Bonkers time triallists

[ChrisF]

Have just had a trip (in the car) down to Tamworth from New Mills, visiting family. On the way back we were on the A50 for a bit and there was a time trial event on.
The A50 (on this stretch at least) is a really busy dual carriageway, loads of artics as well as cars, all doing 60-70, the lanes are not very wide. The bikes were often pretty much in the middle of the lane. Lots of the traffic was passing really close.
It looked awful, there’s no way that I’d ride on that road in that traffic and I’m no snowflake when it comes to riding in traffic - I cycle commute into work on busy roads most days.
I just checked the event out - it’s a 100 mile TT, basically following that road 50 miles out and back!
We’re all cyclists, but those guys are just bonkers.

[jam bo]

Wait till you see the times they post.

[Thisisnotaspoon]

Yup I agree.

I posted a similar oppinion STW after driving upto teesside and seeing them on the a19 (which is much the same as the a50, a motorway in all but name) in thick fog!

I was informed that i should wind my neck in and they had every right to be there.

During my 18 months there there were two accidents tt'ing on that road, one fatal and the other paralyzed. I just tried to fact check that incase my memory is hazy and it turns out there have been another two serious/fatal accidents in 2015 and 2018!

Incomprehensible.

[99percentchimp]

They do one or two of the local ones on the A55 dual carriageway.... trucks on their way to Eire and loads of tourists not concentrating....... I can’t for the life of me understand what possesses anyone to do these types of rides.... surely not worth a fast time???
Each to their own ;-)

[redefined_cycles]

They do one or two of the local ones on the A55 dual carriageway.... trucks on their way to Eire and loads of tourists not concentrating....... I can’t for the life of me understand what possesses anyone to do these types of rides.... surely not worth a fast time???
Each to their own ;-)

Agreed... Thats why we're here I guess as I reckon we hold more common sense whilst those that must go (that) fast can't understand why we do what we do and find them totally lunatic (and IMO, sorry, pathetic)...

Used to have many a run in with a mate that would do speeds like that and didn't eben think a helmet was that important. Every few months he'd have an accident and eventually I stopped bothering him.

Theres that saying isn't there... that some people only find it fun when "I almost died, but didn't die"... Adrenaline and addiction: a funny thing indeed

[Pirahna]

Apparently the vehicles speeding past suck you along a bit, so faster times on a dual carriageway.

[whitestone]

Apparently the vehicles speeding past suck you along a bit, so faster times on a dual carriageway.

There's both a push and pull effect which is why support cars on the time trials in pro races (TdF, Giro, Vuelta, etc) have to stay a certain distance behind the rider.

I've marshalled on a local time trial, not on a dual carriageway, and the standard of both the driving and riding that I've witnessed leaves much to be desired

[99percentchimp]

Apparently the vehicles speeding past suck you along a bit, so faster times on a dual carriageway.

I understand that as well from conversations with locals who do this but it seems anachronistic when there are current complaints about camera bikes and drafting in the Grand Tours... surely a TT is about power output (= basic speed) for everyone rather than assisted/drafting rides.... I definitely don’t understand ;-)

[Moder-dye]

Yeah, they often get as close to the line as possible for most drafting from passing vehicles. Each pass is worth a few seconds (can't remember exactly how much). A guy had his record time disqualified not so long ago if i remember right for being right on the right hand edge of the inside lane rather than in the middle of it.

Not my idea of fun either.

[Jurassic]

I used to time trial in a previous life, I was pretty much obsessed with it for a few years. I had all the gear, low profile bike with
HED carbon disc rear wheel and deep section front (Zipp 440), skinsuit and even a weird pointy helmet! Looking back now it feels like I went temporarily insane for a few years (it was also the fittest I've ever been). I used to love the fact that I was basically racing myself, trying to beat my pb for various distances (25 was my fave) and it was strangely addictive. Thankfully I came out the other end and got back into mountain biking again (I only started riding on the road in the first place to train for mountain bike racing but then got hooked and became a full on roady for a few years).
I'm glad that I did it but have no temptation at all to do it again.

[In Reverse]

The risk is probably similar to mountain biking isn't it? I can think of a couple of deaths of blokes who were just pootling about.

