The Beacon Message Board

Hi Team Beacon

As the informal time trial captain for the club, I am stealing with pride the format used for club runs to put together a calendar for time trials in 2017

My aim is to help to get many people time trialling in 2017, and to coordinate entries to events so that there are familiar Beacon faces at races, with perhaps some team prizes for the taking! I will also coordinate team entries to events like Silverstone 9-up.

A quick introduction for those who have not participated in a time trial before - time trials are a type of bike racing in which the aim is usually to complete a set distance (typically 10, 25, 50 or 100 miles) in as fast a time as you are able. The courses are generally 'out and back' i.e. out along a road, turn around at a roundabout and back again, so that the start and finish are close together. Competitors are set off at 1 minute intervals, and the start / finish timekeepers back-calculate your time depending on the time you finish at. Time trials are a relatively stress-free introduction to racing - you race by yourself (i.e. not in a group of people) and you will be able to see yourself getting better each week which is rather satisfying!

It does not matter at all what bike you have - in the Midlands Womens TT Series in 2016 for example, competitors turned up on a huge range of bikes, from mountain bikes, to hybrids, road bikes to time trial bikes with pointy helmets.

Time trial courses are identified with a code name - a throwback to the days when bike racing on the roads was illegal! The codes disguised the whereabouts of the races, and the one-minute intervals meant that a cyclist racing along a road could tell a stern police person that they were simply out for a nice cycle This can make it difficult for those unfamiliar with the code names to know where the races are. I will try to make this a lot easier for everyone by posting links to the start locations / HQs, but if in doubt, googling 'Strava XXXXX' with the XXXXX being the course code will help you find the start and finish. Eg. Strava K41/10 https://www.strava.com/segments/1322903?hl=en-GB

If anyone would like to know more about time trials, the second informal social to discuss racing (including time trials, road racing, track and cyclocross) is Thursday 12th Jan, at 7.30pm in the British Oak, Stirchley.

Right, onto the race calendar! There are hundreds of time trials throughout the year to choose from (full list here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gl7zqaw09sxj ... Kpgca?dl=0) and it can be difficult to pick which one(s) you want to do. In the Beacon TT calendar I will list suggested events - a combination of local events that are easy to get to, and further afield courses that would be fun, highlighting in bold the ones that I would particularly recommend.

If you are planning on entering any of these, or other, time trials, please comment below and I will add the names of those going to each event to the main post. Open events need to be entered 2 weeks in advance, while for club events, you turn up on the start line with your �2/3/4 entry fee.

Date - Event name - Course - Location - Entry deadline / Club event - Names of Team Beacon riders competing

January:

No races - time to plan out your calendar for the rest of the year!

February:

Sat 18th Feb - AeroCoach club TT - K34/10D https://www.strava.com/segments/4549609?filter=overall - �3.50 entry (free for first-time time triallists) Jess, Xav, Ian, James, John, Gavin, Keith

Sun 26th Feb - AeroCoach club TT - K34/10D - �3.50 entry (free for first-time time triallists) Jess, Xav, Ian, Keith

March:

Apart from the couple of early-season TTs in Feb, time trials start properly from April onwards.
Sat 4th March - TT training session, at Halesowen outdoor velodrome - mixture of training and basic position work to get everyone comfortable on TT bikes / in comfortable racing positions on road bikes - please let me know if you would be interested in this - Jess, Xav, Ian, David, James, Keith, Neil, Dave, Anne, Gavin

Jess (informal TT captain)

Just to add that this calendar is in addition to the Beacon club TTs which are all listed on the thread below. These are a fantastic way to get started time trialling: http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/message_boa ... php?t=8067

The aim of this calendar thread is for coordinating Beacon entries to open events at weekends throughout the year / a couple of early season club events from other clubs.

Thanks Jess

I'll be there for the 2 February TT's, are they 10am starts as per last year? Not sure what kind of working order my legs will be in on 26th following the Audax the day before mind you...

Also up for the Halesowen session if that one gets booked.

Ian

Hi Jess,

Sorry I couldn't make it last night to the social - I wanted to pick your brains about the TT calendar as I've set ' as many as possible' as my goal for the year (last year was 'do one competitive hillclimb' and I got the bug from that). I'm aiming to do most or all of the club TTs as well as a bunch of hillclimbs (maybe the national champs at the end of the year too) - probably interested in them more than anything.

I'm interested in the TT track session - especially if it'll help my position.

Cheers,
Dave

I take it the event on the 18th of Feb is just a turn up and pay type affair?

