whats a good time in a 16mile time trial?

Good time is very relative based on course, current fitness, wind, temperature, etc.. How about not worrying about what a "good time" is and just go do the race and have a good time? After the first race you'll have an idea of what you can do and you can begin to strive to make the next one faster. Even better if you get to race on the same course later so you can see how much you improved over the previous time.

i agree with the go out and have a good time. im sure there will be a big improvement from my fisrt year to the second. thanks for the reply!



the only problem, this is the first year the time trial has happend. thanks for the reply!

Edited by stdjsw311 2008-09-30 4:18 PM

To be a bit more specific, try to compare the course to a similar profile course that you have raced in a tri. For a similar profile course, since you don't have to run afterwards, you should be able to put up slightly faster numbers than a standard tri. How much faster is hard to judge.

Do you have any chance to check out the course before the race? This can always help you know what to expect and help with pacing strategies if possible.

A few other tips:
-be sure and get a good warmup in before the race
-don't go out too hard that you blow up in the first 8 miles
-for an out and back, it is faster, overall, to go harder into the wind and slightly less with the wind (if it's a windy day)
-similarly, it is faster to go harder uphill and slightly less downhill if there is lots of climbing
-be sure and stay in your aero bars the whole time if possible

When is this race coming up?

As the other's have said (and as you recognize), this will be dependent on terrain, weather, and a whole host of other factors.

Just by way of giving you something to draw very rough comparisons with, here are two times from the 16-mile time trial at the Fort Davis Hammerfest this past April. The first time is my 6th place finish in the TT in the Cat 5 race. The second time is the fastest time in the Pro-1-2-3 TT race:

My time: 00:41:22.62
P123 time: 00:34:14.09

That's more than a 7-minute difference over the same "relatively flat" 16-mile course. While I think my time is pretty good for a Cat 5 (it was good enough for 6th place and 2nd place in Cat 5 was only about 2 minutes faster), it's clearly not a good time if you compare it to the winner of the P123 race.

If you're a beginner at TT racing, don't worry too much about your time. Worry about making sure you pace yourself correctly. If you go too easy, you'll be pissed when you cross the line with something left in the tank. If you go too hard, you'll blow up and drop off before you cross the line.

Just go do your best and have fun.

Whatever you best effort will produce, and then after that, whatever it takes to beat your last time.

thanks for the good advise! the TT is nov 1st i did the course on the route maker in the training log and it says it 695ft of elevation changes. i have drove the road quite a few times but normally with all of the drunk idiots i have not dared it on the bike! lol

oh an i do have a course that is alot like it near me, but i am having problems finishing it in time that i can get back to my house shower and get to work on time.