Initially, cycle racing on the highways took the form we now know as road racing where all the competitors started together and the first to cross the line won. With the introduction of the motor car, events were pushed off the road and held on velodromes. However, there were those who still wanted to compete on the road.
One of these, FT Bidlake by name, came up with a plan. If each rider were to be dispatched separately and just timed over the course, he wouldn't be seen to be racing, just going about his normal business. Then the person covering the course in the shortest time could be (secretly) declared the winner. And so time trialling came into being.
In order to ensure a measure of uniformity in the conduct of road time trials, a group of cycling clubs formed the Road Racing Council in 1922. Membership was confined to founder clubs and to clubs promoting open events. A set of recommendations was agreed upon and for fifteen years the sport flourished to such an extent that it became necessary in 1937, in view of the modern traffic conditions and the ever increasing number of events and competitors, to review the whole position.
The result was that within a few months the RRC changed its title to that of the Road Time Trials Council, adopted a new constitution admitting all cycling clubs to membership and embarked upon a scheme of national control both of the sport and those who compete in it.
The organisation of the Council however did not, nor is it intended that it shall, interfere with good club organisation or in the manner in which time trials have been run now for more than three quarters of a century. The main object of the Council remained as it was in 1922, and that is to provide a national uniformity in the conduct of events and take any steps which may be necessary to ensure the continuance and well being of the sport.
This policy was successfully expanded and improved until the turn of the century when it became apparent that a change of status to a corporate body would be advantageous to the Council. An agreement was signed on 1st December 2002, between the Council and Cycling Time Trials who have undertaken to continue the long standing aims, standards and integrity of the Council.
In the early days, and until relatively recently, it was a fairly simple matter of finding a convenient place to start an event, measuring half the intended distance of the event up the road, noting the place where a marshal was to be stationed to turn the riders, and fixing the finish opposite the start. Traffic conditions have all but put paid to that sort of simplicity. Now courses have to be designed with turning points at convenient flyovers or roundabouts, starts and finishes are rarely very close together, and the provision of an event headquarters with changing facilities is high on the priority list.
As the years have passed, various changes have been made. Time triallists no longer have to meet in secret, wearing what was called "inconspicuous clothing". Pre-event publicity, has been allowed for as long as most people can remember, and prize winners are allowed to receive cash prizes.
The idea of individuals riding "against the clock" and ignoring any other rider who they catch or who catches them still holds true for the majority of events today but there are also events which are for teams of two, three or four riders who ride together, known as Team Time Trials - shortened to 2up / 3up / 4up TTTs.