Time Trials

[ianf]

Hi fellow cyclists.

English cycling is well-known for its huge time trialling scene. They are successful because they are the type of races that ANYONE can ride on any type of machine. In the UK there is a huge programme of club races at 10, 15, and 25 miles. Open events happen at 10, 25, 30, 50, 100 plus 12 or 24 hours.

I know there are some regular ones near Bangkok, but none elsewhere. I hope to start some regular 10-mile (16km) events on a flat British style home and out courses near Chiang Mai.

OK. TTs are not the all and end all of cycling but they are a great way of getting riders into competition, picking up pedalling and effort skills that can be used for track and road races. You don't need a tt bike. You can do these on any bike so all those Thai riders on MTBs can compete amongst their own group. Us 60 year olds can compete in our own age group without trying to hang on to the rear wheel of some 30 year old in a crit.

By organising tts on a regular basis we can grow the sport.

Incidetally, I have also got the Chiang Mai velodrome open and I can help, coach and advise riders who want a taste of track riding.

You can use road bikes on the track, not MTBs, but you should experience it on fixed. Note that there should be no fixed and road bikes riding together.

Can we get some discussion going about a national tt network?

[BBbUn]

I've never done a TT before, just a couple of mountain bike races. I'm in Chiang Mai (most of the time) as well, would be keen to see this happen too, though have little idea on how to help/contribute.

I do think there are some great roads to do this though.

[OriginalPoster]

Hi fellow cyclists.

English cycling is well-known for its huge time trialling scene. They are successful because they are the type of races that ANYONE can ride on any type of machine. In the UK there is a huge programme of club races at 10, 15, and 25 miles. Open events happen at 10, 25, 30, 50, 100 plus 12 or 24 hours.

I know there are some regular ones near Bangkok, but none elsewhere. I hope to start some regular 10-mile (16km) events on a flat British style home and out courses near Chiang Mai.

OK. TTs are not the all and end all of cycling but they are a great way of getting riders into competition, picking up pedalling and effort skills that can be used for track and road races. You don't need a tt bike. You can do these on any bike so all those Thai riders on MTBs can compete amongst their own group. Us 60 year olds can compete in our own age group without trying to hang on to the rear wheel of some 30 year old in a crit.

By organising tts on a regular basis we can grow the sport.

Incidetally, I have also got the Chiang Mai velodrome open and I can help, coach and advise riders who want a taste of track riding.

You can use road bikes on the track, not MTBs, but you should experience it on fixed. Note that there should be no fixed and road bikes riding together.

Can we get some discussion going about a national tt network?

Are there presently groups doing track sessions at the velodrome?

A taste of the sport is basically what I want. When I was living in Texlertown, Pennsylvania they had a velodrome and I signed up for lessons about a dozen times and was always rejected. They had a corporate sponsor who made grand public gestures indicating that they wanted to serve the community and made a big deal over the fact that they were footing the bill for the coach and the track, but it turned out that and overriding fact was that they were a lot more interested in training 18 to 20 year olds with potential to do big things rather than middle age guys trying to prove that they have more energy than their kids. Would it be correct to assume that in Chiang Mai that their aren't enough future Olympians to force out the old farts?

Edited August 19, 2010 by OriginalPoster

[ianf]

Hi fellow cyclists.

English cycling is well-known for its huge time trialling scene. They are successful because they are the type of races that ANYONE can ride on any type of machine. In the UK there is a huge programme of club races at 10, 15, and 25 miles. Open events happen at 10, 25, 30, 50, 100 plus 12 or 24 hours.

I know there are some regular ones near Bangkok, but none elsewhere. I hope to start some regular 10-mile (16km) events on a flat British style home and out courses near Chiang Mai.

OK. TTs are not the all and end all of cycling but they are a great way of getting riders into competition, picking up pedalling and effort skills that can be used for track and road races. You don't need a tt bike. You can do these on any bike so all those Thai riders on MTBs can compete amongst their own group. Us 60 year olds can compete in our own age group without trying to hang on to the rear wheel of some 30 year old in a crit.

By organising tts on a regular basis we can grow the sport.

