10km TT (short TT). Pacing. Preparation

Racing
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Hi all!
I have a TT 10km in 9 days. 5 km one way and back. Almost flat.
I’m newbie, it’s my second season. Last year I did this with 39.6 kmh average.
Now I have aero bars, but only used them 3 times.

Any suggests how to do my best. Especially about pacing (I have no experience). And what about training before race? How to prepare? I appreciate any advice.

Thanks in advance!

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  1. Practice using your aero bars and aero helmet on the road
  2. Do your TR workouts on the aero bars
  3. Check out the route and the best line for the turnaround days before the TT
  4. Practice pinning your number so that it’s smooth when you tuck in
  5. Have a gel 20 mins before you start
  6. Warm up before the effort, on the road (not the course) or on a trainer
  7. Don’t start too hard, give yourself time to get up to speed and tuck into aero
  8. Go hard
  9. Bask in glory whatever the result :tada:
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  • I would personally try some of the TR workouts that accumulate ~40 minutes of work at ~102% FTP to help set an expectation for power output during the race
  • Try those intervals in your aero position
  • During the TT, target a few percent under your target power for the first third. It will feel eminently do-able, but resist the urge to push the pace too hard. You’ll pay for that in the back half
  • As you get into the middle third of the TT, push up to your target power and hold there. It’s going to start getting difficult to maintain
  • Practice carrying speed through U turns. The more speed you carry coming out of the turn, the less you’ll need to surge to get back up to speed. Balance getting back to speed without going way over target power. A big surge will make holding target power that much harder.
  • As you get into the final third of the race focus on holding target power, and if you can push just above.
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You should be able to do this at about 105%FTP as it is 6 miles - so about 13 minutes - so any TR session with multiple 4-5 min reps@105-108% should help Wilhelm, Elephants and variations etc - it is also really short for a tt so VO2 work like Dade-1/+1 should help. Then follow all the above advice…mind you I have know idea where you live but where is there any racing at present - all UK tt are cancelled - as is every other country I know of - still good luck :smiley:

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I also want to know where you’re racing. Super jealous! Or is it one of those “you have a week to do this segment and upload to Strava” things?

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Kind of… Yes, Strava will define the winner. It’s not official race, so we decided to organize a small race by ourself (around 10-15 participants). And our region and city is not lockdown (yet?..).
I from Siberia.

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Thanks to all! It’s really helpful!
One more questions about U turn. Should I rest before the turn a little bit or I need to approach at full speed and jam the breaks? (I guess the second option is right).

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Correct, brake late, on the gas as quickly as possible.

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I change gears ready to slam it out of the turn.
Slam the brakes and get back up to speed as quickly as possible. Without blowing your legs.

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Ah I see - yes we have nearly all our local tt courses on Strava and a lot of us time triallists are blasting round the local ones and uploading it. That said I never take my full tt rig out for that or use my skinsuit/aero helmet/long socks or overshoes. I just blast round on my aero road bike and try and set power pbs - still find I can’t give it 100% without a number on my arse…but as you say it’s a bit of fun - good luck :smiley:

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