with Matt Bottrill — Multiple-time British national TT champion; coached Victor Campenaerts to the 2019 UCI Hour Record
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Matt Bottrill is one of the fastest time trialists the UK has ever seen, and today he's breaking down exactly what separates the pros from everyone else. We're deconstructing the whole art of time trialing—from bike and wheel setup, to kit, pacing strategy, and body position—with someone who's spent years obsessively perfecting every marginal gain.
"The art of time trialing is mastering your pacing and optimizing speed, power, and aerodynamics together—I was quite late in my career when I discovered that."
"85% of the drag is coming right from the athlete. If we can cheat like know realistically that you brought like you need buy the art of it, that's where the biggest transformation happens."
"Into the headwind you've got to hold a reasonable position but power's the most important part. Into the tailwind you can utilize position a lot more and get on top of the gearing."
“the fastest ever did was like 45 43 actually should I've done a team time trial slower than that and I think I average over 400 wats that night”
“I learned at that point that he'd been to the win and all he'd uh you know like he' learned how to train and optimize like his pacing strategy so I thought right either quit the SP now or I've got to get onto that journey”
“you probably gain another three probably like three or four watts in like a frame set overall uh without without that combination”
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Apply for Coaching →Roadman welcome back to today's episode where I have the pleasure of sitting down with one of the fastest time trialists the UK has ever seen Mr Matt butol Matt has racked up some scary personal best times in 10 m 25 mile but he's not only clinched these crazy times and a bunch of national titles along the way he's also made significant impact as a coach I have firsthand knowledge of this he's worked with some of my friends and I seen the transformation he made in them he guides both Elite competitors and just enthusiastic amateurs to new heights with his cycling coaching but today I have a different goal I attempt to demystify time Tria I want to deconstruct it all what kit should you wear what Wheels to you use what tires out what pressures what chains The Works we're going to get into it all before we do to support this podcast please check out our sponsors in the description below and now my friends it's Mr M Bol M Bell welcome to the Roan podcast oh thank you Anthony I've been watching the show for a while so I feel more than honored to uh be on you've had some very selective guests to be invited to do this is uh quite overwhelming really it feels a bit surreal it's a pleasure I'm a huge fan of yours for years I've been I've always loved time trialing it's something something I really connected with I don't know if it was watching the T of France growing up with my dad and that kind of dominance of that injuring period where it was so time trial Centric that I just grew up with this romance around time trial and then then as soon as I got into cycling myself I just sought out those experts and I been definitely following you AAR and some of those times you've been putting down through the years are just breathtaken yeah no it's been a it's been a good journey for me you know like my journey is probably similar to yours like remember watching it was actually Greg amond on the show I remember him winning a tour to yeah you know winning a tour with that famous time trial and I think that was like my hook really you know like I just thought like you know I love all these these crazy bikes and at the time I was quite hyperactive at school so I was getting kind of backing around with a lot of people well the wrong people I'd say and uh it was my granddad just said to me one day look you've got a you got to CH You' got like this you know You' got all this energy you need to start channeling it into into something and I just started just I went to the cycl touring Club to start off with and then before I knew it I was uh joining my local race team within like two years and the first thing I did like those people 10 mile time TR and I just love that freedom that it gave you you know like obviously you got ride in the bik but then you put a clock involved with it it was uh yeah it gave me the hook you've put down some incredibly Fast Times like I've definitely I've put down a few times that I'm proud of but I've never had Seasons where I've totally focused on time tral like the best times I put down was probably when I was riding the bike full time and then I'd come home and jump into a TT like I've gone low 50s for a 25 mile but I've never broke the 50 minute Mark but any idea how many times You' broke the 50- minute Mark ah quite a few think probably over like 20 Child i' Say obviously I think you've got it probably a bit harsher like way live uh you know like with the road surface CU that's that's a key part to go fast uh obviously the fastest ever did was like 45 43 actually should I've done a team time trial slower than that and I think I average over 400 wats that night yeah he's kind of like it was back in like 2014 I never really went out to break K record I was just in like the form of my life and it was the last time trial of the year that I was going to ride and I just thought right I'm going to try and break on records today obviously it was a nice course to be able to do it on uh but I just remember like the last like the last couple of miles I you just trying to get it all out just absolutely annihilating myself but yeah it is a great feeling you know like when you're