How to use Tom’s Gear Lab
Start with the tool you need. Find an event, set a goal, prepare for the day and record how it went. Your results and notes can help you see progress over time.
The event planning flow
The calendar passes a saved event’s details into Event Preparation. From there you can open the checklist and warm-up planner with the event details filled in. Changes in those separate tools do not automatically update the calendar.
- 1. Find an eventSearch individual events and filter by date, location, distance or entry information.
- 2. Save it to your calendarSave a listed event directly or add any event manually.
- 3. Plan the eventOpen the saved event to plan tasks, travel, arrival and departure.
- 4. Prepare for the startOpen the linked Race Day Checklist and Warm-up Planner.
- 5. Share the rideEnter your figures or import an activity file to make a graphic.
Find an event
- Search listed events or filter by source, discipline, location, date, distance and published entry closing date. All listed sources shows shared filters; choosing Audax UK or the Audax discipline reveals its event category filter, while CTT shows its event type filter.
- Open a Tom’s Gear Lab event page to see organiser, route, venue and eligibility details.
- Check current entry status and any late changes on the official organiser or listing page before entering there. If no postcode is provided, Tom’s Gear Lab may show one from a clearly named venue with a source note; a town alone is not enough to set your travel destination. Where the source gives only a town, you can save without a postcode, use its name for rough Maps directions, or enter a postcode yourself. A county alone is too broad for a useful estimate. Rough destinations remain marked as approximate in the calendar and preparation plan. Confirm the event start before setting your departure.
- Save an event to the Tom’s Gear Lab calendar, then open that specific calendar entry to manage it or go straight to its preparation plan. Add unlisted events manually.
The finder combines a dated Audax UK calendar snapshot with an initial CTT selection. Summary pages may lack a verified postcode or entry deadline. Check the official event page for current details; Tom’s Gear Lab does not handle entry.
Explore event sources →Event Calendar
- Enter an event name and date; add its first start time, venue and postcode when known.
- Choose the event type, priority and whether you have entered. Add a goal or notes if useful.
- Save the event and select “Plan this event” to open its preparation plan.
- Afterwards, record your placing and how pleased you were with the result.
Events always save on this device. If you are signed in and account sync is enabled, they also save to My Account. Keep a downloaded backup before replacing a different copy. “Add to phone calendar” creates a separate calendar file; later edits in Tom’s Gear Lab do not update it.
Open Event Calendar →Event Preparation
- Select an event from your Tom’s Gear Lab calendar or create a one-off plan.
- Work through the tasks for the week, the day before and event day.
- Enter your home postcode and the confirmed arrival postcode to open driving directions in Google Maps. For a CTT event, check its HQ rather than assuming the course start is where you should park.
- Check the route there, enter driving time, and choose how early you want to arrive. Tom’s Gear Lab calculates when to leave home.
- Open Google Calendar to save the departure time, or download an ICS file and import it into another calendar app.
Tom’s Gear Lab cannot read journey time from Maps or sound an alarm itself. Check traffic and confirm that a calendar notification is set. The plan also links to the checklist and warm-up planner.
Open Event Preparation →How CTT arrival locations are chosen
- Use the organiser’s stated HQ or arrival postcode first.
- If an HQ is named without a postcode, check that venue against a reliable venue address and label its postcode as an estimate.
- If there is no HQ, use a verifiable postcode near the course start only as a rough course area reference. It does not confirm parking or sign-on.
- If only a town or area is known, offer rough area directions without inventing a postcode. If only a county is given, save without a destination.
Each estimate is optional and links to its source. Confirm where to arrive with the organiser before travelling.
Race Day Checklist
- Choose the event type to load a starting list of bike, clothing and kit items.
- Add event-specific requirements from the organiser’s instructions.
- Tick items as you pack. Start a new list for the next event.
The checklist saves on this device and, when signed in, to your account. It does not replace the organiser’s compulsory kit list.
Open Race Day Checklist →Warm-up Planner
- Set the event date, start time and minutes needed to get to the start.
- Choose a preset or manual plan, effort style, warm-up location and intensity measure.
- Edit the example steps and check the calculated start time and schedule.
- Use the live session timer if useful; keep the page open for an optional browser reminder.
The browser reminder is not a reliable phone alarm. Make your own start-time check.
Open Warm-up Planner →Gear and rollout calculator
- Enter chainring and sprocket teeth, wheel and tyre size, and cadence.
- Read the estimated rollout, gear ratio and speed; compare nearby sprockets.
- Or enter a target rollout to find gear combinations close to it.
Tyre sizes give estimates. Measure the actual rolling circumference when precision matters and check current competition rules separately.
Open Gear calculator →Bike setup card
- Add a bike and choose road, track, time trial, gravel or other.
- Record position, tyres, pressures, gearing and notes that matter to you.
- Use “Copy setup” to keep a separate text backup.
Bikes are saved only in the current browser. Clearing browser data removes them.
Open Bike setup card →Ride Card and highlights
- Enter a ride headline, date, distance and other figures, or import a GPX, TCX or FIT file.
- Review imported data, then choose a portrait, story or transparent image format.
- Preview and download a PNG. You can also select power efforts or a checked segment result for a highlights image.
Activity files and photos stay on your device. Power highlights require recorded power data; a claimed segment placing must be checked with its source.
Make a Ride Card →Where your information is kept
Tom’s Gear Lab saves calendar events, preparation plans, checklists, warm-up plans and bike setups in the browser you use. They do not automatically sync to another device. Download a calendar backup regularly, and keep copied plans or bike setups where you can find them. The Ride Card processes files in the browser.