Are wet roads faster?
ATTA NSW January Report
6th Jan 2008 Calga, Central Coast, NSW, Australia A fine mist of rain and wet the roads greeted cyclists at Calga on the first Sunday of 2008 for the start of the January ATTA NSW Time Trial however by the time the first rider had rolled out of the start ramp at 8am, all precipitation had ceased leaving a warm overcast morning with damp roads and no wind. This became the major topic of discussion amongst the 60 odd competitors. Every minute issue was debated as to whether the wet conditions were favorable or adverse to setting fast times.
Rolling resistance, atmospheric density, oxygen content in the air, body core temperature and even weight of a wet jersey were all used as pros and cons to support each riders claim. Not overly fussed on the issue I politely requested the individual riders to cease talking, get on their bike and ride. (But not using those words)
I guess the discussion was also fueled by the fact that seven time NSW Time Trial champion Peter Milostic had returned in an attempt to better his amazing December time of 59 min 34 seconds for the 43km course. Peter was in his final preparations for the National Time Trial Championships to be held in just four days so with or without the damp roads he was going to be giving the record a solid nudge.
Heads started to nod as the first rider (Michael Foster) completed the 25km course in a blistering fast 35:42. The arguments were all but quenched by the time the two up mixed team of Mick Curran and Fryer Scolly set a new record of 36:22. By this time many of the finished competitors were calculating the clock time that Milostic would require to secure another ATTA record.
So much attention had been placed on Milostic that most people including officials had neglected that Robert Hodgeson (2007 NSW Time Trail Bronze medalist) was also in his final preparations for the National titles. Rob had his eyes set on Adam Conquest’s long standing 25km record of 33:32. The Northern Sydney rider came rocketing past the finish line to record an unbelievable 33:12. Clocks were checked, rechecked and even compared to Robert’s on-board computer. Eventually it was confirmed that the time was indeed correct and we had a new 25km record with a smoking 45.2km/h average speed.
Photo 1
Robert receives the trophy which records all ATTA NSW recordsAttention quickly turned back down the road with definite confirmation that this day was positively perfect for setting records. A shout of “here he comes!” and a quick glance at the digital clock was all the confirmation required to indicate that Milostic was on track to smash his own record despite the finishing straight being over 800m long. Peter eventually stopped the clock in 58:20 (44.3km/h) improving on his Decembers time by 1 min 14 seconds. In between gasping breaths Peter uttered “never again” followed by “If anyone can beat that, I’ll give em the $100 myself”.
Photo 2
Peter Milostic receives the record trophy for the second month in a row It will be great to see how Peter and Robert go against the likes of former 3 times World Time Trial Champion Michael Rogers in Ballarat on Thursday 10th January. The ATTA NSW organisers would like to extend their best wishes to all competitors competing for the National Jersey.
January was the second week of the new “Personal Best (PB) ride Scheme” whereby after a rider establishes 2 rides on the same course, any rider who betters their PB will be rewarded with a free entry for the next calendar event. Hence both Peter and Robert are eligible for free entry in February. Results have been kept on a data base for every event since mid 2005. You can find out your PB at the ATTA NSW start line. ATTA NSW conducts Time Trials on the first Sunday of each month rain, hail or shine.
http://www.atta.asn.au/ 12.5km course
Rider Riders Time Average
1 Marc Person 0:16:35 45.23
2 Simon Walsh 0:17:05 43.90
3 Denis Fahey 0:17:21 43.23
4 Trevor Smith 0:18:05 41.47
5 Andrew Baker 0:22:48 32.89
6 Catalina Botez 0:23:29 31.94
7 Mathew Baker 0:23:45 31.58
8 Michell Baker 0:25:45 29.13
25km course
Rider Riders Time Average
1 Robert Hodgson 0:33:12 45.18
2 Michael Foster 0:35:42 42.02
3 Ross Hodgson 0:35:54 41.78
4 Robert Morman 0:36:18 41.32
5 Mick Curran/Freya Scollay 0:36:22 41.25
6 Mark Stapleton 0:36:29 41.11
7 Stan Genakis 0:36:35 41.00
8 Matthew Brown 0:36:41 40.89
9 Stuart Harrington 0:37:10 40.36
10 Marc Person 0:37:19 40.20
11 Scott Dillon 0:38:14 39.23
12 Danial Healey 0:38:59 38.48
13 John Horsburgh 0:39:03 38.41
14 Eric Burgess 0:39:07 38.35
15 Mitchell Kable 0:39:14 38.23
16 Colin McDarmont 0:39:40 37.82
17 Robert Chapman 0:39:49 37.67
18 Norbert Gerold 0:39:59 37.52
19 Joanna Sommerville 0:41:10 36.44
20 Todd Richardson 0:41:27 36.19
21 Tony Whiteside 0:42:41 35.14
22 Liz Vadas 0:43:25 34.55
23 Brett Starkey 0:43:35 34.42
24 Stephen Shelley 0:43:51 34.21
25 Allen Rayner 0:44:01 34.08
26 Dennis Nell 0:44:06 34.01
27 Bill Salter 0:44:09 33.98
28 Mark Burgess 0:45:10 33.21
29 Simon Huggins 0:45:16 33.14
30 Len Growen 0:45:21 33.08
31 Sarah White 0:45:35 32.91
32 Susan Wilson 0:46:10 32.49
33 Alan Nolan 0:49:45 30.15
34 Jurij Sadowskyj 0:52:17
43km course
Rider Riders Time Average
1 Peter Milostic 0:58:20 44.23
2 Tim Porter 1:07:58 37.96
3 Graham Evans 1:11:04 36.30
4 Chris Kuznetsoff 1:13:02 35.33
5 Robert Hekking 1:17:52 33.13
6 Lilian Kuusk 1:18:12 32.99
7 Alan Robinson 1:19:17 32.54
8 Stephen MCManus 1:24:09 30.66
9 Peter Beard 1:31:26 28.22
10 Paul Clarke/Andrew Sadowskyj 1:41:48 25.34