Hi Ian & James - yes AeroCoach TTs are 10am start, and just turn up and pay on the start line. Ian - I'll see if we can have a 'fastest person who has done an audax the day before' prize

Hi David - sorry I missed you, which hill climb did you do last year? 'As many as possible is a fun goal' the club TTs are great, you can cycle to all of them and no pre-entry required. Have you done many TTs before, and if so, what sort of distance do you prefer? I'm going to try to coordinate a couple of Beacon team entries to some further afield fast courses (e.g. the V718 10 mile course in Hull, and the R25/3H 25 mile course in South Wales) if you would be up for that.

For the national hill climb you would likely need to have three good results (top 20% ish) in competitive fields to get in. John Hunt did exactly the same last year - he entered open events for the first time last year with a view to getting good placings in those to get into national hill climb. I can help you with finding suitable open events for you to qualify (there are two in Midlands district - Shelsley Walsh and Dovers Hill). I will put you down for the velodrome session in March as well.

Let me know if you have any more questions

Jess

If you like hilly time trials, the RTTC classic series are non-standard distance TTs (i.e. not the traditional 10 / 25 / 50 mile courses), on hilly / technical courses. Beacon's Little Mountain TT is no. 3 of 6 in the series - I did it last year for the first time and it was fantastic - the Beacon organisers are awesome, and the course was great. It's changing slightly this year (I think the course is still waiting to be signed off but not 100% sure) so that it finishes at the top of Shelsley Walsh hill climb!

The first one in the series is down in Wessex - https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-details/14672

The second one is in Buxton, so not too far away - https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-details/14765

You can enter all of these now on the CTT website via the links above - let me know if you fancy doing any of these and I will add to the calendar to see if we can get more Team Beacon to enter

Im interested in taking part on the 18th Feb. I'm just waiting for my next off duty to be released and I can confirm I can definitely do it ðŸ‘￾

I'm down for the Buxton one!

I'm also considering driving to Wessex...

I think I'll have a go at the Buxton one, lovely way to spend Good Friday!

Ian

Hi Jess

JessRJ wrote:For the national hill climb you would likely need to have three good results (top 20% ish) in competitive fields to get in. John Hunt did exactly the same last year - he entered open events for the first time last year with a view to getting good placings in those to get into national hill climb. I can help you with finding suitable open events for you to qualify (there are two in Midlands district - Shelsley Walsh and Dovers Hill). I will put you down for the velodrome session in March as well.

You read my mind! I'm basically in John's position this year. Last year was my 'first' season having only really gotten into things by around August so the Beacon club champs climb was the only TT I've done to date. However I frequently race myself around Earlswood for an 'hour effort' that I believe is the club 4.5 mile circuit? I'm happy having a crack at anything this year to be honest, haven't really got a feeling for what I prefer yet - just love riding hard (especially uphill)!

Oh and thanks for putting me down for the velodrome session

Dave

Signed up for the Buxton and little mountain runs. Might be up to going down to Bournemouth but could only do it if there was space in a car - trains in that direction are pretty pricey.

Thanks Jess,

Will be up for Hull and Glyn Neath (S Wales) if dates work. Can't make Buxton which is a shame. Best
Simon

Entered the Buxton event and the LMTT and I'm up for the Aero Coach TTs and the Halesowen training .
Only slightly miffed the Vets and Women seem to be limited to the shorter course at Buxton . Clearly a DJ Trump sponserd event . Bet I'm glad on the day though

I'm hoping to make the TT on Feb 18th. However the proposed date for the Halesowen session falls on Mothers Day so might not be able to make this. Is another date a possibility?

Does Saturday 4th March work for you all instead of the 26th March for the Halesowen session?

Adrian has applied to book Halesowen on Saturday 4th March already! Can decide what to do with the time, combined TT and track session? or extend it?

There's too many forms of communication going on between here & Facebook! Ian, Keith, Gavin, David - if you're free on 4th march instead please let me know as we can have the booking that Adrian has done for then (the track squad have booked a few weekends in one booking) otherwise it may still be 26th march as that's another weekend he's reserved...or if neither of those work I'll find another weekend in May

I can make either date for the tt training session, I don't do Facebook anyway so any communication is done on here for me.

Either date works for me Jess, whatever suits the majority.

Ian

The 4th is good for me too

4th is fine by me!

Hi Jess. Anne and I intend to come to the TT training session. 4th is best for us.

I can make the 4th

The 4th it is! 2-3pm for kids session, then 3-5pm for us. Bring the kit that you would race in normally, and if we can aim to get there for 2.30 ish so we are ready to start at 3 that would be great

Count me in for the 4th too... I need some saddle time on the TT bike.

RTTC #2 and #3 (Buxton and LMTT) entered.

The course for the AeroCoach club TT tomorrow (18th Feb) has had to change slightly due to roadworks. It now starts slightly further down the course, and instead of an 'out and back' course, it will be three shorter out and backs, between the mini roundabout and the normal turnaround roundabout.

