Time Trial Cycling FAQs

Time trial (TT) cycling is a race against the clock where cyclists start individually or in small groups, aiming for the fastest time over a set distance – typically 10-50 miles. Unlike mass-start races, it’s you vs. the course. As an example, WI-IL Cycling Association’s beginner-friendly 10-mile TTs in Wisconsin and Illinois are perfect for testing your solo speed.

Train with steady efforts (e.g., 20-30 minutes at 80% max heart rate) to build endurance, and practice pacing – don’t sprint out the gate. Get an aero helmet and a tuned bike; every second counts. For example, WI-IL Cycling Association’s flat Illinois TTs reward consistent power – register for our time trial events to start strong.

Not at all! TTs are about personal bests, not beating others. Basic fitness (e.g., 1-2 hour rides weekly) gets you started. WI-IL Cycling Association’s beginner TTs in 2025 are low-pressure – ride your pace and enjoy the challenge.

No. Drafting is not legal in individual time trial cycling events. Riders drafting in individual events will be disqualified. Drafting team mates is legal in Team and 2 Person Time Trial events.

Nineteen (19) events so far.  Riders can choose from individual 4K, 10 mile, 20k, 30K, 40k, and 50k (team) events. See the Events Page for the list.

Yes.  The best way to do this is to preregister for both events. If doing on site sign up, please first check with the promoter to see if it is possible. Get there early enough before the event starts as we send out the dual racers first for their first race.

Some promoters do not allow a second MATTS race, due to the time and logistics of the event. 

Riders can race twice in different categories and on different bikes. A rider can race first in their age group on a TT or road bike and the second race could be in the ability category or on a road or TT bike.

Yes. There are 3 different ways it can be done.
1. Before race day. Online start list has a contact email and/or phone number to request changes.
2. Day of race at registration, when you pick up your race numbers.
3. At the start line to the ABR Official before you start of your first race.

No.  Riders are to race in their specific age group or ability category. The one exception is for the 2-Person or Team Time Trials (see below).

Most of our age groups are in 5 year increments (0-4, 5-9) but those below the age of 50 are combined into larger groups (10 to 15 year buckets).

Juniors 14 and under
Juniors 15-18
19-29
30-39
40-49
50-54, 55-59
etc…

Also we have both Women and Open age group categories.

This is the classic Cat 1 – 5 groupings, but we do not follow the UCI/USAC categories (even though they are named the same). For time trials, our categories are based on your previous best average speed for a 20k flat TT.

Cat 1. 30 mph plus average speed.
Cat 2. 27 ~ 29 mph average speed.
Cat 3. 23 ~ 26 mph average speed.
Cat 4. 19 ~ 22 mph average speed.
Cat 5. 15 ~ 18 mph average speed.

We also have the same Open and Women ability categories.

That depends on your results but we go 20 places deep for each category (new for 2025):

Points: 25 for 1st, 22 for 2nd, 20 for 3rd, 19 for 4th, 18 for 5th, 17 for 6th, 16 for 7th, 15 for 8th, 14 for 9th, 13 for 10th,12 for 11th, 11 for 12th, 10 for 13th, 9 for 14th, 8 for 15th, 7 for 16th, 6 for 17th, 5 for 18th, 4 for 19th, 3 for 20th.

For calculating the season series standings, we take a racers up to 10 best finishes. Racers with 8 results will be included in the standings and will qualify for awards. Racers with 9 or 10 results will also qualify for a payout. Last, racers with less number of results cannot place higher than racers with more results even if they have a higher point total.

In the Covid shortened season of 2020, we took the 5 best finishes as we only had 8 races that year.

Yes.  This race will count towards overall awards.  You will be scored (0) zero points for the event. If you have more than 10 results, the lowest results are dropped.

Points for the team events are distributed the same as individual age and ability categories.

Riders with different abilities must race in the class of the highest category.  For example, a Cat 4 rider racing with a Cat 1/2 rider would race the Cat 1/2 category for this event.

Riders must enter the age class of the youngest rider on the team.

In the TT categories, we allow any kind of TT or Triathlon bike, we do NOT follow the UCI/USAC rules on TT bikes.

No. E-Bikes are not permitted in Time Trial Cycling.

Yes, we have a special category for Recumbent bikes. See the event preregistration page for that category. You may want to double check the course as we have some courses that are out and back and you will need to make a U-Turn in the middle of the road. Other courses are loops and do not need to perform a U-Turn.

Yes, we have a category for that too! See the event preregistration page for that category.

Yes, we have categories for those as well, they are:

Upright (aka can ride a normal bike)
Tricycle
Tandem (blind)
Handcycles

See the event preregistration page for the categories.

We current follow similar rules to what the UK Cycling Time Trials (CTT) has for their Road Bike category. We allow any mass start legal road bike with the following exceptions:

No aero bars
No aero disc wheel or cover
Deep profile wheels need to be less than 100mm.
No TT specific helmet (Aero road bike helmets are OK)

If a bike has one of these exceptions, it will be categorized as a TT bike and the rider will still be allowed to race.