traveling that that that those speeds uh it's like I think the art of time trialing it's it's just like mastering your patient and it was like by the time I got to like 2014 I I Le the alt of it and I feel that's that's the journey that most people uh need to get on really it's understanding now how you optimize like speed power and aerodynamics and I was quite late in my career when I'd say that I discovered that so uh yeah it it was good well that's what I want to try and deconstruct today is exactly like you said there the art of time triling because it it is multifaceted you know we've the bike we've train and we've Pac and we've kissed we've fit so we'll try and uncover and unpack as much of that as we can let's start it off on the bike there's not there's not an objectively fastest bike but what are some principles that are what makes a fast bike uh it's what especially like nowadays is uh it's it's trying to interact like the you know like your wheel Set uh with with the frame alone really like if you look at like all all today's modern bikes like we look at like all the brands the margins them are going to be relatively small uh what we generally see now is you're seeing like Forks going like a lot wider uh you know the rear stays getting wider but then we're able to like interact like the wheels with them as well so Rim shapes are like now evolving like you never think that we'll be on like 28 M uh yeah tires really I remember doing t on 19s like 140 PSI on 19s absolutely I always remember like I'd always saved like 160 PSI for the national champs I'd always ride 120 but for the ntional always want them up to about 160 what what was also being able to see now it's just like the interation of like cockpits onto the bikes themselves it's quite funny really like I look at you look at like all the pro bikes and uh like now we seen everybody's going like the smaller frame with like the highest Stacks you know like for the pillars look yeah and it's like I was doing like that 10 years ago but now it's kind of like everybody thinks that it's like no but that that's where a lot of it is coming from like when we look at like the frame sets the margins are relatively small but a lot of it is coming from like the cockpits we now able to fit on onto the bik and interaction with the world really but like you have led so much of this Innovation like that's something I noticed years ago that you were riding very small bikes with these cockpits that were now starting to see you know the best TTR in the world it almost reminds it's like overy esque that you're you're leading this innovation in time traling for like a decade plus where does that come from how are you that's quite ni you to say that you know it's uh like everybody think that like now a lot of people think it's NE if you follow about the journey it was kind of but like my obsession to started with it it was like I've always followed the sport but I never knew I to get arrow and I never initially I never even knew how to ride power this is back in like 2010 and I remember I rode like the national championships uh it was National 25 Michael hingson won that day and I wanted to be my goal was always to beat H with like Nemesis that I had for like years but then I ended up finishing third and a guy called Mark Colton beat me and I was like how the hell has this dude done this I used to put like two minutes into him he beat me by 20 seconds and then I learned at that point that he'd been to the win and all he'd uh you know like he' learned how to train and optimize like his pacing strategy so I thought right either quit the SP now or I've got to get onto that journey and it's like at the time I'm I'm a postman at this point you know I was a postman for like 18 years I had no money whatsoever like me and my wife just brought a house no cash so I just thought right what what are we going to do so I I reached out to a guy called Bob toin at cycle power meters and uh I just said look everyone's riding starting to ride with power there any chance could you could sell me a power meter but I can't really for to buy one could you could you do me could you do me want to trade or if you got a second hand one cuz back then like a power meter even for a wheel was like one and a half Grand if you wanted inrm it was like 3,000 well here's a funny story actually to jump in on this one there so I got my first par meter it must been in 2008 2009 I was in university uh it was an SRM I think it was €3,000 and obviously as a student I didn't have €3,000 so I went to the bank and I I told them I needed a car to drive in and out to University I had to submit all my University registration forms and everything and I took off full 3,000 and I went on to cyc parameters as well I bought myself an SRM it's crazy isn't it like you just like you blew your mind but then like probably like you I got this power meter like Bob greed I'll do your deal on it and I got it and at that time like the software like training pigs was just on its way then I guess uh I didn't know what to do just like this this number you know like this was on an SRM device just just generating like these numbers I didn't know what it was doing and uh and then I I to Bob look you're trying to rent out power meters how about I advertising business and you train me to be like that's Champion I can't afford a coach but would you be interested in coaching me and I'll advertise your business and luckily he agreed to help me uh and then the journey kind of started from them really like the first thing said right you need to you know like you need to lift your hands up I was like okay I I'll do that CU I rideing like it's really flat position I was like really exposed and it comes up then you