What it’s like

‘Thirty seconds,’ the timekeeper calls out. The starter holds you up while you clip into your pedals. Deep breaths. ‘Ten seconds.’ Your pulse is rising. ‘Five, four, three, two, one…’ You’re off! Out of the saddle, you’re powering down the road to get on top of your gear. For the next 25-30 minutes, your lungs will work like bellows. Your legs will strain on the pedals. Your nose will run. You’ll be effortlessly overtaken by a skinsuited cycling machine who set off four minutes back, his disc wheel roaring like a muted TIE-fighter. 

At the finish you’ll suck in ragged gasps of air, feeling so shattered you want to be sick. So I guess your first question is: where’s the fun?

Why do it?

Well, it’s nice when you stop. But there’s more to it. Once you’ve got your breath back, your body is swimming with endorphins. It feels good. And at some primal, Protestant-work-ethic level, it feels satisfying to have ridden at 100% capacity, to have learned where your limits are. There’s a sense that you’ve used the time productively, somehow seized the day rather than having it drift by.

It doesn’t matter what your fitness level is, whether you’re 22 or 82, male or female. If you can ride 10 miles on a public road you can ride a time trial. It’s not like a road race, where if you fall off the back of the pack your race is over. Since the slower riders set off first, finish times cluster together. You’ll automatically get your personal best time (PB) in your first first time trial. Whether it’s 31:07 or 25:12, that’s your target to aim at next time. It doesn’t matter what anyone else got. First and foremost, you’re racing against yourself. 

Where to ride

Time trials take place on measured courses on public roads that are open to traffic. All riders are obliged to follow the usual rules of the road. Historically, time trials were shrouded in secrecy because cycle racing was banned on British roads. By riding separately time triallists could be seen to be ‘going about their normal business’ rather than racing. Riders wore inconspicuous clothing. Courses were named with a recondite code system – e.g. V415 – that’s used to this day. 

Nowadays the secrecy is gone, although it can still look a bit impenetrable. A time trial start will see a group of cyclists in a layby on a weekday evening. The course start and finish might be small marks on a kerbstone. Only a few marshals in brightly coloured vests, and perhaps some fold-out signs saying ‘Cycle race in progress’ tell you that anything is going on. It’s not like popping down to the leisure centre. Yet it’s not as cliquey as it looks, and most races are happy to see new faces.

How to race

If you want to ride more than one or two time trials, you need to join a club like Richardsons CC that’s affiliated to Cycling Time Trials, the sport’s governing body. There are more than 900 others around the country. You can get a list of a club’s own events from the club secretary. You can ride any of them. Just turn up. As well as your annual membership, you pay an on-the-day entry fee of around £2. You’re not restricted to your own club’s events: being a member of CTT affiliated club like Richardsons CC means that you can enter other local club events as a guest rider. You still have to pay the on-the-day entry fee but you don’t have to join more than one club. 

There’s another class of events called open events. These are bigger, attracting riders from across the region or sometimes the country. You have to sign up in advance for an Open Event and the fee will be a bit higher – probably around £7. You don’t need a racing licence for either type of event: membership in a CTT-affiliated club is sufficient. If you’re under 18 – the minimum age is 12 – you must have a parent/guardian’s authorisation.

Equipment

All you need is ‘a roadworthy bike’. That does include mountain bikes and tourers but not recumbents. If you’re under 18 you hav

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