State ITT titles...

[Simon Llewellyn]

G'day guys i've entered the state time trial titles if anybodies interested. They're up at Calga on Sun 24th June, a couple of weeks away. It's a 40km circuit/ distance....

[T-Bone]

I checked out the elevation profile, and the first half is mainly uphill, so you'll have to work a bit, while as expected with basically an out and back course the trip back is mainly downhill. Hopefully this will give you an idea of when to use your energy.

I don't think i'll be able to do it, i've got too much other stuff to do, and my legs won't be ready.

[Simon Llewellyn]

Since it's a time trial i don't think having the exact form is all that important, after all you can't get dropped, you can get passed i guess but that doesn't really matter...

But does anyone have any clip on time trial bars which fit over sized road bars? The ones i have don't fit. It says 5nm on the stem if that's the sizing?....

[T-Bone]

5nm is the max torque for the stem bolts. Over sized bars are 31.8mm (31.7mm if you look at Deda, but it's all the same). Clip on bars are the other things i'm lacking, though i've been trying to work out which would be most suitable.

[Kieran]

I would have a look at the pro windjammer, it has two seperate extensions so is quite adjustable and will fit the 31.8 mm bars.

I can get some at wholesale price but will need to know quite soon.

Also comes in a carbon version.

[T-Bone]

That's good to know, where are you working these days?

I don't really like the look of the Pro bars, except for the integrated ones. My choice would probably be the Vision carbon pro, deda gcb, hed cliplite, or some oval concepts ones. Hed are probably the ones i like the look of most. Planet X also make some clip ons now which look alright. Plenty of choices out there anyway, just depends on the budget.

OT, Keiran, are you interested in doing the Coonabarabran, Gunnedah, Tamworth races at the end of the month, entries close this weekend.

[Simon Llewellyn]

I didn't really want to buy anything for this event but i'm definitely looking, especially for my track bike. I'll see how i go next week to whether i get some thing to fit both road and track or just track. I've kind of got my eyes on the PRO - Missle - Carbon Time Trial Handlebars but they're so hefty in price, i'm not sure if they're really worth the money. Maybe the clip on/ sloped cow horn combination would be better. Weight isn't a huge issue..not for the track bike but if it was for both lighter clip ons would be best...

[Simon Llewellyn]

Those PRO - Stealth - Carbon Stem/Handlebar Combo for Road Bike could be a byer though....

http://www.cellbikes.com.au/p_613_PRO__ ... _Road_Bike

[T-Bone]

Yep, they're nice, but they don't make my size, 42c-c 130mm, so maybe i'd have to adjust my position if i used them. I remember they were on some of the rabobank bikes at last years tour, so quality should be good, though i'll probably stick to the seperate stem and bar for size, adjustment, and cost reasons.

[Simon Llewellyn]

$550, but i'm sure you could find them cheaper... thats not too bad for carbon bars and a carbon stem if you bought them separately..110mm/44cm would be alright, currently i'm running 100mm/45cm, i think my bars are, but a cm thinner wouldn't make much difference. They look hot and i would think you would gain abit in stiffness as the advertising goes and the shape doesn't look too bad...

[T-Bone]

A quick search and $100 cheaper http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=16353 could probably find them cheaper again, but it does look like they have my size. From what i've read it also seems to be stiff enough. Might suit my next bike if the angles are right.

Are you sure you have a 45cm bar, i don't know anyone that makes that size. Is that measured outside to outside? more likely a 44 o-o in which case you should be after a 42 c-c.

[Simon Llewellyn]

Ya, they're more like 41 cm from the insides, but probably 42 cm without the tape...

They pro bars stem combo is pretty hot though, i've got to stop looking at them or i'll be too tempted to buy a set....

[T-Bone]

Good luck with the Time Trial tomorrow!!!

[Simon Llewellyn]

Today was an excellent day out, i must admit i had a lot of fun. Firstly because if i had not been racing i would of just gone back to sleep when i got up & it was raining & not ridden at all today. But i am actually very happy with my performance too. I rode well within myself, i don't think i ever really went too close to the red zone so i've got a fair bit i can improve & for once i wasn't the guy who got lost! Which was a good thing because it didn't look too therapeutic for his bike the way he chucked it after eventually finding his way home about twenty minutes late...

