What Is A Time Trial?

The following has been taken from a UK website...

Time Trialling is often the first way into racing bikes on the road in the UK. Common distances are 10 miles (16km) and 25 miles (40km). The basic idea of a Time Trial is to cover a set course against the clock on your own; it is also know as “the race of truth”. This is possibly the easiest form of racing to enter for a novice as there are all sorts of abilities in time trials but the person you are racing against is yourself. For this reason many Cycling Clubs encourage beginners to try time trials first if they want to see how fast they can go. They are often pleasantly surprised!

Benefits of time trialling include a big improvement in your fitness, an introduction to competition for less confident riders, and a way to measure your absolute ability against both other riders and yourself. As they say, it’s the "race of truth", with nowhere to hide!

What do I need?
You only need your bike, you can ride any bike but a road bike is going to be the easiest/fastest option.

Do I need a helmet?
Yes.

What sort of time should I be aiming for?
As a beginner, for a 10 mile (16km) event, anything under 35 minutes is encouraging, under 30 is excellent. By the way, under 20 minutes and you should be in the Olympics.

What next?
Go for a warm up and arrive at the start several minutes before you're start time. At the start you will be held upright while the Timekeeper counts down to your start time. Once you have started, keep your head up and watch where you are going, keep to the left and stay in the cycle lanes where applicable. When you have passed the finish Timekeeper don't stop but cycle back to the HQ and hand in your race number.

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