Incidetally, I have also got the Chiang Mai velodrome open and I can help, coach and advise riders who want a taste of track riding.

You can use road bikes on the track, not MTBs, but you should experience it on fixed. Note that there should be no fixed and road bikes riding together.

Can we get some discussion going about a national tt network?

Are there presently groups doing track sessions at the velodrome?

A taste of the sport is basically what I want. When I was living in Texlertown, Pennsylvania they had a velodrome and I signed up for lessons about a dozen times and was always rejected. They had a corporate sponsor who made grand public gestures indicating that they wanted to serve the community and made a big deal over the fact that they were footing the bill for the coach and the track, but it turned out that and overriding fact was that they were a lot more interested in training 18 to 20 year olds with potential to do big things rather than middle age guys trying to prove that they have more energy than their kids. Would it be correct to assume that in Chiang Mai that their aren't enough future Olympians to force out the old farts?

I fought very hard to get the velodrome open and paid to have it repaired. Its a great track. . If you want to ride the velodrome and have a little coaching then you can PM me. I have spare track bikes if you are of the right size. A bit careful around the velodrome right now due to rains. I'm touring Burma by bike from 26 Aug to 5 Sept but after this you are welcome to come to the velodrome. PM me. The offer of coaching at a basic level applies to anyone interested. No cost to me but you have to pay sports stadium 500 membership plus 100 bht per session.

So PM me if interested.

[OriginalPoster]

Hi fellow cyclists.

English cycling is well-known for its huge time trialling scene. They are successful because they are the type of races that ANYONE can ride on any type of machine. In the UK there is a huge programme of club races at 10, 15, and 25 miles. Open events happen at 10, 25, 30, 50, 100 plus 12 or 24 hours.

I know there are some regular ones near Bangkok, but none elsewhere. I hope to start some regular 10-mile (16km) events on a flat British style home and out courses near Chiang Mai.

OK. TTs are not the all and end all of cycling but they are a great way of getting riders into competition, picking up pedalling and effort skills that can be used for track and road races. You don't need a tt bike. You can do these on any bike so all those Thai riders on MTBs can compete amongst their own group. Us 60 year olds can compete in our own age group without trying to hang on to the rear wheel of some 30 year old in a crit.

By organising tts on a regular basis we can grow the sport.

Incidetally, I have also got the Chiang Mai velodrome open and I can help, coach and advise riders who want a taste of track riding.

You can use road bikes on the track, not MTBs, but you should experience it on fixed. Note that there should be no fixed and road bikes riding together.

Can we get some discussion going about a national tt network?

Are there presently groups doing track sessions at the velodrome?

A taste of the sport is basically what I want. When I was living in Texlertown, Pennsylvania they had a velodrome and I signed up for lessons about a dozen times and was always rejected. They had a corporate sponsor who made grand public gestures indicating that they wanted to serve the community and made a big deal over the fact that they were footing the bill for the coach and the track, but it turned out that and overriding fact was that they were a lot more interested in training 18 to 20 year olds with potential to do big things rather than middle age guys trying to prove that they have more energy than their kids. Would it be correct to assume that in Chiang Mai that their aren't enough future Olympians to force out the old farts?

I fought very hard to get the velodrome open and paid to have it repaired. Its a great track. . If you want to ride the velodrome and have a little coaching then you can PM me. I have spare track bikes if you are of the right size. A bit careful around the velodrome right now due to rains. I'm touring Burma by bike from 26 Aug to 5 Sept but after this you are welcome to come to the velodrome. PM me. The offer of coaching at a basic level applies to anyone interested. No cost to me but you have to pay sports stadium 500 membership plus 100 bht per session.

So PM me if interested.

Hey, I'm not complaining; I think that it's great that you got the velodrome reopened and don't feel that I'm entitled to free coaching or anything. Just occurred to me that there might already be established groups that one could join there. In a lot of places where they built velodromes for special events they were subsequently torn down because of the sport being too specialized for the track to be economically viable over the long term; it's heartening that that didn't happen here. I didn't put together until now that the track doesn't exist on account of their being a large pool of experienced track riders in the area but rather that it still exists because someone went way above & beyond the call of duty to save it.

.

