In 2023 I decided to try my hand at time trialling. Now that the last race of the season has passed, it’s time to sit back and reflect. It’s been quite eventful, with some ups, some downs, some smiles, some frowns. Here’s how it went.
1. Trial by wind
Bierbaum – the first race of the local ZeitfahrCup Speed series. This is a short 16km time trial on a flat course north of Tulln: a long straight with a dogleg right after 10km, which then turns right again on itself for a 2km sprint finish.
Since it’s not an out and back course, racing is very wind dependent. It was July, and that Saturday morning there was a strong headwind along the first straight which promised to make the race a challenge. Aerodynamics and power would be key.
Standing at the start line with 15 minutes to go, I discovered with a surprise that my GPS course didn’t load properly on my new Garmin computer. After poking at it helplessly for a few minutes, I asked a friend who also runs a Garmin for any tips, but no luck. I knew the way, but having the GPS course is useful to ping up distance and turn cues. Since then I’ve worked out how to make sure courses don’t disappear – know your equipment, a good pro tip.
This was my first proper race on the Canyon Speedmax, and it didn’t disappoint. The bike felt comfortable, stable and fast, and my new aero speedsuit and helmet also felt good. My pace was good over the first few kilometres, however I was taken by surprise when two racers clad in black outfits overtook me with about a 4-5km/h speed difference. They looked professional, heads down, backs horizontal, and even wearing long socks, the ultimate sign of a serious time triallist.
I was happy with my race, with a time of 23m 25s 36ms, making an average speed of 41.75 km/h. I placed overall 30/89, but in my age category (U40M), I placed a sobering 12/15. Nevertheless I was happy with my result as my first race. I learnt a lot and set my benchmark performance for the distance. Hopefully I could only get faster.
2. Trial by water
Salzburgring – a 4km long motor racing circuit about 10km east of Salzburg. Normally it’s the home for many car and motorbike races, but on this one Sunday in early August there wouldn’t be the roar of motors, but the quiet ticking of chains and the whooshing of disc wheels.
The 3 hour drive to Salzburg the day before involved constant, heavy rain. Sunday’s weather forecast didn’t appear any more promising however. Still, as a Scot my tolerance of rain is higher than most, so I thought I would have an advantage. In any case, I was certain some starters would stay at home.
After a nice dinner with some friends at their hotel on Saturday evening, went back to my hotel room to prepare my kit and bike, and slept well. When I got up early on Sunday morning to warm up, it was thankfully dry but cold, and water was still lying on the racetrack when I arrived.
The roadbike category was underway, but just before the TT bike category was to start, the heavens opened. I had no time to scout the track, but my friends gave me tips the night before. Sheltering under an umbrella, I almost missed my start slot, and I arrived at the starters block with 15 seconds to go. My start was good though, and my bike felt stable on the wet track. I enjoyed the coolness of the rain, and powered my bike along the circuit, looking to find my pace and avoid any accidents.
The race was three laps which meant that there were multiple racers on the track at the same time, each riding their own race. Wearing a TT helmet with your head down, you’re severely limited on your spatial awareness. Positioning was key, and I had a scare when two riders almost hit each other just 10m ahead of me.
A good friend paid me a surprise visit with a sign cheering me on, so I’m sure that added a few watts. Over the 12km circuit, I had a time of 18m 10s 20ms, making an average speed of 41.92 km/h. Again, I was happy with this time, but considering the fastest TT time was 15m 10s 51ms (average 50.25 km/h), I clearly have room to improve. In my age group (U40M) I placed 16/21, and overall 41/67.
A few days later, I received the event photos and it was plain to see one reason why. My average power was not far off that of the winners, which suggests that I could improve my time significantly by keeping down my head and improving my position.
Credit: Sportshot
3. Trial by potholes
Seibersdorf – race two of the ZeitfahrCup series, this time a 22km course on public roads in Burgenland, south-east of Vienna. I arrived early in the morning, picked up my number, set up my kit and went for a test ride. I wanted to take this race seriously to see how I could improve over my last two results. My preparation and nutrition was on point, and I enjoyed the test run.
The course is a triangle and it was a windy day with a tailwind on the first leg, sidewind on the second, and a headwind on the third leg. The start/finish line is the midpoint of the first leg, so the last 5km promised to be fast. I made careful note of the road conditions and planned my road positioning, thinking about where I could ride on the aero bars, and where I would have to be on the base bars.
A good friend and his family came to watch me race, which again was a good morale booster. It was nice chatting with them and the other racers, whilst enjoying the August morning sunshine.
Since Salzburg, I had slightly adjusted my position on the bike and tried to bring my head down. The start went well and I focussed on pacing, so that I would have enough energy to push through the back half. I kept my head down, rolling my shoulders inward to reduce frontal area. I kept peeking up to make sure I had the road in sight. Whilst subjective, I felt faster and was looking forward to a good time.
The wind had become more blustery since the morning ride though, and I had to pay attention to positioning in the road. Halfway around the course the route took us through the little town of Reisenberg, which meant there was a number of side roads and the risk of traffic to look out for.
Whilst I had my head down, I felt a gust of wind from my left side and looking up, I saw with horror that I was heading right and toward the grass verge. Worse still, there was a pothole in front of me. Arms in the aero bars and conscious this could end very badly, I steered slightly to the left to avoid setting the bike off balance and crash. I realised I couldn’t steer in time and that I would hit the hole.
The thunk was sickening, and a fraction of a second later the front wheel dropped down then bucked up into the air. The bike and I were thrown across my lane and onto the opposite side of the road. Now back in control, I swerved back as soon as possible to safety – thankfully there were no cars around me. The chain had bounced off but I could replace it whilst riding. Later I realised the impact sent my bottle flying across the road.
