Working on planning a build towards a 40k TT in June of '21 and looking at some of the workouts in the 40k TT specialty plan has me a tad…shall we say, concerned. Specifically, the Thursday “TT Simulation” workouts that involved 48-60 minutes of near continuous output at 95-102% seem unrealistic and overly intense to me. That’s basically the equivalent of an all-out 40k TT every Thursday for the 8 weeks leading up to the event. Does anyone who’s been through the plan have any advice on this?
I’m building toward the exact same goal, even down to the month! And I think? I’ve done the TR TT plan…I don’t actually remember. I don’t think you actually need to do that many 1 Hour Power sessions to develop your TT power.
With my previous TT plans I started doing TT simulations (on the actual course, if possible) about 4 weeks out. The only reason is to practice pacing, get a feel for the course, dial in equipment, etc.
Last year my only event was a 40k TT. I did one simulation effort 2 weeks out just so that I would know that I could pace it right. That was just to calm my jitters though, would have been fine without it.
I’m doing the same plan as well. I saw those Thursday workouts and had the thought that there is going to be lots of suffering. I’m putting my trust in the TrainerRoad plan though and am planning on sticking with it. Having that much experience with that type of effort will likely help. It’s going to hurt, though.
I’m just finishing up SPBMV, with the 40km TT plan up next. I’ve also seen those workouts (Dardanelles, Dunderberg, etc?). They certain don’t look easy, but I would say that I feel more ready for them now having done SPB and got more of a feel for what riding close to threshold really feels like.
I have become a pretty decent TTist in the past year and have hardly ever trained for the duration of the event (state-championship, only event that took place in 2020).
My event was a 35min TT. I did basically all my threshold intervals on the road bike, and only did shorter VO2Max efforts, or very long tempo efforts on the TT bike. I did only 1 mock TT the week before the event (last week of taper) and performed quite well.
You can build your engine on any bike (TT, RB, MTB, BMX, Stationary), and then need to learn to perform on the TT bike (or road bike in the TT position). I did long base rides on the TT to just become comfortable in riding, cornering, holding position etc.
The VO2 Max intervals helped me to really push watts with a tight hip angle.
Both worked wonders for me.
During my training I hardly ever averaged very high speed for any of the intervals, but on race day, I managed a PR speed of >45kph. Pretty happy with how things worked.
I race TT in the UK all summer when there is no Covid - in fact even last season I did 8 opens and 7 club races. Those sessions are for people like yourself with one key race. I just get myself fit for March/April with SSB and SPB and then race myself into form with regular club races and C race opens on my TT bike - looking to be flying by July/ Aug - well for me I can give myself a kicking with a number on my back even a club race with only about 15 riders but couldn’t do those sessions on the turbo…but that’s just me - if you have the will power that’s great. I also add a short 1 hour VO2 max session once a week / a short o/u session as well if I don’t race and lots of easy zone 2 and coffee rides to keep me ticking over. Remember though in the UK TT is big and most of us will do 15-20 open races a year even if only a couple are A races. In your situation I would substitute those sessions for race simulations on your TT bike on a course as similar to your event course as possible…but not throw the kitchen sink at the last 10 mins like you would in a race…finish knowing you have a bit more for race day.
My inclination would be not to overly worry about the exact numbers. Treat these as race simulations where you’re aiming to do something close to your goal event time, in TT position, preferably outside, at something that feels close to threshold. Aim to get the average number a little higher each week, with those improvements coming as much from adapting to the TT position and improving your pacing as from fitness improvements. If you can do actual races then even better, and this is what a lot of TTers do.
Most people can’t hold their ramp test FTP for an hour. And most people have a lower FTP on their TT bike than their road bike anyway (and probably a lower FTP holding an aero hoods/drops position on their road bike than riding more upright). The objective of these sessions in my view is to work on very race specific fitness and pacing i.e. figuring out what number you can hold while actually staying aero in real world conditions, and improving it. If that number ends up being “only” 90% of the number you get from doing a ramp test on your road bike in erg mode, then these workouts are the time where you figure that out so that you’re going into your A race with a realistic pacing strategy based on real world data and experience.
Indeed - last year I did a road bike TT which lasted 54mins (21.5 hilly miles) and I averaged 268W. My best 25m TT last year was also coincidentally 54mins and I averaged 242W on the TT bike - but then I had my elbows about an inch apart and my neck sunk between my shoulders like a That said the 268W was in March coming off SPB and I felt pretty fit…the 242W was off a summer of zone 2 lockdown easy riding where I felt pretty fit because I upped the volume but maybe had lost my top end threshold power So most lose a little on the TT bike unless you ride it a lot…and I like riding in comfort so I don’t.
I can give myself a kicking with a number on my back even a club race with only about 15 riders but couldn’t do those sessions on the turbo…but that’s just me - if you have the will power that’s great. I also add a short 1 hour VO2 max session once a week / a short o/u session as well if I don’t race and lots of easy zone 2 and coffee rides to keep me ticking over. Remember though in the UK TT is big and most of us will do 15-20 open races a year even if only a couple are A races. In your situation I would substitute those sessions for race simulations on your TT bike on a course as similar to your event course as possible…but not throw the kitchen sink at the last 10 mins like you would in a race…finish knowing you have a bit more for race day.
That said the 268W was in March coming off SPB and I felt pretty fit…the 242W was off a summer of zone 2 lockdown easy riding where I felt pretty fit because I upped the volume but maybe had lost my top end threshold power 
So most lose a little on the TT bike unless you ride it a lot…and I like riding in comfort so I don’t.