got to train uh this you've got to uh roll your shoulders in I was like you got to do a srug I was like what the hell a strug like now am I going to say that so you know you're trying to G like this predition I so oh yeah can I can I can strug uh and then I started trailing in front of the mirror you know like could old this as long as I could uh and then you know the results started coming like you could dramatically see the time starting to come down and then I kind of from that point the next thing he said right we need to get you into the winter I'm like oh my God there's no way I can afford to go to the winter and luckily one of my best mates he just said look he's got his own company I'll pay you to go to the winter this is your opportunity and I went to the winter and that's when I met uh Simon smart at drag 2 zero and he was the guy that kind of you know roll me into the position and uh I think that's a b you know the art you go to the winter you learn quite a lot and then I understood at that point like okay realistically I've got three positions that I can utilize like on on the course and I can utilize the power like in different ways really and then if I can train my body to adapt to all of this and I'll be able to cut the times down uh and with been like you know it probably took me a year and a half to kind of Master that and then the time just started to Plum it then I have got a very OB people that know me they'll know that I've got a very obsessive personality so if I get into something then that's it I'm like well then I want to be the best at of it uh and it's and that's what I'm obviously doing today it's trying to help people understand those those rules really so if you were starting now with all the knowledge you have so you've all the knowledge but you're just starting the journey again what bik would you be gone with uh I what time by i' don't have to be on a giant yeah you love Giants for so long yeah no I do think that like serious I always like when I got a contract with giant it was like my my always like my drink bike you know like and then to be able to get ride for giant was like amazing you know like giant have always been they've always offered value for money but they've always invented like some amazing prod products haven't they you know what I think what people miss out a lot of the time they make bikes from you know like most bike manufacturers uh so I think like the Trinity is is to stood the test of time really uh and you know I've been a giant now for like 13 years I've been uh you know brand ambassador for them I guess and help them out with like you know obviously different projects but yeah I think our Trinity is and always will be the the value when that you know it's a great start for anyone get into time trying really do you think someone needs disc breaks or are Rim breaks still good enough for time trial not in time traling in general not for the races that we're doing in the you know UK and Ireland it get you know like when it's a bit more technical I'd say that then it kicks in for triathletes it's probably a win-win situation but we don't we don't necessarily need disc breaks but obviously that's the route that it's going to go it's inevitable really isn't it like I think the the taking away the braking I think the nice thing that this brakes brings into the bike he just brings a bit more stiffness there do you know like when you climb in like you you sometimes get the you know the the forks you'll get a bit of Flex from like the front wheel is there an arrow penalty uh there used to be like initially uh I think you know people would just sticking with the frame sets they got and then bonding on like the the break but like now everything's just transformed really you optimize in the the brakes around like the bike themselves and then because we can innovate on Wheels quite a lot you know you you construct those two items together it's you probably gain another three probably like three or four watts in like a frame set overall uh without without that combination see I don't think a lot of us think about real frame combos the way you do like Wheels have always been an afterthought for me for time traving maybe it's a measure of how broke I was but I always managed to scrape together a frame and then we might have one set of wheels between like three of us and we swwa them around depending on who was time traling talk to me about matching the RO frame with the RO wheel how important is that yeah it is quite important and then trying to get the interaction of like the tire if you look at like all the big Brands now uh they're all trying to innovate like Wheel Systems or they'll work with like a specific wheel brand to optimize like the B but there's a lot more around like the inter fraction of like uh you know like the tire around like the rim it itself so I think that's where Innovation will go more and more uh you know like for like a lot of Brands I think I think I think if you want to optimize it that's where you've got to go and I think we'll see like Brands start optimizing like on tires uh like the they certain companies that are already doing that but I'd say that they're probably you know they they're not matching like Conte or like Victoria on like rolling resistance but I think over the next few years I think that's the biggest area that we can make Transformations on you know like on ride sorry on on bikes themselves really so there's not a objectively fastest Tire it's the fastest tire for those Wheels yeah so I think that's the thing that everybody Googles like rolling resistance fact certainly that's the first thing that they they they go for it's more about matching them you know like the rim shape with the sorry