I slowed down to check myself and the bike – I seemed to have made it out surprisingly well. Perhaps I could still finish? I stayed on the base bars, and kept riding carefully testing out different parts of the bike. After a few hundred metres I felt my back tyre getting soft – I had a puncture. I had no replacement tube, nor a pump with me. The race was over after 11km. This was immensely frustrating as from my ride data my pace on the first half was good with 44.3 km/h average.
My lesson learned was that the aero positioning improvements seemed to work but I needed to learn how to ride low in the aero bars but keeping an eye on the road and more actively positioning myself on the road. After the race, I discovered that the impact had another victim – the carbon steerer tube in my fork had been crushed, I could no longer ride on it. This could be the end of my season on the Speedmax.
A few days later I had a bittersweet moment, when my participation on the individual time trial category at the King of the Lake (KOTL) in September was confirmed – a very rare opportunity. I just needed a new fork in time.
Damaged steered tube. Unless I could find a replacement fork, I couldn’t ride.
4. Trial by pain
Seibersdorf – this time twice around the 22km loop, advertised as the perfect training for the upcoming 47km KOTL TT. A lot of riders were out in force on the beautiful September morning, including several 4 man teams. Over the last three weeks, I have unsuccessfully asked Canyon for an urgent replacement for my fork. Since I wanted to ride ITT on my time trial bike, I wondered if I could adapt my normal CAAD13 road bike to use aero bars, which would require changing a few things including by saddle position. After all, a significant contributor to speed on ITT is the body position rather than the bike.
I tested the adapted CAAD13 several times before the race, and it performed surprisingly well. On the day of the race, the first 22km lap went well, however about 30km in, I noticed that my left hip started to ache. This slowly developed and at about 35km, the pain became unbearable. This was the risk of adapting a road bike into a TT position – maybe it was because I had done this by feel and not used a bike fitter, maybe it was the longer crank lengths. Maybe both.
I still had two weeks until KOTL, so my priority was to protect my hip. I slowed down completely and spent the next 7km soft pedalling in agony and trying to get myself back to the finish line (after all, that’s where I parked my car). After the race I could no longer walk properly, and had to rest for half an hour to get back mobility in my leg. My time was 1h 11m 30ms, with an average speed of 37.34 km/h. The fastest was 55m 35ms with an average speed of 50.25 km/h.
5. The crowning event
King of the Lake – 47.2km around the Attersee lake in Upper Austria. I still could not get a replacement fork from Canyon, and I could not ride the distance with my adapted CAAD13. The organisers kindly allowed me to change my registration from TT bike to road bike, and I used the last two weeks to improve my position – I could no longer rely on the aero bars to get a low body shape. My training was made much more difficult because I still had to protect my hip and let it recover.
I focused on a proper taper in the days before the race, and put an emphasis on proper nutrition, carb loading and taking on board sufficient electrolytes. Mrs MT joined me on the day, and was a huge morale boost, especially as she followed my live progress on my Garmin.
The race had a sketchy start. On the starters ramp, a helper would hold the saddle post of the rider, enabling them to clip in with both feet before they started. I am fairly tall and weigh about 95kg. My helper was not the tallest person and clearly struggled to support me. As the 30 seconds ticked down before my start time, I had to focus on mentally and physically preparing for the start, and at the same time feel myself slowly lean over to the right as the helper struggled to hold me upright.
I jammed on the brakes, twisted the front wheel to the side, and tried to track-stand just to stop myself falling over. Finally the clock hit zero and I was cleared to go. I thankfully made it off the ramp, and powered up the first slope through the crowd, picking up a few calls of my name.
The day had a strong northerly wind, which meant that the outbound leg had tailwind and the inbound leg headwind. This made a negative split strategy a little difficult, however I gave it my best. Whilst riding, I was pleased with my progress, and I was overtaken only by several TT riders, and only one road bike. I tried to keep my head and upper body as low as possible, however from the photos it appears that this was way off the mark. It really is tough to hold the position for 1 hour.
Thankfully there were no problems and I loved the fast ride along the banks of the lake, flying through villages. Since riding in a 4 man team in 2021, I noticed my fitness and power had improved massively and I enjoyed pushing myself through discomfort and regulating my pace. The highlight came at the famous Buchberg climb, with a short ramp of 17%. A few hundred Just before this a rider overtook me, however I attached the climb hitting 1000W (popping an unintended wheelie), reeling him in and then crying out with pride as I passed through a small cheering crowd. Damn I love this race.
The final highlight was the last corner, which I took wide and fast, and sprinted the last 200m, hitting 53 km/h and 900W. It was particularly special that Mrs MT was standing at the line and finally saw me in top form in a race.
My time was 1h 13m 54s 98ms, with an average speed of 38.3 km/h. My total position was 353/571, but this included both TT and road bikes. In my age group for road bikes, I made 43/80, 0.27 km/h faster than the mean. The best overall amateur time was Daniel Szalay with 57m 45s 88ms (49.0km/h), with a brutal 366W average.
Credit: Sportograf
Lessons learned
It wasn’t a particularly successful first season in terms of results. Nevertheless, I enjoyed TT racing and the close knit group of fellow riders. There are a handful of riders with common interests and goals, and whilst we are effectively competing against each other, it is nice to see the regulars and chat before and after a race.
I think I have the power profile for a good TT racer, but after seeing my results and the photos during the events, it is clear there is a significant potential for optimising my position on the bike. This winter I’m planning to work on core strength and flexibility, and I’ll go for another bike fitting in spring. Hopefully this will bring down my torso, cutting massively on aerodynamic resistance.
In short – there is always something to learn and improve. What a good first season.
MuddyTweed.com 
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