Time trialling around Loughborough is excellent, with many local mid-week club 10’s running from as early as the beginning of April, and a good number of sporting Open TT’s of various distances. Time trialling is a great way to compete without having the pressure of feeling you have to “keep-up” with the rest of the bunch, so is a fantastic way to make the transition from club riding to competing.

Starting Out

For those that are new to the sport, a time trial is normally an individual race against the clock over a set distance. Riders are given a start time, usually set off at 1 minute intervals, and race around the course at their own pace with the aim of going as fast as possible. A time is then recorded once you cross the finish line, which is then your goal to beat every time you do a similar event. That’s part of the fun! The distances for events can range from standard to non-standard distances; standard being 10 miles, 25, 50, 100, 12 & 24hours (the last few reserved only for the insane!!) and non-standard being any other then those mentioned (9.2miles for instance).

The cost for these events ranges from £1-£2 for local club events, to £7-£8 for most Open events. Open time trials are more competitive events likely to attract riders from all over the region, and are run at weekends. However, they are not for the select few, anyone can ride them as long as there are enough spaces available, so no one should be deterred from riding these fantastic events! You can use almost any bike you would like, as long as the organiser gives his consent if it’s not a road bike, so MTB’s are not uncommon for first-timers.

Current Activity

Loughborough Students Cycling Club are fortunate enough to have some very good time trialists compete for the club in BUCS and National races, so whether you are looking to try time trialling for the first time or continue racing whilst at Loughborough, then there is a wealth of experience within the club at your disposal.

Some of the races competed in by Loughborough Students are the BUCS 10TT, 25TT & 3-up TTT, Leicestershire TT series, Beeston CC evening TT series, Loughborough RC evening TT series and the Melton Olympic evening TT series. These are all local and well within riding distance, so transport is rarely an issue.

Get in touch!

If your keen to get into or continue time trialling whilst at Loughborough, then please get in touch! We are always looking to develop a good group of riders to take as a team to races, so if you would be interested in this, once again please get in touch.

It’s always great to see people getting out and enjoying being on the bike!

Matt Passenger

Useful Links

http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/ – Official Time Trialling website for events and results listing

http://www.timetriallingforum.co.uk/ – Forum for all time trialling related stuff

http://www.mocc.co.uk/ – Local Melton Olympic Cycling Club

http://www.beestonrc.co.uk/ – Local Beeston Road Club