the tire to the rim uh if you get those interactions correctly and sometimes it could be that you you know like you might run one brand of tire on the front and you could run like a a different brand on the rear really but I don't know about you I kind of like uh if you've got I kind have a tan wall and a black one on the back see what I mean that would that would yeah do my OCD in well okay so let's stick with your bike so just so people have an idea of what you think is the fastest combo so you're running the Trinity from giants walk wheels and tire combo you running yeah so like I at the minute like we've moved over to like K yeah using kadex wheels so they've got like their new force fol and their disc wheel and again they've interacted it around like the bike like force I don't know if you remember like four spokes or three spokes like years ago you take one of those out and you be like hey know for Grim death but the the new uh the new Rim shapes like are so wide now like uh around like 25 to 27 millimet you know like the actual Rim but internally the're yeah they're quite wide same with the rear wheel like you you know like this you want to be on like 26 mil tires now really that's the optimal shape for though so I I kind of I've messed around with tires quite a bit and I'm still doing it at the it really like I've I've always Lov the B flexes but uh like rolling resistance I just struggled to be there they're a bit more fragile but the remember the your old TS just still got that zinging you know like when you you go along the the road the Conti again I find that's like a really good uh Rim sorry a really good Tire it kind of intera with that Rim shake like quite well and then Victoria just launched their their new uh Victoria corer Speed Pro which uh I'm I'm testing that out the minute seems like a really nice Tire really I think the the earliest part that we have got at the minute we're just in this weird place of like hook going to hookless but the we've got the technology in the rims but the tires are you know it's a big debate at the minute the tire technology evolving but it yeah it needs needs a bit more I guess is everything tubless all the fastest stuff tubless now yeah I don't think that yeah I don't I would never go to uh yeah running like latex Che everyone's come away from tubs now Haven they really you know there's a few out there I think in the next few years it be interesting to see if we can even get tubs uh but yeah I run everything tubeless I I love it you know like you can just run a lot lower pressure can't you you know like you can feel it uh it's just that interaction like I can really you get sensation of like how the bikes handle it I think you know if you're really good bike Handler like the biggest thing that I've noticed is like you know like when you go into like the corner it's just like how you carry the speed through like the corner uh because you can run out lower pressure you it gives you confidence a little bit I still have some Tu a aging up in the attic if you need them yeah it's kind of I'm probably the same man like you you kind of hold on to them don't you you like maybe maybe they'll come back in one day they're like up there likeing yeah I like I did like to I used to yeah there was there was an art of like sticking the tub on I yeah the same maybe really they same like yeah I used to find like sticking on to like quite uh yeah therapeutic in a weird way yeah my own process I used to go with Tree layers I'd let put a layer on the rim I put a layer on the tire let them dry and then I'd come back along with a wet layer it was yeah there was something roant maybe it was the fumes and the glue that made it feel so romantic yeah yeah I totally agree yeah it's a good kick yeah that was always the art wasn't it and you know like uh but yeah it's a dying art now hey Ro man excuse the short Interruption I love riding the bike but on account of being so busy with the podcast at the moment I'm now what's called a time crunch Rider I never thought I'd see today but I have a tool I'm using W bike to keep my self sharp and on point with specific sessions to maximize that available training time I have a w bike atam right here in the recording studio beside me and when I have an hour in between interviews I jump on it's removing all the friction points from me there's no more 10 minute setup unfolding legs banging my knees off stuff getting my hands dirty usual connection issues it just works every single time the atom's perfect for virtual racing as well because it has crisp gear changes it has 1% accuracy and it has Max gradient capability of up to 25% if you're looking for an indoor trainer I honestly couldn't recommend this any higher I've been using a w bike since 2013 honestly it's the last indoor trainer that you're ever going to need if you head on over to W bike.com now and use code roadman 10 that's r o a d m n t n and that's going to get you 10% of your W bike okay so we have our we have our bike wheel tire setup lot of I've had Josh pner on from Sila and he could talk to you for six and a half hours about chain waxes and lubs yeah we're not going to get that bug down in it but what's your drive train setup going are you going oversiz police yes so like yeah like I was yeah what changed I was doing that like 10 years ago you know that [ __ ] pot uh I I kind of use uh I've used like all different waxes really generally uh I think that where it all gets lost a lot of the time I use still use like a ceramic spee chain and the reason for that is like all the chains that one they're all unpigged but then they just kind of they've had a running in process and I think if you can do that you know like you run them in for like 200k and then