Quiz Time! Tim Torrie (trainSharp Orro Elite Team)

A season of multi-disciplines (track, road, time trials) lies ahead for Tim Torrie (trainSharp Orro Elite Team) who says “Every day you can go out and ride your bike is a great day”

Quiz Time! Tim Torrie (trainSharp Orro Elite Team)
Presented by trainSharp

Tim gets his third placed trophy from the organiser of the Jock Wadley in 2023, Malcolm Hargreaves

Q: With a winter of training behind you now, was it a good winter training wise?
Tim: It’s been a great Winter. I’ve made some massive improvements, physically and with respect to equipment, there were a few goals that I missed due to illness but sometimes these things are out of your control. I’ll be racing the track national bunch races at the end of the month so I’ll get a good idea of how I’m feeling. It’s my first time in the bunch races at senior nationals so it’ll be an experience. Lining up against world champions and former champions, I must be honest I have no expectation I’m just along for the ride…the very, very fast ride!

Q: Are there days in the winter when you can enjoy rides without having to worry about putting the hammer down or do intervals make training more fun going fast!
Tim: I really like hurting myself, so it’s more often than not the guys at trainSharp are sometimes politely and sometimes less politely telling me to back off. I love going out and pushing for hour after hour but that’s not what wins you races, so I squeeze in extra bits of effort where I can for my own enjoyment. Every day you can go out and ride your bike is a great day. I try to enjoy every session for what it is and always push the limit in some way, after all that’s what we’re all trying to find at the end of it all, where our limit is.

Tim flat stick in the British Time Trial Championships in 2023

Q. Winter training – what’s best, indoor turbo work or on the road training?
Tim: I love long winter miles, “leaning” on the cranks for hour after hour. Yet, the last few years we’ve changed my winter focuses. I’ve done a lot of track time, mainly towards pursuiting but this year bunch races are there too. I have a great Madison partnership with Andrew Brinkley and I think we’ll really start to make waves this year in races. The track has just sharpened my ability to suffer for those 3-5 minute efforts where races are really won. We haven’t quite seen the fruits yet but the speed work is definitely changing me for the better.

Q: How many hours do you devote to training for your bike racing?
Tim: Including gym, riding, stretching and massage, it all adds up easily to 30 hrs. If you just want pure cycling figures 15-20hrs on average. In 2023, I rode just over 20,000km, which isn’t obscene. With specific proven training science now, you can get so much out of yourself for less it’s a wonder why some riders are still doing so much training!

Especially when you consider you have to do more than just ride your bike for success these days. I work all this around a full time language degree too which is pretty all encompassing and requires a lot of reading. It works well though, I struggle to sit still so my study forces me to do just that.

Q: Does your training in the winter change much as the years go by and goals may change?
Tim: As I said, we’ve brought a lot more high intensity in these last three years and it’s bringing me on rapidly. A lot more track work. A lot more gym work. The speeds are going up like I’ve never seen before.

Thumbs up from Tim Torrie racing for the trainSharp Orro Elite Team in 2024

Q: What do you think was your best performance in 2023?
Tim: There were a lot of positives for me in 2023. I really found myself re-developing into something of the rider I remember before covid turned everyone’s world upside down. I’ve struggled with the change in racing style and the increased aggression in the bunches as the level has improved but I really started to regain some strength that enabled me to feel happy in the racing environments again.

I think racing madison through last year was instrumental. The best ride in a road race had to be the Jock Wadley. I’d just recovered from a bad respiratory infection on the Friday, rode the bike Saturday for the first time in five days, then managed to drive the break away in the early stages and muddle through for 3rd.

In the time trials, I think the National 50 stands out for me. I under fuelled by so much that when Adam Duggleby passed me with 10 miles to go, I was considering getting off and stopping. I think I covered those last miles in something like 23 minutes. To still be in the top 10 with such a miscalculation was really encouraging and a hard battle worth fighting.

Tim drums up support from the crowd at Saltburn in the British Road Race Championship

Q: You race time trials as well as road races – which is more fun to race?
Tim: Both disciplines have their attractions. I really enjoyed the national time trial champs this year in Darlington. The course had a bit of everything, kicking out of corners, committing to corners at speed and smooth tarmac. Those are the TT’s I most enjoy.

