Where I ride, it is very flat and I can ride almost non-stop for up to 2 hours at a time without any traffic signals. After getting away from the ‘city’ which takes about 10 minutes, I can settle down into my aero position and stay there for about 45-60 minutes. After that I find myself sitting up ‘riding the hoods’ for a few minutes before settling back down into my aero position which I can now hold for 10-15 minutes at a time before I have to sit up again and ride the hoods. Sort of the way a swimmers stroke might fall apart after a few hundred meters, my aero position falls apart after 20-25 miles or so.
Is this normal? Is it a bike fit issue? Fitness issue? Equipment…….maybe I need a new saddle and some DeSoto 400 mile shorts? Do I need to see a Chiropractor?
I typically ride 5 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday. My aero position falls apart after 1 hour and my ass is killing me after 3 hours on either ride.
I’m pretty fast in my aero position and would like to spend more time ‘being aero.’
On a course like IMAZ or IMFL how much time (percentage wise) would a top AG Uber biker dude spend in the aero position?
Because I get uncomfortable and need to ‘stretch’ adjust, whatever, but I feel like I should be able to settle back in for another hour or so, but I cant. And that’s my problem.
Because I get uncomfortable and need to ‘stretch’ adjust, whatever, but I feel like I should be able to settle back in for another hour or so, but I cant. And that’s my problem.
What’s stopping you? “Uncomfortable” doesn’t tell us anything. Is it your butt, your neck, your back, your junk, what?
Lower back mostly. If I had to suffer through it I could. Just wondering if this kind of ‘discomfort’ in the aero position is unique to me…or if it’s and ‘ability to suffer’ thing that others deal with. I would classify myself as a very fast rider…but only on the flat courses that suit me, therefore I spend much time in my aero position and I am trying to perfect it. I think I’ll be less abstract and post a ‘critique my position’ photo. Perhaps that would be helpful.
Once your muscles are fatigued and sore, stretching them isn’t going to magically fix them for another hour. This seems to be particularly true of supporting muscles. Think about holding a bridge in the gym. Say you can hold it for 3 minutes. Once you collapse can you stretch then hold a bridge for another 3 minutes? Unlikely.
I’m sure the fit experts will chime in but your position is probably off. I’ll leave diagnosis of whether you’re likely too low, high, stretched out, cramped up, seat too low / high etc, to the experts.
I’m not a bike fit master guru, but I had the same problem for a while. I ended up putting another spacer under the stem (gasp I know, totally not ST approved) and started doing more crunches and situps to build my core strength. Again, this made a difference for me within a week, it may or may not work for you…
Lower back mostly. If I had to suffer through it I could. Just wondering if this kind of ‘discomfort’ in the aero position is unique to me…or if it’s and ‘ability to suffer’ thing that others deal with. I would classify myself as a very fast rider…but only on the flat courses that suit me, therefore I spend much time in my aero position and I am trying to perfect it. I think I’ll be less abstract and post a ‘critique my position’ photo. Perhaps that would be helpful.
Strangely enough, I got myself more comfortable on the bike by actually removing a spacer, moving the elbow pads closer together, and putting on a longer stem. (Must have been too scrunched up before.) I also have to take breaks from aero position. I’ve been finding that I do much better if I take periodic short breaks right from the start, rather than beginning by toughing it out in aero position for as long as I can stand it.
Lots of short, steep rollers where I live. I find that the short climbs give me a decent excuse to sit up for a moment. Riding like this, I’m actually starting to find me tri bike more comfortable than my road bike.
Where I ride, it is very flat and I can ride almost non-stop for up to 2 hours at a time without any traffic signals. After getting away from the ‘city’ which takes about 10 minutes, I can settle down into my aero position and stay there for about 45-60 minutes. After that I find myself sitting up ‘riding the hoods’ for a few minutes before settling back down into my aero position which I can now hold for 10-15 minutes at a time before I have to sit up again and ride the hoods. Sort of the way a swimmers stroke might fall apart after a few hundred meters, my aero position falls apart after 20-25 miles or so.
Is this normal? Is it a bike fit issue? Fitness issue? Equipment…….maybe I need a new saddle and some DeSoto 400 mile shorts? Do I need to see a Chiropractor?
I typically ride 5 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday. My aero position falls apart after 1 hour and my ass is killing me after 3 hours on either ride.