you I think that's the art that everybody needs to realize a lot of the time you better off to run the chain in and then you can uh you know actually going to put it in your cook apart uh uh do do it that way because that's that's the art of it really uh I yeah oversized py I've been running them again for like the last 12 years do they make a difference it's it's marginal isn't it you know like obviously trying to reduce like friction uh the first one I ever got was the bner one can you remember the bner re I do they were badass they were like uh and now I've just got a ceramic speed like oversized like Polly I think that one of the biggest things is that you know everybody goes on about the bottom brackets and the pul it's actually the wheels that make like the biggest difference but it's kind of probably the most expensive one to kind of upgrade you know like with with the bearings but all you know like I do think they're kind of like the marginal gains aren't they do you know what I mean it I think if you read some of the facts that they're going to give you like some of them are quite big claims but yeah some of you can definitely tell the difference yeah you can definitely tell the difference so like I don't like you know like from a a wax chain or even using like UFO drip like I'm racing tomorrow I've got like I just put like some UFO drip on on the Chain like Silk do like their own version of it but it just makes the change a lot crisper doesn't it you know and that and if that's a psychological head bage in your head then you it's definitely worth taking and is the move from Shimano pedal to reducing the stacko to using something like a speed play zero is that a move worth making or is the net risk maybe not worth if you're using Shimano on the road yeah I've been on Speed play for like 16 years so it's kind of a hard one uh I think like for some people like there's you know like there's you know like the when you're on like a speed play pedal obviously not got the same connection uh like some people struggle with that you know like you've still not got that downward force on the bottom phase of the pedal stroke in terms of a lot of the time is you might like gain like two or three wats by dropping like that stack you if you drop like your back angle you drop like three or four mil uh then you'll make a game it's probably the that you know it's an interesting one really it's probably the biggest one that I have to kind of correct when people have been the winter and all like they do going to do like this AO test and uh we all know like if you drop your back angle you drop like your front end generally you get a made like a performance game but it kind of like there's a biomechanical disadvantage to it a lot of the power as well so but with with a speed play pedal yes and generally what it also means is that with the speed play CLE you can get the CLE further back so obviously some people if they like quite toy when it comes to riding it they can help with like that pedal efficiency as well I think be good to it's always something that I would love to be able to do is kind of like you get like this athlete you you know like your optimize like the bikes there and then we can we can measure like the peak torque of like how they're producing the power at the pedal stroke whil sitting on the saddle with a pressure map and optimizing it all maybe I'd like to think we get to that stage but at the minute we're a long way off it the maybe a long way off that but what has improved so much in the last 10 years is kit it seems like almost every brand now has a really fast speed suit when even back four or five years ago there was just one or two clear Market leaders do you have a preference now I I think the D I see I think it was a inur encapsulator was still the fastest but I think it's banned in ucci yeah like I was with in like we we developed like so I work with injora for all like uh inur and dve two Z so was myself and like Alex D we were like the test pilots for the inur kit and then the Silicon trip was yeah it was kind of game changing it was and even until today you know it is like one of the the fastest suits that's available uh now we've we just started working with like we've moved over like no pins now and uh they've got some amazing kit you know like uh like I've just had a a custom suit made for myself which is you know I tried it on I think that's the big area that you know like there all like these suit because you can have it custom scanned for yourself then that's a big Advantage uh and then obviously you know everyone's got this move now to uh the base layer uh which is it's basically just like a a silicon trip that you you know like you wear your clothing really so he's trying trying to get the air to attach to you a much better way and if you look at like all the fast suits that like ultimately you want to speed a suit generally unless it's an indoor vrone where we can we can take like a a different you know it it's so much more control where in the real world but we're going to be riding at different speed and different EUR angles and that's the suit that kind of kind of works really so if you're buying at your own cash non-sponsored right now what suit you buying I'd buy the open suit for value for money and like the speed I I think you're going to SLE to beat that I'm not you know it sounds really biased on about like BR but it's tried and tested so uh go go that way you know like and they've got an A dist r suits at different price points there's some crazy suits out like that there now like some of the quotes I get uh yeah I get given a mad Rd I think you spend like 67,000 if you got it seriously if you oh yeah like this uh I think like this brand like