with out aero bars or any other tweaks.

thanks


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

i'd go with 'ride faster than the other guys'...that seems to work every time.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Short TTs*



superlightracer said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I have a 10km time trial coming up in two weeks. The course is 5km out and back with a few small rollers on it.
> 
> ...


For an event that short, warmup is critical. Be well fed and well hydrated, with a good carbo intake the day before and the day of the event. If it's an evening ride, snack & sip through the afternoon. Some caffeine 30-60 minutes before the ride doesn't hurt. Be well warmed up - the saying is the shorter the TT, the longer you should warm up. A 10 mile ride to warm up for a 6 mile TT is good. Shortly before your start, do a couple of "jumps" up to maximum effort for 1/4-1/2 mile to get your body ready for a fast start. Arrive at the line sweating, but not out of breath, and ready for a rapid acceleration up to TT speed. Try to get to your maximum sustainable effort ASAP (remember, you're already warmed up) . This does NOT mean going as hard as you can right out of the gate, it means reaching SUSTAINABLE speed ASAP. If your legs seem like they are the limit to going faster, shift to a lower gear. If your lungs seem like your limit, shift to a higher gear. Get into your best aero position and stay there. For the turnaround, hold your speed as long as possible, jam the brakes and bank the turn faster than you think you can go. Forget this business about sprinting for the finish - you should have nothing left to sprint with. Around here, the finish of a TT is described as "notfarfrompukin" if you get my point. 

As far as aero position, your best bet is to ride with your hands on the hoods and with your forearms as close to parallel to the ground as you can get. Practice this position in advance. You may gain a bit by moving your seat forward (and up a little), but you have to spend some time in the new position before the event. You can gain a little by taking off your water bottle cages and by taping shut your helmet vents, though that means a tradeoff from overheating problems, so yo have to consider the weather.


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## anthony.delorenzo (May 8, 2007)

Ride the first 5 km like the turnaround is the end of the race. Give it everything you have. 

Then, turn around and do it again.


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## superlightracer (Apr 6, 2007)

Kerry Irons said:


> For an event that short, warmup is critical. Be well fed and well hydrated, with a good carbo intake the day before and the day of the event. If it's an evening ride, snack & sip through the afternoon. Some caffeine 30-60 minutes before the ride doesn't hurt. Be well warmed up - the saying is the shorter the TT, the longer you should warm up. A 10 mile ride to warm up for a 6 mile TT is good. Shortly before your start, do a couple of "jumps" up to maximum effort for 1/4-1/2 mile to get your body ready for a fast start. Arrive at the line sweating, but not out of breath, and ready for a rapid acceleration up to TT speed. Try to get to your maximum sustainable effort ASAP (remember, you're already warmed up) . This does NOT mean going as hard as you can right out of the gate, it means reaching SUSTAINABLE speed ASAP. If your legs seem like they are the limit to going faster, shift to a lower gear. If your lungs seem like your limit, shift to a higher gear. Get into your best aero position and stay there. For the turnaround, hold your speed as long as possible, jam the brakes and bank the turn faster than you think you can go. Forget this business about sprinting for the finish - you should have nothing left to sprint with. Around here, the finish of a TT is described as "notfarfrompukin" if you get my point.
> 
> As far as aero position, your best bet is to ride with your hands on the hoods and with your forearms as close to parallel to the ground as you can get. Practice this position in advance. You may gain a bit by moving your seat forward (and up a little), but you have to spend some time in the new position before the event. You can gain a little by taking off your water bottle cages and by taping shut your helmet vents, though that means a tradeoff from overheating problems, so yo have to consider the weather.


 On the hoods eh? I would have thought the drops would have been teh best position to be in. (Less frontal area due to your chest being closer to parallel to the ground.)


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## mavicwheels (Oct 3, 2007)

*some folks never learn*



cxwrench said:


> i'd go with 'ride faster than the other guys'...that seems to work every time.



Why is it when some asks a legitimate question we always get somebody who just has to show they are a horses backside with this kind of answer. If you want to troll a blog try the 15 year old section in war craft please:idea:


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## offthefront66 (Apr 9, 2006)

Kerry Irons has some good advice. In regards to the caffeine though, if you are accustomed to it then it could be advantageous. If you are not a regular user of caffeine or have not experimented with it before races, I suggest doing so in training first. Pacing for a TT even a shorter event such as your 10km is typically best to break down in thirds.....ramping the effort each 1/3. Course conditions can change this strategy though such as wind, hills, etc. If the out is into a headwind then drive it harder on the out as the return with a tailwind is harder to gain extra time. The best way to get faster at TT's is do A LOT of them. It is a skill that needs to be refined and thus in the process you will learn about your body and pushing beyond what you perceive as your limits...plus...the ability to suffer on your own is different then suffering and following a wheel in a road race/mtb event.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Try to hold 4 to 5 beats over your AT, for a 10K. You have to be able to eat the pain. For a 20K, it's 1 or 2 beats over, and for a 40K, it's AT or 1 beat over (if you're able to stand the pain)


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Aerodynamics*



superlightracer said:


> On the hoods eh? I would have thought the drops would have been teh best position to be in. (Less frontal area due to your chest being closer to parallel to the ground.)


You would have less frontal area when in the drops ONLY if you were lower than on the hoods with your arms parallel to the ground. However, this is unlikely unless your handlebars are very high. Watch solo breakaways in races with the top professionals - you'll note that they often don't ride in the drops. Assuming that your back is in the same position when "low in the hoods" as when in the drops, then you have a bit less drag because your arms don't extend below the tops.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*pacing*

The worst thing you can do in a time trial is go out too hard. Here is one way to pace. Figure out your average speed in your prior time trials. Try to hold that speed for the first half of your next one, then go harder on the second half. You'll have to adjust for wind/terrain, but you get the idea. 

