I just got home from my TT using my “slowtwitched” position. After making the modifications to my position, the only riding in the position was up and down the street in front of the house. The course was a 12.2 mile out and back, slightly downhill/rolling with a slight tailwind out and slightly uphill/rolling with a headwind coming back.
All I can say is wow!, night and day over my old position. I felt I had great power and could really feel my gluteals working, before I never was able to generate the same power time trialling that I could climbing.
My time for the 12.2 miles was 27:20 or 26.7mph average, with an average HR of 175 and max of 182. This was good enough for 2nd in Masters 35+ (10 seconds behind first).
Thanks to Smart Ass Coach, Cervelo Guy and all the others who helped me with my position changes!
KR
i was out there as well–didn’t see you. finished in 28:30 which i was pretty happy with for my first time in a “pure” tt. think i was 4th in the cat 4-5 guys. hr was 164. at 28 i know my max hr is in the 190’s. should i have been pushing harder? (it’s possible that i don’t have the leg power to sustain an average hr in the 170’s though). also, seeing as i am not a roadie, would you have considered that course “flat” as the race director said? sure seemed like a bit of an uphill grind coming back…
i was out there as well–didn’t see you though. finished in 28:30 which i was pretty happy with for my first time in a “pure” tt. think i was 4th in the cat 4-5 guys. hr was 164. at 28 i know my max hr is in the 190’s. should i have been pushing harder? (it’s possible that i don’t have the leg power though to sustain and average hr in the 170’s though). also, seeing as i am not a roadie, would you have considered that course “flat” as the race director said? sure seemed like a bit of an uphill grind coming back…
hey mad, not sure if it was intentional or i am not seeing it, but there’s just a repeat of my post as your reply…
Hey Mum, the Forum ate my post!
What I meant to say is that given you also run your cycling max HR is likely much lower than the 190’s as it is usually lower by 10 beats or so for cycling, unless you are an elite cyclist. The 220-age is just a ballpark figure, I have seen max heart rates over 200 and as low as 160 for people in their 30’s.
I thought the course definitely had an uphill grind coming back, speed differences were over 7mph for me, but I think it depends on your definition of flat. I am a climber, so I consider a real climb to be anything over a 5% grade.
KR
i have heard that cycling hr’s tend to be lower than running. but i should, given sufficient fitness, be able to get an average in the 170’s. out of curiosity, do you recall about what hr you were at for the first half? i was in the 150’s. i am thinking that might have been a touch low, although i wanted something left knowing i was coming back uphill and into the wind.
also, i never would consider that back half of the course a “climb”, but in my opinion, there are different criteria for “flat” when you are tt’ing vs. a regular ride.
I was about 171 or so going out, then after the turnaround it slowly came up to 175 and then to 179 for the last couple of miles.
I agree, it certainly wasnt what you might consider “flat”, but then it also definitely wasnt 10 miles total like the race flyer said. I remember a race T-shirt for a running race that said “only one hill”, of course I think it was a hill climb on Mt Washington.
KR
Congrats on the good result. I’m guessing that with further tweaking of the position here at the Carnaxide National Wind Tunnel, you could have gained those 10secs and won your AG! 