Marc, I may be in for Turkey Hill as well. Need to figure out schedule, but I may join you if you go.

Lime Rock and surrounding area - Road Race and Circuit race on the race track. There should be houses to rent up there. We have friends in the area, so I'd probably stay there, but if they are not available, then we can look for a house.

June 1-2: http://www.fastalracing.com/info/LimeRock/Courses.html

I really like riding in this area. Should be a fun weekend.

Like I cross posted on Lime Rock thread- I am interested to go. Prob only need to stay Saturday night. Ragot- let me know if you plan to drive up from the city. I am debating Tour of Mt. Joy in PA that weekend, but CT makes more sense. 

The death of Pawling RR is breaking my heart.  This was gonna be my last chance to do it, and my last chance to finally do better than 10th.  No more Union Vale, no Housatonic Hills, no Pawling.  *sigh*

ah well...Capital Reigion it is!

Just wanted to flag this...the CRCA Alpine Hill Climb TT

I'm racing the 3/4 at Turkey Hill. I've heard nothing but good things. Also heard its tough.

It is a fun race. Looks like this year only the last few laps have the Gambler wall climb which is different from last year when all laps had it. Not sure if I can make it this time because of family schedule, but it's a good time for sure and really well run.

Does anyone want to coordinate journey/car rental?  If so, I'd be in for this one.

Hs anyone done Colt's Neck? Is it worth it?

Some loved it. I thought it was annoying.

Yes. Well I haven't done in,but IMHO get to the jersey races whenever you can. Run well better racing. Makes you feel the effort is worth it as the racers are really there to race. Usually.

Me, Neil, Jeff did it a couple of years ago. The course is a nice technical rolling course, however the roads are very narrow and the yellow line enforced. It therefore requires determination to move up. Be vocal and do not be afraid to push people on the hip to get them to move.

However this year the race is only 19 miles, which seems a lot shorter than when I did it last. Not sure it's worth the journey out there for such a short race.

Hi All,

Craig, and all. You may know this already, and this has been mentioned before, deep in the archives of other forum posts somewhere, but it is important info and it bears mentioning again.

Unless you have been doing at least one workout per week** on your TT specific set-up (whether that be intervals on clip on bars*, or rides on a full-on TT rig, then setting yourself up with go fast gear a few days before a TT is, at best, going to make no difference whatsoever, and at worst going to make you slower.

Okay, it's true, if the course is flat to flattish, go-fast wheels and an aero helmet are easy ways to steal free seconds.

Going fast in a tt on a TT bike is much more about being able to develop power and speed in an aerodynamic position than it is about downtube profiles and brake caliper positioning. And there's simply no way to be able to do that by hopping on a TT rig "minutes" (because 1 or 2 weeks before your TT, might as well be minutes) before the event.

The compromise that most roadies go for, is slapping on a pair of faster wheels (see aforementioned comment), aero helmet (it's one of the first things that breaks the wind, so yeah, can make a difference...but negligable if you are going less than 20 mph, and or bouncing around, in and out of the saddle because of a climb) and aero bars.

*But wait, didn't I just go on and on about needing to practice riding in your aero riding position for it to be of benefit? Why yes, yes I did. (And if you have a pair of aero bars, and/or you plan on doing more TT's, you should consider discussing with your coach the value of making one of your workouts per week in the aero position.)

But the thing about most clip on aero bar situations, is that they do not put you in such an extremely different position than, say, if you were riding/hammering in the drops of your road bike. They just make holding that position somewhat easier. And of course, they bring your arms/shoulders in a bit.

More important, Craig I think for you this weekend, especially in a climby type TT, is to focus on not blowing yourself early. Every year I give this same advice for riders starting the Green Mountain Stage Race TT, and every year, race reports come back bemoaning how people blew up after the first climb. So if you have any kind of monitoring device (HR, Power, etc), then be sure you measure your efforts. Look at the times of guys who have already gone. Figure you are going to be there and there abouts, how hard can you go for that amount of time. What does that mean in watts/HR, perceived rate of exertion?

Remember, if you are going by HR alone, that your HR will take a few minutes to catch up with the effort your legs are doing...so don't try to nail your heart at 180 beats straight out of the blocks. That ain't going to happen.

Also, THE SHORTER THE RACE, THE LONGER/HARDER THE WARM-UP!!! Either bring a stationary trainer, or give yourself plenty of time to find roads around the course where you can get at least a solid 30 minute warm up in where you spend some time cranking out maximum wattage for multiple minutes.

**This is advice I received while I was living with one of USA Cycling's Elite coaches who runs coaching clinics for USA Cycling, and former Jelly Belly director Barney King. Also, if you've read any of the thousands of articles about pros in the wind-tunnel finding a compromise between power and position...

PS. The above comment, is meant not to dissuade you necessarily from investing time/money in TT equipment, rather in part to put your mind at ease that at this point in the game, you will be able to achieve your best personal time this coming weekend with the equipment you currently already own and are familiar with.

I just put up a little info about the Green Mountain TT I did last year on that thread as this discussion reminded me of that.  Might be useful, not sure.  It at least will let you see a similar sort of TT so you can visualise what you will be doing.

Thanks all for the input. I did a bunch of TT's as a junior and U23 I'm happy with my abilities, but obvs have zero TT equipment right now. I hit up Marc and JP about borrowing helmets and bars, but may do the Merckx and just power it out old school. If anyone has any deep wheels to lend I'm open to offers or rental agreements. If not I'm fine with my Ksyriums. 

Many folks on the club have a set (or two) of go fast wheels, (mine However are crusty beat to shit neuvation wheels and cost less than 200 that are my training wheels as well) but will be reluctant to loan them out. There is a localish dude who has a business renting wheels http://www.racewheelrental.com/

Craig I have a TT rig minus wheels you can use.  58cm

the weekend of may 18 / 19 is looking a little sparse in terms of racing.  though i do see on saturday and sunday the "new jersey time trial cup series".  there are two TTs:  one on saturday in seaside heights and one on sunday in upper freehold.  sunday's looks a little more challenging.

anyone raced the series before?  worth the trip?

The 18th and 19th is sparse. That's one of the reasons why I picked this weekend. Forget about racing and LEARN to race your bike better by coming out to my criterium workshop. Right now the date is set for 19th, but depending on demand, I may/could move it to the 18th.

Hi all,

Thanks Adam I'd love to get a brief description of it when you get a chance.   

OK, will start a thread on it as I'm definitely going...