I rode th 40kms in 1 hr 16 mins, losing 16 mins to the eventual winner. I finished 22nd about 5 mins off 21st place. I only got passed by about 8 riders so i felt like i finished in the middle of the field & it was far from an embarrassing performance. But i was the only competitor without time trial bars let alone a rear disc wheel or fully decked out time trial bike. The thing about the race was, it's been so long since i've properly raced 40kms so i didn't really know what intensity to ride at without blowing up & i definitely didn't want that happening, so i think instead i rode well within myself. It was a tough day out & i'll be sleeping well tonight but for next year i'm sure if if i get my bike better prepared with aero bars positioned right & do some proper training i will be able to knock at that 5 mins off to get into the field.

As for the course & the team time trial, we have got to do some serious thinking about how we will organise the dynamics of the team because it is a very undulating course which the strong men will fly down the hills & on the flats whilst the climbers will easily drop everybody else on some of the climbs. So we will have to think about how we can maximize the team speed without blowing up any of our riders. I am very confident we can do really well, partly because i don't think there was any club who had many more than one rider so they will all be held back by their teams....

[weiyun]

Nice one Simon. Just looked up the map and realized how close Calga is.

So is the course a fixed course that's used every year? Given that you didn't have aero bar and disc wheel and the fact that you came in in the middle, you sure would have quite a bit more room to play. How did your Cervelo perform? Happy with it?

[Simon Llewellyn]

I wouldn't say i came in in the middle, i finished in the middle because i started first, so my time was the slowest but i wasn't expecting to win. I don't exactly pride myself on my road riding, but i do love a good time trial...

The course is fixed, the same every year & it is the same course for the team trial from what i can work out. Only elite & U/23 do the 40kms, all vets & U/19 do 20kms so it would be a good day out if you guys want to give it a go next year. The team time trial is 80kms so it is two laps, which would be quite challenging, now that i think about it in those terms. Though my sore back, dead quads & headache do account for some of this, if you ask me again in the morning i'll be gunning for it...

I really love my new road bike. It is by far the best bike i have ever ridden. Every time i get on it for the first few metres, it feels like i'm floating & i always think to myself 'gee this is going to be an easy day out.' Sadly the feeling doen't last when you get right into the red zone but it is still an awesome feeling. With the compact gearing though, at the back of my mind i feel as though i'm losing out with a 50 big ring & i wouldn't mind getting that 53 in standard gearing. I think i did actually lose a bit of time in the descents today, very minimal & if i had more energy my cadence would of easily made up for it but i'm moving towards standard gearing. Though the small gears were very handy on blood hill....

[T-Bone]

Sounds like you had a good ride. I should have been out riding in the rain, but i had too much trouble dragging myself out of bed. Tomorrow i'll have to go, rain, hail or snow.

As for the team time trial. I guess we should ride up there some sunday mornings to get to know the course. Only need to do one lap of it each time, so it shouldn't take too long. We probably don't need to do this until closer to it though. Maybe after the Grafton we should start doing some training for it. The hills shouldn't be too bad though.

[Simon Llewellyn]

They're not bad hills, but it depends what speed we intend to go over them at. It actually runs along the road we took to wiseman's ferry that day, the place we had morning tea & i had a chicken burger is on the route. So you would know part of it. Though the worst climb is just after the turnoff coming back, they call it blood hill, very similar to the dapto climb, maybe abit longer & possibly marginally less steep. But i guess if you ride out there, there is steeper & longer hills on the highway....

[T-Bone]

I guess the thing we'll be remembering is in a team time trial we have to ride to the strength of the weakest rider at any point in time. So, i don't think we'd be losing too much time slowing down a bit for one hill. The main thing really will be to keep it all smooth, which is why we need to practice a few times closer to the event. We'll have to work out how hard we can afford to push, and how long turns will be, as 4 people isn't really enough to be constantly rolling over, i'm thinking maybe 500m turns, though we'll need to decide this as well.

Anyway, a bit to consider, but we'll work it all out as we get closer. Next year i might give the individual time trial a go, and i've been thinking i should do uni games at some point, though probably not until next year.

[Simon Llewellyn]

I think laps around centennial would be of great use to work out consistency & pace & then laps around Lindsay's ankle snapper course snapper course would build a bit of climbing strength. The thing about the course is the constant ups & downs make it hard to find a rhythm & that's what we would be looking to do...

[mikesbytes]

You could deal with the varied strength of the riders by having the weaker rider spend a little less time on the front.

With James C's ongoing knee problem, your one lighter on elite riders.

[T-Bone]

It's not so much time on the front, that's easy to organise. If someone's getting tired, they just sit at the back for a while. The issue would be making sure we don't blast away from someone on the hills, and don't push anyone too hard.

We've got a few rider choices which we'll have to decide on later as well.

[weiyun]

Ok, just found the track information for this TT event.