I think that if you can't stay in position for 112 miles your position is not very good and/or you haven't properly trained.

Now let me qualify that statement: I'm a roadie not a triathlete, which maybe means I'm coming at it from a different angle. Among other things I spend a lot of time on the bike. However, I'm also fairly qualified in this area, having fit a lot of people, including top pros, and toyed with my own position for years. My own position is very aggressive (and more aero than probably 98% of the people here), but I comfortably ride it for hours and it would never even occur to me to break position, even after a few hours.

I voted "lose 10 lbs" because, even though I'm fairly lean and not even sure losing 10 lbs would be healthy for me, losing weight is by far the most painful thing on that list, for me.

Losing 10 lbs. absolutely BLOWS. I lost 100+ five years ago. Easy peasy.
However, the damn winter weight comes back every Season of Eating (you know, the season that starts with Halloween and carries on through Thanksgiving, Holiday parties, Christmas, NYE, the Super Bowl, and finally finishes on Valentines Day...where you find yourself invited to situations that seem to revolve around massive ingesting of unhealthy foodstuffs)....

I keep telling myself as I gear into more race prep/fitness, I'll lose that last 10 of the winter weight I gained. It's not happening.

Heck...aero? I think that's easy for fat guys. Sure, I'm not in it ALLLLL day. Everyone needs a quick backstretch. But I think for us fat guys (It's like AA, "I'm AJ and I'm a fat guy....) in our minds, it's like "leaning". Why stand when you can lean? I took to it like a fish to water. Or...well, maybe a small whale.

If I had to choose from the list....then it be the never cramping again on race day.

But what I really want is for my asthma to magically be cured in a day...it is mostly controlled but is also exercise induced so it's been a long time since I haven't felt a little tightness when training hard or pushing it during a race.

I bet some people would want to no have anymore allergies also (which also can trigger my asthma).

Another vote for not cramping. How do you work towards not cramping? I don't even know where to start. There's always that one race where my calves and quads seize up. I can dial back my bike effort to a sportive level but what's the point?

And I guess I am one of the very few people not concerned about weight... I think rule of thumb is 3500 calorie deficit = 1lb lost. The formula seems to work well.

---

Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

I chose "lose 10 lbs" because it is the option which requires the most effort. It's certainly achievable but takes more work/dedication than the others (assuming you already can ride aero). The others are easy to achieve compared to that one. (edit: well if you're cramping and don't have a root cause that would be tough)

I also don't quite understand your thought process on achieving aero; unless you're being a stickler for a statistically achievable 100% (which I don't believe to be the case), 99% is most certainly in the realm of possibility and I'd argue not that difficult if you dedicate time to it. It's course specific but at IMAZ, for example, many people ride 99% aero. If the main point is people should be focused on that one first, weight second then I wholeheartedly agree.

---

---------------------------------------------
Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding it hurts.

I also voted for the not cramping, it is the only thing that I have never been able to control. Now the 10 lbs has been a bitch for the past 15 years, but that is just me and I know how to lose it, just can't seem to summon the will power to cross the line.

Aero is easy, but you have to get some help and be a willing participant.

Not being a stickler but also presuming that people self select a position that works yet still fail, myself included. I guess I was assuming that most people could go lower and be narrower but don't because it is not sustainable. Sure could they get there with a dedication to focus on strength, mobility, etc, sure but it is going to be a lot of work. A lot more work than losing 10lbs IMHO. Proof of this is when I look at pros at kona they are super super skinny yet they still often have very upright positions, why is that? But yes I am being a stickler too in that that most people don't take aerobars for instance in the turns. At Eagleman I had the opportunity to view people finishing the bike while on the run. They were about 5 miles from the finish and large percentage were no longer aero.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

I disagree!

Staying on the aerobars for 112 miles IS achievable, and easily BUT, far too many people set up their bikes for theoretical best aeroness. Sure, they get wicked low and super aero and may even claim they are comfortable in that position.
However, with proof being in the pudding, and seeing how many people ride not on the aero bars, for surprisingly long periods, it is clear that they have not gone for the most aero position they can maintain, for the duration, they have gone for the most aero short term solution. They chase a few Watts in the wind tunnel or at the bike fit, but don't allow for how horrifically un-aero they are sitting up, trying to get their back sorted.

I was actually at a bike fit session a buddy of mine had with CyclenutNZ about 10 years ago or so. My buddy rode an ali P3 at the time. He talked himself into a really slammed position and was undoubtedly he got pretty low drag numbers. When asked by Dave how he felt, he claimed he was really comfortable. Even for the half hour test phase he still claimed to be comfy and feeling powerful, but on the road, he could only ride like that for about 10km, then sit up for 5 minutes, repeat as necessary. Clearly, NOT the fast way to T2.

In fact, at the IMNZ we raced together, even with some raising of his bars, we were both really surprised when a fat TriDork, on a well sorted ali P2, went past him as he was sitting up. He dug deep and repassed me and got to T2 sooner, but he was crippled when he started to run. I almost caught him on the run, but he saw me, dug deep again and ended up beating me by about 15 minutes overall.

To ride the aerobars for the full 112 miles, you just have to get the right setup for 112 miles. Not many people actually do that, so it appears to be unachievable when it's actually not that hard.