Link to updated course here, including the change to the start location (sign on / start line is at the cross roads in Harvington). Please check out the parking suggested on the link below - there is no parking in Harvington itself as it is double yellow lines. Roadworks are supposed to be gone by 24th Feb so we should be ok for the following week's TT but I will keep you updated:

https://www.facebook.com/events/6164284 ... 868090198/

ignore me, understand now.

Anne and I will be there a well. Jess.

I love roundabouts.

Can't make tomorrow but hope to be there next week

Well done to everyone who raced in the AeroCoach club TT yesterday - 5 Beacon entries out of 24 riders...the start of Team Beacon 2017 domination !

The overall winners were Ollie Hayward in 23.31 and Victoria Smith in 25.23. Team Beacon times are below:

John Hunt - 24.12
Keith Adcock - 29.40
Dave Hughes (road bike) - 29.49
Anne Hughes - 31.56 - 1st female vet
Dave Cole - 32.54

Well done everyone, especially Anne on her first 10 mile TT There are some great photos of the racers here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139079483 ... 026363933/

The second AeroCoach club TT is next Sunday (26th Feb), at 10am. Everyone welcome - there will be a prize for the fastest man and woman to have done an Audax the day before

We're hoping to be able to use the normal K34/10D course (start at Dunnington), but if there are still roadworks, then we will use the revised course starting at Harvington. For updates on this, please check out the link below on Saturday:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1902937386642662/

Thanks Jess
Great photos- do you have the rest of the results please?

Dave

Hi Dave

Full results here:

https://www.facebook.com/AeroCoach/phot ... =3&theater

Jess

Thanks Jess

Hi Jess,

I want to do some time trailing, but am unsure where the start is. Can you direct me to a place I could find this information please?
Also as I've never done this before can I do it on my road bike, and do I need anything specific to participate?
Thanks
Gemma

Hi Gemma

You would be very welcome indeed no special kit required at all - just turn up at the start with your road bike - a good 40-50% of the entrants last weekend were on road bikes so don't worry at all about kit

The start line should be where the green dot is on this strava map - and if you zoom in you can see the checkerboard finish line in virtually the same place. Zoom in along the course and you will see that you go straight down the road, over a mini roundabout (2nd exit), then down to the turnaround roundabout (go all the way around this roundabout & back the way you came, all the way to the start / finish).

https://www.strava.com/segments/4549609?filter=overall

This weekend just gone we had to alter the course slightly, as there were roadworks / temporary traffic lights, so we started slightly further along the course (on the map, where the course bisects the cross roads of Leys Rd / Village street in Harvington), and did 3 laps between the mini roundabout / main roundabout. Just check on here on Saturday and I will confirm which one it will be.

Hopefully see you there

Brilliant I know exactly where that road is.
More than likely see you there.

I'll see if I can make it on Sunday - have no idea whether I'll be on Oxford or not yet (a running theme on weekends)

Dave

Hi all,
Do people bike over to the time trail or drive over there?
Thanks
Gemma

Hi all

Roadworks are gone so the TT tomorrow will be on the standard K34/10D course - see the green dot for the start line (and sign on location) on the strava link above. Straight out & back course, finishing back at the start.

Gemma - it varies really, some people cycle out, some drive - if you cycle you'll be nicely warmed up, but if you decide to drive you can just go up & down the road for 20mins before you set off. I'm driving because I need to bring the excellent selection of prizes

Hopefully see a good few of you tomorrow - audaxes today are no excuse - there will be a spot prize for the fastest man and woman to have done an audax today!

Thanks to Xav, Jess, Richard and everyone else involved in today's TT, great event, much appreciated.

After 2 years of collating detailed scientific performance data from riding the Snowdrop Audax 24hrs in advance of this time trial I am able to conclude the following:

- it's a very windy time of year
- my legs hurt
- I'm looking forward to next year already

Well done to everyone who raced at the AeroCoach club TT on Sunday! That headwind out was tough...particular well done to Gemma on your first TT you were absolutely drilling it to the finish line, it was brilliant!

Sorry for the delay getting times posted - I will post them as soon as we've typed them up

There are some photos of all riders from the TT on the AeroCoach facebook page here - two albums worth!

https://www.facebook.com/AeroCoach/

Just a reminder for everyone coming to the TT session today - bring full race kit, as if you were doing a TT this afternoon, and anything else if you want advice on stuff. Please also bring any tools you need for bike adjustments (allen keys etc). If you can be there for 2.30 so we're ready to start at 3, that would be good. Also bring warm clothes for in between time on track.

See you there!

Looked like you were doing some really useful stuff Jess. Joseph says "Dave is the most aero"

Joseph has a good eye, Dave's position is great!

Quick note to say a huge thanks to Jess and Xav for a great session this afternoon, it was brilliant insight and advice. And as for the kit... well, those wheels are a work of art!

Pm'd you Ian.