I find dual carriageway races tedious. The risk to reward factor for me is just not there. I won’t ride on a dual carriageway unless its a championship event or like the F2 course where the roads are a bit quieter. Having said that, TT’s are still by far much safer than current national B races in the UK. They are the most stressful races ever, and I raced in Europe with 200 fearless juniors. The level is so high now and speeds are so high, that racing with oncoming traffic is becoming close to a life and death experience. I don’t think it was such a problem before covid but now open road races just feel dangerous.

Q: What race was the most fun in 2023, you seemed to enjoy whipping up crowd support at the road champs LoL!
Tim: The National Champs was a great event. I think I may have picked up a little bit of heat stroke the day before. I spent most of the evening before sat in a cold bath. I was well and truly popped the first time through the finish. I’d hoped that the race wouldn’t go out too hard.

Which of course it did!

I was last man as we went through Skelton and it occurred to me that I had a big problem. I worked hard to get up the bunch and then just overcooked it trying to move up back into Saltburn. It’d be a crime not to make the most of such a great crowd! I just need to learn to wheelie now!

In terms of racing, Beaumont was the best. First time getting back at the pointy end of national series in a while. I was right in the mix to the final climb when I tried to bridge to the front group from the bunch, I made it to the breakaway… But so did everyone else and the final 200 metres of the Ryalls were just infernal and then Saint Piran were all able to go over the top and I nearly came to a halt. I loved that though. Being there in the mix again felt good.

Tim looking comfy in the 2023 Jock Wadley raced in the spring sunshine

Q: Are you still learning how to go faster in Time Trials and is it more technical rather physical improvements that need to be made?
Tim: It’s such an arms race! I don’t have the biggest budget, so I try to make investments into the fastest technology. I’m very fortunate to have been supported by a close friend who funded a 2 hour wind tunnel session for me last year. That was a game changer. Physically, I’ve continued to improve so I’ll no doubt be even quicker in 2024. I lost count of the course records I set last year, I’m hoping for much of the same.

Q: What’s your favourite distance in a Time Trial?
Tim: I’ve always liked 10 and 25, mainly because they’re most similar to what you’d come across in most pro stage races. The national 50 was an experience. The 4km pursuit is perhaps the hardest distance to pace. For me, I really like the courses that fall between the preferred English standards. 15-18-22 mile courses. It makes the TT feel more like a race rather than just guys turning up to better their own times on a drag strip. There is nothing wrong with that; its a great part of our sport, but I’m a competitor at heart so I want to race and I want to win.

Q: What time trial in 2023 was the most satisfying to do?
Tim: The CTT team time Trial champs were awesome. It’s always a pleasure to ride with guys that have class like Sam Clarke and Ollie Peckover. They carried me too as I was hurting after crashing twice at Lincoln the week before. We’re eager to improve on last years 3rd place.

Tim racing the tough and hilly Ilkley town centre circuit race in 2023

Q: Has the training you do over the years changed much or are the principles of it still much the same since you started racing?
Tim: When I first started and for many years, I always rode everywhere as hard and as fast as I could. Speed, speed, it was all about speed. The science demonstrates that this not a very productive way to train. Now, it has been hard but my coaches at rainSharp have gradually disciplined me to actually do endurance rides at endurance pace. I’ve recently changed coach but my former coach Connor was key in motivating me to ride steady and it is amazing how it changes your physical makeup. Slow and steady wins the race as they say!

Q. Finally, what goals are important to you for 2024?
Tim: I’m definitely time trail orientated so it will be nice to see if I can get any closer to the man mountain Josh Tarling in the national champs. Then the national 10 and 25, I’ll look to maximise everything. In bunch races, I’ll be here and there and I should be going well for some of the national series.

I think we’ll be trying to support the Mazzone’s in the crit series with their pedigree. Personally, the Beaumont trophy is probably most suited to me. Maybe I’ll try something there. On top of all that, it’d be cool to win one of the UCI C.2 Madisions that are coming up. Get down to the Good Friday track meet too, it will be a smash fest!

Thanks Tim who I’ve seen race for quite a few years now and good luck in all your racing in 2024 – great insights in the Q&A!