KingstonWheelers.com

[cathyclifford]

Yes it's the start of the TT season and the first oppurtunity to prevent Messrs Irwin, Storms & Ember from clearing up all the TT silverware!

The Redhill CC Sporting 18 is on 19th February, starting at 09.00 and is the KW Circuit TT championship and a counting event in the year long club TT series. A sporting TT is one run on a more lumpy challenging course and is the perfect oppurtunity for those who have been circuit racing over the winter to try a proper race.

Readers of my posts last year will recognise a lot /all of the following

As many of you may know Kingston Wheelers have a special season-long time trial competition based around a series of designated TT events in addition to the evening club 10 series. Points are awarded, from 10 down to 1, for the first 10 riders in each event. Your best six rides will count for the trophy so you don't have to ride every event. But participation often counts more than speed to rack up points. Remember, the aim of the series is to have fun and to pick events for us all to ride together, this is firstly a way for members to have a common calendar of races, it's not just about collecting the trophy at the end of the year. More details regarding the series (although not much more as I copied the above from there ) can be found here http://www.kingstonwheelers.co.uk/timetrialing.shtml

The first event in the series will shortly be upon us and this will be the Redhill CC (Sporting) 18 on 19th February. Once again this will be the only circuit time trial in the series as the East Surrey Hardriders clashes with the clubs Surrey League promotion.

The course for the Redhill 18 is the poeticaly named GS478 which can be found here;

http://www.egcc.net/display-course.asp?intVenueID=97

There is still an air of mystery hanging over time trials (best explained in Micheal Hutchinsons book The Hour) with code names for courses and early starts but in reality they are easy to enter, freindly events, you don't need expensive kit and wheels to race and they can be strangely addcitive

How to enter a time trial is explained here;

http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/Beginners/EnteringTimeTrials/tabid/635/Default.aspx

If you are a meber of KW for RTTC events such as this you do not need a licence or any strange invasive medicals, enter by completing an entry form, which can be down loaded from the above RTTC here;

http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=ZUC5g1nF7lM%3d&tabid=77&mid=653

and send it with a cheque for £8 payable to Redhill CC to G. Clifton 17 Howard Place, Reigate Hill,Reigate, Surrey, RH2 9NP. Entries for this event need to be in before 7th Febuary.


Once you enter you receive a start sheet, either by post or e mail giving you details of the race HQ, course, your start time and other riders. On the day turn up at the HQ - usually a village hall of some sort, sign on and pick up your race number.This is very informal, sometimes there is just the signing on sheet and a pile of numbers on an unmanned table . Pin the number to your top, go and warm up and then go to the start a few minutes before your start time and then it's down to you. On most Open TT's (that is open to all club members rather than the more casual Club 10's) the courses are either well signposted or marshalled at junctions, it is usually very difficult to get lost on an open 10. After the race back to the HQ hand in number,eat cake - usualy very good quality home made stuff, look at results and your time. Later on you'll get a formal results sheet and then you'll be hooked and buying powermeters, tt bikes and disc wheels, etc, etc (strangely enough this paragraph appear word for word on the Redhill CC website on how to enter TT's)

As I have tried to stress the series is a fun way of generating a bit of competition in the club. The events are spreadout over the course of the year and consist of 10 mile, 25 mile, 50 mile and this sporting 18 tt's. This event is a nice way of trying time trials and starting the season.


Cathy

[Steve Irwin]

[Andy Leatherbarrow]

I've not been able to make this one two years in a row so quite keen. Much of an advantage on a TT bike for this one? i'm planning to do the 14 on a road bike but East Surrey HR on the TT - assuming this one is somewhere in between?

[Steve Irwin]

[ianb]

Pretty small field last year - just 37 starters....
Was the weather bad or something??
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Cheers

Ian

[Phil Ember]

I'm sure Steve is right that the club 14 course will be quicker on a TT bike, but how much quicker will depend on how comfortable you are being in the aero position over some truly awful road surfaces plus down a fast and quite twisting descending bit. In my case, not very comfortable so I felt like I was not taking as much benefit as I could have from being on a TT bike. Might as well have been on a road bike for much of it.

The Redhill course is much more TT bike friendly - there's even a short section of dual carriageway to make us feel at home!

Ian - weather last year wasn't particularly cold but it was windy and damp.

[Andy Leatherbarrow]

Sad I know, but I've missed dual carriageways!

[Spraggy]

Annoyingly, my half term ski trip means I can't make this or the club 14

[Andy Hudson]

I did this last year and thought it was a great course - much more interesting than the usual out-and-back DC. Agree with Phil and Steve that it would still be significantly faster on a TT bike (I've never seen a TT in this country, hill climbs excluded of course, which wouldn't have been quicker on a TT bike.)

Can't make it this year unfortunately

[Steve Irwin]

[Andy Leatherbarrow]

Handbooks are sent out this week - the ultimate coffee table book.

[Andy L]

Have not ridden this one for a few years now, but the course is the same and would definitely agree that it's pretty TT bike friendly for a sporting course.

2nd half especially you can get up some significant speed, prior to the A24 (where you ride the last 2.5 miles of our club 10 course), there is the dead straight A29. Single carriageway and road surface a bit patchy, but if you get your head down and are lucky with traffic, significant time can be made up here.

This one does start with a nasty climb on the A25 though, where you'll be wishing you'd left the deep sections at home...

[Danny Clifford]

[Keith G]

I rode this last year and found it harder than the hardriders. I did all 3 early TT's on standard road bike, and the only one i would use TT bike for is the Hardriders. I thought there were a lot of draggy uphill bits on the Redhill (or maybe it was me being crap)
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keep out of the black and in the red, you get nothing in this game for 2 in a bed.

[ianb]