Cool! I'd prefer to do the Berkeley TTT on my road bike anyway and it would be nice to have a division where you don't feel at a disadvantage due to your lack of aero equipment or lack of hours spent on position analysis in a wind tunnel.

I don't know if I would go so far as to say it's "awesome", but I like the logic that Chris points out. I would do a second run on the road bike.

Ron

A very reliable source has said that there will be a Merckx division at the BTTT in 2010. Start taking off your aerobars, bar ends, and Zipps.

One of the items to be considered as a rule change for next year is explicitly allowing one or more groups in a TT to be restricted to mass-start legal bikes, including TT events in stage races. This would be something specified in the race announcement and technical guide.

This already exists at the UCI level (new for 2009), and has been done at some UCI stage races this year. At bigger UCI races the organizer pays much of the expenses of pro teams to come to the race - simply bringing in TT bikes was a $50,000 budget item for one UCI race in the US.

For domestic races, this would most likely be done for lower categories - e.g. the 4/5 field or similar - it levels the playing field and simplifies things. God help the organizer who tries to do it for a Masters event.

What I love second most about Merckx (first most is $$$$ saved) is that it increases the applicability of the training benefit to mass-start racing.

Great idea - the Merckx division is awesome!

I too am an advocate for having Merckx divisions at time trials. Beat the Clock and Dunlap have used this format and as a member of the BBC I will lobby to have a Merckx division in 2010. The BTTT fills quickly every year and there are time constraints on how long we can have riders on the course but I think we need to "reach out" to all riders who may want to give the TT a try.

I attended my son's promotion from elementary school today and the guest speaker had two recommendations for the graduating students. Continue to do what you are good at but don't forget to try something new. I think given the opportunity we may find more takers out there if they can compete into a category where the playing field is level.

I like the suggestion that Chris makes. I would be interesting to see a top level Time Trialist ride their road bike first and then attempt the 2nd effort on their TT rig and then combine both times for an overall average score and have a category for that event too!

I think this is a great idea, especially if it is added as the last group of the day, then many racers can come back for a 2nd race (more fees for the promoter) and compare their times to riding their TT bikes. If enough people do this we could even have some data showing how much time areo equipment saves.

I've always thought having a Merckx category would be a smart thing to do from a promoters perspective. It would bring more racers to the race.

When i first started racing, you could get away with throwing some clip ons on the old road bike and still be competitive. These days you are at a huge disadvantage in any category without full aero equipment. I have a hard time justifying the purchase of a $3k TT rig for 4-5 races a year.

With more mid week low key TT events cropping up around Northern CA, there are more people doing TTs on their road bikes again and it would be nice to give them a sanctioned race with a category they could be competitive in.

I'm no technophobe, but i always liked the idea of the merckx format and the "athlete's hour." There is something romantic about competing against all those who came before you in the same format without any significant technical advantage.