I’m pretty fast in my aero position and would like to spend more time ‘being aero.’
On a course like IMAZ or IMFL how much time (percentage wise) would a top AG Uber biker dude spend in the aero position?
Any advice/words of wisdom are appreciated.
IMFL - 99.5% of the time in the aero position. There is no reason to be on the base bars at IMFL, maybe occasionally to brake around a couple of corners or…if you are uncomfortable riding in the aerobars in the peleton ; )
good point, going higher may not always be the answer.
might be worth trying some fit gurus out who can spot things you didn’t think of
Strangely enough, I got myself more comfortable on the bike by actually removing a spacer, moving the elbow pads closer together, and putting on a longer stem. (Must have been too scrunched up before.) I also have to take breaks from aero position. I’ve been finding that I do much better if I take periodic short breaks right from the start, rather than beginning by toughing it out in aero position for as long as I can stand it.
Lots of short, steep rollers where I live. I find that the short climbs give me a decent excuse to sit up for a moment. Riding like this, I’m actually starting to find me tri bike more comfortable than my road bike.
Like I said, it worked for me. Within a month, I was lower than where I had started, but the short term fix for the pain was core strengthening and raising the bars. I believe the core strength got me lower in the end.
Well, I see you’ve already heard from a bunch of the “usual experts.”
The one I agree with is the one who said to take short breaks from the aero position early-on. Whoopie good on the person who managed to stay aero for 99.5% of IMFL. Show us a photo. Your position might just suck. Some folks have back issues. We aren’t all the same.
I do a lot of time trials. I can stay quite aero for an hour or so. I’m training to go defend my course record (relay) at Beach 2 Battleship (I’m an old fart with a big target on my back now) and when I get over 3 1/2 hours, the back is pretty darned sore. But I never got sore when I was doing B2B last year and the secret was that every 20 minutes I’d click down about two gears (going to harder gears) and rise out of the saddle and take about 20 seconds to stretch out my back and give my ass some relief. GASP … I broke aero. I also went a couple of gears harder so my speed really didn’t change. Even though I was actually going harder, it felt like I was taking a break. I started this 20 minutes in and kept doing it every 20 minutes until I was in the final half hour and I was smelling the barn. Worked like a charm.
Keep training to stay aero as much as you can, but on race day when you can’t afford to completely lose it, try the short breaks. Just be sure you maintain your speed by shifting a couple of gears harder.
Well, I see you’ve already heard from a bunch of the “usual experts.”
I’m not often mistaken for an expert . . . but in this case, I’m echoing the advice of the bike fitter I saw two years ago, a pretty strong triathlete himself. He said that he strengthens the appropriate postural muscles mostly just by trying to hold his position for longer intervals in his early season rides - but the key here is that it’s a type of interval training in itself.
" . . . Even though I was actually going harder, it felt like I was taking a break. . . "
Funny how that goes. When my shoulders and neck start to really ache after a long flat or downhill stretch, I’ll see a steep climb approaching and think, “Thank God, now I can take a break.” I must look pretty peculiar while I’m climbing, turning my head in all directions, looking straight down, looking behind me, etc.
Assuming you haven’t changed your position recently, that’s where your problem is. I don’t think it’s very productive to give any advice about what to change position wise since we have no idea what to fix. Post a picture, or go to trisports.com if you’re still in the area and have them look at it.
I used to do the same thing (pop in and out of aero). After I got a bike fit, I found I could maintain the aero position for sustained periods of time. I would look into getting a good fit, it helped me.
Any activity requires a posture break after an hour or so, but I managed to relieve some of my lower back issues by moving my seat slightly forward.
Check out this article from Bike Sport Michigan: http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/bikes/karma.shtml. There are several good photo examples of good and bad position. I realized I was too stretched out, a shorter stem may have helped too, but my seat was a bit too far back.
I agree we should see pics. 3 hours on a TT bike is a lot to ask of your body (that’s even true on a road bike really). But there might be improvement to be found in your fit.
I get plenty fatigued in my TT position, but it’s mostly in my neck and there’s the discomfort in the taint. But even with back problems, my back really likes that position. I find that having my weight on my elbows that there’s no stress on my back…but then again I do have pretty much a 90 degree effective STA and a 90 degree hip angle and I don’t need to bend in my low back…it’s straight as a board so nice and comfy.
