The Granby time trial has been on the Quebec road cycling circuit for as long as I can remember. It is a popular event? Everything is relative. Many mass start road races, running races, triathlons certainly have greater participation. But with participation at more than 240 cyclists on a day with lousy weather, that's pretty good.

Last weekend was this years edition of the Granby TT. There is only one way to TT, you have to go hard and ride at your threshold for the duration of the event. If you've done that, it's a success. People know me as a time-trial specialist, and I guess that's true - over the years I've worked on being able to ride in aero position without compromising my power.

Time-trial bikes and equipment have also evolved greatly. But last week I was a little bit retro with "bull horn" and clip on bars. Frontal area plays a big part in aerodynamics, so I did stay narrow using 36cm bull horns. Of course I think equipment is important but it is really hard to measure the impact of equipment changes (unless you have money to blow in a wind tunnel).

The week before, I did a TT with my new Kestrel Airfoil, and an aero cockpit, which technically should be faster than an older generation Kestrel Talon and clip on bars. With about the same conditions (flat course, low winds, similar temperture), I was slightly faster with the clip on bars (a smidgeon above 44km/hour compared to a smidgeon below on the Airfoil). The difference could probably be the extra time needed for the 180 turnaround. All this to say, if you are going to spend lots of money to upgrade equipment, you'll probably be disapointed because you may not be able to even notice an increase in speed.

As for my result last week, I came in sixth in the Master A category. I usually do better than that, but my pace was faster than the week before, so I can't blame the low tech  tech equipment. Of course, my form could be better, but another factor is that time trialing is gathering momentum. Some people do it to be competitive in stage races, others are triathletes who want to improve their bike splits. Are you time trialing?