Vortex Asos have just launched like this but you basically can have like a win T test and they build you a suit whiches and you get like two suits 7,000 all that like we've talked about bikes we've talked about kit but like you could spend your 7,000 and none of it matters if you don't know how a pace it's bringing it back to the very start of the conversation you saying it took you so long to finessa that's just repetition I think isn't it you need to be getting out there putting in effort after effort at race Pace yeah totally and that's when it comes to like body position you know like 85% of the drug is coming right from the athlete you know what I mean and if we can cheat like know realisticly that you brought like you need buy the art of it testers are always the worst like majority of our clients now at traff who work with 80% St athlet or the youngsters that are trying to make it as professionals and you've got all these time trials they know B and they try and copy positions but you like trying to optimize like you buy Fe like it's a key part really uh and now we've got like all these you know like you've got all these custom full ends you can cheat the position and then that'll help you Pace in a much better way you know you you can just sustain it with like all this new kit that we've got and and that's the art of it really once you understand how to master this position then you can utilize it out on the course and it it's really interesting that when I like you ask people about like the pacing strategies and you go well how do you Pace a time trial and you always go into the edwind I hold my best position okay that's great but what do you do when you go into the the tail wind still trying on my best position but it's very hard do you know like everything I've always learned about like uh pacing is into the headwind you you've got old a reasonable position but power's the most important part you know like yeah I always call it a medium position you know like it's not full shrug it's not full head talk you're trying to push into like the headwind and then when you come to like so stfe averaging 300 for this and ideally into the headwind we want to push like we want to go like 316 330 if we can then what's going to happen is soon as you make the rotation into the Tailwind section uh then you can utilize position you utilize position a lot more uh and he trying to get on top of the gearing as well I think that's the the art like I can guarantee if I do a time trial right now I can I'll probably I'm going to race tomorrow I'll probably do like 325 330 w Le fa to do 400 so it's a different but I kind of take so much time out of people into the tail wi cuz like what I'm always trying I'm holding my best position but I'm really thinking about how I'm activating through like the pedal stroke because what a lot of people do is they'll start to like lift up you know like they're not really fit processing anything so I always kind of drop my heels a little bit more push back into the saddle and then really try and keep on top of the gear uh and then it's the same when you always got to look at like how the pros ride really it's like why did they ride so quick it's when they're going downhill again you can do like SES in pace so I always used to I justed call it a 10 three drill I used to do 10 seconds on three 10 seconds on three seconds off and all I would do is all my best position pedal for 10 seconds free wheel three to five depending on how fast I was going generally you go above like it's probably like 55 km an hour it's it's generally not worth putting that amount of effort into it uh and then the idea is as soon as you hit like the flats you can kick into like if you aage 300 you can click into like you know like your threshold Pace really and go yeah it's interesting that pacing strategy because it's the exact same pacing strategy when I talked to David Miller that he said he won the commonwealths way he said everyone went out with this linear pacing strategy he went down into a block headwind and he said he absolutely emptied the tank into that Blockhead wind he basically looked at it like a Finish Line and then he turned into that tailwind and he said that his advice was the newer generation at the time didn't understand the difference between power and speed that they thought they could have a higher average power would win them the race and he's like well bikes only go so fast you can only go 60k an hour on the way home you can't go 90 you know so he didn't need much power left to get that speed Ro man I'm going to date myself here but I've been riding the bike for almost 20 years years and in that time I've cycled through every cycling apparel brand out there and I kept swapping out different apparel Brands each season until I found lall there's something really different about lall and as soon as you slip into the gear you notice it feels different it feels better I've had the pleasure of chatting with yant worker on the podcast he's the laal founder and his dedication to crafting the fastest most refined cycling apparel out there it's nothing short of inspiring y isn't just trying to create gear I get the feeling he's actively and obsessively trying to perfect cycling gear trust me as soon as you slip on the theall kit as soon as you zip up that Jersey you can feel that commitment the proof for lall it's in the Pud this is the same kit that Jay hendley wor when he clinched overall victory in deir Natalia there's a confidence that comes with wearing apparel that's been battle tested and Podium proven in races like the year toal you trust me feeling good on the bike means you're going to perform better if you have a second I highly advise you to jump on over to lol.
