bi-weekly races from 12 March
Testing yourself, for a purpose
This series of bi-weekly TTs are designed to be more than just races, they are curated as opportunities to gather key datasets that will reveal your strengths and weaknesses as a rider.
The course and distance of each time trial has been specifically chosen as a test of your fitness and in particular, how well developed each of your energy systems are.
There will also be a time based general classification, so be sure to get each round in your calendar.
Round 1a – 3 Laps of the Training Peaks Virtual Velodrome
Round 1b – 1 lap of the South Lake Loop
Date: 12 March @ 7pm & 7:20pm – ensure you sign up to both time trials and keep warm in-between
Distance: 1.5km & 2.6km
Purpose: Data reflecting your anaerobic capacity and Vo2max that can be used to help calculate your critical power and W’
Round 2 – 2 Laps of the North Lake Loop Reverse course
Date: 12 March @ 7pm
Distance: 5km
Purpose: Data reflecting your Vo2max power
Round 3 – South Lake Loop
Date: 9 April @ 7pm
Distance: 7.5km
Purpose: A 12-15-minute effort that alongside the data from Rounds 1 and 2, can be used to help calculate your Critical Power.
Round 4 – Flat Eight
Date: 23 April @ 7pm
Distance: 10km
Purpose: This should roughly be an all-out 20-minute effort, which can be used in calculating your FTP.
Round 5 – Coastal Loop
Date: 7 May @ 7pm
Distance: 17km
Purpose: This is a very common time trialling distance in the Uk, i.e. a 10-mile TT and will be a good indicator of what your effort might look like in a real world time trial.
More importantly, your Critical Power is often characterised as your power for a circa 30-minute effort. This TT should give you a good indication of what your power for 30-minutes looks like.
Round 6 – Two Lake Loop
Date: 21 May @ 7pm
Distance: 21km
Purpose: 20km is an incredibly important time trialling distance for short-course triathletes and is another opportunity to hit another circa 30-minute effort for assessing your Critical Power.
Round 7 – Virtual Hour Record
Date: 4 June @ 6am, 12pm or 7pm
Distance: As far as you can go in 60-minutes
Purpose: This is the ultimate race of truth and will a precise measurement of your FTP. After all, your FTP is meant to be the power you can sustain for 60-minutes!
How to join
Joining the series is incredibly simple. We have provided all of the Training Peaks Virtual joining links below, or you can head to the events calendar in Training Peaks Virtual and sign up and join each time trial form the ‘Competitive Races’ section.
There will also be a specifically curated warm-up for each time trial, which you will be able to find in the Training Peaks Virtual events calendar, in the ‘Group Workouts’ section prior to each time trial.
Each time trial will be a Tier 1 tech requirements race to ensure everyone’s results are accurate and verifiable. This means you will need:
- a smart trainer as your primary power source;
- a connected heart rate monitor; and
- a connected cadence sensor.