Race of Truth

AEROMAN is aerodynamic.

TT means Time Trial
By Tim White

and that means racing against the watch.

Time trialing is a very specialized cycling discipline. 

Often at the pro level, racers who are battling hard for the GC can either be made or broken with an individual time trial.

In the Individual Time Trial it's about individual effort, no drafting, just what you can do against the clock, and since we are often pushing for a high speed long term "schedule" at the velodrome, the TT is a wonderful way to practice sustained high schedule.

When my son Alex and I got started with racing anything other than cyclocross, the TT was the first discipline we tried because it seemed the safest. Afteral you race alone.

Racers start at staggered intervals often 30 sec or 1 min apart from each other. Courses have minimal local traffic, so on the whole, I think the Individual TT is one of the safest forms of cycling out there.

It doesn't take a fancy TT bike to race successfully either. (though it REALLY helps) 

There is the "Eddy Category" (named after the Belgian Superstar of the 70's, Eddy Merckx) where you use a regular road bike, no aero gear allowed. Or if you can get clip on aero bars, then get a shorter stem with a negative slope and you've just converted your road bike. 

You must get a shorter stem to protect your LATISSIMUS DORSI including the Fascia-Thoracolumbar fascia Pelvic Bone-Iliac crest; Insertion: Humerus- Intertubercular(bicipital) groove, or even more importantly the ERECTOR SPINAE- the three columns of muscle lying in parallel along the spine including SPINALIS-most medial, LONGISSIMUS-intermediate ILIOCOSTALIS-lateral. 

Injuries in these muscle groups are VERY uncomfortable, and can destroy the first part of the race season. Ask Ian Connors how these injuries feel.

By using a 1cm SHORTER stem than your normal road stem, you will protect these muscles as well as create a very drivable aero position.

Racing the 2k TT at Alpenrose Velodrome

After we learn to drive our Aero-Bars in the Individual circumstance, we can apply it to the Team event. Team TT events include the TTT and the Team Pursuit at the velodrome.

I'd like to volunteer my joy, zeal and desire to improve in the TT to The Team as we start working on getting our bikes and bodies prepared for a team time trial capability. All the work we do with pacelines will have served us well when we want to give a TTT practice a shot. But first we need to get comfortable riding aero bars our own.

We can make this a scoring strategy as well as a personal goal set with the annual OBRA series competition just for Time Trialing:

2013 TT Cup Calendar – Subject to Change
Date      Event       Location     
February 24  Jack Frost TT    Vancouver, WA 

APRIL 5th  As the Raven Flies   McMinnville, OR 
April 20th  PIR TT     Portland, OR 

May 25    As the Raven Flies 40k  Corvallis, OR 

June 14   Mary’s Peak Hillclimb   Philomath, OR
July 13    Wildcat Mountain Uphill TT  Estacada, OR 

August 9th  OBRA TT Championship   Peoria, OR 

August 10th  OBRA Hillclimb Championship  Government Camp, OR 

Please contact me (Tim White) either by email (DOPPELGANGER_PRIME@YAHOO.COM) or phone (503-977-2212) if you want to get any advice about gear or fit for TT racing.

Strategy: We have several months to get ready still, but lets start thinking about it and working on it. Junior entries are usually pretty slim at Raven so it would be a good race for them to target along with Jack Frost to get any kinks out.

Tim White