CC and check out their amazing range of Kit and experience this feeling for yourself yeah totally and it's like I I work with like Lotto SEL for like four years and I remember explaining like this Pon straty you can imagine go to this Belgian team and it's so like 175 cranks and I remember explaining and they're all like looking at me gone out and I was saying look this is what you got to try and master into like your time trialing uh and some of them brought into it others didn't but I couldn't believe like once he understood like the pacing you know I was working with like C Victor campet Tim wellin Thomas de gent and they started winning like World Tour time trials uh it was it was like amazing to see but they just learn this art of uh you pacing really and know I think that everybody's got you know like if you listen to this how do I improve my time trialing then just experiment like if you like this you know like guy that goes and does or female that kind of uh does like 10 Mile local TT every week try it in different ways cuz Gally you're going to find like nine times out of 10 the wind blows in like the same way and just see like can you shave like time off it what's your prep like for say tomorrow you said you're doing a time tral like what apps are you checking in advance to figure out wind directions are you using things like my best bike split to figure out Pac I kind of wing it now mate but I've kind of had a few years out of it but yeah I if I was say if I would had like this athlete that uh like to me it comes like dead natural but like best bikes that I utilize that like all of the time uh it's really where it does struggle is say in the UK uh like je je Carriage weight loads the CDA like so much that like best bike split it kind of it can't handle you can't believe that you can have a CDA of like 0.15 when you're on a dual Carriage right obviously if you get traffic involved that's where it struggles my wind sock it generally I I use that I think that's really good for like wind direction so I'd send like enough the a link to the uh uh yeah you know like to the to the side this is the wind this is what you need this is the way that you need to Pace it me personally tomorrow I'll just go I can know yeah it's edwind out Tailwind I'm going to try and hold like this power but that's how we've always coached like people to kind of understand it but what I've always done me best SP split as well is it's like really good for getting like real time CDA so it's got like what I generally do is capture the athletes file from the race and then I Chu it into best bike split and then it'll look at like the CDA clusters so I can look at like how they're pce him throughout the race and then you can start to understand like what is your real time CDA you know I'm not it's like somebody say to yeah into to the winter I've got a CDA of 0.17 great mate how how long did you do it for three minutes let I'm look at how you pacing in the real world you're coming out like point two you know what I mean so you've got to try and utilize this one point CDA .17 into like the real world uh and that that's the art of it really you know understanding like what you're doing in real time uh and then you've got to learn from the feelings that you have I'd say because a lot of people just just keep bashing it out down there I'm not improving hear I'm arguing at the the result board I'll see it tomorrow oh I like I went 1 second fast one second may beat me okay well how you going to beat him you know he kind of U yeah then from the failings and you'll get better I guess so if you're going out tomorrow and say you said it we pick up a fictitious number say someone's going out at 300 watts it's a typical 10 Mile 5 Mile out into a headwind 25 30 km headwind stiff head wind coming back into the tail wind what's your distribution of that power on the way out what voice are you telling someone to ride it on the way out power wise so I'd always try and like a general rule of form is you want to go 10 to 15 watts higher into like the the headwind section uh and then you you'll come back and you you'll probably lose like you know that you probably end up like doing two nights to like 300 into the into the Tailwind so that that's the general rule of fun for it a lot of the time where it becomes really hard and this is where most people blow it is if it's uh it's Tailwind out edwi back because they get that excited at the start then that's the art of like the time trial and you've got to like when you roll off the start you've got to be thinking I want to hold like the best position and then I generally say that say if you're going to average 300 you might you might go like 295 30 five like you you've got like this little little bit of a window but just don't go off like a train and and especially if you've got like a downhill start like some of the UK time tr get like downhill start it is pointless you going off at 400 watts for like the first minute or two minutes if you're get to you got this Tailwind section and