[ianf]

Hi fellow cyclists.

English cycling is well-known for its huge time trialling scene. They are successful because they are the type of races that ANYONE can ride on any type of machine. In the UK there is a huge programme of club races at 10, 15, and 25 miles. Open events happen at 10, 25, 30, 50, 100 plus 12 or 24 hours.

I know there are some regular ones near Bangkok, but none elsewhere. I hope to start some regular 10-mile (16km) events on a flat British style home and out courses near Chiang Mai.

OK. TTs are not the all and end all of cycling but they are a great way of getting riders into competition, picking up pedalling and effort skills that can be used for track and road races. You don't need a tt bike. You can do these on any bike so all those Thai riders on MTBs can compete amongst their own group. Us 60 year olds can compete in our own age group without trying to hang on to the rear wheel of some 30 year old in a crit.

By organising tts on a regular basis we can grow the sport.

Incidetally, I have also got the Chiang Mai velodrome open and I can help, coach and advise riders who want a taste of track riding.

You can use road bikes on the track, not MTBs, but you should experience it on fixed. Note that there should be no fixed and road bikes riding together.

Can we get some discussion going about a national tt network?

Are there presently groups doing track sessions at the velodrome?

A taste of the sport is basically what I want. When I was living in Texlertown, Pennsylvania they had a velodrome and I signed up for lessons about a dozen times and was always rejected. They had a corporate sponsor who made grand public gestures indicating that they wanted to serve the community and made a big deal over the fact that they were footing the bill for the coach and the track, but it turned out that and overriding fact was that they were a lot more interested in training 18 to 20 year olds with potential to do big things rather than middle age guys trying to prove that they have more energy than their kids. Would it be correct to assume that in Chiang Mai that their aren't enough future Olympians to force out the old farts?

I fought very hard to get the velodrome open and paid to have it repaired. Its a great track. . If you want to ride the velodrome and have a little coaching then you can PM me. I have spare track bikes if you are of the right size. A bit careful around the velodrome right now due to rains. I'm touring Burma by bike from 26 Aug to 5 Sept but after this you are welcome to come to the velodrome. PM me. The offer of coaching at a basic level applies to anyone interested. No cost to me but you have to pay sports stadium 500 membership plus 100 bht per session.

So PM me if interested.

Hey, I'm not complaining; I think that it's great that you got the velodrome reopened and don't feel that I'm entitled to free coaching or anything. Just occurred to me that there might already be established groups that one could join there. In a lot of places where they built velodromes for special events they were subsequently torn down because of the sport being too specialized for the track to be economically viable over the long term; it's heartening that that didn't happen here. I didn't put together until now that the track doesn't exist on account of their being a large pool of experienced track riders in the area but rather that it still exists because someone went way above & beyond the call of duty to save it.

.

Sorry if you misunderstood my tone! I didn't think you were complaining at all .... my offer to you was one of genuine help and cycling comradeship! I'm here to help if you need me. I ride everyday with the group from Canal Road and I have been riding all my life. I like to help. And thanks for your nice comments.

[apetley]

The very best of luck introducing TT's to Thailand.

I may even bring my bike up to CM for a go myself if you get it off the ground.

Used to do 10 and 25 milers myself in the New Forest back in UK which were pretty tough courses.

Hope you keep us updated on progress.

Andy.

[apetley]

Ditto!

Edited August 20, 2010 by apetley

[HAL9000]

I'm fairly isolated in Sukhothai. There is a regular group that rides out Singhawat Road daily, but start time and place seems irregular, so I have only been able to wave in passing. Once I caught the stragglers, but I don't speak Thai, so I wasn't able to get any details coordinated.

I'm primarily interested in road events like club centuries, but would like to connect in any way I can.

[ianf]

I'm fairly isolated in Sukhothai. There is a regular group that rides out Singhawat Road daily, but start time and place seems irregular, so I have only been able to wave in passing. Once I caught the stragglers, but I don't speak Thai, so I wasn't able to get any details coordinated.

I'm primarily interested in road events like club centuries, but would like to connect in any way I can.

I'm occasionally down at mum-in-law's at Sawan Khalok. I'll PM you if I'm there to meet up and ride.