After not riding my tri-bike in a dog's age, I finally put some miles on the ole steed. My 2010 Quintana Roo CD0.1. I rode with my training buddy Brenda. We're both training for the
Storm the Fort triathlon in Kingston, TN on August 26th, and later on in the year,
Ironman Florida. Brenda and I rode a route from her neighborhood in Stockbridge, Georgia to Griffin and back. In total we put in 70 miles that day. Right off the bat I noticed several things that differed from riding my road bike.
It should be noted that in the past 2 or 3 years I've logged over 8,800 miles on my road bike while my tri-bike has accumulated only 200 miles, including the 70 miles I had just ridden with Brenda. My mountain bike has 0 (zero) miles logged in the same time. That needs to change. These figures are not completely accurate because I haven't always had my gear entered into Strava, where I found these numbers. But, you get the gist - I need to ride my tri-bike more and my road bike less.
That recent 70 mile ride in the aero position on my tri-bike quickly caused fatigue in my legs. I just hadn't been training that way. My neck soon grew sore as well. And then there's my hand position. For an (cough-cough) older gentleman my aero position is pretty aggressive. This aggressive stance made my hands and shoulders ache as well as feeling like my grip wasn't secure enough.
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| Riding the tri-bike on the trainer |
That said, I've decided to make some changes. First, I've moved my tri-bike to the trainer. Riding my tri-bike more should help strengthen my neck and stretch my gluts and lower back. Second, I'm going to try changing the angle of my aerobars. Currently they're flat, parallel with the ground. If I angle the tips up slightly they should feel more comfortable without negatively impacting my aerodynamics.
Brenda dragged me around middle Georgia like a rag doll on our ride. Maybe the next time we ride together I'll be a little more helpful.
Thanks for reading.