you're doing like 55 60 km an hour you're just wasting energy do you know what I mean like feel I remember going off ramps and I'm like all right I got to go out conservative I got to go out conservative and then the first time you look at the power you know you're out with a saddle you're getting up the speed then you settle into the bars and you look down you're like 5 10 watts you're like actually this doesn't feel too bad this is pretty good and it's like right I better do this back of it I know I can't hold this then you're sitting at like 430 you're like I feel pretty good here fast forward like 50 minutes later I'm holding on to 310 coming across the line absolutely dead yeah it is like it's F could adrenaline especially it's like you see all these athletes you that they do like these amazing rides and it comes to the Nationals and they just crack you know what I mean they can underwrite the pressure so yeah it is but that's it's mastering those controls isn't it you know like it's like being in the bunch isn't it you know like you've got like all this tactical awareness and you've got like all these matches that you're going to strike and it's how you utilize them uh you know like with been like the race like time traling is a bit easier to to to get because there's less people against you when you you're in like the bunch but at the end of the day you've only got so much as so many matches that you can strike and it is a it is an art now where years ago it was more about the strongest guy would always win where we're not in that situation anymore do you have a like a a mental strategy in this like are you going through any sort of kind a mental pacing framework where to motivate you to get the out you or are you just solely focusing on the effort like to me like I don't get it as much now it's kind of like I'm doing this to enjoy it you know what I mean it's but like if I was at the peak I wanted when I was racing I was focusing on that like I'd always need one person that I would always focus it at like back in the day was like watch so my process was like how do I [ __ ] beat this dude uh that was like my mental picture but that's how I work I'm quite uh uh like people they utilize things in a like different way that was like the goal but to do the training then I always touched an experience that I've had in my life really you know like when I was at the peaker that I was what I was doing it was I lost my granddad at that point who was like my best friend and uh I I wanted to do it for him do you what I mean so my focus was just yeah going through because yeah trying to pushed through the back barriers does that make sense he was kind of cuz everyone's going to EIT a pain barrier especially like in a time trial uh but you've got to have a personal Focus to go beyond like the barrier and I don't think that doesn't come from training it's something that you you can touch upon uh and for me it was always he just right right Running On Emotion you know like I was always trying to do it for somebody or was Tim I was trying to beat somebody I still get those feelings today uh you know like if someone cross me or says something like oh that that botol dude he's old now he's past it right I'll get on a mission and I'll go right I'm going to show you it might already last for like a few weeks but I can get on those missions but that's what makes cycl so magical isn't it like I used to think it was just about Elite Performance that it was all about stepping up this kind of metaphorical ladder that you to go from cat three to Cat 2 to cat one to go abroad to France to trying to get a pro contract but everyone's goal is so important to them like your go goal of going out tomorrow is as important as pacha's goal of performing in sore this year it's so personal to each of us it is isn't it and I think that's what makes C like so so unique really is the fact that uh you can it's just a personal goal to you isn't it you know like and you yeah and if you're on like that mission and journey then it feels like amazing like in a Reds we're all like uh Vander pool like doing 60 km hour but in reality is when you seen the video yeah it doesn't quite look like that yeah I know I think that's what we're always striving to do like I'm 46 years of age now and I've been through this emotion of you know like so many highs and lows like for the last five years I'm not race like load but I've kind of missed it a little bit and it's like this year I'm like you know what I'm G to have a bit of a blast out and uh just enjoy it uh and yeah kicks them ass one of the time trials fastest man Matt really enjoyed this we'll definitely have to get you back on the podcast thanks for your time oh no worries that's awesome mate thank you very much for your time if you enjoyed this video and you want to keep binge watching the content check this video it's a cracker also don't forget to subscribe to the channel that way I can catch you in the next one see you then
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