It looks like I should try to close the gap between my head and hands, probably by setting the hands slightly higher as well as getting the neck into a better position.
The TT itself went quite okay. 29min 1s on a 20km course with a strong 6m/s sideways wind that was slightly on the tailside on the first half and turned to a headwind in the second half. I averaged 315W, about 15W less than I would have expected on my road bike.
In such wind conditions you should try for a negative split (second half more power).
What I do (or try to do) now is, if I know the average speed that I will likely ride on the course, be it from a previous attempt of me, or by stalking Strava, have the current speed show on my Garmin next to power (obviously for pacing myself) and distance (because we got some 5 laps courses and I cannot count that far during a TT). I try to see the wind direction by flags or trees, and push on into the headwind and ease off in a tailwind, always checking the speed against average speed I want and power to adjust.
Another race and this time a close second place. I am really kicking myself over this one.
I was given a start time, and arrived to the start time, but when I arrived like 3 minutes earlier, everyone was gone already, because fewer people had showed up than expected.
They still allowed me to start and I was given no penalty (they are rather lenient anyway). My penalty that I started with no one (starting intervals are 15ā), which is not only a pacing disadvantage (I wouldāve had the winner right in front of me from the start), but obviously when overtaking the faster guys, youāll likely get a greater benefit of draft, even when adhering to the 10*3m box.
Whelp, a lot of excuses. In the end, someone else was faster than me, and thatās all fair. Something to keep me motivated:
The winner probably blew up as well, but Iād venture the guess that riding in the midst of other faster guys helps on the first two laps.
The next race is 9 instead of 6 laps, so maybe that plays into my strengthsā¦
However, there is one more regular in this event who is an absolute machine. If he shows up ill have to settle for second anyway
Changing start times may be nice for the organizers to get through the starters quicker, but its a nightmare for every Time Trialistā¦ and its not been done at any TT i took place in. As mentioned, usually the start spot just stays empty (which is also annoying if you have nobody to catch).
Iāve never had start times rejigged. Annoyingly I can be waiting at the start line and thereās someone there but heās my 5 min man and nobody else turns up to start before me ((DNSās) so Iāve rarely got some one to chase. Add in the fact that they usually send of the faster riders intermingled with the slower riders (0 numbers and maybe 5 numbers); the chances are that 5min man is totally uncatchable for me
Iām just looking at the start list for my Saturday TT I start 68th of 70 riders and on Spindata predicted times the first slower rider than me for me chase starts 12minutes ahead of me. It is 4 laps of a dual carriageway so Iāll probably catch slower riders at some point but they wonāt be on the same lap as me
PS, the only time Ive finished 2nd was 2weeks ago and that was on handicap. My highest open scratch result was 15th but Iām normally far lower due mainly to descending\cornering like a wuss
Lol, I forgot Spindata done predicted finish, by perdition Iāll be the last rider on the course (although the twice Ive raced it (last year) I finished something like nearly 6-7mins faster than predicted. I think Ive (or the lbs to be precise) have sorted my disc wheel and my main challenge for 50 miles will be my weak biceps which tend to go numb and sore on long TTs which has led with my wussiness to some erratic times which spindata probably cant handle
Mywindsock has given 0.185 CDA which seems crazy low.
Using an online calculator and inputting Speed, Power, weight, Temp, and assumed CRR I get around 0.2 CDA which seems more realistic.
What do you think is the reason for this difference? Maybe Mywindsock is assuming the weather impacted the ride more than it did. For example, headwind blocked by hedges.
Some stuff about my setup: Gaint Trinity, Disc rear wheel, 80mm front wheel, Corsa Speed G2 25mm tyres, Bike weight about 10kg, rider about 64kg
Windsock gives you crazy low numbers on the faster higher traffic courses, I have two profiles set, one for the fast DC courses and one for everything else.
On a DC Iāll get silly numbers like .15, on quieter courses more like .18 to .2 depending on quality of surface and how hilly it is.
Iām definitely no expert but Ive always treated My Windsock as an effective CdA and it can be biased significantly by the need to put out less power on some roads due to get sucked along by traffic but thats more to do with DC vs Sporting courses and that doesnt look like too busy a road to have had that effect
Some very impressive numbers there. This 0.185 is the best I have seen for me. 0.2 is definitely more typical. The course was a bit of a mixed bag with traffic and road surface. So probably not great to infer much from.
Since it is laps might try to play with Golden Cheetah. Does anyone know if the elevation data from the head unit need to be replaced before importing? Can see some drift in the file.
Playing with golden cheetah is on my to do list! I did once try and code up my own virtual elevation testing that worked quite well but it was a bit too much like work!!!
For what itās worth, I came out of the wind tunnel in 2021 with cda more like .22!!! Mywindsock is good for relative numbers though.
Edit to add: at 188 cm and 85 kg I think .22 is good enough :-).
If you want DM me and i will reply with my email and then you can send me the ā.fitā file and i will have a go in golden cheetah and see what i get.
I lost tons on the technical stuff too and spent too long riding upright (probably 90-95% of the time tbh I hate side winds!) and ended up 1sec slower than last year. I did get a 5mins season power pb (towards the finish) but that probably due to my position.