[ScotRoutes]

Thankfully, no one has ever died or been seriously injured while mountain biking.

The risk is probably similar to mountain biking isn't it? I can think of a couple of deaths of blokes who were just pootling about.

Ah - we typed our responses at the same time.

[Dave Barter]

I find it hard when there’s a section of road that cyclists are allowed to ride and we say “they shouldn’t be there”. I understand the reasons but it still hurts. Sorry redefined_cycles but that’s not why I am here.

[redefined_cycles]

I find it hard when there’s a section of road that cyclists are allowed to ride and we say “they shouldn’t be there”. I understand the reasons but it still hurts. Sorry redefined_cycles but that’s not why I am here.

Yeah... fair point Dave and each to their own... I retract (that bit):-bd

[Bearbonesnorm]

We're all going to die somewhere, whether it's a hospital bed or the side of the A5 matters little.

[RIP]

Well that's put a bit of a damper on the evening.

[pistonbroke]

I too am a time trial survivor and rode a few of the courses talked about above, mainly in Yorkshire, A19 A1 before it was banned, and the fastest 10m course running into Hull. This course was run on certain evenings when the tide was in and there was an offshore wind, basically you got a tailwind to the turn and benefitted from drafting the lorries coming from the docks on the way back. Organisers were required to do a traffic count and events were cancelled if it was too busy.
There was a mythical story of the Barnsley legend Wayne Randall riding head down straight into the back window of a caravan that had slowed due to a queue, he picked himself up inside the van, walked out of the door, got back on his bike and finished the race.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'm nowt if not pragmatic Reg

The Vikings believed that from the moment of your birth, your death was already mapped out and nothing you did could alter when it would be ... probably makes it easier to cope when you've got a dangerous occupation like those lads had

[techno]

There was a mythical story of the Barnsley legend Wayne Randall riding head down straight into the back window of a caravan that had slowed due to a queue, he picked himself up inside the van, walked out of the door, got back on his bike and finished the race.

There's also the true story of the guy who died in the exact same way on the A63: "Christopher Auker, 65, died on the A63 following a collision with a stationary caravan while competing in a time trial"
I rode a TT once, on the A63 & never bothered again.

[RIP]

"nothing you did could alter when it would be" - a fatalistic crowd them Vikings! Sigh, I now can't get the last sketch from Monty P's Meaning Of Life out of my head: "It’s one of the little men from the village…"

[ChrisF]

I wasn’t making any points about they should/shouldn’t be there etc, it was more a visceral reaction to seeing them and thinking ‘f**k, that looks dangerous...’
It was clear that some of the riders were venturing as far out into the lane as they dared to get the best ‘push’ and ‘suck’ so to speak.
100 miles of that with traffic howling past your ears doesn’t sound like much fun to me. Though they might see the same madness in a long day of grinding through boggy sludge and rocky tracks in the pissing rain followed by sleeping in ditch.

[ScotRoutes]

they might see the same madness in a long day of grinding through boggy sludge and rocky tracks in the pissing rain followed by sleeping in ditch.

Since you put it like that....

[redefined_cycles]

they might see the same madness in a long day of grinding through boggy sludge and rocky tracks in the pissing rain followed by sleeping in ditch.

Since you put it like that....

I was just thinking the same thing on my drive back home... bet they think we're/you're more bonkers...

[Lazarus]

no one has ever died or been seriously injured while mountain biking.

False equivalency as we dont get run over by vehicles off road and every single MTB crash has been my fault - just not the same as the risks are totally different- though the outcome may be the same.

[middleagedmadness]

I'm nowt if not pragmatic Reg

The Vikings believed that from the moment of your birth, your death was already mapped out and nothing you did could alter when it would be ... probably makes it easier to cope when you've got a dangerous occupation like those lads had

This is true ,always believed that we are given a number and when that gets pulled out the hat your gone ,no point worrying about it or trying to avoid it ,best to accept it and crack on with whatever makes you happy ,my nan always used to say your body is just a vessel that's not meant to go through the pearly gates in prestine condition ,so enjoy yourself while your able ,because one day it'll all stop
And remember all those aches and pains ,damaged limbs and broken bones are a sign of a life well lived