what kind of roads do you ride?

ever go down long, steep hills?

ever go down hill at 50+ mph?

ever go 50+ mph and then hit some bad pavement?

ever go 50+ mph then have to rapidly brake and immediately execute a sharp hairpin turn?

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Where would you want to swim ?

I'll assume the questions were not rhetorical.

what kind of roads do you ride?
Just regular asphalt. Some are smooth, some pretty old and bumpy.

ever go down long, steep hills?
Sometimes. The long downhill around here are curvy, twisty. (NOT where name came from, FYI)
The curviness of the terrain is ONE reason I don't aerobar.

ever go down hill at 50+ mph?
No. Too fast for me, high 30s is my limit. I'm not sure my gears could take me to 50+ anyway.

ever go 50+ mph and then hit some bad pavement?
Taken verbatim, obviously not. But in the high 30s, yeah . . . what's your point. This is one reasson I don't want to go 50.

ever go 50+ mph then have to rapidly brake and immediately execute a sharp hairpin turn?
Taken verbatim . . . Otherwise, no. If I can see the hairpin turn, I'm braking before I get there. If I can't see what's ahead, then I am braking for the possibility of a hairpin turn, bad pavement, etc.

I don't know if it matters, but these answers hinge on this philosophy: If I ride the next 20 years and have one wreck at a fast speed (say, 40+) it would not be worth the cumulative fun at riding at "fast speeds." If I lost an age group award because of my cautiousness, I don't care; I guess I will just have to do better on the uphills.

the questions were not rhetorical. i asked them because i find that with drop bars (regular 'road style' handlebars) with good STI brake levers (and good brakes, of course) i can do all of those things with comfort. and not because of my great skill, but because using the bottoms of the drops lowers my center of gravity so much that safety and maneuverability is really increased.

keep or toss the aerobars, that is always your option.

but i just find that the flexibility, comfort, security, and speed of drop bars far, far exceeds that of tt cowhorns. at least that's my experience ...

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Where would you want to swim ?