Get up to speed fast, but then settle down. While it might feel great to go flying along at 30 mph for a while, it won't last, and you'll hurt worse on the last 1/4 of the race. 

Make sure you are well rested and taper before the race, if it is important to you. Coming into it tired from doing intervals the day before is not the best way to do well.

When you get to 3/4 of the way to the finish, start pushing harder and harder to the finish. For the last couple of minutes, you should be going so hard you want to throw up and bust a lung. Carry that all the way through the finish. If are aren't hating it, you aren't going hard enough. On the other hand, if you feel that way at the half way point, you went out too hard.


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## stevesbike (Jun 3, 2002)

why not buy an inexpensive set of clip-on bars (ebay is great for that) and perhaps an aero helmet. Those two things will save you more time than any changes to training you can do in the next 2 weeks.


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## MerlinAma (Oct 11, 2005)

Check this out - also link at first of article called "negative splits".

http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2008/03/more-on-pacing.html


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## superlightracer (Apr 6, 2007)

Thanks for the responses. 

Im going to do a couple practice runs of the course over the next week and figure out the slow spots. as well as do some practice runs.


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## bauerb (Jan 18, 2006)

i was going to mentioned the neg splits. research seems to show that coming back a bit faster than you go out yields a faster overall time. riding a TT is an art form. sort of like learning to corner fast for crits. except a fast TT is very technical. its about practicing with power, knowing your thresholds, etc. it is extremely hard to ride a perfect TT. your best bet is to aim for slightly negative splits using your FT as a baseline, then do as Kerry says. as for aero stuff: at min avoid loose clothing, stay narrow and low in the front.


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## cdhbrad (Feb 18, 2003)

In addition to all the above about pacing, knowing the course can be very important. I do a 10KTT every winter that is pretty much an out and back on a very open course and there are distance markers ever kilometer. It makes a difference, physcologically at least, to know that you only have 2K or 1K to go and you can give it all you have, especially since you can see the finish line. I did a seven mile TT last weekend on a course I hadn't ridden since last year. There aren't any distance markers or other visual clues to the finish as there are woods on both sides the course and you can't see the finish until you only have about 300 yards to go. Because I hadn't gotten on the course before the race to refresh my memory on the lead in to the finish......I left a little in the tank at the end. My bad. Good Luck on your upcoming race.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

mavicwheels said:


> Why is it when some asks a legitimate question we always get somebody who just has to show they are a horses backside with this kind of answer. If you want to troll a blog try the 15 year old section in war craft please:idea:


wow...lighten up a bit there big fella.


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## crispy010 (Jan 26, 2009)

get some clip-on aero bars. These alone will add 2-3 mph to your speed. Ride with them twice before the event to get used to how they handle. DO NOT ride on them in heavy traffic - your bike is more squirrely and your brakes are further away.

If you have a HR monitor and know your AT, use that data to determine how hard you should go. If you don't, go hard enough so that the burning feeling in your legs stays pretty steady state.

Time Trials are an exercise in pain management and aerodynamics.


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## livin4lax09 (Mar 15, 2008)

or if you dont want to get the aero bars you can still go aero by resting your forearms on the top of your bar and draping your hands over / lightly grabbing your shifter cables. It'll basically look like an aero position with your hands slack and no aero bars.

such as the following... tuck your elbows into your body more though, and keep your forearms more parallel


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*2-3 mph?*



crispy010 said:


> get some clip-on aero bars. These alone will add 2-3 mph to your speed.


No, they won't. If your bike is set up properly and riding on the aero bars doesn't inhibit your breathing, then MAYBE you'll get 1.5 mph, but more likely less than a mph.


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## crispy010 (Jan 26, 2009)

Kerry Irons said:


> No, they won't. If your bike is set up properly and riding on the aero bars doesn't inhibit your breathing, then MAYBE you'll get 1.5 mph, but more likely less than a mph.


In my personal experience putting on aero bars will net me about +2 mph over a reasonably flat course (21 mph vs. 23 mph). YMMV, as always. As for bike fit, 65 miles today at 20+ mph with a group and not an once of soreness tells me bike fit is not a problem. In my experience riding on aero bars allows me to push a slightly larger gear comfortably, which increases the speed benefit in addition to the aerodynamic benefits.


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## jake21 (Jul 29, 2005)

Get clip on Aero bars. That is the biggest advantage.

J


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

livin4lax09 said:


> or if you dont want to get the aero bars you can still go aero by resting your forearms on the top of your bar and draping your hands over / lightly grabbing your shifter cables.


Just look at those two pink air-brakes hanging down. How much more worse could it get? Grab the brake hoods, forearms level, elbows in, fingers not poking out. That's as good as it gets.


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## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

cxwrench said:


> i'd go with 'ride faster than the other guys'...that seems to work every time.


and the prize for best answer goes to... 



superlightracer said:


> was beaten by people who always finish behind me during road/mtb races


ah yes the race of TRUTH!


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## Alex_Simmons/RST (Jan 12, 2008)

Here's a post making a comparison between riding the same TT "old skool" style on a standard road bike set up and on a "new skool" TT set up.

http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-skool.html


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## zigurate (Mar 3, 2009)

livin4lax09 said:


> or if you dont want to get the aero bars you can still go aero by resting your forearms on the top of your bar and draping your hands over / lightly grabbing your shifter cables. It'll basically look like an aero position with your hands slack and no aero bars.
> 
> such as the following... tuck your elbows into your body more though, and keep your forearms more parallel


The guy in the pic probably could have his elbows tucked a little bit in, another obvious tip is to not to move a lot when on the bike so as to save the movement you need to make to your legs.


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