Time Trial Races

Most races are run over a fixed distance, the most common being 10, 25, 50 and 100 miles or 12 and 24 hours. Other distances are used but these are less common. Each competitor rides alone and unpaced by other competitors or vehicles and start at 1 minuet intervals. Most courses are "out and back" courses meaning that each part of the course is covered in both directions. Rides on circuit courses, where the course is covered in one direction only, can not count towards CTT competition records or Best All Rounder Competitions. All approved event courses are assigned a course code such as O10/1, which is Doncaster Wheeler's local evening 10 mile course. A course code and a brief description of the route is given in the CTT Handbook. A full route description is provided on an event start sheet.

The Bicycle

First and foremost the bike must be road worthy and the brake levers must be easily reached in the case of an emergency. It is not necessary to have a flashy, super light, mega expensive bike to compete on. You'd be surprised the difference having your tyres pumped up nice and hard can make! Also, you should not underestimate the benefit of an unworn chain in transferring the power from your legs to the back wheel. If you can't afford a flashy bike don't be put off, at the end of the day its the rider that makes the thing go fast and not the bike itself!

If you are lucky enough to be able to afford a decent bike then the main thing to consider is that streamlining devices are not permitted. Clamp on tri-bars are acceptable as are disc wheels, but only for the rear wheel. Many riders upgrade their bikes bit by bit which is a good way to keep things affordable. If your thinking of doing this once you just can't get that old bike to go any faster then the one most important part that you should not scrimp on (in performance terms) is the wheels. You can save money elsewhere such as on the component group (all the bits that are parts of the bike), particularly if you only intend riding 10's and 25's with the odd 50 as you don't need the durability and the little extra weight, and we are talking grams, won't cause any problems. Of course if you have the money there's no reason not to get the best kit but the point is, it need not cost you an arm and a leg to get a very competitive machine.