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Open road race or training in TT advice
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Seeking advice training in TT open road, or racing open routes, with wind.

I’m perfectly fine when I can “own it” in a lane due to closed course or just being somewhere you really can.

Out in the country speed limits are quick enough the approach speed to a rider doing 25 is still going to be around 35 if they’re speeding 60 in 55.

Is a Varia good enough you can better own your lane riding TT then scoot over a touch wo th plenty time? Or is the alert only like 2 or 3 seconds before?

In mock TT practice I lose a lot of power coasting or stutter stepping the pedals when a wind hits and I’m not “owning the lane” fully as I’m worried going into weeds or cars. Especially wearing the race helmet over the ears and can’t hear cars.

I’m down with buying a Varia or other advice. I do ride the thing outdoors in anger with frequency.
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Re: Open road race or training in TT advice [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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burnthesheep wrote:
Is a Varia good enough you can better own your lane riding TT then scoot over a touch wo th plenty time? Or is the alert only like 2 or 3 seconds before?
The Varia alert is a long way away, like at least 1/4 mile or around 15-20 seconds for a fast car.
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Re: Open road race or training in TT advice [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii wrote:
burnthesheep wrote:
Is a Varia good enough you can better own your lane riding TT then scoot over a touch wo th plenty time? Or is the alert only like 2 or 3 seconds before?
The Varia alert is a long way away, like at least 1/4 mile or around 15-20 seconds for a fast car.

Sold! Next purchase.
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Re: Open road race or training in TT advice [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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+1 the Varia is awesome and provides alerts of approaching vehicles that are way back. I love mine.
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Re: Open road race or training in TT advice [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Alert distance for the Varia is 150 meters as per specs.

60 mph car and 25 mph cyclist is a closing speed of 35 mph or 15 meters/second. So about 10 seconds notice.
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Re: Open road race or training in TT advice [mcalista] [ In reply to ]
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I read it also does better on flatter roads. Which is exactly the ones in question.

Other item of note I discovered I installed my new pads too close using the wrong hole. This made the thing harder to control also.

But still buying the Varia. Especially since Wahoo has an update to support it now!
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Re: Open road race or training in TT advice [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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Well, it's line of sight, so flatter and straighter roads will maximize detection distance.

But I actually find the Varia most valuable when descending at speed, as the wind noise makes it impossible to hear cars, I don't want to take my eyes off the road ahead for unnecessary head checks, and I am using the whole lane to take the racing line.
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Re: Open road race or training in TT advice [mcalista] [ In reply to ]
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So I've been thinking about buying one. Read a lot online, but never saw one in person. This past weekend, as I was driving home, saw a cyclist in front of me in the distance. Solid red light on the back of the bike. As I approached it was cool to see it start flashing. Then as I got closer it flashed even more. Really got my attention. Obviously I knew it was a varia. But really cool to see it working in person from a driver's point of view. This was in daylight and it was still very bright and noticable.
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