---

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

+1, if I could get rid of my exercise induced asthma, I'd choose that.

But, if I could choose to have no heart problems, I'd go with that instead.
But, if I could choose to have never broken any of the 40 bones I've done so far, I'd go for that (because my back and neck are chronic pain areas for me)
But, I'd also like to choose no arthritis either.

Dan really needed to make the list longer :-)

---

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Ouch... that's a lot more than most of us... I hope not from this sport...

Skull, neck, back twice, ribs (about 11 so far) pelvis, tail bone twice, patella, ankle, most bones in my left foot, toes I no longer count. Collar bone, wrist, thumb and several fingers.

It's taken me 50 years to get this many and they have been mainly skiing and cycling.

The funniest one was about 18 months ago when I tried to get more speed and launched myself down the waterslide I built from my man-cave/treehouse, into my swimming pool. My family still laughs at me for that one.

Most painful at the time was my collar bone (compression fracture into hundreds of tiny pieces) in a high speed crash in a ski slalom training run. FK me that was killer. Or any of the ribs. They take ages to heal and sleeping is a nightmare.

Most pain long term was crushing T6 in my back, learning how to do pole flips on skis. It's misshapen now and causes me constant back pain. Just recently, the point load it creates on the disc below has caused bulging and sciatica like pain. I really really wish I'd gone to the hospital when it happened so I could have it made back in the right shape, and avoided all this chronic pain. Alas, I just thought I'd torn a muscle in my back, so just drove home and rested for a few weeks.

Other than that, air keeps going in and out of my mouth pretty much regularly, so life is good (hell, just last week I holidayed in Aitutaki Cook Islands and it was freakin' stupendously incredibly amazing) my back didn't hurt so bad when I was there :-) (Look up Aitutaki on Mr Google and be amazed!)

---

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Thats just crazy, I have never broken even 1 bone in my life. I have crashed too many times to count on the bike, played contact sports, rode skateboards with steel wheels, and surfed a million waves, but not one broken bone..

What was that movie with Samuel L Jackson, Unbreakable I think it was called. You are him and to balance you out in the cosmos there is me, the Bruce Willis character. One guy spent his life is utter pain with broken bones every day, the other could not be hurt no matter what, a really great movie that I will now attempt to see again..

People say I'm accident prone, but I prefer to think that I'm activity prone :-)

Back when I was skiing, I had a very high level of confidence, but I wasn't as good as I thought I was, so had accidents a lot. (freestyle skiing is just linked crashes, especially mogul skiing). With cycling, almost all my crashes have been due to motorists or other cyclists.

I remember that Unbreakable film, kinda cool concept, and yes, I might be Samuel L Jackson. I think he learned to swear from me, that is for sure.

I am living proof that drinking LOTS of milk does not strengthen bones :-(

---

TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

On the Aero factor I think people compromise too quickly. Get fitted, do your aero tweaks, dedicate time/effort to riding that position for 5 hours then decide if you really can't hold that position or need to compromise. Obviously there are many exceptions but as a general rule we've all heard many, many folks comment on not being able to ride that position or simply exhibiting a shit position. How many times have you heard/read some describe their efforts to achieve that position for 5 hours?

For example, I like (ok "like" isn't the right word...) to prime two youtube music videos to watch after every trainer workout. The goal is to practice turtleing for 10 minutes and you don't get to look away from the screen during a 10 minute cool down. It's not the end all be all and it actually sucks (this sometimes elicits more grimacing than during the actual workout) but what's the cost? It's a little more suffering and it seems to specifically help the neck (and eyes, as odd as that sounds) muscles adapt to holding the head in a solid position.

edit: oh and just so TriDork doesn't get all the glory =D i get to a count a compound fracture of the tibia, femur, hip, collar bone, multiple ankle and finger bones plus skull among my fun list. neck also doesn't really bend to the right after being hit by a car. not quite as impressive as the TriDork however

---

---------------------------------------------
Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding it hurts.

I went with 10lbs lighter, under the assumption that it would not come at the expense of any power. Why not the aerobars you ask? Well, I have no problem sitting in the aerobars for hours. If I come out it's to climb, negotiate an intersection, or take advantage f an aid station. I assumed that option was included in the poll for folks who can't physically stay in the aerobars for prolonged periods. In which case, yes, that would make a big difference.

It's easy to lose 10 lbs in a day, just cut off your leg...it didn't say HOW to lose the 10lbs...

It's been ten years since an IM for me and 3 since a half. But I had no problem staying on the aerobars -- except for a ten second stretch every 15 minutes (on the clock).

I almost picked lose ten pounds, but know I can do that with effort.

However, I was a 1:15 IM swimmer. I could propel myself with a flutter kick in the pool, but very slowly and it did not feel like I was moving. Perhaps I was wrong to think there was nothing I could do to work on that. Anyway, I picked kicking.

---

________
It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

For me it's pretty simple, none of those are a problem except kick at a descent speed so I went with that (I can make forward progress though).

Different people have different challenges.

So for the people choosing weight is it just because you don't want to go thru the process of losing weight systemically?


Yes. It's too big of a hassle for me (and most, I bet).